Bazuka
July 31, 2019, 10:23am
21
TrumanCapote:
When I embarked on my journey for higher learning I thought it was only my cohort going through challenges till I met with several students in various public universities going through very hard time. Lemme just talk about a few issues that Ive heard of or personally come across.
Problems getting a supervisor especially if in satellite campus: It is possible to stay for upto 2 years with out a supervisor. In my case, we were given names and numbers . Matter of fact all 5 of us were given one supervisor who at the time was an MD somewhere and also running for the senate. Then when that one did not work out we were given the numbers of other supervisors. Who completely ignored our calls and emails for about a year and a half. They would hide from us. Tell their secretaries they dont want to see us. At the end of my rope , and I was the class rep I went to see the Principal of the School , a very understanding and sombre older gentleman who made it clear to me that he had made an exception to see me because he doesnt see people without atleast a month prior appointment. When I told him its going to 2 years after course work. And after camping outside offices and stalking the supervisors whose numbers were randomly given we are none the better off for it.Still at square 1. So the gentleman told me I am telling you as I would my own child, these lecturers are terrible and if I get involved what will happen is they will victimise you for it. He then proceeded to tell me of a staff in that university who was doing a PhD and had a falling out with one of his supervisors. The supervisors poisoined all other dons ,the man took a good 12 years of being frustrated and bounced around to finally graduate. He therefore advised to trend softly and handle the dons with care because they could be lethal if I did not opt to ‘bembeleza’ them .
Financial and other favours: Supervisors have developed a knack for extortion. They extort money out of students to supervise them, they even compel students to get internships and jobs for their kin. I know of a guy who paid 200k in cash to a UON don to be supervised. As if that wasnt enough, the guy would ask him to mpesa the don money for fuel and his stalled construction projects after the fact. I had a classmate himself a lecturer , who would spend 30-50k a weekend entertaining his supervisor and the company he would be in. Its just an unwritten rule in Kenyan academia that if you meet your supervisor at any establishment which alot of the time they insist on meeting students in , you the student pay for him and whatever company he will have . For all their drinks and food and whatever else they may want because if you do not, you may end up being blocked by them or never hearing back from them for your work. I will be very honest and say that I myself have paid those bills and also gotten internships and jobs for a supervisor’s people. My collegues who werent as cooperative have not graduated for the last 7 years ,most have abandoned the course altgether after paying aboout 500k for fees and went on to do their masters and PhDs elsewhere forgettting about the course we did because to them its just not worth the trouble. I even heard of a student at Moi University whose supervisor would not meet him anywhere but at a pub then the don would order a crate of beer and discuss the thesis until he got too inebriated . Btw it is not only your supervisors that expect bribes. Their secretary and the staff who move your documents from the department to the board of post graduate studies. The staff there also need bribes to find your document and to move it along for a defence date. Every student I have encountered who had a difficult supervisor, once I advised them to do shopping for the supervisor especially if its a female supervisor,buy gifts, give money, even to the secretary because secretaries can block you, even lie that the person is not in. There are also other brokers who are usually other members of staff or teaching fellows who act as go between particularly when seeking out a supervisor ,before you find one you can establish rapport with , who will extort a great deal of money and favours from you to introduce you to good supervisors- the ones known to be abit more reliable.
Sexual harassment: I think we all know that university dons are the mother of all woman eaters. Supervisors often make overtures on their female students but it starts with only being available in the evenings when others have left the offices or at dimly lit establishments that make it look more like a date than a supervision meeting. I myself had one supervisor who would only meet me at night, in recreational establishments. I made a habit of never ever going alone.In the end I had to drop him after he called me and asked me why I never meet him alone and openly made sexual advances at me. If I met a supervisor later in the evening at his office when others had left I recorded the entire conversation, left the door opened and ensured that there was distance between us. Like a desk, even if he insists that you go over to his side of the desk, just ignore and remain on the other side of the desk. Make sure you never go to see supervisor dressed in an alluring manner like if it is on a Friday and Saturday evening and you have plans for dinner . Ensure that you wear no makeup and wear very drab clothes for the meeting,carry your dinner attire , then go and change for your date after you are done with the supervisor. Avoid personal conversation by being evasive and alot of eye contact as well. Be as modest and understated as you can be. When being supervised you can not afford to be an attractive woman because this will pose a huge problem for you with some male supervisors.
