The Outcome - Faculty Level

End of November 2007.

I received a mail from Shah Alam. Obviously it came from Dr R. Earlier, she had promised the candidates that our "Grading Sheet" for the evaluation of our proposals as well as the candidates' presentation session be mailed to us prior than our interview session with BLPS (Bhgn Latihan dan Pembangunan Staf - scheduled at 3 December 2007).

I ignored completely the Grading Sheet outcome for my dissertation proposal. The reason - it was the first draft that I had sent earlier when I applied for the scholarship. The one that I had presented for the faculty level was actually my third draft.

I then browsed all the four Grading Sheets of the evaluation outcome for my presentation session (because there were 4 panelists for my session) However, their names on each sheets were sealed to remain anonymous! (it was photocopied). Their comments were as follows (direct quotation):

Panelist A - her only comment
"Look at the sampling and methodology"

Panelist B
"I think the candidate is ready to embark on a PhD program. Prof Malcom Smith is the best person to supervise him on this topic. The candidate has obtained a lot of input from the industry and the professional. Nevertheless, the candidate need to refine the research methodology, particularly on the instrument to be used to collect data for this research. I suggest that he be allowed to go to ECU, Australia."

Panelist C
"My only concern is the candidate's availability to respondends. Using experimental approach may cause problems later."

Panelist D
"contribution is there to understand [the study] but sensitive issue! Where do you get the idea to do on [the study] - too confidential.

1. Need to present fully in English - avoid using "apa dia"
2. Need to keep within time. You have gone beyond / allocated time.
3. "Initial evidence" in your objective - what good will this do to the practice?
4. How open will the participants to this kind of study? Which participants would want to come forward?
5. Theories should support / explain practice. Intention will influence behaviour but there's no guarantee, so this is where you should find the gap.
6. Need to observe research methodology
7. Do preliminary fieldwork."

In the Grading Sheet, the panelists also need to suggest (one only) either:

A. The proposal is accepted and recommended for PhD research.

B. The proposal needs improvement.

C. The proposal needs to be reviewed before accepted for PhD research.

D. Not recommended for and need to be changed; to be resubmitted to the faculty.

The result - one of the panelist gave me A, while the rest of them, B.

It's not easy to please everyone.!!

D Day - Faculty level

16 November 2007.

I arrived at Shah Alam a few minutes before Friday prayer. After the prayer, I headed straight to the Faculty to attend the PhD proposal presentation session. It was located at level 12 of SAAS Tower.

The first candidate that I noticed was N who hails from Terengganu. She was accompanied by her husband. We chat for a while at the foyer when all of sudden Dr R (The Post Graduate Coordinator) approached us.

She guided us to a room where the session would take place. At its entrance door, I saw a namelist stating that there were six candidates scheduled for the 3 pm session (Auditing and Investigation field). Dr R however mentioned that, there was only 3 of us for the session. I could not dare to ask why, as I have started to have butterflies in my stomach!

Then YS who is from Sarawak arrived. Dr R then briefed the three of us on the procedures for the presentation and interview sessions. She mentioned that the presentation should strictly be made in 10 minutes. It will then followed by a Q and A session. Once all the candidates have gone through with their presentations, an interview session shall then be conducted on individual basis.

Soon afterwards, came in the panel of judges one by one. Dr R was obviously one of them. Then there was Dr I and Dr A (who had just completed her PhD study). I waited patiently for the person who would be chairing this group of panels.

As soon as I saw her, Prof N, entering the door, I released a deep sound of relief. Phew.... I really expect her to sit in the panel for my session. One of the reason is, she knows what have I been doing all this while. She was the one whom I consulted during the early stages of writing up the draft proposal. The most important thing is, she already knew about my background!

The session started with N as the first presenter. I could not concentrate to listen to her presentation though I tried to pretend to. She managed to deliver her session within the given timeframe and was able to answer questions posed on her. So did YS, the third presenter.

I was made the second presenter. It started well until half way of my presentation, the time keeper ( yes... there was a time keeper in the room!!) rang the bell. Goshh.. I haven't finished yet!! It was a brief silent moment until Prof N cleared up the air by instructing me to carry on with my presentation. Lucky me..

After I have completed prensenting, it was the time for my Q and A session. The questions were mainly centered around methodological issues such as samples, sampling procedures, questionnaires, theories to be applied etc. etc. I believe I had given sufficient and acceptable answers to the panelists (I hope I did).

The ambience in the room was terrific. There was no personal attacks directed towards the candidates. The questions posed from the panelists were very constructive and friendly in manner. They even gave us few suggestions and tips on how to further improve our studies.

Overall, I am very happy and delighted with the conduct of the session. The next big thing is to wait patiently for its outcome..

"Tak lama lagi..." that was what I heard from Dr R before we left the room.

Memo dari Dekan

5 November 2007.

A memo was sent via faximile indicating that the PhD proposal presentation sesssion for the Faculty level was scheduled to be on the 16th of November (Friday).

However, the memo was only addressed to the respective applicants scheduled for that day only - 12 of them including myself. There were 2 sessions scheduled on that day, at 9 am and 3 pm.

