Doctoral Support Center & Doctoral Programming Blog

REMINDER! Deadline is 5/31 !Dissertation Writing Retreat (ODA) Summer 2011

Dissertation Writing Retreat (ODA) New Format

When we held the Dissertation Writing Retreat early in the Spring semester in its new format for the first time, the response was great and all students who attended reported that they made great progress. So we are holding another retreat at the end of June.

If you need some structured and quality time to write your dissertation chapters then apply today for the dissertation writing retreat. As some of you may already know with the new format we 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 towardthe 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-5, 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 June 23th – Sunday June 26, 2011


• New Format:

Thursday, 06/23/11 9 AM – 9 PM

Friday, 06/24/11 9 AM – 9 PM

Saturday, 06/25/11 9 AM – 9 PM

Sunday, 06/26/11 9 AM – 5 PM

• Application Deadline: May 31, 2011


• Acceptance Notification: June 10, 2011
• Fee:
  $200*
  
  Due: June 17, 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 ODASummer2011

For more information email Dr. Gokce Gokalp.

Phi Delta Kappa Membership in the USC Chapter

Phi Delta Kappa International is the largest society of professional educators in the world. Benefits of membership include monthly issues of the renowned Phi Delta Kappan, publications for teachers and school leaders, access to the PDK International Summit on Education and the PDK/Gallup Poll on the Public’s Attitudes on Public Education, and opportunities for fellowships and scholarships. Its members enjoy wearing the honor sash at their Ed.D. hooding and graduation ceremonies. Visit the PDK-USC website to apply for membership in the USC Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa. If you apply now you can be inducted at the final dinner meeting of the year on May 6. For more information, please contact Ed Robillard, PDK-USC Vice-President of Membership, at elrobillard@aol.com. Please see the attached letter from Dr. Robillard and the 2011PDK Honor Sash Order Form.  

 Download PDK Membership Invite Letter

Download PDK_USC_Honor_Sash_Order_Form_

Just 2%

If you start out with 100 high school students, just 2 of them --that is 2%-- will end up getting a doctoral degree.

Thinking about it that way, you're pretty exceptional!

Online Literature Review Workshop Saturday April 30

As some of you may know at the beginning of the semester we offered a Literature Review Workshop that was focused more on writing literature review papers for the courses you are taking which was extremely well attended. So we decided to offer it again, but this time to reach those students who are off-site as well, it will be conducted on-line via Adobe Connect.

We will do exercises on identifying a topic,identifying and reviewing primary sources, outlining the literature review, analyzing and synthesizing the literature and on paraphrasing and using quotes sparingly and appropriately. Please come prepared to practice the skills of writing a literature review for your coursework and for the dissertation.

The workshop will take place on Saturday April 30 from 10 am – 12:00 pm. If you are interested in attending please RSVP at: rossier.dsc@usc.edu

I will email the link for the Adobe Connect Session and instructions on Wednesday April 27 to those who RSVP. Hope to see you there :)

Event 4/26 : Evaluating and Using Testing and Measurement Tools

Please join in a Webinar on Testing and Measurement Tools.

Dr. Jade Winn will present a short instructional seminar on how to find, access, evaluate and use tests and measurements.

Event: Evaluating and Using Testing and Measurement Tools
Invited By: JADE WINN (jadewinn@USC.EDU)
When: 04/26/2011 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Time Zone: (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US and Canada); Tijuana

To join the meeting:
http://usclibraries.adobeconnect.com/testing-measurement/

Have a Great Day!

60 Minutes Isn't Very Long

As you'd know if you've come anywhere near me in the past month, I recently finished my final edits, received final approval and uploaded my dissertation to the Graduate School.  This chapter of my life has ended. I'm going to share something that worked for me.  It's just a trick but, as I said, it did work.  Maybe it could help you too.