No supervision past proposal stage: To be fair I believe varsity dons are overworked. It is just impossible for one person supervising 30-50 Masters- PhD thesis to go through them . Plus teach - I have lectured a few times in universities - its grueling work , you have to hand in cats,supplementaries,main exams,marking schemes before the sem begins then in public unis you could have upto 3k students , hence the infamous story of how lecturers throw papers up and grade depending on where papers fall. Lecturers pay students to mark those scripts and its accepted because theres no way one person can do all that work. So basically , what I am saying is that after your proposal you are on your own, the only thing your supervisors will do will be to sign your document and you should only approach them with challenges that you have looked all over and cant figure out ONLY. Dont expect them to read your thesis beyond proposal stage the same goes for external examiners. during defence is the only time you can get a thorough evaluation of your work and I think with the large number of PhD graduants even that is becoming a tall order. The entire process has just become a conveyor belt. Secondary supervisors especially never even look at your work as long as supervisor one has signed , they go ahead and sign too with not even a glance at the document.
The procedure/process to follow can be very confusing for newbies: If you want a clear understanding of what the procedure is to go about your thesis ,please speak to a person who has graduated because particularly in satellite campuses, you can get 5 different procedures and none of them is the right one. Then your supervisor can give you another procedure ,as does the department and the board of post graduate studies. So to avoid confusion and frustration , do your best to find someone who has graduated to help you learn the ropes. Also documents get lost all the time in varsities so ensure that you keep copies of everything you do, if you have an original copy signed by your supervisors that you must hand in, do a scan and a color print out of the signature page that is an exact replica so that if the department or campus loses your document and this happens ALOT, you dont have to go back to your supervisors to sign again because it pisses them off. Also if you can physically take your document round for the recquired signatures , for example there are signatures from the director of campus,dean of department and head of board of post graduate studies and requisite forwarding letters. Just do the leg work rather than leave your documents to follow the process. You may discover 3,4 even 8 months down the line that your document has either never moved or is lost.
Higher education is a jungle and if you have or have had good supervisors, just thank your God and do your best to keep in good books whatever their flaws may be because you may leave a frying pan and fall into the fire. I have read blogs from people doing PhDs in the west and it looks even more stark than here. Though most people who left Kenya for their PhD abroad have nothing but glowing references for their western supervisors. Recently I saw a Kenyan talking about how him and his supervisor did 5 back and forths on his proposal while the super was on a flight to ensure the guy was ready for his defence. Please dont expect this in Kenya even in your dreams. Doing a PhD is a life transforming rite of passage for anyone who lives the life of the mind and it is baptism by fire especially if umezoea Private unis where things run smoothly and the student comes first. It is a pressure cooker and its very true that people do go berserk because of the pressure. I myself had a serious road accident because I hadnt slept in days and my entire mind was engrossed on beating the deadline. Take ubers , have breaks - the world isnt ending so dont risk your life by driving when you are spaced out because you gotta have that PhD. And you gotta have it now,now,now. You could be dead and graduate posthumously. So your life and your wellbeing comes first because if theres no you theres no need for that PhD is there?
Oh when you feel depressed ,frustrated and at the end of your rope in your journey of higher learning , visit this site its bound to pick you up a notch or two. Aluta Continua Comrades.
https://academiaiskillingmyfriends.tumblr.com/
Kwanza hapo UON iyo department ya Political science, madem ni kupeana pussie na ma boy ni pesa. Kwanza kama wewe ni politician sijui akina mp, senetor, governor…unapita tu
sakwa
July 31, 2019, 10:35am
22
I studied at the UoN for both undergraduate and postgraduate and I never experienced any of these… of course the experience may be different for women but I have tons of friends and family both male and female who have gone through the same and never heard of this…
Also, I guess it must depend on school/department. May be this kind of things happens in the arts and social sciences departments, maybe, I don’t know…
The person who told me this was a man . So dont turn it into a woman thing please. He also showed me mpesa printouts plus smses from the guy soliciting him so that if he didnt fulfil his end he could use them to compel him
sakwa
July 31, 2019, 10:39am
24
Before I joined campus, those who had already joined used to tell us lot’s of ridiculous stories about what happens there…only to get there and find it is much less interesting or dramatic… so I guess, your source is one of those kinds of people who love exaggerating things to make their lives sound dramatic/interesting
sakwa:
Before I joined campus, those who had already joined used to tell us lot’s of ridiculous stories about what happens there…only to get there and find it is much less interesting or dramatic… so I guess, your source is one of those kinds of people who love exaggerating things to make their lives sound dramatic/interesting
I dint believe him either until he showed me txt messages and mpesa printout , and I checked the number on truecaller, its a uni don in UON alright.
