The following dissertation support group and writing consultant information is relevant to students from UMBC, UMCP, or UMB. Please register or make an appointment early to get a spot in a group or with a consultant on your campus. In some cases, space is limited. The DH endorses involvement in these campus-sponsored groups. 

The Summer 2011 DH participants in College Park during a "group" support session.

UMBC: (From Dr. Emilie Stuber) The group will be lead by Assistant Director, Dr. Bonita Johnsen, and she is hoping to get it started ASAP. She plans to run the group on Thursday afternoons, at 1:00, 2:00, or 2:30.  Previous group members have been contacted; new members as welcome. Members who have already attended the group will not need to have an intake appointment with us, but we do ask that all new members schedule an intake appointment and let the receptionist know that they are interested in joining the Dissertation Support Group. http://www.umbc.edu/counseling/, 410-455-2472. Participation is free for students of UMBC.

UMCP: The spring Dissertation Support Group at College Park will begin on Feb. 24, 2012. Students must register by Feb. 10. http://www.freestuff.umd.edu/events.cfm?mode=detail&eventID=15382. For more information, contact Dr. Marcia V. Marinelli; Assistant Director, Counseling Center; Director, Learning Assistance Service; marcym@umd.edu; 301-314-7680.  This group is free for students of College Park.

UMB: UMB’s Writing Center offers assistance with dissertations. Students come to the Writing Center for individual help with brainstorming ideas, organizing structure, writing a draft, and revising and polishing prose.  The Writing Center - SMC Campus Center, 621 W. Lombard Street, Suite 302. For Appointment please call 410-706-7725. This service is free for students at UMB.

The following dissertation support group and writing consultant information is relevant to students from UMBC, UMCP, or UMB. Please register or make an appointment early to get a spot in a group or with a consultant on your campus. In some cases, space is limited. The DH endorses involvement in these campus-sponsored groups. 

The Summer 2011 DH participants in College Park during a "group" support session.

UMBC: (From Dr. Emilie Stuber) The group will be lead by Assistant Director, Dr. Bonita Johnsen, and she is hoping to get it started ASAP. She plans to run the group on Thursday afternoons, at 1:00, 2:00, or 2:30.  Previous group members have been contacted; new members as welcome. Members who have already attended the group will not need to have an intake appointment with us, but we do ask that all new members schedule an intake appointment and let the receptionist know that they are interested in joining the Dissertation Support Group. http://www.umbc.edu/counseling/, 410-455-2472. Participation is free for students of UMBC.

UMCP: The spring Dissertation Support Group at College Park will begin on Feb. 24, 2012. Students must register by Feb. 10. http://www.freestuff.umd.edu/events.cfm?mode=detail&eventID=15382. For more information, contact Dr. Marcia V. Marinelli; Assistant Director, Counseling Center; Director, Learning Assistance Service; marcym@umd.edu; 301-314-7680.  This group is free for students of College Park.

UMB: UMB’s Writing Center offers assistance with dissertations. Students come to the Writing Center for individual help with brainstorming ideas, organizing structure, writing a draft, and revising and polishing prose.  The Writing Center - SMC Campus Center, 621 W. Lombard Street, Suite 302. For Appointment please call 410-706-7725. This service is free for students at UMB.

I laughed so hard when I read this line on the Dissertation House blog from Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. Candidate, Nikki Westmoreland: “Sleep, it’s like my precious.” She said (wrote) it so casually, but if you’ve seen the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, you know that one of the characters, Gollum, calls the ring “my precious” and he relentlessly pursues the “precious” for a lifetime.

Similarly, many of the participants in the DH have been talking about sleep. Either they’re not getting enough, or they feel like they are getting too much at the wrong times and thwarting their productivity.  One of the characteristics that people seem to appreciate about the Dissertation House (DH) is the strict adherence to a schedule.  On DH days, there are strict start and stop times, and lunch/break is mandatory.  Those who have been to the DH in person, know that your “Head Coach”, Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale is a stickler for time, and  that she expects you to use some kind of schedule even when you’re working at home, in the library, or in your lab.   In this post, I’m going to repeat a few of the things that I posted in the DH “Winter 2012 Challenge” blog which represented a response to some of the participants who weren’t getting enough sleep.

Rx: Take some breaks!

