"I think the department has been very receptive to our suggestions as far as what directions they should take to improve," she says. "A lot of it will take time before we see the effects of it, but we've had a lot of input in what's going on."
Saturation Level
"My problem is that a lot of people who need to do it (socialize outside of the laboratory), don't," Birch says. "They think they can't. It's fun for the people who don't need it.
"I don't there is anything that can be done," he adds. "It's kind of inherent in the way they are, but I don't think this place makes them that way. They just can't relax."
"The problems may be fundamental to graduate school in science, and may not be easily correctable," Finkelstein says.
"I think that [the department is] starting in the right direction," he says, "but they definitely have a long way to go.
Anderson says that the process of change is ongoing and will be reevaluated every year.
"I think the changes are going to have very powerful implications, he says. "We're just beginning see how it went this year, and keep making changes. Improving the department has become an abiding interest and concern."