Doctoral Support Center & Doctoral Programming Blog

Cohort of 2008 - January 2011 Updates

Spring Registration: The last day to register for the spring semester and settle your student bill without a late fee is Friday, January 7, 2011. If you need a Permit to Enroll in either EDUC 791 or EDUC 794b-d or z, contact me immediately. The permit to enroll for EDUC 794a and concurrent enrollment in EDUC 794a and b is located on the Qualifying Exam Report.

Commencement: The Ed.D. Program hooding ceremony will take place on May 12, 2011 at 3:00 PM. The university’s commencement ceremony will take place on May 13, 2011 at 8:30 AM.  Please ensure your contact information is accurate since the university will send all printed materials to this address, including your diploma.

Online Commencement Form: You should have received an email regarding commencement. Please make sure that you complete the online commencement form as soon as possible. The email confirmation you receive must be printed, signed by your chair, and submitted to me by January 19, 2011.  You will not be able to participate in commencement unless you complete this process. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Dissertation Workshop: The Ed.D. Program Office will be hosting another workshop on Tuesday, March 1, 2011 from 4:30 – 5:30 PM (location TBA). We strongly encourage you to attend as you approach your final dissertation defense. You do not need to RSVP.

Congratulations on your accomplishments!

Melisa Carson, Ed.D. Program Advisor

Dissertation Writing Retreat (ODA) New Format

If you need some structured and quality time to write your dissertation chapters then apply today for the dissertation writing retreat.  We are glad to announce a new format for the dissertation writing retreat, known as ODA.  We will no longer offer the residential component, which minimizes any costs involved with this service.  Please click on the application link below for further details.

ODA stands for "Operation Dissertation Acceleration" and is designed for doctoral students who need / want to set aside a serious block of time to make a significant push toward the next step of their dissertation.

The retreat is targeted toward students who:

• Have research question(s) but have not been able to complete chapters 1, 2 and 3 (the proposal); OR
• Have defended their proposal and collected data, but have not yet completed chapters 4 and/or 5.

Retreat participants will be selected and assigned to work directly with a DSC writing adviser. The ratio of advisor to students will be 1-to-4, meaning students will have a great deal of support and interaction on their project. In addition, participants will exchange papers and support each other through peer-to-peer feedback.

• Retreat Dates: Thursday February 24th - Sunday February, 2011
• New Format:

        Thursday, 02/24/11       9 AM – 9 PM

        Friday, 02/25/11           9 AM – 9 PM

        Saturday, 02/26/11       9 AM – 9 PM

        Sunday, 02/27/11          9 AM – 5 PM

• Application Deadline: January 31, 2011
• Acceptance Notification: February 11, 2011
• Fee: $200*
  Due: February 18, 2011
  (*The new fee amount covers three meals for four days per student)

If you are interested in testimonials of past dissertation writing retreat participants please access the following online-presentation here. You will need to enter the username and password:

Username: rsoedoctoral

Password: doctoral1234

Applications may be downloaded here: Download ODASPRING2011.

For more information email Dr. Ilda Jimenez y West.

Cohort of 2010 - January 2011 Updates

Spring 2011 Registration: The deadline to register for the Spring 2011 semester without paying a late fee is January 7, 2011. If you need me to re-send a copy of the registration memo, please contact me.

Account Holds: Please remember to resolve any holds you may have on your account as quickly as possible. You will not be able to register until all holds have been settled. If you have failed to take care of the MMR vaccinations before December, you will likely have a new financial hold that will need to be addressed, as well.

Fall 2010 Grades: Your grades should begin appearing on the OASIS website beginning on December, 23, 2010. Some grades may be delayed until January, so do not be alarmed if your grades are not available on this date.

Concentration Information Event: The Ed.D. Concentration Information Event will be held on Monday, January 31, 2011 from 4:30 - 6:00 PM. The location will be announced shortly. At this event, faculty from all four concentrations will be discussing the concentration classes, career paths, and various other topics related to their concentrations. After the event, all students will be asked to confirm their concentration or request a switch. More details will be sent to you in early January.

Final Papers: Please remember to save all of your final term papers in your core courses. You will need to submit them to the Ed.D. Program Office in May as part of the Preliminary Review process.

I am looking forward to working with you in the New Year! Happy Holidays!

Rocke DeMark, Ed.D. Program Advisor for the Cohort of 2010

January 2011 news from the Ed.D. Program Office

Dear Ed.D. students,

This month, rather than receiving an Ed.D. Program Office newsletter by email, you can view the advising columns here on the blog! We hope this is a timely source for information on services, programs, scholarships, career center information and other news.

