Quotes from alumni buddies
"As a GEMMA and CEU alumna, I know the pressure of thesis gets higher every minute starting from February/March. I am here for you and will try my best to be with you during this period." - Shehreen Ataur Khan (GENS '19)
"Overall, I'm quite happy to be involved with this initiative and I hope this grows further. More and more Universities should also follow this wonderful approach." - Raunaq Jaiswal (LEGS '20)
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO VOLUNTEERED AS A THESIS BUDDY IN AY2021-22. THE PROGRAM WILL BE RELAUNCHED IN THE SPRING OF 2023. PLEASE REFRAIN FROM CREATING ANY NEW BUDDY PROFILES UNTIL THEN.
Founded in 2020, the Thesis Buddies Project was established to pair CEU students with alumni “buddies” to encourage and help them maintain focus to submit their theses on time. In its first two years, the initiative paired nearly 100 students with alumni buddies. Read last year’s story.
While this academic year students have been able to return to in-class teaching, we believe that they can still benefit from a helping hand from alumni during a highly stressful period.
HOW IT WORKS:
Roles: A “thesis buddy” is a CEU alum who helps students through their thesis writing. Thesis Buddies do not substitute students’ official thesis supervisors, nor are they expected to provide significant feedback on the actual thesis topic. A Buddy's role is that of a support person, to check in with the student regularly, occasionally proofread, and help the students reach milestones and overcome writer’s block if necessary. More substantial feedback and proofing, by an alum with expertise on the subject, is welcome but not obligatory.
Duration: The project is expected to last until June 1, 2022, but can be extended by mutual agreement (e.g. if a thesis deadline extension is granted).
Assignment: This year, we are piloting a new matching platform where alumni can create their Thesis Buddy profiles and students can approach alumni directly for a match.
Process:
For alumni: Visit this link to create your Thesis Buddy profile. For detailed instructions on how to create, edit and delete your Thesis Buddy profile, as well as everything you need to know about the program, please refer to the Thesis Buddy Alumni Guide below.
For students: Visit this link to see the available Thesis Buddy profiles and approach them. Make sure you are logged in with your CEU account to the Office 365 service (use your CEU email address and password to login if you are prompted for credentials). For detailed instructions on how to match with a Thesis Buddy, as well as everything you need to know about the program, please refer to the Thesis Buddy Student Guide below.
