In the Summer of 2007, Marquette University won a grant from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) to develop activities that will improve the completion rate of doctoral students and, at the same time, reduce the time to completion.

Workshops:

• Dissertation Completion Workshop
  Presented by Dr. Sonja Foss (University of Colorado at Denver) and Dr. William Waters (University of Houston)
  
  Drs. Foss and Waters, who co-authored the book Destination Dissertation, presented this workshop designed to motivate and give practical tips on completion of the dissertation to doctoral candidates. Each participant received a copy of their book. This workshop will be repeated annually at the beginning of the Fall term.

 

• Selecting a Dissertation Adviser and Committee
  Presented by Dr. Thomas Jablonsky (History) and Dr. Kristina Ropella (Biomedical Engineering)
  
  This workshop provided information to doctoral students on how to select a dissertation adviser and the members of the dissertation committee, as well as suggesting issues to consider and avoid. This workshop will be repeated in the Winter of 2008 and each Fall and Spring term thereafter.
  
  Audio Available Click Here

• Communication Workshop for Doctoral Students
  Presented by Dr. Sarah Knox (Counseling And Educational Psychology) and Dr. Alan Burkard (Counseling and Educational Psychology)
  
  Colleague or student? Communication between a doctoral student and his/her adviser and committee can present special challenges. This presentation addressed issues and offered suggestions to improve the communication process. This workshop will be repeated in the Winter of 2008 and each Fall and Spring term thereafter.

Dissertation Completion Boot Camp:

This intensive five day period scheduled for June 1-5, 2009 will give a select group of doctoral candidates, who are actively involved in writing, a motivation boost to make progress towards completion. Candidates will be expected to live in housing provided on campus and spend the majority of the week actively writing and consulting with specially trained faculty readers. Housing will be provided in David A. Straz, Jr., Tower, and workspace and consultation areas will be in the lower level conference area of Raynor Libraries.

*Invitations to doctoral candidates interested in participating will be made in January 2009.