Right now, the Research Commons is closed for the Intersession period (the period when there are no classes going on).  This is a money-saving measure: it costs money to pay the graduate academic assistants, and the budget isn’t unlimited, so sometimes there need to be shutdowns.

A lot of other things on campus are closed or on reduced hours now too. Last week I facilitated an evening graduate student writing community which would normally be held in Koerner Library, which is closing early during Intersession (for financial reasons), so we had to find another place to meet. We got a room in Barber Library, but that meant we wouldn’t have access to our coffee and tea makings from Koerner. No problem, though, I thought – we’ll be just around the corner from Ike’s Café!

Which, of course, is closing at 3 pm right now, for cost-saving reasons.

The vast majority of student services at UBC are geared towards undergraduate students. Even things that don’t seem to be student-focused areas – libraries, food outlets – operate on an undergraduate-centered schedule. If the undergrads aren’t around, then the services aren’t offered.

Grad students don’t operate on undergrad schedules, though. Grad student work goes on throughout the year. There’s no mandated time to not be working (even though grad students are permitted to take vacations, though most don’t know that). Yes, things like undergrad courses will affect it, in terms of TA work, when services are open, et cetera. But grad student work is continuous.

Grad student reality is different from undergrad student reality. And grad student reality is already underserved at UBC.

All the more reason to have space dedicated to grad students, so that they feel like they actually matter.