Toward the end, when I just needed to edit and write, I found it hard.  I had become too focused on the big picture, on everything that had to be done. Getting myself to sit down and do it was a struggle.  Finally I made these signs the read, as you see here "60 Minutes isn't very long," and taped them up on the wall above my desk and everywhere else I was working (I move around a lot).

Then I set the timer on my iPhone for 60 minutes and told myself that just for that amount of time I would do nothing but write and edit. No checking email, no answering the phone, not even any reading of research.  Just writing.  After 60 minutes I could stop, do all those things, get a cup of tea or whatever and then decide if I had 60 more minutes in me. 

This worked for me, one hour at a time.  It isn't very long. 

Cohort of 2008

Hello Cohort of 2008,

Congratulations on making it this far!  Here are your April 2011 updates:

Commencement Book

The Commencement Book Proof will be available for FINAL review April 5 and 6 from 8:30 a.m. - Noon and l: 00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. in Publications STU(Student Union) 400 AND Degree Progress JHH 10.  This will be your last opportunity to make corrections or add your name to the book. It can only be done in person, by the student.

Commencement Tickets

Each candidate will receive an additional 7 tickets deposited into their ticket account by April 15, 2011.  With the 10 tickets you have already reserved, you will have 17 total tickets.  Details on when and how to access the additional tickets will be sent to you by April 15, 2011.

Regalia Rental

Regalia rentals will begin at the USC Bookstore on April 27, 2011.  Please contact the USC Bookstore at 213-740-8997 for more details. 

Dissertation Defense

If you did not meet the April 1, 2011 upload deadline, the next deadline is July 1, 2011.  Please be sure to contact me before your defense date so I can help answer any questions regarding the paperwork.

Summer Registration

Students who meet the following criteria DO need to register for the Summer 2011 term:

• Students who have passed the qualifying exam and need one or both EDUC 794a and EDUC 794b and who want to finish this summer.
• Students who are missing any other coursework due to a leave of absence or any other delay in the program and need to make up those courses this summer.

It is a pleasure facilitating your degree progress.

Fight On!

Melisa Carson

mcarson@usc.edu

(213) 821-1511

Cohort of 2010 - April 2011 Updates

Congratulations! You have almost completed your second semester of the Ed.D. Program! Here are some important items you should be aware of for April.

Fall 2011 Registration: Students in the Cohort of 2010 will be able to register for the Fall 2011 semester on the morning of Tuesday, April 5. Registration usually opens around 8:00 AM. You will be enrolling in two concentration courses. By now, you should have received a registration memo with complete details on the Fall 2011 semester. If you have not received a memo, please let me know. A booklist will be available later in the summer.

Summer 2011 Registration: Registration for the summer semester is currently open. Students should be registering in their first concentration course and Inquiry Methods I. Please note that your tuition will be due the billing cycle following your registration. This date will appear on the ePay system. Please let me know if you have any difficulties during the registration process or if you need me to re-send a copy of the registration memo to you. Booklists for your two courses will be sent on April 1.

Summer 2011 Financial Aid: If you plan on requesting financial aid for the summer semester, please visit the following website for complete details on how to apply for financial aid: http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/applying_receiving/graduates2/summer.html. You will also need to complete the 2011 Summer Loan Request Form, which can be found here: http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/private/docs/1112/SLRF201112.pdf. If you have any questions about the financial aid process, please contact the Financial Aid Office at 213-740-1111.

Preliminary Review: The Preliminary Review will take place in early May after students have completed all four core courses. Please remember to save all of your final course papers. You will be asked to electronically submit your final papers for each of the four core courses as part of the Preliminary Review process. More details will be sent to you shortly.

Summer Conference: The Ed.D. Program Office will be holding its Summer Conference at the end of the summer semester. The event will give you the opportunity to learn more about your thematic dissertation topic choices. The event will be held from 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM on Saturday, August 20, 2011 at the Davidson Conference Center on the University Park Campus. The faculty chairs will be on hand to present on the various topics and answer any questions you may have. You will be receiving much more information in the coming months.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you very much!