My advisor left in the middle of my dissertation, and it was very scary at first. One of my committee members became my marvelous, supportive, and super smart co-advisor. And my original advisor flew in for the weekend for my defense. May your trauma be transformed in similar ways.
Thanks! I hope it works out, too. There are so many issues to deal with because my school has a weird committee set up, where one supervisor comes from another area school that is part of this Tri-University co-op, basically, that formed. She can't be my advisor because she's not from my school. The other committee member is going on leave, so that's not a good idea, plus he's not a great fit. In my department, there is one other Scottish historian, but she's a medievalist and just got a visiting professorship at St Andrews for a few months, so I don't know if she'd be willing. It would be fantastic if she did, though, because we already have a great relationship and she is a fantastic mentor. There's just a lot to consider. I hope it works out, so that my dissertation doesn't need too many major changes to appease the new supervisor. It's so late in the game that that would kind of suck and just delay things further.
Oh, dear. That does, indeed, have the potential to throw a wrench in the works (peripatetic advisors is one explanation for why I took so long to finish; there are others, but the problem is real).
Going just on the information you've given, I'd try hard to persuade the medievalist to work with you, even if it means getting a bit less, or a bit slower, feedback. Someone with whom you have a great relationship, and who is and probably will continue to be a great mentor in the years to come, sounds like a real plus.
I agree and I hope this works out. I don't want to end up with a non-Scottish historian as my advisor of record because the entire reason I braved five Canadian winters was the Scottish history program. I'm still fighting to keep my advisor as the advisor of record, but trying to remain positive that if I get the medievalist it will work out. If I don't get the medievalist, well, then the fight will get more serious. Fortunately, the chair has already emailed me to assure me that he doesn't think there will be any great roadblocks administratively, but I don't know what that means exactly. I don't think anyone does yet.
I emailed my chair today, thanking him for the reassuring email and asking if my advisor would be able to remain my advisor of record, since I only chose my school because of him and the Centre for Scottish Studies. After a loooong day of total email silence from the chair and my advisor, I was ready to die of nerves. But, in my final email check of the night, I just had fantastic news from my advisor. He is going to stay on as an adjunct for the department, which means he remains my advisor of record. What's more is that the medievalist will probably join my committee right before the defense to replace my third committee member due to administrative craziness (honestly, that's the best way to describe it).
It's the best possible outcome and I'm so happy! Hooray!
My advisor left in the middle of my dissertation, and it was very scary at first. One of my committee members became my marvelous, supportive, and super smart co-advisor. And my original advisor flew in for the weekend for my defense. May your trauma be transformed in similar ways.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I hope it works out, too. There are so many issues to deal with because my school has a weird committee set up, where one supervisor comes from another area school that is part of this Tri-University co-op, basically, that formed. She can't be my advisor because she's not from my school. The other committee member is going on leave, so that's not a good idea, plus he's not a great fit. In my department, there is one other Scottish historian, but she's a medievalist and just got a visiting professorship at St Andrews for a few months, so I don't know if she'd be willing. It would be fantastic if she did, though, because we already have a great relationship and she is a fantastic mentor. There's just a lot to consider. I hope it works out, so that my dissertation doesn't need too many major changes to appease the new supervisor. It's so late in the game that that would kind of suck and just delay things further.
ReplyDeleteOh, dear. That does, indeed, have the potential to throw a wrench in the works (peripatetic advisors is one explanation for why I took so long to finish; there are others, but the problem is real).
ReplyDeleteGoing just on the information you've given, I'd try hard to persuade the medievalist to work with you, even if it means getting a bit less, or a bit slower, feedback. Someone with whom you have a great relationship, and who is and probably will continue to be a great mentor in the years to come, sounds like a real plus.
I agree and I hope this works out. I don't want to end up with a non-Scottish historian as my advisor of record because the entire reason I braved five Canadian winters was the Scottish history program. I'm still fighting to keep my advisor as the advisor of record, but trying to remain positive that if I get the medievalist it will work out. If I don't get the medievalist, well, then the fight will get more serious. Fortunately, the chair has already emailed me to assure me that he doesn't think there will be any great roadblocks administratively, but I don't know what that means exactly. I don't think anyone does yet.
ReplyDeleteKeep us posted! I hope it all works to your benefit.
ReplyDeleteI emailed my chair today, thanking him for the reassuring email and asking if my advisor would be able to remain my advisor of record, since I only chose my school because of him and the Centre for Scottish Studies. After a loooong day of total email silence from the chair and my advisor, I was ready to die of nerves. But, in my final email check of the night, I just had fantastic news from my advisor. He is going to stay on as an adjunct for the department, which means he remains my advisor of record. What's more is that the medievalist will probably join my committee right before the defense to replace my third committee member due to administrative craziness (honestly, that's the best way to describe it).
ReplyDeleteIt's the best possible outcome and I'm so happy! Hooray!