I am proposing that you consider taking a “break” on tonight.  Some of you are working so hard that you’re not sleeping and not feeling well.  You will not be able to finish the dissertation if you’re sick, so take a scheduled break.  Some of you need to rest (sleep!), and some need some time with family or friends. Some need some sun and vitamin D (as reminded by DH participant M. Dabek), and some should take some time to take a stroll or get some exercise.  Others may just want to have some alone time to watch a movie, or read something that isn’t related to the dissertation.  A magazine can help, read a hard-copy, not an online periodical. Step away from the computer.

Here are some suggestions for this weekend:

1. Friday: Consider working today until 6 PM, then take a Friday evening break. Go to bed in time to be up and at your computer by 8:30 AM on Saturday morning.
2. Saturday: Start working by 8:30 AM.  After 8 PM, take a break. Sleep, go out to dinner see a movie.
3. Sunday:  Start working by 12 noon and end at 8 PM.

Within the weekend process, honor your respective sabbaths, but make a plan to both rest and work. For some, this may mean enjoying your worship activities, spending quality time with your families, having a good meal, and/or taking a scheduled nap.  Remember that we’re only human. We have great capacity, however, there was an important point that was discussed in the January 2012 DH: the non-stop process is not sustainable for the long term, so you have to take breaks. Schedule your breaks appropriately, be true to your schedules, then come back to the process rejuvenated. One former DHer, who now has her PhD and is settling into her career, made the habit of going to bed early, around 10PM, and getting up at 4AM to begin working.  This was her schedule and everyone around her knew it.  So they knew that if they wanted to go out or spend time with her, it would have to be done before 10:00.  Another DHer said that he always takes a short nap around lunch time and that gives him an opportunity to get back to work in the afternoon.  While you’re working this weekend, take scheduled breaks to eat, get some air, get some sun, and move around. Some might feel that all of this scheduling reduces your need for spontaneity.  In that case, you can still plan to have some time that is scheduled (e.g., the weekdays), and some time that you allow for random acts, e.g., Friday or Saturday evening of the DH weekend, or the third weekend of the month.

Schedule something that works for you, stick to the plan, and by all means, get some sleep.

_____________________________________________

This post may be copied, but please reference “The Dissertation House — http://www.thedissertationhouse.com, a program of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP.”

_____________________________________________

The text content of this post was compiled and written by the staff of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP and may not be copied without referencing the PROMISE organization, as “PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP”.

PROMISE AGEP Online Information by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

I laughed so hard when I read this line on the Dissertation House blog from Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. Candidate, Nikki Westmoreland: “Sleep, it’s like my precious.” She said (wrote) it so casually, but if you’ve seen the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, you know that one of the characters, Gollum, calls the ring “my precious” and he relentlessly pursues the “precious” for a lifetime.

Similarly, many of the participants in the DH have been talking about sleep. Either they’re not getting enough, or they feel like they are getting too much at the wrong times and thwarting their productivity.  One of the characteristics that people seem to appreciate about the Dissertation House (DH) is the strict adherence to a schedule.  On DH days, there are strict start and stop times, and lunch/break is mandatory.  Those who have been to the DH in person, know that your “Head Coach”, Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale is a stickler for time, and  that she expects you to use some kind of schedule even when you’re working at home, in the library, or in your lab.   In this post, I’m going to repeat a few of the things that I posted in the DH “Winter 2012 Challenge” blog which represented a response to some of the participants who weren’t getting enough sleep.

Rx: Take some breaks!

I am proposing that you consider taking a “break” on tonight.  Some of you are working so hard that you’re not sleeping and not feeling well.  You will not be able to finish the dissertation if you’re sick, so take a scheduled break.  Some of you need to rest (sleep!), and some need some time with family or friends. Some need some sun and vitamin D (as reminded by DH participant M. Dabek), and some should take some time to take a stroll or get some exercise.  Others may just want to have some alone time to watch a movie, or read something that isn’t related to the dissertation.  A magazine can help, read a hard-copy, not an online periodical. Step away from the computer.

Here are some suggestions for this weekend:

1. Friday: Consider working today until 6 PM, then take a Friday evening break. Go to bed in time to be up and at your computer by 8:30 AM on Saturday morning.
2. Saturday: Start working by 8:30 AM.  After 8 PM, take a break. Sleep, go out to dinner see a movie.
3. Sunday:  Start working by 12 noon and end at 8 PM.

