Grad student sent packing

St. Catharines, ON, Canada -- Albert Afful Annan came to Brock University as an international student to complete a two year graduate program as a specialist in plant pathology. However, after five months in St. Catharines and only six weeks into the fall term, the master of science candidate will be packing up and heading back home instead.

Annan, who left his home in Ghana to research organic alternatives to chemical pesticides on diseased ornamental plants such as poinsettias at Brock, was asked by the university to resign from the program after the promised funding that would allow him to continue at Brock was revoked.

Albert had agreed to study at Brock with the understanding that he was to receive $21,340 in funding for his first year. However, his supervisor, adjunct professor Javier Gracia-Garza, withdrew his privately held research monies to relocate to the Ottawa area for employment reasons in the last week of September, which left Annan with a contract with Brock's graduate program, but no funding to continue in it.

The situation was further complicated when Annan was called by the head of his department into a surprising meeting with the head of graduate studies, the chair of his department and a union representative on Sept. 30 after his funding was pulled, nearly four months after he began his research work in St. Catharines.

"I was in the library studying when my cell phone went off," says Annan about the first time he heard about his tenuous hold in the graduate program, and says that he was "in a trance" for the following meetings that would eventually determine his fate as a Brock graduate student.

Annan was given two choices: to continue his studies without funding and pay the over $21,000 for the year himself, or to voluntarily withdraw from the program and get a paid air plane ticket back home to Ghana. "I couldn't work at research all day, commute home and then get a part time job to pay for bills," says Annan about the position he was in.

As the first choice was not a possibility due to his limited funds, the department of biological sciences advised Annan to withdraw from his master's program, and cited "academic matters" as their cause for urging Annan to withdraw, claiming his progress was not up to standards. Feeling left with no other option, Annan reluctantly agreed, and by October his future was set. Members from the faculty declined to comment for this article.

Annan had faced some difficulties in creating his thesis proposal for former supervisor Gracia-Garza. "He would say that it wasn't a good script, but wouldn't offer any ways to improve it," says Annan, who also felt that the supervisor was not very available to him, did not return his supposedly weak proposals and was also doing his own research that was separate from the work Annan was researching.

Though disappointed with having to leave and frustrated that the school didn't try to find alternative funding for him, Annan harbours no ill will to Gracia-Garza or anyone from the university faculty and staff. "Personally, I don't blame anyone," says Annan, who suggests that he always tried to "be original" when it came to his scientific studies, which he feels is vital to advance in scientific research.

"I would urge future international students who get contracts to get a lawyer to look over [the contracts]," says Annan, who adds, "my mind was too scientific and I wasn't concerned with the legalities [of his contract]."

Stephen Gray, a Popular Culture graduate student who also works with The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), was given information by CUPE about Annan and his situation. When Gray met with Annan a couple of weeks ago for the first time, he says that "Albert was very upset about the whole situation," and "disoriented" about his imminent departure.

Gray has been working towards bringing awareness to Annan's plight. He calls the whole review process for Albert's case "very opaque," and the two are hoping to inspire an inquiry into Annan's case so future international students will be better prepared for their studies abroad.

One of the problems with the situation, according to Gray, is that there does not seem to be a solid system set in place for students who find themselves in Annan's tricky situation. He officially had a contract with Brock University involving finances that were not technically coming from them.

"Albert is realistic about his chances of staying," says Gray about Annan's scheduled Nov. 11 departure. Nevertheless, he hopes to see some advancements in policy making within the system done on Annan's behalf. Gray stresses that a school like Brock, which has tried to build up a reputation for its international and graduate studies, has a responsibility to its international students.

Annan himself is not too concerned about his future. Though not in any educational program at the moment, he continues his own research about local agriculture for future use.

Also on the bright side, his impromptu return to Ghana will allow him to be with his wife and three year-old son whom he misses very much, and his research experience should grant him many good opportunities in the future.

Prior to attending Brock, Annan worked as a scientific researcher for the UN and has also taught high school science and math since he was 17 in his home in Ghana.

Though his stay was cut short from two years down to only a quarter of that time, Annan says that his experience at Brock and in St. Catharines was for the most part a good one, and even plans on returning to the region one day."I probably won't be back to Brock, but maybe my son will," says Annan with a smile.