Matthew's Journal

I have just passed a very pleasant weekend away in Kent, but didn't sleep terribly well (despite being a party-pooper every night :s ), so am left feeling a bit brain-dead today. Accordingly, I've spent some time fighting the joy that is University paperwork.

First, I wanted to apply for appointment of my examiners. Unlike just about everything else, you can't do this through CamSIS (you only discover this after much digging through menus); instead, you have to phone the degree committee (at Addies), and they then email you a Word document that won't print terribly well on a Mac. You fill this out, and post it (along with three copies of your th*s*s summary) to said degree committee. No-where on this form do you specify who you want your examiners to be. Apparantly, when they get this paperwork, they will write to your Head of Department, who will ask your supervisor who they want to be examiners; if the HoD approves (and the degree committee doesn't overturn that approval), then the examiners are asked if they are willing.

Secondly, I wanted to apply to be allowed to include a CD in my th*s*s (I'm going to release some of the software to the scientific community at large); there is a form in CamSIS for this. You tick a button to specify you want to include a CD, and then have to add some further text. Then you get sent a PDF form by email, which you have to print out, fill in (another rationale box has appeared), and get signed by (in order), your supervisor, your head of department, your degree committee, and the board of graduate studies. It's all a bit silly - couldn't all the "I approve" things be done online?

Pizza tonight, as I'm not feeling up to climbing.

Tomorrow I must arrange removers...