Within the weekend process, honor your respective sabbaths, but make a plan to both rest and work. For some, this may mean enjoying your worship activities, spending quality time with your families, having a good meal, and/or taking a scheduled nap.  Remember that we’re only human. We have great capacity, however, there was an important point that was discussed in the January 2012 DH: the non-stop process is not sustainable for the long term, so you have to take breaks. Schedule your breaks appropriately, be true to your schedules, then come back to the process rejuvenated. One former DHer, who now has her PhD and is settling into her career, made the habit of going to bed early, around 10PM, and getting up at 4AM to begin working.  This was her schedule and everyone around her knew it.  So they knew that if they wanted to go out or spend time with her, it would have to be done before 10:00.  Another DHer said that he always takes a short nap around lunch time and that gives him an opportunity to get back to work in the afternoon.  While you’re working this weekend, take scheduled breaks to eat, get some air, get some sun, and move around. Some might feel that all of this scheduling reduces your need for spontaneity.  In that case, you can still plan to have some time that is scheduled (e.g., the weekdays), and some time that you allow for random acts, e.g., Friday or Saturday evening of the DH weekend, or the third weekend of the month.

Schedule something that works for you, stick to the plan, and by all means, get some sleep.

_____________________________________________

This post may be copied, but please reference “The Dissertation House — http://www.thedissertationhouse.com, a program of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP.”

_____________________________________________

The text content of this post was compiled and written by the staff of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP and may not be copied without referencing the PROMISE organization, as “PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP”.

PROMISE AGEP Online Information by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Every season during the Dissertation House, we discuss ways to improve communication with your advisor and your dissertation committee. This year, we have several people from the DH, past and present participants, who are planning to defend their dissertations very soon. 2012 will be a big year! One question that seems to be looming is nailing down a dissertation defense date. How does one do that with 4, 5, or 6 committee members? How do you respectfully let them know that you really want to finish this thing and that you need their assistance? Ladies and gentlemen, this is a process of negotiation. Here are some tips that might assist you. Different people have different methods, and this is not an exhaustive list, but here are some things that work:

1. Find a month where you are flexible. Pick a month where you can say with 98% certainty that you can be available at anytime of the day, Monday – Friday. If your flexibility is limited, you know in advance that you are reducing your probability of finding consensus. (We have had defenses at 8:00 AM on a Friday morning, and the room was packed!)
2. Map out your committee members’ schedules in advance.  Start with your advisor’s schedule, then work your way through the rest of the committee.  You need to know what their obligations are in advance without imposing your desired dates upon them.  Know and respect their immovable events.  Mark off their teaching days, the entire week before their grant or paper is due, conference days, and more.  Some people have their calendars online, some have their calendars managed by the department’s administrative assistant or their lab manager.
3. Give email a break, go and visit them in person.  Before you try to work everything out with a bunch of emails, make an appointment with your committee members (individually) and talk about their schedules for the month that you’re interested in. Remember that your faculty members are people too. They are juggling their teaching, research, service, grants, conferences, publications, external committee obligations, and more. Some have families at home, are caring for aging parents, or are taking care of their own health needs.
4. Let other committee members know about your advisor’s availability first. Don’t try to make the schedule by starting with your outside member. Find your advisor’s availability, then work in the availability of those in the department.  Chances are that there may be some similarities with schedules of those within your department. As you talk with your other committee members, let them know about your advisor’s schedule.  For example, you can say, “Dr. Jamison, my advisor, Dr. Corles, is open on April 3, 5, 10, or 12 after 2PM.” Schedule your external member last. Your advisor may allow your external member to participate by conference call or Skype.
5. Request that your defense be a “feature” for a standard department event. Perhaps your department always has a lecture on the third Friday or the month at 2PM, or your advisor always has a group meeting on Wednesdays at noon. Perhaps the department’s weekly faculty meeting is on Mondays at 1, and you can ask if you can schedule the defense at 11.
6. Make plausible suggestions. If teaching schedules are the bottleneck, talk with some of your friends (advanced grad students, postdocs, alumni) and ask if they might consider facilitating a class for your advisor or committee member on your defense day. If the friends agree, bring this up to your advisor or committee member. For example, you can say, “Dr. Jones, I know that you teach Math 202 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays this semester.  I’d like to suggest a possible way to free your schedule on one of those days. One of your former top students, Dr. Maria Harris, is a Senior Analyst at NSA and has agreed to come in on my defense day to cover your class. She said that she can also tell the students about some of the unclassified projects and how the content that they are learning applies to national security.”

