Is it inappropriate for a student to attend their mentor's dissertation defense?
I'm an undergraduate student at a research one university. My former instructor and current research mentor is defending their dissertation soon. I asked if I could attend and they said they would be fine with it.
My primary interest in doing so is to see how the defense process works for when I attend graduate school. I am also just genuinely interested in supporting them since we both research the same material and they've been incredibly encouraging and helpful to me.
I know defenses are open to the public, but, in your opinion, would a student attending your defense add more stress or disrupt the process? I just want to make sure I'm not making anything more difficult for them or overstepping a boundary, even though they say they are totally okay with me attending.
thesis students defense
edited 2 hours ago
cag51
17.6k73765
asked 2 hours ago
NicoleNicole
16
New contributor
Nicole is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
I'm an undergraduate student at a research one university. My former instructor and current research mentor is defending their dissertation soon. I asked if I could attend and they said they would be fine with it.
My primary interest in doing so is to see how the defense process works for when I attend graduate school. I am also just genuinely interested in supporting them since we both research the same material and they've been incredibly encouraging and helpful to me.
I know defenses are open to the public, but, in your opinion, would a student attending your defense add more stress or disrupt the process? I just want to make sure I'm not making anything more difficult for them or overstepping a boundary, even though they say they are totally okay with me attending.
thesis students defense
edited 2 hours ago
cag51
17.6k73765
asked 2 hours ago
NicoleNicole
16
New contributor
Nicole is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
2
Welcome to Academia.SE. I changed "professor" --> "mentor" ... though undergrads in the US frequently refer to instructors as "their professor," I suspect the person in question is a graduate student and in fact not a professor.
– cag51
2 hours ago
How are you defining "professor"? It could be possible for them to be both, right? It's possible to get an academic position before you finish your PhD; I'm doing a Masters degree, one of my lecturers hasn't finished his PhD yet (though he does have 3.5 years of sessional teaching experience), and he's listed on the university website as "Associate Lecturer".
– nick012000
just now
add a comment |
I'm an undergraduate student at a research one university. My former instructor and current research mentor is defending their dissertation soon. I asked if I could attend and they said they would be fine with it.
My primary interest in doing so is to see how the defense process works for when I attend graduate school. I am also just genuinely interested in supporting them since we both research the same material and they've been incredibly encouraging and helpful to me.
I know defenses are open to the public, but, in your opinion, would a student attending your defense add more stress or disrupt the process? I just want to make sure I'm not making anything more difficult for them or overstepping a boundary, even though they say they are totally okay with me attending.
thesis students defense
edited 2 hours ago
cag51
17.6k73765
asked 2 hours ago
NicoleNicole
16
New contributor
Nicole is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I'm an undergraduate student at a research one university. My former instructor and current research mentor is defending their dissertation soon. I asked if I could attend and they said they would be fine with it.
My primary interest in doing so is to see how the defense process works for when I attend graduate school. I am also just genuinely interested in supporting them since we both research the same material and they've been incredibly encouraging and helpful to me.
I know defenses are open to the public, but, in your opinion, would a student attending your defense add more stress or disrupt the process? I just want to make sure I'm not making anything more difficult for them or overstepping a boundary, even though they say they are totally okay with me attending.
thesis students defense
thesis students defense
edited 2 hours ago
cag51
17.6k73765
asked 2 hours ago
NicoleNicole
16
New contributor
Nicole is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 2 hours ago
cag51
17.6k73765
asked 2 hours ago
NicoleNicole
16
New contributor
Nicole is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 2 hours ago
cag51
17.6k73765
edited 2 hours ago
cag51
17.6k73765
edited 2 hours ago
cag51
17.6k73765
17.6k73765
asked 2 hours ago
NicoleNicole
16
New contributor
Nicole is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 2 hours ago
NicoleNicole
16
asked 2 hours ago
NicoleNicole
16
16
New contributor
Nicole is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Nicole is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Nicole is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
2
Welcome to Academia.SE. I changed "professor" --> "mentor" ... though undergrads in the US frequently refer to instructors as "their professor," I suspect the person in question is a graduate student and in fact not a professor.
– cag51
2 hours ago
How are you defining "professor"? It could be possible for them to be both, right? It's possible to get an academic position before you finish your PhD; I'm doing a Masters degree, one of my lecturers hasn't finished his PhD yet (though he does have 3.5 years of sessional teaching experience), and he's listed on the university website as "Associate Lecturer".
