percival

If you have a piece of written work - especially a dissertation - and your supervisor asks you repeatedly (once every couple of weeks) to SHOW HER your progress, then DO SO.

I just saw a dissertation that was an ok rough first draft with 2 week's polishing left to do. Submission date Friday lunch time. Student was away, couldn't really access e-mail. Returned August 28. Never gave me a sample of the written work he'd already completed before he left - even though I specifically asked for it. Never gave me a timeline for when he'd be back, never requested a meeting.

ARGH! That could have been a distinction, man! Now, in a half-hour meeting, which *I* had rather forcefully requested, all I could do was to prevent a few big clangers. See, the guy hadn't written his conclusion yet ...

I hope he'll pass. I told him he'd be fine - to counteract the telling off I had to give him for not BLOODY contacting me earlier.

But, as far as I've been told, it's the student's responsibility to contact the supervisor, get to their e-mail, and make sure they can stay in touch with their supervisor, and not the other way around.