Graduate Student Criticizes Harvard’s Reimbursement Policies As a Financial and Psychological ‘Burden’

Harvard graduate students have long bristled at the expectation that they must pay necessary academic conference expenses up front and wait months to receive reimbursements.

The discussion surrounding reimbursement issues was refreshed after Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology Ph.D. candidate Jessica E. Sagers published an op-ed in Science Magazine, detailing how she and her peers have suffered under Harvard’s current reimbursement policies.

The article, entitled “Reimbursement policies make academia less inclusive,” was published Feb. 14, and has since amassed 23,000 Facebook shares.

Harvard protocol is to reimburse students for conference expenses — including registration, air travel, and lodging — only after they attend, according to Sagers. The policy requires students to pay significant sums up front that can infringe upon their modest stipends.

“Registration is usually happening three to six months before you go to the conference. So even if you win a travel grant or have a fellowship that supports travel, you are expected to front that money, which can be one to two thousand dollars,” Sagers said in an interview.

“You’re just out that money until the conference happens because you’re not allowed to submit reimbursement forms until after the conference. Even then, you submit forms after the conference, and the reimbursement times are interminable, something like two to three months,” she added. “There was one time when I was out $4,000 for an entire year.”

The problem is pervasive, according to Dana L. Boebinger, who is also a Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology Ph.D. candidate. Boebinger said that a few days after Science Magazine published Sagers’s article, she overheard someone lament they had been waiting months for a reimbursement.

“There was a group of people standing next to me. And one of them said to the group of friends, ‘Well, I can’t order the takeout for us or call the Uber because I applied for this conference a couple of months ago and I still haven’t been paid back,’” Boebinger said.

Sagers said these reimbursement policies preclude her financially disadvantaged peers from attending conferences and advancing their careers.

“If somebody looks at a CV of [a student] who is applying for a postdoc position and they don’t see any conference presentations or any conference talks, that’s a red flag. You’re expected to participate in the ecosystem of science, and if you don’t, that does hurt your career,” Sagers said.

Jeanne Gallée, also a SHBT Ph.D. candidate, wrote in an email that conferences are integral to furthering scientific careers.

“Even beyond boosting your resume, scientific conferences are essential in that they allow you to connect with peers and established researchers, and perhaps more importantly, provide the perfect space to receive feedback on your own ideas,” she wrote.

The Harvard Graduate Student Union has been working to address the issue, according to Madeleine F. Jennewein, a member of the group's bargaining committee. She said the problem “spans all students,” and the union has sought to include the issue in their bargaining goals.

“We have been very aware of the difficulties of reimbursement within our bargaining unit, and have included in our bargaining goals and our proposals to the university ways to reduce the upfront financial burden on student workers as they travel for conferences and make work-related expenses,” she wrote in an email.

Sagers said she has voiced her concerns to the administration before. In November, she wrote to Accounting Administrator Danny Cho that it was “really painful” to be denied reimbursement until after she attended her conference in February.

He replied that “these are federal funds and DMS cannot change the policy,” according to an email obtained by The Crimson.

Director of Finance and Administration Will Carter wrote in an emailed statement that the University is required to abide by the Office of Management and Budget’s Uniform Administrative Requirements because Harvard receives federal funding.

“Non-compliance carries a significant risk to the entire institution’s portfolio of federal awards,” Carter wrote.

The OMB did not respond to a request for comment.

Sagers said she has confronted University officials about delayed reimbursements in the past, and administrators usually cite the OMB’s standards.

“That’s essentially the line we receive,” Sagers said. “And I have had many, many conversations with administrators, and it doesn’t push any farther than that.”

Both Sagers and Boebinger suggested that students be given departmental credit cards to pay for upfront conference fees. The Graduate Student Council has already taken steps to address the issue, according to GSC President Blakey B. O’Connor.

“The GSC changed its policy for awarding Conference and Summer Research Grants two years ago,” O’Connor wrote in an emailed statement. “With the new policy in place, students may receive their awards before they attend a conference, instead of having to submit receipts for reimbursements."

Sagers said she will continue to speak out about the issue.

“If I don’t advocate for myself in this process, I know no one will advocate for me.”

Correction: March 2, 2019

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Sagers's op-ed has 500 shares on Facebook. In fact, the op-ed has 23,000 shares.

— Staff writer Juliet E. Isselbacher can be reached at juliet.isselbacher@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @julietissel.