Next big thing: the dissertation presentations

With the Athena Swan application out of the way, and Easter also behind me, I needed to get on with the next big thing: the dissertation presentations. Firstly, I had to make a program. I always have to do an inventory of which staff is available when; the event stretches over two days. And there are always staff who have other things on as well. So I have to plan the sessions around that. This year it also involved a third day for staff who were away on a scientific conference the entire week. 

This year, there was also an issue with students having other things on. This has happened before, but that year, it was a small selection of the students who were double-booked. This year it was the majority! I can’t plan around that. The other engagements would have to go. 

With all that sorted, and the sessions organised, I had to prepare all the paperwork. Flesh out the sessions, with all students given a slot, and prepare a conference booklet with all talks and their abstracts in them, to be ready on the day. 

It was conspicuous that just two weeks before the event, only one student had an extension. I was wondering if that number would skyrocket in the last days. Last year, in the end, 23% of the students had an extension. But I hope last year was just a bad year in that respect. If the sessions are half empty, it’s a bit bleak. But I will soon find out how this year goes…