my phd supervisor gave a copy of my transcript to an undergrad.

Title says it all, really. How upset should i be? I found out because I met the undergrad in question. He scribbled some notes on the back of it and handed it to her.

I've been with the supervisor for the past 8 months or so. I don't believe we are getting on well without this.

I feel pretty violated and am quite upset about it. I'm trying to guage how upset I should be about it. Perhaps I'm getting flustered about nothing significant.

Edit: I stupidly wrote "my PhD student" instead of "my PhD supervisor..." in the title.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 1

alleycat393

There's not much you can do by way of getting it back or stopping the undergrad from looking at it.

You could talk to your supervisor about how you feel about it. If you don't feel comfortable talking to him/her, is there someone else you could talk to? Are you an undergrad yourself or a postgrad? Do you have another academic supervisor? Maybe a student rep or the chair of your BoS?

Reply 2

throwaway80909

I'm a PhD student. I don't have another academic supervisor. And of course I can't get it back.

The mistake seems rather careless to me, and reinforces my overall impression that he doesn't care about me or my PhD. I'm very upset and (given that we haven't been getting on before) am ready to find a new supervisor. But maybe I'm blowing things out of proportion?

Reply 3

Luxray

Original post by throwaway80909

I'm not a phd student but I think I would be annoyed if I was in your situation. I think I would try speaking to someone with more authority to speak to him regarding the inappropriate action he has done with your transcript, secondly change supervisor if possible. I would have thought being comfortable and getting along with your supervisor would help you with your own studies.

Reply 4

maturestudy

What does 'transcript' mean in this concept? If it contains personal data then it may constitute an inadvertent breach of the Data Protection Act. As well as being rightfully upset at the loss of your personal data, there are legal ramifications which would mean you could get the university's management involved or even report the incident to the Information Commissioners Office. I think that should mean it is in your supervisor's best interests to resolved the matter to your satisfaction before it escalates too far.

Reply 5

throwaway80909

Original post by maturestudy

What does 'transcript' mean in this concept? If it contains personal data then it may constitute an inadvertent breach of the Data Protection Act...

undergrad academic transcript from my application for this PhD. With exam marks, date of birth, et cetera...

Reply 6

evantej

Original post by throwaway80909

I am guessing the context would have been the supervisor giving the undergraduate student guidance for a prospective PhD application (i.e. these are the sorts of grades you need). But at no point should they have given the student your actual transcript.

Given your relationship with your supervisor is already strained, I would not go down an official complaint process yet. I would challenge the supervisor in person, asking why they did what they did and explaining both the legal and personal implications. The way you word this could mean you could resolve your differences. For example, 'I feel that we do not have a good working relationship and the I find out that this happened'. It may be the case that the supervisor takes stock and decides to start a fresh with you, so to speak.

Reply 7

minnieuk

If you are not getting on with your supervisor you need to do something about it. There is no point just carrying on with a bad relationship and hoping it will sort itself out. You should have been given guidelines on what to do if your relationship with your supervisor isn't working when you started the course - if you weren't and can't find anything in your handbook then look on the Vitae website for 'handling your supervisor' - or there is usually a section in the many 'how to get through your PhD books'.

You really shouldn't underestimate the importance of your supervisor in the PhD process - it is completely different from lower levels of study and without decent support your chances of getting through the process and passing can be severely restricted.

You shouldn't worry about making yourself unpopular. Universities have processes in place for failing PhD supervisor/student relationships and someone should help you sort it out. At the very least speak to your supervisor about your problems. Reading between the lines, it sounds like him handing out your transcript is the least of your issues with him - you say he doesn't care about your PhD -that's a pretty serious problem and one which you need to address right away.