I contacted my colleagues, HK, R, SK and MH. The info I gathered from them revealed that there were 5 sessions in total - mine was actually the last. The sessions were arranged in order as follows (at different dates):

1. Management Accounting and AIS
2. Taxation
3. Financial Reporting and Forensic Accounting
4. Corporate Governance
5. Auditing and Investigation

The memo also mentioned that the applicants were required to bring along 10 copies of RP and other necessary supporting documents on that day.

10 copies!!!! There must be 10 panels from our own Faculty!

Surat Tawaran ECU

11 October 2007....What a relief. The letter was emailed right before my interview session for the Faculty level.

The ECU's International Admission Officer emailed me the letter of offer together with its acceptance form.

The contents, among others, stated that Prof Malcolm Smith is my Principal Supervisor while Dr Zubaidah Ismail is the Assistant Supervisor. It also stated that my orientation program will be held at the Mt Lawley Campus on 17 July 2008 at 9.00 a.m.

I've already being offered a place at ECU.

The question now.. will I be able to get a scholarship from my Uni?

Emel dari Fakulti

September 2007.

The much anticipated news has finally arrived. It came through email from Dr. R, our Post Graduate Coordinator.

Since I submitted the application for the scholarship, I longed to hear news on call for the interview session that would be conducted by our Faculty.

Dr R mentioned that, it will somehow be conducted after Eid ul-Fitr. That could be end of October 2007. Plenty of time to get my presentation slides ready...

In her email, Dr R requested the applicants to furnish their CV to her. She mentioned that the information was needed to back up our application.

I'm thinking that, probably there are too many applicants from our Faculty. The selection committee must be very, very selective this year!

Emel dari ECU

The Manager of International Student Admission, Ms Baggott sent me an email on 21 August 2007, notifying me that my application is succesful. I quote:

Dear Syahrul Ahmar,

Congratulations, your application:

ApplicationID: SLECU-1388

to Doctor of Philosophy course at Edith Cowan University has been successful.

You should receive official notice soon via email. This will contain information that will confirm the fees you need to pay, how to pay them and what you need to do in order to get your Australian student visa.

Regards,
Lesley Baggott
Manager, International Student Admissions
Edith Cowan University

Nasihat dari bakal Dr

IS , a colleague of mine, just came back from her 3 year stint of study. While she is from the same faculty as me, Z (her other half), is from FBM. Both of them had pursued their PhD at MMU.

I can still remember the day she left our Uni . It doesn't seem to be like it was three years ago. All of sudden, she has came back to be with us again.

Currently, another members from our faculty shall follow her footsteps soon. (1) JA (2) DD, NA, (3) BZ, HS, WA, RA, NAB and probably (4) KA, HK, SK, RB and me (kalau dapat - disclaimer statement ni!!). Not to mention our ex-members too, MH (Shah Alam) and WR (Perak). Imagine in 3 -4 years to come, when they have completed their study. The more the merrier our Faculty will be....

As usual, I met her to request for her advice. I gave my RP for her to look at. She reviewed it, scribbled some points onto it and explained areas for improvement. She advised me on how to further improved my RP and lend several tips for me should I face the selection committee.

She keeps on referring Uma Sekaran's book entitled, "Research Method for Business" which I found very useful. The explanation given by this book is very simple and easier to relate to my study.

Dunia [siber] ini kecil..

I started this blog mainly to share my humble experience on an important journey that I am about to embark. It may be a joyful, succesful journey or it may not be materialised at all.

I really have to admit that, it was because of some influential blog sites such as the one owned by KA that triggered me to do so. But contrary to these sites, I try to remain anonymous as possible.

In the beginning the purpose of this blog is basically to get responses from communities out there (that's why it is termed as WWW...) other than of my own.

It didn't occur to me that this site will attract such a huge visitors from my own community as well. This is all because of www.sitemeter.com that enable one to track down his visitors. 'Thanks' to KA, for linking this blog into his own (He tracked me, which then leads him to this site). And more importantly, thanks to you all, for spending your precious time reading about my stories...(kelas jangan lupa aaaa!!!)

Status permohonon ECU

I can simply track down the status of my application for the PhD program in ECU by browsing the ECU Application Manager site.

This site will inform you on the status of activities conducted by the Uni while processing for your application. As for my case, my status clearly showed that, I've submitted my application form on 22 June 2007. The Uni only started to process it on 25 June 2007. On 21 Aug 2007, it then stated that my application was successful (which I will elaborate later in my future posting).

This site also allows you to upload and save all the necessary documents required for the application process to be uploaded in stages. You may upload one document for now, save it and return back to this site on the next day to upload another more. Once you feel that you have fulfilled all of its application requirements, you may then submit it through this system.

Tawaran biasiswa - yang ditunggu-tunggu

Yup, the moment I've been waiting for has finally arrived.

Official announcement about scholarship has been made by our DVC through circular and email. It stated that applications are to be made through online only. The opening date is 13th August 2007 and will be closed on the 30th.

The email annoucement also listed out the guidelines in writing up the research proposal. I ammended my RP (the 2nd draft actually) where necessary, and started to upload it as well as filling in the required information through its website as requested.

As I clicked the "send" button, I said to myself, "This is it man!! There's no turning back...."

Besar punya penangan PhD ni...