Why is the public so clueless on university systems? :( academia.stackexchange.com/q/49589/32575 So frustrating for a former member of a university board of directors: we are/were clearly fighting against windmills.

Hello folks

I've got a question that.. I dont really want to put on the main site, basically about what the appropriate escalation process is for an adviser who is very unresponsive/slow

Hi all

I have a software engineering research question. Please in which one of the stackexchange site should I ask it? Thanks

@cProg might be Programmers, Computer Science, Stack Overflow, or any of several others depending on what the question is. I wouldn't know which site exactly.

@enderland It depends what kind of outcome you are hoping for. Is this a masters/PhD advisor? Are there other potential advisors in the department, in case the next steps sour your relationship with current advisor? Would you prefer a new advisor, or would you prefer a more responsive co-advisor, or something else?

@ff524 masters; maybe though not really with the expertise to "evaluate" the thesis; I'm not really sure... my adviser would take me switching major professors very poorly however

I do have a co-adviser, technically, but not really one who has been super engaged throughout the process

@enderland would it be possible to get the co-advisor more involved?

The "cleanest" way to deal with a collaboration that isn't working (in my experience), is to make a note to avoid working with that person again in the future,

And in the meantime, to try and get what you're not getting from your collaborator from someone else

@ff524 maybe, the last time I emailed my committee mentioning delays I got a, ah, "stern talking to" from my advisor

@ff524 as I understand it, my thesis is basically done at this point and I just need the blessing of my adviser (though in this case: him reading it)

Hmmm, I think we've had a question like that before

Let me see if I can find it

Over the past about two years, I have only been responsible for the "next steps" for my thesis for about 55% of the time, and that includes me essentially rewriting the entire thing...

I've now been waiting for four months to hear back (I've pinged several times)

@ff524 thanks!

Well, this isn't the one I was thinking of, but it's relevant

I think the key is:

1. Give a timeline

2. Give a reason for the timeline that advisor can't blame on you

As suggested in

hmm

It could work :)

I supposedly was going to hear back in July... so the timeline part was there

I haven't really tried the (2) part, but my intuition tells me that will end poorly (given my adviser)

Is there some policy in your program about the timeline of study?

Visa issues?

Job search?

@ff524 maybe the timeline of study

All those things could work as external pressures

technically I should have this finished based on my last position in my company, where I was paid higher because of my advanced degree (but since I've taken a new position already... I'm not sure that is as important)

Are you paying for every semester you're officially enrolled?

No, I stopped that when I realized without confirmation of a defense date I'm not going to pay a penny

I'll pay the "late registration" penalty or whatever it is to officially register in the middle of a semester

I think you should dig around and find a policy that sets a deadline your advisor can't ignore

@ff524 well if I go by the only deadline I can find it is Fall 2017 (my courses start expiring then, I guess)

I guess we're moving (though only 3 hours away), maybe that would be a help?

the problem with this is my adviser has always done things on his schedule, regardless of external influences (unless they give money to the department...) - students are very low priority and always have been

unfortunately I didn't realize this until too late, but meh

Well, it doesn't sound like you want to "escalate" anyways

Because your advisor is easily angered, it sounds like...

I'd like to avoid that at all costs, my adviser would handle that incredibly poorly and probably make this process even worse

So your only option is to trick your advisor into doing his job

i don't know what "all costs" is yet

I'm getting pretty frustrated that I basically rewrote my entire thesis, and haven't heard back with any feedback at all for 4 months

Do you really need his feedback? Or just his signature

@ff524 his blessing to defend (and get the signature)

Perhaps you can get feedback from others,

I've considered emailing my coadvisor (who has been very uninvolved with thesis, though more of "advising" for grad school) asking what I would need to do to change my program from a thesis to something else (creative component? etc)

It sounds like the co-advisor could be a useful resource for you

but that is a pretty hefty escalation unfortunately

Would it be possible for you to make a non-threatening meeting with both advisors?

And "casually" bring up timeline during that meeting

@ff524 maaaybe, I'm not sure - I've been off campus working FT for 2.5 years now

I think that's all the ideas I have :(

Hmm. Maybe I could just visit campus (I live in the town currently) and talk with whichever person is there

Try it. People sitting in your office are harder to ignore than people who keep sending you email :)

It's incredibly frustrating, he wants to micromanage but... can't because he's too busy

C'est la vie though

Hmmm, looks like I could probably take a 3 credit course which requires a "capstone project" type of thing and switch to that instead of a thesis based masters?

I'd much rather the known additional work than dealing with this cluster@#%# another unknown amount of time

That sounds crazy, if you've already written the thesis...

The amount of extra work would probably be worth knowing I am actually going to be done on a specific date, and that if not, it's 100% my responsibility

if anything that should show you the depths of my frustration, heh