Removal of PhD stipend due to part time study. Can they do this?

[ElfHasBeenSilly]

Hi all,

I am a fully funded (fees and stipend) PhD student just about to return from interruption due to maternity. I am returning part time due to child care. My university administrator has today informed me that my stipend will be stopped if I return part time. This is paid by the university, not an external funding body.

Is there anything I can do? Any advice gratefully received.

I am fundamentally rooting for you,@ElfHasBeenSilly , although I think you or at least we need more facts. And I know perfectly well that admin types aren’t above hiding. But you only found out about the decision on Monday. The VC and probably the Head of GS don’t answer their own phones and TBF this is not one of the top items on the agenda for them. That’s just life

A university scholarship isn't time-dependent in the humanities or even most social sciences! So the argument the funding is running out is nonsense, it's the same amount, spread over longer. They need to move with the times.

This doesn’t address the discrimination/moral issue but can’t you just say you’ll be full time but only actually do part time?

My LO spends 2 days per week in nursery but I am doing my PhD “full time”. I manage my own hours so it’s up to me. It can be a stretch but I think ‘time required expands to meet time allowed’!

I also found that adding in a few hours teaching and 1 more day at nursery gave me more PhD time for a short while.

Also I’m sure you would have checked already but does your uni have a nursery which offers a reduced rate for students? This was a big help to me.

I have news! The head of the grad school emailed me earlier. They are going to pay the fees, and pay the bursary pro rata 🎉

Apparently this is in light of ‘my exceptional circumstances’… the exceptional circumstances of having a child I guess? But whatever.

They backed down.

What a relief! I hadn’t quite got round to posting saying how unreasonable this was, and now I don’t need to!

Great news!

Thank you all for your moral support. The officer from the SU said..

Fabulous news!

Although I would say your case is not that exceptional! I am sure there are lots of PhD students who start off FT then have a baby and want to return PT.

Hopefully this will be the start of many changes in funding for postgraduate students.

Well done for not accepting their initial response. That is great news.

Great news - 😊

Fantastic, well done!!

That's brilliant news 🎉

That's good news. Glad to hear it's sorted.

Well done!!! Such good news.
It's harder doing a PhD with a baby, but also easier because now you are doing it for them too. And we will fight for ourselves and our children, as you have just proved.

Good luck with the rest of your PhD

That's great! Well done!

Great news. But you should definitely feed back via whatever mechanisms you can (SU, Staff-Student committees, graduate school, etc) that having a child is not 'exceptional'; it's a perfectly normal part of life.

Great news.

hopefully they will write this into policy for future students.

That is great news. Well done for standing up for yourself and also for helping other women in the future.

Well done indeed, but lol to 'exceptional circumstances'!

fab news!