The sophomoric government shutdown offers the American public an illusion. Sadly, many people are tweeting or uttering statements like "there is no impact of the shutdown" or "so what?" This is because many federal workers are working without pay so that you don't notice anything. They are still helping land planes, provide weather forecasts, service certain payouts, monitor the oceans for tsunamis, or protect the homeland. Students across the United States are starting to feel in the impacts of the shutdown right now. From my lens as an atmospheric sciences professor at a major university and as a former president of the American Meteorological Society, here four ways (at least) that students are being affected.
Access to federal websites are limited. For most students, January is the begin of a new semester. Many undergraduate students will soon be starting research projects for classes, and graduate students are continuing to work on theses or dissertations. Prior to the shutdown, a friend of mine posted on social media that he was frantically downloading data from a federal website before the shutdown. A few days later, this graduate student at one of the best engineering schools in the United States, posted the notice below about the site being down. Taxpayer dollars have enabled valuable scientific datasets that citizens no longer have access to. Such inaccessibility halts valuable scientific research and delays possible graduation for students targeting Spring semester for completion. For many undergraduate students, it limits the type of research projects they are able to conduct. For example, I use numerous NOAA and NASA websites as a part of my instructional mix. I have already altered a couple of my lessons for my Honors Introductory Weather and Climate class this semester at the University of Georgia.
Interactions at major conferences. I am writing this from the lens of the meteorological community, but I am certain this is playing out in other sectors. The largest weather-climate focused conference in the United States is held each year by the American Meteorological Society (AMS). Thousands of students, scientists, stakeholders, and federal officials gather for information sharing, new science results, and professional development. At the time of writing, the AMS Student Conference and the Annual Meeting are only days from inception in Phoenix, Arizona. Over 700+ federal colleagues from NASA, NOAA, U.S. Forest Service, National Science Foundation (NSF), and other agencies are unable to attend due to travel restrictions. Chris Vagasky, who works for Vaisala, tweeted on December 29th:
There are more than 700 federal employees that may not be able to attend
#AMS2019 because of the#GovernmentShutdown. I encourage my private sector and academia colleagues to volunteer to help fill some of the voids that this could cause:
The absence of federal scientists at conferences has a profound negative impact on students. How? At the Student Conference, federal scientists and officials often interact with students and give them chances to learn about federal opportunities. I have personally observed numerous students gain internships, fellowships, scholarships, and jobs from such interactions. Federal agencies also have recruiting or display booths at the meetings. As a student, I vividly remember my first experiences at conferences like this. I interacted with people like the NOAA Administrator or the Director of the National Weather Service. These were invaluable experiences. Experiences now taken from hundreds of students at the 2019 Annual AMS meeting and other scientific meetings. I should also mention that many K-12 students also attend the AMS WeatherFest. Their access to federal scientists and cool exhibits will likely also be limited.
Funding for students. Most people do not realize that a vast portion of federal grants to professors at universities support graduate students (directly) and the broader student populations (indirectly). If a professor receives a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), a significant percentage is received by the university as indirect cost or overhead charge. The funding supports infrastructure, instruction, or facilities that benefits all students. Much of that grant money also directly funds graduate student stipends, travel, and publication costs. While current funded grants already received by universities are being executed, no new awards are being issued or processed by major funding agencies like NASA, NOAA, USDA, NSF, and so on. Additionally, no extension requests or other approvals are being considered. So how does that affect students? Potential new graduate students or undergraduate students are now applying for graduate schools. Many of these students typically would be offered research assistantships from grants that a professor or institution receives. Many decisions on Fall 2019 graduate classes are made this Spring. If new federal grants or extensions on existing projects are not being processed, a professor or Department may not be able to offer financial support to incoming or continuing students. I am in currently in limbo on this right now with a couple of projects.
Students also work or intern in federal labs. I recently learned from some federal colleagues that many of these students are no longer being supported. In some cases, the students or employees being paid as students have been dismissed. One colleague noted that many of these students (and some at universities) use federal supercomputers for their research. This activity has also been hampered.
Student morale. I cannot imagine how low morale is for my federal colleagues right now. They are used as pawns and work to keep our lives normal (without pay). Their bills continue to roll in, and the stress of uncertainty is heavy. Morale for students is also low. Many students look forward to interacting with scientists from federal agencies at conferences. Many students now question me about whether they should consider federal service because of shutdowns and threats of furlough or lost pay. Of the four things I have shared, this potential loss of the "best and brightest" talent is most concerning. Our competitiveness and ability to be "great" depend on good science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
