i'm so frustrated, tired, angry, miffed and totally freaked at how STOOOOOPID the whole exercise can be.
i'm talking about getting signatures from professors through a system that's as outdated as floppy disks. get a piece of a risographed form, get your defense panel to sign. when you submit risograph #1, (thinking that's it) you're given another, which they're all supposed to sign. the difference? oh this one just contains the DATE they all agreed on. oh and it's printed on new paper. in effect riso #1 was like a piece of practice paper. riso and new paper have the SAME EFFING INFORMATION AND LINES TO AFFIX THEIR SIGNATURE, but it also has a line for when and where you'll have your defense.
you get all the signatures. you know they're the ones you need because there's a line above their names. you submit, then the person at the desk says, oh you forgot the department chair. geez. there was no line above HER name. so you hunt her down and she says she has to go to lunch. so you wait. and wait and wait. before you know it, 5 hours have passed.
finally she arrives, she signs. then she says, get another form to reserve the room.
the what?
the room.
oh it's been reserved. i saw the admin officer
pencil it in on the activities calendar.
no, it's a different form. ask for it from her.
the dean needs to sign it.
and do you (prof) need to sign it
too?
yes.
P*******A!
so i bite my tongue. through it all, i just keep a straight face. my goal was to get through this ordeal and be done with it, so i could vent on them later. i get the effing form, fill it up, go to the professor and told the admin to please barge in on the meeting. all i need is one signature, and i'm outta there.
she gets the signature, and i'm outta there. and i've lost a day's wages for waiting for a signature.
for a premiere university, the system sure doesn't know how to share information vital to a student's performance and well being. it sits on the achievements of the students but it also shits on their dignity. without the students who are working so hard, getting good grades, there wouldn't be funding, or a uni for that matter to speak of! it's the students who give this university a good name. we deserve the same respect. we're human too.
That being said, allow me to share with all of you students going on proposal defense some advice, and the procedure to get that effing task done.
STEPS TO GETTING YOUR PROPOSAL DEFENSE SCHEDULED
If you are a candidate for graduation, you need a thesis. To be able to write your thesis, you first need to present and defend your topic and proposal. To be able to defend your thesis proposal, you need to:
1. Write your thesis proposal. You need to talk to your adviser about this already. Get him/her to read it and then revise it asap.
2. Put together a panel - you need at least three people: your adviser, a reader, and another panel member. All should have at least an MA degree.
3. Get a form from the college admin office titled thesis proposal panel nomination form. Fill this out with your desired panel members, your thesis topic title, and your name & student no.
4. Make a courtesy call to your nominated panel. Tell them about your topic, graciously tell them they've been nominated. If they accept, ask them to sign the paper.
5. After your panelists sign the paper, bring the paper to the department head and get her to sign the paper.
TIP A: While getting them to sign, ask them ALREADY for their preferred dates. There is a two week rule to be followed in the uni. This is discussed below.
*TWO WEEK RULE*
From the time you submit your manuscript and all the required effing forms, there is a two-week grace period wherein your panel reviews your manuscript. Say, if you can submit your requirements (manuscript & forms) on May 1, your defense will happen on the 15th of May.
5. Return the paper to the college admin office and tell the grad studies (GS) admin your nominated panel has accepted, and that they have agreed to a date and time (see TIP A). The GS admin will now type this out on a new piece of paper, with your thesis proposal title, your panelists' name, your name and info, and the date and time you nominated. S/he may also enter the room at this time. You may call this the proposal defense form.
6. Go back to your panel and the department head, and get them to sign proposal defense form all over again.
TIP B: if your panelists/department head is making you wait, go ahead and file for use of the room and additional equipment (tv, lcd projector, laptop, etc.)
For the room, look for the college admin officer. Tell her you have a defense and would like to request for a room. Give her the date and time. Certain rooms have special permits to use. If you are using any of the graduate studies rooms, ask for the form needed to reserve this room. Fill it out, and bring it with you when you have your proposal defense form signed by the department head.
For the equipment, look for guy who sits at the back of the office. He is the equipment custodian. Tell him you have a defense and would like to reserve the use of some of the equipment. He will give you a form. Fill it out and bring it with you when you have your proposal defense form signed by the department head.
7. Check through all the papers again. You should now have with you:
(a) the proposal defense form for the panelists to sign, which
contains your defense date and time, and room;(b) the room reservation form and;(c) the equipment reservation form.
TIP C: Have the defense proposal form photocopied. Make at least two copies. The original will be kept by the GS admin. One shall be attached to your proposal when you submit it to the dean. The extra one is yours to keep, just in case. (in this uni, you never know)
8. Submit the proposal defense form to the GS admin, the equipment request form to the custodian, and the room request form to the admin officer. Tuck your extra proposal defense form safely away and go home to get some rest.
9. Make the necessary revisions to your manuscript as per your adviser, and submit on the appointed day. make as many copies as there are panelists plus one each for the department head, and the dean.
I hope this helps all of you thinking about going through with your thesis. This post may not sound enthusiastic but I highly recommend you finishing the race. You'll be glad you did.
I'm just looking forward to getting all of this over with.
