Thesis Buddy Project
From the Nominator
"The CEU Thesis Buddy project was launched in Spring 2020 to assist students struggling with isolation during Covid-19 and subsequent online instruction. The project linked students with volunteer alumni “buddies,” unofficial advisors to help them maintain focus, morale, and submit their MA theses on time.
After a successful pilot season, the project was relaunched in Spring 2021 as CEU entered its second year of online instruction. Since then, 80 alumni have volunteered to serve as buddies, with a total of 95 student/buddy matches made in the past two years. Representing many generations and CEU departments, Thesis Buddies offered encouragement and expertise to help their student buddies meet deadlines, overcome writer’s block, and write stronger papers.
For many alumni, particularly those working in academia, this was also the first time they volunteered for CEU. Students benefited too. One said: “My thesis buddy was very encouraging and helped me a lot to believe in my strength to finish the thesis. Especially in the conditions of isolation of Covid-19 and remote learning, it was a much-needed communication.”"
From the Judges
This is a good example of a best practice approach in engaging volunteers with the academic experience. It is an approach that could be replicated by other institutions. Increased impact might be demonstrated by tracking engagement over an extended period of time.