With the help of video conferencing technology and early morning support from Memorial staff, a visiting scholar was able to defend her thesis and earn her PhD from the National University of of Sciences and Technology in Pakistan before the workday even started for most.

Dr.  Hina Jawaid Kalyal is a visiting scholar to the Faculty of Business Administration on Memorial’s St. John’s campus. She has been in St. John’s on two separate occasions to conduct research and work with scholars in the Faculty of Business Administration. Her thesis, “Factors affecting commitment to change among public sector managers in Pakistan,” was supervised by Dr. Sudhir Saha in the Faculty of Business and Dr. Magnus Sverke of Stockholm University.

In addition to her two supervisors, her thesis defense was in front of an international panel of evaluators and supervisors, as well as a group of Pakistani faculty members and graduate students. Evaluators linked into the video conference from Belgium, other parts of Canada, Sweden and Pakistan. The effort was co-ordinated by the IT support lab within the Faculty of Business Administration. To accommodate the international scope, the thesis defense was held at 7:30 a.m. in Newfoundland -- 4 p.m. in Pakistan.

Dr. Saha said that the support given to Dr. Kalyal was very much appreciated. “The dean of the National University of Management Sciences expressed special thanks and gratitude for the help provided by faculty and staff at Memorial. She was given an office, a computer and library facilities on two separate, three-month visits, and faculty members were especially generous with their advice,” Dr. Saha said.  

“I have worked with Hina for the last four years, and her success shows that time and distance does not stand in the way of a supervisory relationship between a PhD student and a supervisor.”

Dr. Kalyal is now an assistant professor at the National University of Sciences and Technology. She said she was very grateful to the faculty for the support offered to her.

“I would like to take this opportunity to formally thank Dr. Saha, Dean Dr. Gary Gorman and the faculty and staff at Memorial's Faculty of Business Administration who were extremely cordial and helpful during both my visits to Memorial University,” she said.