mother tongue influence lazima uweke n
I wasnt in UoN or JKUAT…
I did my undergraduate in a famous university whose main campus is in Eldoret. While I was there I never experienced such stupidity while doing my undergraduate studies neither did the female classmates we were with. I guess it happens to only a few people.
Bazuka
July 31, 2019, 10:51am
29
Sio mayb…huwa inahappen hapo
all guys usually looked at girls who passed with suspicion , most guys were stressed and looked defeated but most ghels were having the time of their lives cruising through courses… i still wonder why ? …life was hard for us man !
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Enyewe , my class had men only , hakuna mwenye aliwesmek. They all gave up after kuonyeshwa enuff madharau. Women wako na uvumilivu. Coz sometimes uneza hata tusiwa, how many men’s ego will stand that?
Why would it happen to an undergrad when you barely meet your lecturers anywhere apart from clas
When being supervised we used to meet a lecturer at his office and we used to go as a group. You will find 4 students have been given a single lecturer as their supervisor.
Malisa hiyo mama wa PHD kabisa, ye huwa na madharau sana:D
Moi University is the worst of all in corruption and tribalism we acha zako. Kuna watu wako na PhD Moi who have never seen a class. Esp kaleos.
Sasa wewe nilikwambia unibebe na Kenya Mpya ,nisikie vile watu husikia wakielekea kukufa … uko kwa shimo saa hii ama unatext ukidrive vile mumezoea?
TrumanCapote:
ukidrive vile mumezoea?
Nimesoea ku type sio ku text, unajua tofauti???, iwinjo?
Mu
My cousin is a professor pale UoN Department ya Literature. sitamtaja jina ju nitajulikana. And those guys make some serious money. Nikiwa campus nikimpigia simu nimesota he would send 10k without flinching. Aliorganise auntie, uncle na cuzo mwingine wakapata masters zao in a not so clean or straightforward process
Btw I forgot to mention that there’s also alot of emotional/psychological abuse. One of my colleagues had booked an appointment with his supervisor well in advance . In another town. Like this is something dons do . I thought it was a one off but Ive heard this now severally all the people who told me this were male. The supervisor tells you he has no time to meet you when you are in the same town but he is heading to Mombasa prolly to teach at a satellite campus and he can get time for you there. Lemme give a clearer example. I know a guy doing his PhD at UON School of Business. So the guy works and lives in Nairobi as does his supervisor but his supervisor will only see him when he goes to MSA. Meaning jamaa toke Nairobi where they both work and live and travel to Mombasa — just for a chance to get his work looked at. While he is there ,he will pay for meals and drinks and if the guy wants to go clubbing or snorkeling . Whatever it takes to maintain ‘the good working relationship’. Now the worst part is the supervisor can say meet me in MSA ama wereva then ukifika akuzimie simu and later atakushow he forgot you were supposed to meet him.
Ladies also endure abusive phone calls late in the night when the supervisor is drunk. One told me that her supervisor called her at midnight while very drunk and proceeded to insult her and tell her how stupid women are, he seemed to be angry at his wife for something she did . She stayed calm and let him rant and then calmly asked if they could talk the next day to which he retorted asking her if he was using her credit or why is it that she was harakisharing him, on top of that he was in a very noisy place and it put her in shit with her husband who could not understand how that could happen. She opted to be switching off her phone early to avoid such .
kutype ANGOA , kwa simu sio kutype ni kutext , donge?
Mu
My cousin is a professor pale UoN Department ya Literature. sitamtaja jina ju nitajulikana. And those guys make some serious money. Nikiwa campus nikimpigia simu nimesota he would send 10k without flinching. Aliorganise auntie, uncle na cuzo mwingine wakapata masters zao in a not so clean or straightforward process
Tell 'em @sakwa ako wapi? Kwanza hao wa Lit ni kadinyes zaidi.
