3
.
Parties Impacted by the Delay in
Completing a Thesis
Three immediate parties are impacted by
the student delaying in completion of their
thesis: student advisees; advising faculty
members; and the graduate school of business.
-
Student Advisees:
Up to the point where the student decides
whether to choose Plan A (non thesis option),
the student’s study plan is detailed and
scheduled. However, at the end of trimester 2
students must decide whether to continue
under Plan A or Plan B
so that they can
preregister for their third trimester. If a student
selects Plan A then he/she continues with a
clearly
-
defined study schedule. However, if a
student chooses Plan B (thesis option) his/her
study schedule is more flexible and new to the
st
udents who may be unable or unwilling to
apply themselves to finishing their thesis in the
expected trimesters four and five.
Students entering the TRM MBA
program may either be working full or part
-
time or they may commence working during
the first two tr
imesters or begin employment in
their third trimester, when they think they have
sufficient time to undertake both paid work
and their thesis. It appears that at that point,
the challenge of managing both work and a
thesis overwhelms some of them.
It is b
elieved by this writer that the
principal reason students undertake
employment whilst studying is pecuniary.
Unless a student is on a scholarship or has
parents supporting him/her, he/she lives a
frugal life during his/her first two trimesters.
However, st
udents see an escape as they enter
their third trimester, by engaging in paid
employment. This comment applies to both
Thai and foreign students.
In this writer’s experience, a secondary
reason to undertake paid employment at this
stage of their studies i
s to gain some practical
working experience, so that when students
graduate, they have some proven working
experience behind them.
Students from China often undertake paid
work as tutors of Chinese language to Thai
students or to business people wishing to
become fluent in Chinese for their business
purposes. Alternatively Chinese students earn
good money as translators to Thai businesses
engaged in import or export with Chinese
companies
.
Students from Iran are under added
financial pressure because sancti
ons on their
country by the international community have
devalued their currency by around fifty
percent and remittances from home are very
strictly controlled by the Iranian government.
Many Iranian students who would not
otherwise work whilst studying a
re forced to
do so by this dire financial situation.
Students from the former Soviet Union or