Dear Graduate Students at UMBC,

As part of the National Science Foundation grant supporting PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP, University of Maryland College Park faculty members are conducting a multi-campus survey study of how graduate students are supported by their programs in pursuit of their career goals.  To participate, please go to the following website. We recommend using a stable internet connection and using the same device to begin and finish participation.

Survey Link: https://umdsurvey.umd.edu/SE/?SID=SV_0oBN4RIqKfg4K8d

Incentives: Survey completion incentives include the option to enter drawings for Amazon gift cards in several denominations (be sure to enter via a link on the final page of the survey).

·  Those who completed the survey by  October 13, 2014, had a chance to win one $500 Amazon card

·  Those who complete the survey by October 20, 2014 may enter to win one $100 Amazon card (one winner per campus; those who do not win will continue to be eligible for all subsequent drawings).

·  Those who complete the survey by October 24, 2014 may enter to win one $50 Amazon card per campus (one winner per campus; this will be the final drawing).

Participants will agree to our consent form and take an online survey that takes 20 minutes to complete. Questions will focus on the perspectives you have adopted, and the actions that you have taken to pursue your career goals. We will also ask about aspects of your department environment, and your field/discipline that influence your career choice.

The data used for this study will only be reported in aggregate, so your name and identity will never appear in any reports that result from the project. The study will, however, help our research more broadly understand how graduate students develop their career aspirations and what departments, faculty, and external agencies can do to support them.

Please contact the PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP Research Team with any questions or concerns: promisestudymd@gmail.com

Best regards,

Renetta Tull

Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Student Development & Postdoctoral Affairs

This morning, we opened the Fall 2014 “Dissertation House for Employees and Non-Traditional Students.” This event is set aside to specifically serve career professionals, and non-traditional students who came back to school to work on their PhDs. Some have children in college, and some are leaders (e.g., VPs, Directors) in their respective professions. For various reasons, the PhD has been elusive … they haven’t had time to finish the dissertation. In the room today, we have a person from the Office of the Provost at a USM school, and attorney who is in the Public Policy program, an Assist. VP,  a clinical professional at a national lab, and some full-time IT professionals. This event is for them, and we invite you to join in. Join us online: http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/blog-online-challenge/summer-2014-challenge/

Tips from Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale, the Dissertation Coach and owner of http://www.phdcompletion.com/: 

• *When it was time to go to graduate school, you did whatever you needed to do to get in. You wrote the statement, took the exams, asked for the letters … now I need you to to do whatever you need to do to get out. Be that committed.
• “Stop looking for big blocks of time, carve out 15 minutes each day.”
• “Feedback gets you closer to a PhD, perfection won’t.”

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Tips from Dr. Alexis Williams, Human Development, University of Maryland College Park, Dissertation House Alum:

• Label what is easy, medium, and hard
• Create a system for accountability (I still have an accountability partner!)
• Be systematic and committed
• Set your countdown to defense and place it where you’ll see it every day.
• Build the habit of getting up and showing up for the dissertation. It’s hard but it feels so much better emotionally to do even a little every day.

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Tips from Dr. Nanda Cortes, Biological Sciences, UMBC, Dissertation House Alum:

• Break it into chunks
• Work for a few minutes, finish a graph, do something even if it’s something that doesn’t require a lot of thinking.
• Exercise or have a hobby. It helps clear the mind and makes it easier to work.
• Find a good support group

As one of the co-founders of The Dissertation House, I urged our participants to take this time for themselves. Our career professionals in the room are always doing things for others, and in their dedication to their responsibilities, they haven’t always taken time for themselves. This is that time. We urge you to do the same … move your dissertation forward, today.

-Dr. Renetta G. Tull, Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Student Development and Postdoctoral Affairs, UMBC