Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale started today’s Dissertation House at UMBC at exactly 9AM EST! There are 19 people in today’s Dissertation House in the Commons on UMBC’s campus. They’ve just taken a break to have a buffet lunch in the Skylight Room.  This afternoon, Dr. Susan Han from UMBC’s University Counseling Services will be giving the DH Mini-lecture this afternoon.

We welcome all of the people who are joining us online: http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/blog-online-challenge/winter-challenge-2012/; we have several students who have participated in our Dissertation House at College Park joining us virtually to post their own goals and provide encouragement.   Our online blogs range from January – June (“Winter”) and July – December (“Summer”) to coincide with the annual “Winter Dissertation Houses” in January, and the “Summer Dissertation Houses” in July.  During the Summer 2010 range, there were 428 blogged comments in our Blog-Online Challenge section, 266 for Winter 2011, a whopping 912 blogged comments for Summer 2011, and as of this morning, there were 58 for Winter 2012.

Congratulations to all of you who have joined us today to make a commitment to work on your documents. We have people who have taken time off from their jobs to be here, busy Moms with young children (and a mom with a son who is also in grad school!), people who are working through balancing work and health, people from all walks of life.  We have engineers, computer scientists, physicists, psychologists, public policy experts, environmental scientists, biologists, teacher education specialists, information technologists, etc. in the room today, and an even wider range of varying disciplines online.  Thank you for joining in.  You can do this! Go ahead … get it done!

The employees are hard at work in Dissertation House @ UMBC on September 23-24, 2011.

Employee DH

Employees at work in the DH

Yvette Mozie-Ross, Assistant Provost for Enrollment Management, shares her experiences with employees

The employees are hard at work in Dissertation House @ UMBC on September 23-24, 2011.

Employee DH

Employees at work in the DH

Yvette Mozie-Ross, Assistant Provost for Enrollment Management, shares her experiences with employees

• The Dissertation House: http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/
• Professors-in-Training (PROF-it): http://promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com/professors-in-training-prof-it/

The 2011 PROMISE Summer Success Institute will sponsor a 12 Hour Marathon “Dissertation House”  session at the Sheraton Columbia Hotel on Friday, August 19.  The marathon will last from 1:00 PM Friday, 8/19 until 1:00 AM Saturday, 8/20.  This session is limited to PROMISE DH alumni and a limited number of guests.

Eligibility and Instructions

Interested students must:

•  Be a doctoral candidate or alumnus of a previous Dissertation House
• Have a history of conversations about your dissertation with either Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale or Dr. Renetta Tull.
• Be registered for the PROMISE Summer Success Institute, and  plan to fully participate in the other parts of the conference (outside of the DH) on Friday morning 8/19, and all day Saturday, 8/20.  http://promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com/promise-summer-success-institute-ssi/
• Follow the traditional application procedures and apply by Monday, August 15, 2011: http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/apply/
• Login to the DH 2011 Summer Challenge and join the conversation with #TeamGetItDone:  http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/blog-online-challenge/summer-2011-challenge/
• Outline your goals for the 12 hours marathon online (using the challenge link above) by Wednesday, August 17.

The 2011 PROMISE Summer Success Institute will sponsor a 12 Hour Marathon “Dissertation House”  session at the Sheraton Columbia Hotel on Friday, August 19.  The marathon will last from 1:00 PM Friday, 8/19 until 1:00 AM Saturday, 8/20.  This session is limited to PROMISE DH alumni and a limited number of guests.

Eligibility and Instructions

Interested students must:

•  Be a doctoral candidate or alumnus of a previous Dissertation House
• Have a history of conversations about your dissertation with either Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale or Dr. Renetta Tull.
• Be registered for the PROMISE Summer Success Institute, and  plan to fully participate in the other parts of the conference (outside of the DH) on Friday morning 8/19, and all day Saturday, 8/20.  http://promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com/promise-summer-success-institute-ssi/
• Follow the traditional application procedures and apply by Monday, August 15, 2011: http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/apply/
• Login to the DH 2011 Summer Challenge and join the conversation with #TeamGetItDone:  http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/blog-online-challenge/summer-2011-challenge/
• Outline your goals for the 12 hours marathon online (using the challenge link above) by Wednesday, August 17.

