Ok, so I have had the hardest time communicating with my committee this summer. I had my fieldwork proposal meeting days before I left for Barbados, so I should have been fresh in my committee's mind. I had some correspondence at the beginning when I was trying to figure out if I could get a project out of my fieldwork. After receiving some preliminary comments, I wrote a full blown project proposal and emailed it off. Since then (almost a month ago) I have heard nothing. Nothing. Rosemary did catch up on a few emails and gave me feedback on a survey that I had already distributed, but no mention of the proposal. In short, I am frustrated. I'm down to my last week and doing interviews, transcribing them, analyzing survey data, and writing the final report...and still no word from my committee. I have sent numerous emails with no response. My question is, how has communication been for you? Is anyone else experiencing this? I am thinking of organizing my thoughts and compiling thoughts from others (if you guys have had any troubles or have input) and talking to Mike to about it. I have felt very alone in this fieldwork/project process and have received little support from faculty. I feel that if BYU wants us to have worthwhile experiences, they need to provide support and networking. Please send me your thoughts either through comments on the blog or email me. I want to know about your experiences and to know if my case was simply an anomoly before talking to Mike.
Good luck with everything!!!
Who knows how this is going to come back and bite me, but I was incredibly frustrated with even finding a fieldwork. I felt like it was poorly explained where to look for a fieldwork and then when I thought I'd found something, my committee would say ok, but then once I would start moving toward it they would say, no actually this is a terrible idea. I finally gave up and did the most boring thing in the world...and then dropped out. While I think the faculty is nice and supportive, I don't feel I was guided.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you guys, though my experience wasnt quite as frustrating as what the two of you faced. it was difficult to find fieldwork, most places wouldnt even look at my resume since they had never heard of the program or the faculty. i also felt like when i found opportunities i had to pass them up for something bigger and better in order to "reach my potential", in the end the process was so frustrating that i just wanted to give up. I found other faculty much more willing to help and offer suggestions so that was helpful but i think it may have created a few problems with my committee. As for the project i cant say i have too many problems except that actually finding something my committee will approve has been challenging, i think i finally found something so cross your fingers. I just felt like expectations were vague and there wasnt really any direction about how to accomplish it.
ReplyDeleteMy committee was very good about attending meetings that I requested, but rarely did they read my proposal or other documents. I think my chair has been very good about communicating... he answers within a day of my emailing him, and has requested that we communicate by phone.
ReplyDeleteMy project was actually a suggestion by a faculty member not on my committee, so that was awesome. I think I lucked out with that one.
Maybe try phone communication. Each faculty has a slightly different style, so you might need to adjust accordingly. Older, more experienced faculty may also be busier and less able to spend time advising than the younger folks.
Josh has been great as a committee chair- i think it´s because he remembers what it was like. The only difficulty has been that he doesn´t always know the way things work or the options for electives, for example. It´s worked out, though, and we´ve both learned through the process. Len and Carl have been supportive and have given me good feedback. They take a bit longer to get back with me, but have been willing to help in what they can.
ReplyDeleteI think extra help at finding options for fieldwork and projects would have been helpful...I had no idea where to even begin, except with PAHO.