– nick012000
just now
add a comment |
2
Welcome to Academia.SE. I changed "professor" --> "mentor" ... though undergrads in the US frequently refer to instructors as "their professor," I suspect the person in question is a graduate student and in fact not a professor.
– cag51
2 hours ago
How are you defining "professor"? It could be possible for them to be both, right? It's possible to get an academic position before you finish your PhD; I'm doing a Masters degree, one of my lecturers hasn't finished his PhD yet (though he does have 3.5 years of sessional teaching experience), and he's listed on the university website as "Associate Lecturer".
– nick012000
just now
2
2
Welcome to Academia.SE. I changed "professor" --> "mentor" ... though undergrads in the US frequently refer to instructors as "their professor," I suspect the person in question is a graduate student and in fact not a professor.
– cag51
2 hours ago
Welcome to Academia.SE. I changed "professor" --> "mentor" ... though undergrads in the US frequently refer to instructors as "their professor," I suspect the person in question is a graduate student and in fact not a professor.
– cag51
2 hours ago
How are you defining "professor"? It could be possible for them to be both, right? It's possible to get an academic position before you finish your PhD; I'm doing a Masters degree, one of my lecturers hasn't finished his PhD yet (though he does have 3.5 years of sessional teaching experience), and he's listed on the university website as "Associate Lecturer".
– nick012000
just now
How are you defining "professor"? It could be possible for them to be both, right? It's possible to get an academic position before you finish your PhD; I'm doing a Masters degree, one of my lecturers hasn't finished his PhD yet (though he does have 3.5 years of sessional teaching experience), and he's listed on the university website as "Associate Lecturer".
– nick012000
just now
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
It's fine. As you say, these are open to the public, and it's common for family members, department members, and friends to attend. Since you perhaps are not "firmly" in any of these categories, asking whether it's okay to attend is probably a good idea -- but you've already done this and been given the green light. Enjoy.
answered 2 hours ago
cag51cag51
17.6k73765
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "415"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: true,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: 10,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Nicole is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2facademia.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f127430%2fis-it-inappropriate-for-a-student-to-attend-their-mentors-dissertation-defense%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
It's fine. As you say, these are open to the public, and it's common for family members, department members, and friends to attend. Since you perhaps are not "firmly" in any of these categories, asking whether it's okay to attend is probably a good idea -- but you've already done this and been given the green light. Enjoy.
answered 2 hours ago
cag51cag51
17.6k73765
add a comment |
It's fine. As you say, these are open to the public, and it's common for family members, department members, and friends to attend. Since you perhaps are not "firmly" in any of these categories, asking whether it's okay to attend is probably a good idea -- but you've already done this and been given the green light. Enjoy.
answered 2 hours ago
cag51cag51
17.6k73765
add a comment |
It's fine. As you say, these are open to the public, and it's common for family members, department members, and friends to attend. Since you perhaps are not "firmly" in any of these categories, asking whether it's okay to attend is probably a good idea -- but you've already done this and been given the green light. Enjoy.
answered 2 hours ago
cag51cag51
17.6k73765
It's fine. As you say, these are open to the public, and it's common for family members, department members, and friends to attend. Since you perhaps are not "firmly" in any of these categories, asking whether it's okay to attend is probably a good idea -- but you've already done this and been given the green light. Enjoy.
answered 2 hours ago
cag51cag51
17.6k73765
answered 2 hours ago
cag51cag51
17.6k73765
answered 2 hours ago
cag51cag51
17.6k73765
answered 2 hours ago
cag51cag51
17.6k73765
17.6k73765
add a comment |
add a comment |
Nicole is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Nicole is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Nicole is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Nicole is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to Academia Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2facademia.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f127430%2fis-it-inappropriate-for-a-student-to-attend-their-mentors-dissertation-defense%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
2
Welcome to Academia.SE. I changed "professor" --> "mentor" ... though undergrads in the US frequently refer to instructors as "their professor," I suspect the person in question is a graduate student and in fact not a professor.
– cag51
2 hours ago
How are you defining "professor"? It could be possible for them to be both, right? It's possible to get an academic position before you finish your PhD; I'm doing a Masters degree, one of my lecturers hasn't finished his PhD yet (though he does have 3.5 years of sessional teaching experience), and he's listed on the university website as "Associate Lecturer".
– nick012000
just now