Buying a gift for my PhD student after his graduation

Question

All posts here on the "graduation gift" subject are about a gift from the PhD candidate to the professor (after the graduation of course). What about a gift for the student from the professor?

My student just graduated, and he really is an exquisite person, he worked more than he probably should have (extra hours, weekends) without me asking, and even with me saying he should not work that much. He was very nice with all the other lab members. I don't know if he will get me something and honestly I don't care. I would like to get him something, for sure a handwritten note to thank him. But I was also thinking to buy him a present, such as a bottle of wine from my country.

I am an Assistant Professor in the USA, but I was not born here. Do you think it will be appropriate to buy and attach a gift to the hand-written note?

Answer 1

I don't see any problem with this. Something from your own country would be appropriate, as would a book that is important in your field. Even a tourist souvenir from your country as something to remember you.

But not too expensive or elaborate.

Answer 2

Many U.S. schools (especially state ones) actually have written policies on gifts. Look for it on your school's intranet, or ask HR if you can't find it. They vary: I know at least one state school where any gifts, even a cup of coffee from a professor to a former student, are forbidden. Some schools have a cap on monetary value, like $100. You're unlikely to get into trouble if you violate a gift policy, but it's good to know what yours is.

If a gift is not forbidden, then it's allowed. A bottle of wine is fine (if you know that the student drinks alcohol). Something longer-lasting, like a book, a vase, or a figurine , with your autograph or an engraving, would probably create... a longer-lasting memory. Your student certainly sounds like he deserves something sentimental to remember you by.

Answer 3

A bottle of wine is an excellent gift. You can pick up a decent wine for 30 dollars and attach a nice hand written note to it.

Of course you also tell a short story about the wine when making the gift, I myself e.g. picked up a box of very expensive wine in Italy once. I gifted a bottle on two very special occasions.

Regardless of what the more nerdy SE community says "a book, a vase, or a figurine" might not be perceived by less nerdy people very well. Action figures are usually reserved for children, and especially making a figurine of yourself (Superhero Prof. Millemila?) would entertain the entire university. That's just ridiculous.

Lasting gifts can be great, but are more expensive, I myself made good experiences with a mont blanc fountain pen, a good German or Swiss watch, a leather wallet, a handmade razor, a shaving foam brush, handmade cocktail glasses, and a fancy lighter. Staying to the classics might seem old-fashioned, but people like this really.

Giving out mediocre but lasting gifts is arguably worse than a bad one time use gift: A bad wine will lead to a bad evening at most, a unwanted book might stick around much longer in the dusty corner of the receiver's office.

I would be cautious with these expensive gifts in your setting though. A bottle of wine in the medium price range on the contrary is a common gift in business settings, and you don't need to worry about it being inappropriate at all.

Make sure to remember that the "thank you" card is probably the biggest gift you can make anyways. Especially if you express, that you are always happy to help your former student in the future. Use a nice fountain pen and thick paper. Use a suitable format, e.g. A5.

Answer 4

One of the problems with gifts is that one does not want have liability of insinuation. Giving my Japanese students a gift, which has a cultural weight of something in return, is very different from giving one to an American student. There is not a clear answer to this question.

Having said that, I've settled on giving my students the books that they used for the dissertation. I've found that all of my students have a few "go to" books, and I'll often buy them their own copies, and write my well wishes in the front cover. This generally violates a whole bunch unspoken of HR policies as there seems to be some unspoken rule about less than 20 dollars in the USA and it's generally about 300 dollars all-in. The student just worked exceedingly hard for at least 5 years for me with basically a pittance of a stipend. I see it as the least that I can do. I see a bottle of wine as a nice personal gesture and I would stand by the decision even if the HR department freaks out.

Answer 5

As others have also pointed out, I don't see a problem with it unless there is a policy at your university, however, many ideas are very subjective, as for example if he doesn't use pens that much, he might not use this one at all, and actually make him feel guilty, or, if he doesn't like physical books, etc...

Answer 6

Yes, a gift should be ok and I think that the gift should be tailor made for the recipient. I think it would be hard for any of us to say what kind of gift to get your student.

That being said, does your student like wine? Do they prefer a specific brand, vintage, or type (e.g., Cab, Merlot, Pinot, etc.)? Are they open to trying a wine from your country? You can put out subtle feelers by bringing it up in conversation.

But, a point of caution that I would like to echo from other respondents, and that is to make sure the gift itself is not too austentatious. It needs to be narrowly focused to what they like because it shows thoughtful consideration. Handing out a bunch of money probably wouldn't be the best idea nor would gifting them a Ferrari.

Answer 7

Yes, it is appropriate in the U.S. to buy and attach a gift to a hand-written note thanking the student. I am aware of this happening in the United States, and it was much appreciated by the student. In fact, the gift was a University hoodie and some University-branded coffee mugs, and although the student has long since left the United States, they still enjoy these objects today.

Answer 8

tl;dr: Back pay for overtime work.

My student just graduated, and he really is an exquisite person, he worked more than he probably should have (extra hours, weekends) without me asking

What you're describing is the common situation in US academia where Ph.D. candidates - junior researchers - work more than a full-time position without any overtime pay. In most US universities they are not even recognized as employees! (but this may be changing). The base pay is also typically rather poor in the US, if I recall correctly. Also, surprisingly, many kinds of employees are not eligible for overtime pay even by law... how terrible!

Having said that, if the Ph.D.'s salary/stipend had come out of:

• your personal research budget - your gift should be pay for the extra time he worked beyond a 40-hour work week. Seeing how you supposedly suggested he not work those hours, I suppose it might be fair to just pay the base hourly rate, not the 1.5x rate the law provides form.

• a departmental/university budget - Offer to cover the legal expenses for a lawsuit in which he gets to sue the university for overtime pay owed to him.

(If he refuses to sue, get him some chocolate or personal-size confection or something, I don't know.)

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For readers other than OP: I didn't just make a point for a single professor to get a different perspective on his former Ph.D. candidate. I call upon you, personally - if you are a junior researcher (Ph.D. candidate or otherwise), to try and form a union. And if you're senior faculty, and unionized - to become active in your union and try to get it to expand and admit junior researchers.