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Today we made the difficult decision to postpone the 2020 @TAURUSutaustin summer research program to the summer of 2021 in light of the COVID-19 global pandemic. It was not an easy decision to make, and I'd like to explain a bit why we made this difficult choice.
The students we invite to participate in TAURUS are central to the program — their needs, their struggles, their successes, and their communities. Not moving forward with TAURUS this summer may be incredibly disappointing and frustrating for them (and for many others) to hear.
We thought a lot about alternatives to our on-campus research program in the past 2 weeks, including a partial or fully-remote program. We determined that the number of logistical limitations and hurdles — from computing resources and strains on mentors — were prohibitive.
Most importantly, we determined that a remote summer research program would not serve the students in the ways it must in order to fulfill (or even work towards fulfilling) the TAURUS mission.
Running a summer research program remotely is likely to face many challenges that in-person programs don’t face. It isn’t just about the 1-on-1 research project students pursue with their supervisors. It’s about community building: connections that last a lifetime.
The multitude of contacts made during an in-person program are crucial to its success — from meetings with research mentors, to informal chats with a grad student in the hall, late nights at the observatory, dinners in the residence hall, and weekend adventures around town.
Very few of these interactions can be replicated remotely. Particularly when relationships between individuals have not yet been established.
Even in the best of circumstances, not all undergraduate research projects go as planned (do any?). Negative experiences can be common if there’s a breakdown in communication between mentor and mentee.
A remote-run program is more likely to have breakdowns in communication. A student could easily feel too isolated, start questioning their own progress, and start down the path of imposter syndrome.
As many early career scientists know, a negative research experience can have long-lasting and profound impact on how you view your identity as a scientist.
Starting research as an undergraduate is often a period rife with self-doubt — a crucial point of growth during your career when you need multi-faceted support. Thus, we feel there are instances where remote mentoring may do more harm than good.
As a director of a program like @TAURUSutaustin, it’s also important for me to emphasize that I alone do not make this program — far from it — it only runs on the collective energy and graciousness of the @UTastronomy community.
This includes a community of 40+ people from research mentors, faculty and postdocs, to grad student mentors, seminar organizers, observatory staff, and our crucial admin support. Right now, many in that community are struggling with the #COVID19 pandemic.
It is impacting the mental health and well-being of everyone, and it is not appropriate for me to ask those who are struggling to commit to doubling their mentoring efforts, often in a way that will be much more difficult than they might have done previously.
Still, we cannot ignore the impact that postponing a summer research program has on its participants. There are financial, personal, and professional development ramifications that will be difficult to overcome. It is what has made our decision to postpone especially difficult.
There is no simple solution to this dilemma — supporting the TAURUS scholars while recognizing that hosting the program as intended is impossible. We have postponed because we want to give these students the experience they deserve, even if it is a year later than planned.
We hope that postponing the program now gives the students enough time to make alternate plans for summer 2020 in their home communities. And all offers we made this year will be extended back to the same students for participation in our summer 2021 TAURUS program.
I’d like to acknowledge that this solution is not ideal, but I wanted to be transparent about how it was made. My hope is that all of us recognize that the impact of COVID-19 on all of our students will be complex and far reaching, and that we need to be gracious down the line.
This impact may vary from students' performance in classes this semester (whether or not they choose P/F or a grade) to the impact on their academic/professional records over longer, year-long timescales. This year may be a blip or may be catastrophic for some students.
Let’s all give students space to have a blip, or catastrophe, but continue to chart their paths towards their career aspirations and help them along the way as best we can.
