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November 25th, the Sunday following Thanksgiving, was a crisp, clear day - the perfect kind of day for a marathon. And fortunately, this was the day that 100 faculty, staff, and graduate students from the University of Washington, led by Sociology professor Bob Crutchfield, participated in the Seattle Marathon and Half-Marathon as part of the Graduate Students First Team. The team walked and ran to raise money for a graduate student fellowship. The goal was to raise $100,000. After meeting the goal, the UW would match the raised funds with an additional $50,000.
The Department of Biology represented 5% of the participation in this endeavor. Faculty members Toby Bradshaw, Tom Daniel, and Billie Swalla and staff member Kristy Brady walked the half-marathon, and affiliate faculty member Katie Peichel ran the half-marathon all in support of graduate students.
“Having been a very poor graduate student for 6 years in the 1990s,” Katie explained, “I know what it is like to be a grad student and how important any form of support is. Now that I have four graduate students working with me towards their Ph.D., I can also appreciate extra support for graduate students. In general, grad students are an underappreciated part of any academic institution, and I would like to do something to improve this situation!”
Thankfully, Katie is not alone in her sentiment. “This is what I love about UW,” Billie said. “Faculty are willing to go the extra mile (or 13) for their graduate students. This is good for the students, the faculty, research goals, and the entire University.” The importance of graduate students to the operation and function of the UW cannot be overstated. Tom’s sentiment is quite clear in that regard: “Graduate students are the center of gravity at the UW.”
The benefit of graduate student fellowships is immense. In Biology, many students have to teach or work on an advisor’s project in order to make their way through school. The beauty of fellowships is that they permit students to focus on their own research projects, which allows them to complete their dissertations and publish their findings in scientific journals more quickly. In essence, fellowships speed the process of graduate school up for students, allowing them to graduate and enter the workforce sooner. Biology graduate student Beth Rowan, who was awarded the Frye-Hotson-Rigg Writing Fellowship for the 2007-08 academic year says, “Being awarded the Frye-Hotson-Rigg Fellowship will allow me to dedicate time this summer to writing up my findings for publication and completing my thesis. I appreciate this opportunity and am grateful to all of those who made it possible.”
In January the Graduate Students First Team’s fellowship achieved it’s $100,000 goal! The total will be matched with an additional $75,000 in University funds. Contributions made to this fund by June 30, 2008 will also receive a 50% match from the University. For more information about establishing or contributing to existing graduate student fellowships or the Graduate Students First Team’s mission, please call (206) 685.2185.