The Dissertation House at the University of Maryland College Park is in full swing. Dr. Carter has already given mini-lectures on public speaking and your role with your advisor and Dr. Noah Collins, Staff Psychologist from the Counseling Center discussed balance.  Here is Dr. Carter’s synopsis of Dr. Collins’ talk (reprinted from our online challenge page.)

“Dr. Noah Collins from the Counseling Services Center is here talking about having balance when writing your dissertation. He gave a humorous presentation on his approach to writing his dissertation. He said that he is a morning person. He says if I have to work in the evening, the rewards have to go WAY UP if I am going to work at night. His discussion presented the two sides of self that argue with each other about the way to write your dissertation. One side is the drill-sergeant who wants to focus mainly on working on the dissertation, the other fanciful person who does not really want to work on the dissertation. He said one does not have to win at the expense of the other. When fanciful side wins, the drill-Sargent calls you lazy, wasteful, slacker, etc. When the drill-sergeant side wins, the fanciful side loses and feels depressed and sad. He suggests that when the fanciful side does not want to work, you should negotiate, otherwise the fanciful side will go on strike by shutting down, by playing solitaire, or by depression.”

Tomorrow is the last day for the participants at College Park.  Two of the participants, Nikki and Alexis, have continued to use the tag #TeamGetItDone throughout the week. The students are working hard and their time and effort are having an effect … they are getting it done!

The Dissertation House at the University of Maryland College Park is in full swing. Dr. Carter has already given mini-lectures on public speaking and your role with your advisor and Dr. Noah Collins, Staff Psychologist from the Counseling Center discussed balance.  Here is Dr. Carter’s synopsis of Dr. Collins’ talk (reprinted from our online challenge page.)

“Dr. Noah Collins from the Counseling Services Center is here talking about having balance when writing your dissertation. He gave a humorous presentation on his approach to writing his dissertation. He said that he is a morning person. He says if I have to work in the evening, the rewards have to go WAY UP if I am going to work at night. His discussion presented the two sides of self that argue with each other about the way to write your dissertation. One side is the drill-sergeant who wants to focus mainly on working on the dissertation, the other fanciful person who does not really want to work on the dissertation. He said one does not have to win at the expense of the other. When fanciful side wins, the drill-Sargent calls you lazy, wasteful, slacker, etc. When the drill-sergeant side wins, the fanciful side loses and feels depressed and sad. He suggests that when the fanciful side does not want to work, you should negotiate, otherwise the fanciful side will go on strike by shutting down, by playing solitaire, or by depression.”

Tomorrow is the last day for the participants at College Park.  Two of the participants, Nikki and Alexis, have continued to use the tag #TeamGetItDone throughout the week. The students are working hard and their time and effort are having an effect … they are getting it done!

One of our Dissertation House (DH) students started her own blog.  Margaret is a Chemistry student at UMBC and she is moving right along. Enjoy her posts, they will make you smile! http://adventuresofdissertationwriting.wordpress.com/ . Margaret wore her “6 Steps to Completing Your Dissertation” tee-shirt (distributed by AAAS at the American Chemical Society – ACS conference) to the DH last Friday. Humor is incorporated in the design of the shirt which describes the steps as drudgery, procrastination, panic, despair, drudgery, and printing.  Perhaps step 3 fits Margaret’s post for today, “Freak Out Moment #1.” We applaud Margaret on her blog and on her determination to work through the drudgery toward the great reward!

You can read comments from other DH students on our online challenge page. http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/blog-online-challenge/summer-2011-challenge/

One of our Dissertation House (DH) students started her own blog.  Margaret is a Chemistry student at UMBC and she is moving right along. Enjoy her posts, they will make you smile! http://adventuresofdissertationwriting.wordpress.com/ . Margaret wore her “6 Steps to Completing Your Dissertation” tee-shirt (distributed by AAAS at the American Chemical Society – ACS conference) to the DH last Friday. Humor is incorporated in the design of the shirt which describes the steps as drudgery, procrastination, panic, despair, drudgery, and printing.  Perhaps step 3 fits Margaret’s post for today, “Freak Out Moment #1.” We applaud Margaret on her blog and on her determination to work through the drudgery toward the great reward!

You can read comments from other DH students on our online challenge page. http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/blog-online-challenge/summer-2011-challenge/