By Elizabeth Exline
If anything could embody the concept of a love-hate relationship, it would be the dissertation process of a doctoral program. At once central to the experience and immensely challenging, writing a dissertation requires a host of skills (research, organization, critical thinking, writing) while also depending on the absence of a select few (hello, procrastination!).
The kicker? Writing a dissertation is only one part of the doctoral challenge. Publishing a dissertation, or any research project for that matter, is a whole other beast.
Enter 澳门天天彩开奖记录 (UOPX), which offers聽three distinct opportunities聽to doctoral students and graduates inside and outside the University. Known as the Dissertation to Publication workshop, Research to Publication workshop and Fellows in Residence program, each offering seeks to establish what Rodney Luster, PhD, describes as 鈥connectiveness鈥 between students and their doctoral degrees.
鈥淭hese programs are driven by the potential to help students聽craft their academic identities聽even further as scholar practitioners,鈥 Luster says.
Luster serves as the chair for the Center for Leadership Studies and Organizational Research at UOPX. He works closely with doctoral students in multiple capacities and points out that getting published, applying for research grants or simply learning how to turn data into shareable content all circles back to the point of a practitioner doctorate: doing work that聽positively impacts the community.
Here鈥檚 how doctoral students and graduates can get started.聽
Designed to help people turn their dissertations into publishable manuscripts 鈥 and then find homes for those manuscripts 鈥 the occurs virtually each fall and spring. It鈥檚 open to students across academic disciplines, and attendees don鈥檛 have to be enrolled at UOPX to participate. (UOPX students do, however, enjoy the workshop on a complimentary basis while non-UOPX students pay a nominal fee.)
The reason for the workshop? That all-encompassing goal of publication.
鈥淧ublishing research in peer-reviewed journals is the best [for] sharing the research with readers across the world and advancing the professional lives of the authors,鈥 explains Mansureh Kebritchi, PhD.
Kebritchi is the chair for the Center for Educational and Instructional Technology Research (CEITR), and she developed the workshop with the express goal of publication. Today, she continues to manage the workshop with the help of a committee of CEITR faculty and fellows.
鈥淒octoral graduates spend great effort and time developing and completing their dissertations but may not publish their studies in journals because of the difficulties and challenges facing the task,鈥 Kebritchi explains. 鈥淭he Dissertation to Publication workshop was established to support our doctoral students in聽learning the process of developing a publishable manuscript聽and developing their manuscript based on the essence of their dissertations.鈥
Mansureh Kebritchi, PhD, chair for the Center for Educational and Instructional Technology Research
Participants include both doctoral graduates and doctoral students close to graduation. During the workshop, participants identify which peer-reviewed journals might be a good fit for their dissertations, and they receive guidance on the process of turning an academic paper into a manuscript worth publishing (and reading).
The workshop also includes聽committee review聽by experienced faculty members and聽synchronous virtual monthly meetings. More than 500 dissertations have been successfully placed since the workshop鈥檚 inception in 2016.
Similar to the DTP workshop, the (RTP) workshop focuses on how doctoral students and graduates can create a publishable manuscript out of a completed research project.
Each six-week RTP workshop follows the same format as the DTP workshops: Participants identify potential peer-reviewed journals to pitch; then they work on drafting the three primary sections of the article (introduction, methods and results).
The only major difference between the DTP and RTP workshops is that RTP workshops focus on general research rather than dissertations. But, as Kebritchi notes, not just any research project will do. Eligible projects should be completed and be 鈥渟ignificant enough for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.鈥
Available to qualified doctoral graduates, the is a little bit like an unpaid internship at a big corporation: In return for research and assistance, participating fellows gain valuable experience and CV-boosting credentials.
鈥淭he Fellows in Residence is a volunteer-promoted role that provides opportunities to grow researchers, establish and generate research, promote opportunities for collaboration and explore the possibilities in growing acumen,鈥 Luster explains.
Practically speaking, those opportunities include:
There are more tacit advantages too, such as the fact that participants can add the program to their resum茅.
鈥淭he Fellows in Residence was established to bridge the gap between the graduate and the emerging identity of the doctor. Often when students graduate, we may hear that the journey was epic, but then when it is completed, many may feel it is at least the end of the story for them. But it鈥檚 not and doesn鈥檛 have to be. In fact, the program helps them add to their CV!鈥 Luster explains.
The Fellows in Residence program kicked off in 2020 with a handful of participants. Today, each of the University鈥檚 three research centers oversees its own cadre of fellows 鈥 and the success has been impressive.
Rodney Luster, PhD, chair for the Center for Leadership Studies and Organizational Research at 澳门天天彩开奖记录
鈥淟ast year, several of the fellows were selected to present at the International Leadership Association鈥檚 [ILA] annual conference from Geneva, were published in the聽Journal of Leadership Studies聽and applied for research grants. [Some] presented at the [澳门天天彩开奖记录] Annual Research Summit. And this year, they鈥檙e working on chapter contributions to an聽聽as well as聽,鈥 Luster says.
While each of these programs offers distinct advantages to doctoral students and graduates, another opportunity nearly everyone can take advantage of is the University鈥檚聽. This three-day, virtual conference features University and guest presenters as well as聽Dissertation of the Year winners聽for a conference experience that underscores the value of how research can remediate or impact a current issue.
From workshops to programs to conferences, the opportunities to enhance the doctoral experience at UOPX are both dynamic and diverse. You just have to know where to look.聽