Is it inappropriate for a student to attend their mentor's dissertation defense?












3















I'm an undergraduate student at a research one university. My former instructor and current research mentor is defending their dissertation soon. I asked if I could attend and they said they would be fine with it.



My primary interest in doing so is to see how the defense process works for when I attend graduate school. I am also just genuinely interested in supporting them since we both research the same material and they've been incredibly encouraging and helpful to me.



I know defenses are open to the public, but, in your opinion, would a student attending your defense add more stress or disrupt the process? I just want to make sure I'm not making anything more difficult for them or overstepping a boundary, even though they say they are totally okay with me attending.










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    Welcome to Academia.SE. I changed "professor" --> "mentor" ... though undergrads in the US frequently refer to instructors as "their professor," I suspect the person in question is a graduate student and in fact not a professor.

    – cag51
    2 hours ago













  • How are you defining "professor"? It could be possible for them to be both, right? It's possible to get an academic position before you finish your PhD; I'm doing a Masters degree, one of my lecturers hasn't finished his PhD yet (though he does have 3.5 years of sessional teaching experience), and he's listed on the university website as "Associate Lecturer".

    – nick012000
    10 mins ago
















3















I'm an undergraduate student at a research one university. My former instructor and current research mentor is defending their dissertation soon. I asked if I could attend and they said they would be fine with it.



My primary interest in doing so is to see how the defense process works for when I attend graduate school. I am also just genuinely interested in supporting them since we both research the same material and they've been incredibly encouraging and helpful to me.



I know defenses are open to the public, but, in your opinion, would a student attending your defense add more stress or disrupt the process? I just want to make sure I'm not making anything more difficult for them or overstepping a boundary, even though they say they are totally okay with me attending.










share|improve this question









New contributor




Nicole is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
















  • 2





    Welcome to Academia.SE. I changed "professor" --> "mentor" ... though undergrads in the US frequently refer to instructors as "their professor," I suspect the person in question is a graduate student and in fact not a professor.

    – cag51
    2 hours ago













  • How are you defining "professor"? It could be possible for them to be both, right? It's possible to get an academic position before you finish your PhD; I'm doing a Masters degree, one of my lecturers hasn't finished his PhD yet (though he does have 3.5 years of sessional teaching experience), and he's listed on the university website as "Associate Lecturer".

    – nick012000
    10 mins ago














3












3








3








I'm an undergraduate student at a research one university. My former instructor and current research mentor is defending their dissertation soon. I asked if I could attend and they said they would be fine with it.



My primary interest in doing so is to see how the defense process works for when I attend graduate school. I am also just genuinely interested in supporting them since we both research the same material and they've been incredibly encouraging and helpful to me.



I know defenses are open to the public, but, in your opinion, would a student attending your defense add more stress or disrupt the process? I just want to make sure I'm not making anything more difficult for them or overstepping a boundary, even though they say they are totally okay with me attending.










share|improve this question









New contributor




Nicole is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.












I'm an undergraduate student at a research one university. My former instructor and current research mentor is defending their dissertation soon. I asked if I could attend and they said they would be fine with it.



My primary interest in doing so is to see how the defense process works for when I attend graduate school. I am also just genuinely interested in supporting them since we both research the same material and they've been incredibly encouraging and helpful to me.



I know defenses are open to the public, but, in your opinion, would a student attending your defense add more stress or disrupt the process? I just want to make sure I'm not making anything more difficult for them or overstepping a boundary, even though they say they are totally okay with me attending.







thesis students defense






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share|improve this question









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Check out our Code of Conduct.









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edited 2 hours ago









cag51

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asked 3 hours ago









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Nicole is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






Nicole is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.








  • 2





    Welcome to Academia.SE. I changed "professor" --> "mentor" ... though undergrads in the US frequently refer to instructors as "their professor," I suspect the person in question is a graduate student and in fact not a professor.

    – cag51
    2 hours ago













  • How are you defining "professor"? It could be possible for them to be both, right? It's possible to get an academic position before you finish your PhD; I'm doing a Masters degree, one of my lecturers hasn't finished his PhD yet (though he does have 3.5 years of sessional teaching experience), and he's listed on the university website as "Associate Lecturer".

    – nick012000
    10 mins ago














  • 2





    Welcome to Academia.SE. I changed "professor" --> "mentor" ... though undergrads in the US frequently refer to instructors as "their professor," I suspect the person in question is a graduate student and in fact not a professor.

    – cag51
    2 hours ago













  • How are you defining "professor"? It could be possible for them to be both, right? It's possible to get an academic position before you finish your PhD; I'm doing a Masters degree, one of my lecturers hasn't finished his PhD yet (though he does have 3.5 years of sessional teaching experience), and he's listed on the university website as "Associate Lecturer".

    – nick012000
    10 mins ago








2




2





Welcome to Academia.SE. I changed "professor" --> "mentor" ... though undergrads in the US frequently refer to instructors as "their professor," I suspect the person in question is a graduate student and in fact not a professor.

– cag51
2 hours ago







Welcome to Academia.SE. I changed "professor" --> "mentor" ... though undergrads in the US frequently refer to instructors as "their professor," I suspect the person in question is a graduate student and in fact not a professor.

– cag51
2 hours ago















How are you defining "professor"? It could be possible for them to be both, right? It's possible to get an academic position before you finish your PhD; I'm doing a Masters degree, one of my lecturers hasn't finished his PhD yet (though he does have 3.5 years of sessional teaching experience), and he's listed on the university website as "Associate Lecturer".

– nick012000
10 mins ago





How are you defining "professor"? It could be possible for them to be both, right? It's possible to get an academic position before you finish your PhD; I'm doing a Masters degree, one of my lecturers hasn't finished his PhD yet (though he does have 3.5 years of sessional teaching experience), and he's listed on the university website as "Associate Lecturer".

– nick012000
10 mins ago










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It's fine. As you say, these are open to the public, and it's common for family members, department members, and friends to attend. Since you perhaps are not "firmly" in any of these categories, asking whether it's okay to attend is probably a good idea -- but you've already done this and been given the green light. Enjoy.






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    7














    It's fine. As you say, these are open to the public, and it's common for family members, department members, and friends to attend. Since you perhaps are not "firmly" in any of these categories, asking whether it's okay to attend is probably a good idea -- but you've already done this and been given the green light. Enjoy.






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      7














      It's fine. As you say, these are open to the public, and it's common for family members, department members, and friends to attend. Since you perhaps are not "firmly" in any of these categories, asking whether it's okay to attend is probably a good idea -- but you've already done this and been given the green light. Enjoy.






      share|improve this answer


























        7












        7








        7







        It's fine. As you say, these are open to the public, and it's common for family members, department members, and friends to attend. Since you perhaps are not "firmly" in any of these categories, asking whether it's okay to attend is probably a good idea -- but you've already done this and been given the green light. Enjoy.






        share|improve this answer













        It's fine. As you say, these are open to the public, and it's common for family members, department members, and friends to attend. Since you perhaps are not "firmly" in any of these categories, asking whether it's okay to attend is probably a good idea -- but you've already done this and been given the green light. Enjoy.







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered 2 hours ago









        cag51cag51

        17.6k73765




        17.6k73765






















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