Making advisor relations work

Back from Spring Break and here we seniors are, many of us with about two weeks to go until we hand in our magnum opus, the thesis. We're at the point where our thesis, if it hasn't already, is now taking over our life, trumping every other responsibility. I, for one, forget that there are non-seniors who aren't working on and thinking about a thesis all the time.

Naturally, there are the underclassmen, for whom theses are a somewhat distant presence, looming in the background but not pressing by any means. Those whom many other seniors and I forget most, however, are our advisers, the professors for whom our senior thesis is just one of many projects.

Since my thesis has become just about the only thing that I think about (well, that, and perhaps getting a job for next year), it is hard for me to imagine that my adviser isn't similarly obsessed. I am fortunate to have an adviser that responds to my emails, reads my drafts, gives copious comments and is willing to spend time discussing problems and issues that I have with my work. Friends of mine, however, aren't all so lucky. Take, for instance, my friend in the History department. She has been giving her advisor drafts of chapters, in twenty to thirty page installments over the course of the past two months. She has been emailing him with questions, possible meeting times and concerns. The day before Spring Break was the first substantial response she had received since January. She does note, however, that, when he did finally respond to her, it was with many relevant and helpful comments. She only wishes he had offered them earlier in her writing process.

From talking with other seniors, I know that my friend's experience is not an anomaly. The split seems to be 50/50 between seniors with great, responsive advisers and those with almost recalcitrant and reticent readers. The problem seems to be twofold. As this is the culmination of our academic experience so far, we seniors have much invested in the process and want as much attention as possible. For the advisers, as I have noted, this is just one of many projects — and probably not even the most important one.

The key, I think, is communication. From the beginning, my adviser told me that he sometimes needs to be prodded so not to hesitate to make demands of him. His point was that he is busy and has a lot of work but that he does want to help me with my own project. I think that we seniors must realize that we are not, as we surmise, the most important people in the world, that we are not always at the center of our adviser's attention. Advisers also have to realize that the thesis is very important for us. From the moment we have gotten to Princeton, thesis-talk has been ubiquitous, thus amplifying the importance of what is really just a long (well, really long) paper.

Perhaps if seniors stop expecting to always be center stage, and advisers stop pushing us off into the wings, we might be able to reach a mutually beneficial method of working. Advisers, make it clear that you have a lot of other work but that you want to help us with our thesis; but do give us some attention, we are working hard and deserve it. Seniors, don't be afraid to make demands on your adviser similar to those they make on you. To work at this level and produce something worthwhile requires that the normal student-professor hierarchy shift somewhat to a more equal footing — perhaps a scary prospect but a necessary one. Otherwise, a situation can occur where a seemingly tyrannical adviser refuses or only begrudgingly reads drafts, while a desperate senior throws childlike temper tantrums on Firestone's B-Floor. Professors may seem like the demigods on campus and to them we may be mere munchkins, but click your heels together and see that we're all adults here and I think we can treat each other as such.