2016 Annual Conference

An exploration of the dissertation process and types of faculty and institutional support that can be provided to those involved including graduate students preparing for or engaged in the process; faculty serving as dissertation chairs, committee members and methodologists/statisticians; and administrators with responsibilities for facilitating students’ progression through the process.

This session will be of interest to people interested in learning about the provision of support to dissertation students including graduate students preparing for the dissertation, students engaged in writing the dissertation; faculty who serve as dissertation chairs, committee members, and methodologist/statisticians; and administrators with responsibilities for ensuring the dissertation students' needs are being met.

Between 30-50% of graduate students who begin a doctoral program complete their programs. Doctoral programs that have a support process in place can better serve their students and help students successfully transition to a position in higher education. Conceição and Swaminathan (2011) describe a continuous process for dissertation support with three progressive roles for the faculty: advising, coaching, and mentoring. These stages may be distinct, but they interweave throughout the graduate program. In the advising role, faculty recommend course work, help students develop a timeline, and complete coursework. It involves assisting students to navigate the system, become self-directed, and start working on their own. In coaching, students have completed coursework and prepare a dissertation proposal. Faculty assist students to make contact with potential committee members, provide information on program politics, procedures and unwritten rules, and academic culture. During this stage, students and faculty work together to facilitate students’ development of critical and creative thinking, reflection on the process, ownership of their own work, and development of a scholarly voice as a scholar. In the role of a mentor, faculty guide students toward research completion through modeling and recommending future career strategies as a scholar.