Scholarships and Fellowships: If you would like to apply for the 2011-2012 Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund Fellowships please request the application from me at jesstarr@usc.edu. Each fellowship covers the cost of tuition and a stipend of $18,000 for academic year 2011-2012. Candidates must demonstrate a need for financial assistance, and be citizens of the United States. To be considered for nomination, applicants must submit one set of application materials to the Graduate School c/o Marti Rood, Grace Ford Salvatori Suite 315, by January 10^th, 2011.

Other calendar items:

January 13 is the last day to add or drop a course in the Spring 2011 semester without a mark of W for session 300 and 360.

January 25 we are presenting another Proposal Defense Workshop from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. (room TBA).

January 28 is the last day to add or drop a course in the Spring 2011 semester without a mark of W for session 001.

January 31 is the Concentration Information Event from 4:30 PM – 6:00 p.m. (room TBA).

I hope your winter break is restful and we will see you in the new year!

Jessica Gibson

Director, Ed.D. Program

Happy Holidays Cohort of 2009!

 
The Ed.D. Program Office wishes you a wonderful holiday break! The following are a few reminders as you prepare for the spring 2011 semester:

Fall 2010 Grades: I have been informed by the Grades Department that grades will be available on OASIS starting on December 23rd, 2010.

Spring 2011 Registration: The last day to register and settle your bill for the spring semester without a late fee is Friday, January 7th, 2011. Classes for the spring semester begin for the university the week of January 10th, 2011. However, EDUC 536 will meet on the following weeks for a total of eight meeting dates: January 18, February 1, February 15, February 28, March 21, April 4, April 18 and May 3rd. The weekday sections meet from 4:30-9:30pm and the Saturday sections will meet from 8:30am-1:30pm. Based on the Student Financial Services website financial aid loans should begin dispersing on January 3rd, 2011.  

 Preparing for the Dissertation Proposal Workshop will be held on Tuesday, January 25th, 2011 from 4:00-6:00pm. This workshop will include presentations about the Literature Review, Library Services, IRB process, and paperwork associated with the qualifying exam. The location is TBD and students do not need to respond for this event. The Ed.D. office will offer this event again in March 2011.

Please be aware that the university will be closed from December 24th-January 2nd, 2011. Our office will reopen on Monday, January 3rd, 2011.

Happy Holidays!

Nadine Singh, Ed.D. Program Advisor

Seasons Greetings

The holiday break is a time to breathe and enjoy family and friends. Our hope at the Doctoral Support Center (DSC) and the Doctoral Programing offices is that many of you will also utilize this time to continue to write or conceptualize your coursework, research proposal and dissertation. As you embark on your holiday break, please keep in mind that our offices will offer many opportunities for you to take advantage in the upcoming Spring semester. Please come back to our Blog to learn more about our face to face and on-line presentations for the Spring.

Happy Holidays and we look forward to seeing you in the new year!

Dissertation Writing Group This Weekend

Just a friendly reminder that the December Session of the Fall Dissertation Writing Groups will be this Saturday, December 11 and Sunday, December 12 in rooms WPH 201/202/206. We will have the Fall Finale on Saturday Dec 11 from 5-6 pm to celebrate the progress everyone has made this semester at McKay’s. If you would like to RSVP for this weekend's Writing Group, please email me at gokalp@usc.edu

Look forward to seeing you there!

Gokce Gokalp

Celebrate the End of Fall Semester

EDSA is also an End of the Semester Party on Saturday, December 11th at 7:00 p.m. This is the perfect opportunity to meet fellow Ed.D. students across different core days and concentrations. More information will follow, or you can contact Amir Whitaker at amirwhit@usc.edu

Employment Opportunity: East Asian Studies Program

The East Asian Studies Center is seeking two teaching assistants for its Global East Asia (EASC 360) summer study abroad courses in Japan and Korea.

Each teaching assistantship will be a 37.5% appointment, which will provide a stipend of $4,812.50 and tuition remission of up to 9 units for the summer. It will also cover the mandatory Student Health Care Center fee and USC graduate student health premiums.  The TA will be responsible for assisting with the coordination of logistics prior to departure, as well as during the 4-week course. To apply, please send a cover letter and CV to easc@college.usc.edu by Friday, January 14, 2011.   

If you have any questions, please contact the East Asian Studies Center at easc@college.usc.edu, call 213-740-2991, or visit our office in CLH 101.

Dissertation Workshop

The Ed.D. Program Office will be hosting a dissertation workshop on Tuesday, December 7, 2010 from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. in WPH B27.

At this event, students will learn more about the final dissertation defense and the Graduate School Dissertation Submission process.    The Doctoral Support Center and Financial Aid Office will also present information relevant to this phase of the program. We will host another workshop in March 2011 for those interested in learning about the process closer to the dissertation defense date.

We strongly urge you to attend one of the two workshops as you approach your final dissertation defense. You do not need to RSVP.