These are just a few suggestions, six out of many that have worked for doctoral students over the years.  Yes, everyone is busy; perhaps people are more busy than ever these days. But in this age of technology, remember to invoke the human connection. Do not try to do everything over email. This may work for some people, but it doesn’t always work for the whole group. You may need to schedule a conference call with each person. Solidify things with your advisor first, and let those dates guide you. Good luck and best wishes!

_____________________________________________

This post may be copied, but please reference “The Dissertation House — http://www.thedissertationhouse.com, a program of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP.”

_____________________________________________

The text content of this post was compiled and written by the staff of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP and may not be copied without referencing the PROMISE organization, as “PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP”.

PROMISE AGEP Online Information by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Every season during the Dissertation House, we discuss ways to improve communication with your advisor and your dissertation committee. This year, we have several people from the DH, past and present participants, who are planning to defend their dissertations very soon. 2012 will be a big year! One question that seems to be looming is nailing down a dissertation defense date. How does one do that with 4, 5, or 6 committee members? How do you respectfully let them know that you really want to finish this thing and that you need their assistance? Ladies and gentlemen, this is a process of negotiation. Here are some tips that might assist you. Different people have different methods, and this is not an exhaustive list, but here are some things that work:

1. Find a month where you are flexible. Pick a month where you can say with 98% certainty that you can be available at anytime of the day, Monday – Friday. If your flexibility is limited, you know in advance that you are reducing your probability of finding consensus. (We have had defenses at 8:00 AM on a Friday morning, and the room was packed!)
2. Map out your committee members’ schedules in advance.  Start with your advisor’s schedule, then work your way through the rest of the committee.  You need to know what their obligations are in advance without imposing your desired dates upon them.  Know and respect their immovable events.  Mark off their teaching days, the entire week before their grant or paper is due, conference days, and more.  Some people have their calendars online, some have their calendars managed by the department’s administrative assistant or their lab manager.
3. Give email a break, go and visit them in person.  Before you try to work everything out with a bunch of emails, make an appointment with your committee members (individually) and talk about their schedules for the month that you’re interested in. Remember that your faculty members are people too. They are juggling their teaching, research, service, grants, conferences, publications, external committee obligations, and more. Some have families at home, are caring for aging parents, or are taking care of their own health needs.
4. Let other committee members know about your advisor’s availability first. Don’t try to make the schedule by starting with your outside member. Find your advisor’s availability, then work in the availability of those in the department.  Chances are that there may be some similarities with schedules of those within your department. As you talk with your other committee members, let them know about your advisor’s schedule.  For example, you can say, “Dr. Jamison, my advisor, Dr. Corles, is open on April 3, 5, 10, or 12 after 2PM.” Schedule your external member last. Your advisor may allow your external member to participate by conference call or Skype.
5. Request that your defense be a “feature” for a standard department event. Perhaps your department always has a lecture on the third Friday or the month at 2PM, or your advisor always has a group meeting on Wednesdays at noon. Perhaps the department’s weekly faculty meeting is on Mondays at 1, and you can ask if you can schedule the defense at 11.
6. Make plausible suggestions. If teaching schedules are the bottleneck, talk with some of your friends (advanced grad students, postdocs, alumni) and ask if they might consider facilitating a class for your advisor or committee member on your defense day. If the friends agree, bring this up to your advisor or committee member. For example, you can say, “Dr. Jones, I know that you teach Math 202 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays this semester.  I’d like to suggest a possible way to free your schedule on one of those days. One of your former top students, Dr. Maria Harris, is a Senior Analyst at NSA and has agreed to come in on my defense day to cover your class. She said that she can also tell the students about some of the unclassified projects and how the content that they are learning applies to national security.”

These are just a few suggestions, six out of many that have worked for doctoral students over the years.  Yes, everyone is busy; perhaps people are more busy than ever these days. But in this age of technology, remember to invoke the human connection. Do not try to do everything over email. This may work for some people, but it doesn’t always work for the whole group. You may need to schedule a conference call with each person. Solidify things with your advisor first, and let those dates guide you. Good luck and best wishes!

_____________________________________________

This post may be copied, but please reference “The Dissertation House — http://www.thedissertationhouse.com, a program of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP.”

_____________________________________________

The text content of this post was compiled and written by the staff of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP and may not be copied without referencing the PROMISE organization, as “PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP”.

PROMISE AGEP Online Information by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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!

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