Thread by @daniellelorenz

I read the email from @CSSESCEE about #CSSE2022 that was sent out this morning, and I am profoundly disappointed and angry for so many reasons.

A thread. 1/x

#CdnPse #Congressh

In short, the email says conference proposals are due October 1 and because of Covid, we don't yet know if #CSSE2022 will be online or in person, but it will be held in conjunction with #Congressh.

2/x

34 days to submit a conference proposal. That's enough time if you have a good handle on your research and you've presented at conferences before.

3/x

It is not a lot of time for graduate students. Particularly those who have never submitted to a conference before.

Some departments offer workshops etc to help their students learn how to submit to conferences.

The 1st week of classes is Monday or the wk of Sept. 6th. 4/x

That leaves the wk of 13th or 20th to host these workshops. Giving grad students 2.5 weeks max to submit their proposal if they've never done it before.

5/x

Who will help said grad students in writing their proposals?

Either their peers with limited experience (who probably feel like they don't know what they're doing) or their supervisors/committee members. 6/x

Faculty are, generally speaking, teaching F2F in a pandemic, with case numbers rising. Children under 12 are still unable to get vaccinated.

I am certain most faculty are stressed about being back on campus this year, whether or not they're parents. 7/x

I would bet some grad students would feel guilty asking their people to read and give feedback on their drafts.

The timeframe for getting and receiving these drafts is also quite short. 8/x

It's even shorter when you consider that things like SSHRC and scholarship apps are due in September and early October.
9/x

OH AND HAVE I MENTIONED WE'RE STILL IN A PANDEMIC AND POST-SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS AND GOVERNMENTS ARE TELLING US TO GO BACK TO "NORMAL" WHEN THINGS SURE AS HELL ARE NOT OVER???

10/x

I'm sure some of you may be rebutting with something similar to "well, Danielle, we usually have the applications for the annual conference due in the fall, people should have been preparing already."

11/x

1) See my earlier point about graduate students, who may not know how conferences work ~in general~ let alone CSSE specifically.

2) That whole pandemic thing.

3) We've received no communications from the organization re: the annual conference since the 2021 one ended. 12/x

I totally understand that @CSSESCEE might not know exactly what is happening because @ideas_idees has also been pretty quiet on the communications front.

But even a brief "heads up" email a month ago that #CSSE2022 is being planned for would have been beneficial. 13/x

Having attended the annual conference and #Congressh 4-5 times now, the precedent is that around the last day, the Federation announces the next host institution. 14/x

We're nearly 3 months out now and we have no idea who the host institution is.

That is an enormous logistical and financial issue, particularly for graduate students. 15/x

For me personally, if #Congressh is IRL, I would have to travel no matter what because #UAlberta was the last host institution.

How are any students supposed to budget for a conference when they don't know if it'll be IRL and where it may be if it is? 16/x

And I say budget somewhat flippantly since most of us end up paying out of pocket, putting it on a credit card, and dealing with the interest since travel grants (if they exist) come months later.

(or work extra hours at other jobs to pay for stuff)

17/x

Another issue is timing.

The conference will be held in mid-May; that's new to my understanding (normally it is end-of-May to early June).

18/x

Given that this academic year will be an absolute shitshow BECAUSE WE'RE STILL IN A PANDEMIC, you expect people to be able to give papers two weeks after end-of-term?

WHAT??

19/x

Even if this was in the Before Times, two weeks after the end-of-term is really difficult if you're finishing up assessing students until the last week of April.

20/x

All of the above being considered, I am particularly angry at the profound lack of care and equity that is being demonstrated by @CSSESCEE by wanting to push forward as normal.

21/x

We can postpone the annual conference for a year, @CSSESCEE.

If a big 50th-year conference is something to celebrate (and it is), why not wait until the status of our world is a little bit more concrete?

22/x

Why are you expecting that we continue as normal when everything is nothing but normal?

23/x

Attendance was down for 2021. It will not be "normal" for 2022 if you push forward; I assume it will be even lower.

24/x

Extend some grace and compassion to your members, particularly graduate students (especially those of us who are marginalized). We're having a tough time getting through our programs right now.

25/25

@threadreaderapp unroll, please.