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professional means more than having completed a research project to a
satisfactory standard: it means being able to contribute fully to academic
life. It is part of the supervisor s job to help students prepare for this.
This preparation entails encouraging your students to give seminars on
their research and related topics and to attend seminars that others are
giving. It means helping them gain the confidence to question and com-
ment on what has been presented by the speaker. Research students
should also gain experience of attending conferences, speaking from the
floor (as they have learned to do in seminars) and giving papers of their
own.
These papers may be of an appropriate standard for publication, in
which case you, as the supervisor, must initiate the students into the
secrets of getting their work published in reputable journals. You could
also give them a helping hand by introducing them to your own network
of contacts and encouraging them to get in touch with colleagues who are
working in their area of interest. In addition, you should facilitate their
progression into academic life by trying to give them occasional tutoring
work and letting them know when further teaching possibilities are
offered for example, a weekend or summer-school post.
Giving such support to your students will not take up very much of your
time and energy. When there is a conference you want to go to, all you
HOW TO SUPERVISE AND EXAMINE 165
have to do is mention it to them and perhaps sign an official request for
help with their expenses. Similarly, inviting them to lunch with you once
or twice when you are meeting a friend from another university does not
make much of a demand on you, yet it has dividends for the students out
of all proportion to the effort needed.
Supervising non-traditional students
Supervisors need some understanding of, and sympathy for, the difficul-
ties that non-traditional students face. By non-traditional we mean any of
those student groups covered in Chapter 9. There we discuss these prob-
lems fully, primarily from the point of view of the student. In this section
we discuss these issues from the perspective of the supervisor, assuming
that you have made yourself familiar with the appropriate section of
Chapter 9. By becoming aware of issues that these students are facing,
supervisors will be in a position to offer support and information when,
for example, overseas or disabled students have to be pointed in the
direction of appropriate people or organizations for assistance.
Part-time students
Part-time students are now in a majority in many disciplines where
appropriate arrangements are made for their requirements. But in those
disciplines where they are still in a minority, supervisors should ensure
that they are not disadvantaged. Even when they are no longer a minority,
part-time students still have particular difficulties because most of their
life is spent not as a student.
Problems of access
Opening hours of academic and support facilities in the university are not
necessarily consistent with part-timers need to use them. Library times,
for example, should be extended so that students who are not available
during usual working hours can still gain access to books and journals.
Access to such amenities as computers, use of the Internet and assistance
from statistical services is more difficult for them than for full-time
students
Part-timers may also suffer from a lack of opportunity to meet others
because of the restricted time they have available to spend at university. As
well as limiting their exchange of information with peers, they can be
further disadvantaged if communication of changed locations or can-
celled seminars does not reach them in time. There are also limits to their
being effectively represented at staff student or postgraduate meetings
166 HOW TO GET A PhD
owing to their contact hours being outside the university s normal work-
ing hours. As supervisor you should ensure that arrangements are made
for them to have all the access that they need.
As we point out in Chapter 9, part-time students may have to arrange to
work fewer hours and therefore rely on less income. Supervisors must
ensure that the Registry is satisfied that the student will not suffer extreme
hardship nor be overlooked for possible financial support.
Organizing work
In the case of part-time students, time allocation is a common cause of
stress. The main psychological difficulty experienced by them is that of
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