Dissertation presentations!

After Easter, my biggest job is sorting out the dissertation presentations! And on Monday morning they kicked off. I had made sure I was presenting on the Tuesday; that way I had my hands free to do some herding of cats the first day and a half, if necessary. I arrived at the hall in the morning, and made sure everybody knew which room they were supposed to be in, and that every room had the paperwork that was needed.

What seemed to be missing was people. This year was considerably smaller than the previous one, and there are also students every year who can’t present on the day, because, for instance, they are ill. I'm not sure if we had more people absent with a good reason than the previous year, but it sure felt a lot emptier! And then there are always also student who just don't show up.

The terrace of Reichel Hall where it all took place

That little table in the corner was my office for the day

Most sessions had a maximum of 12 students. I don't think any of them was complete, but the spread was  remarkable. My session was quite big: it could've had 13 students, and only 2 didn't show up. But on the same day, there was a session with only 3 students in it. That is a bit disappointing. 

With this many students not there, I also ended up having ordered a bit too much catering for the first day. Luckily, they were flexible, and let me change the order for the second day. I now have some leftover brownies from day one in my fridge!

By the end of the second day, me and my other marker were the last ones standing. That's what you get with a big session. We stayed on to agree marks. And then we left the entirely deserted building! And there will be a lot of catch up sessions for the students who couldn't be there. But the big, centrally organised event is now over. 

I was wondering if next year we might actually be able to do it in Ocean Sciences itself. That is a lot cheaper! And I think it will fit. Next year doesn't look like it's going to be a very big year either. I'll have to discuss that with someone!

The next thing I needed to do was sort out all the administration for the marking of the actual dissertations. These would come in on the Friday of the same week. And after that they would only be one week of term left!