by Augie Morado
The University Writing Center’s Virtual Study Program for Thesis/Dissertation Writers is nearing its conclusion. As mentioned in the May post, I enrolled in the program to make progress on my dissertation this summer. The camp runs Monday through Thursday with sessions in the morning, noon, and afternoon.
Morning sessions are straightforward: we log in via Microsoft
Teams at 10 am. Ashley Bartelt, a fellow English Ph.D. student who works in the
UWC, delivers morning announcements, discusses the day’s itinerary, and then
asks each attendee share their goal for the day. Individual goals are
diverse: writing a certain number of pages, reading a certain article,
conducting research with participants, or getting in touch with their director.
Morning meetings also offer a chance for us to vent if needed, seek advice, and even to share other
non-thesis/diss activities we may have planned for the day, whether that’s
running errands, spending time with family, or unwinding. While the work each
of us does is important, it’s good to know we don’t have to be strictly
business when we meet; I think acknowledging we have lives apart from being
scholars is a good first step in maintaining work-life balance.
Noon sessions, or Brown Bag Meetings, cover different topics related to writing, research, and other administrative tasks related to writing a thesis or dissertation. While I made my best effort to attend these, I was often writing during these times, and thus mostly checked into morning and afternoon sessions. Fortunately, each session is recorded and can be viewed at any time by anyone enrolled. While some sessions cover steps I’ve already completed, such as candidacy exams and IRB approval, others like using databases effectively were helpful, and the APA 7th ed. discussion was helpful given that its changes are still relatively new.
Finally, the afternoon sessions that close each day invert the format of morning sessions – Ashley asks if we’ve achieved our goals, giving us each a chance to share triumphs as well as obstacles we may have encountered throughout the day. Obviously at the start of the day, it’s hard to predict unexpected challenges to the work we plan to do, but as long as we’re open and transparent, we’re able to support one another and end the day in a position to plan for positive progress the next day.
Overall, I’ve made pretty solid progress on my first chapter thanks to this program. Having accountability thanks to the morning and afternoon check-ins has managed to keep me honest this summer, especially as restrictions have lifted and I’ve begun to enjoy a social life that each day resembles more the one I had before the advent of Covid.
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In closing, I should point out that this post will be the blog’s final one, but the published posts, which cover a wide range of topics dating back to 2015, will continue to be available here. Furthermore, my appointment as a grad assistant in the Thesis and Dissertation Office ends today, making a me a free agent as far as NIU employment is concerned, but no need to worry; I’m still tutoring at Aurora University and teaching at College of DuPage. Fall 2021 will be a busy semester, so I’m looking forward to maximizing the time I have this coming year to complete my diss. I’m grateful to Carolyn for the opportunity to have spent the last two years working here – I’ve learned and grown a lot in the process, become a better writer, and have made dissertation progress that I’m happy with.
From Fall 2021 onward, Carolyn will operate the Thesis and Diss Office solo. Despite recent university mandates to once again wear masks on campus, Carolyn can be visited in Williston 100 (starting in October, Covid policies permitting) or reached at either 815-753-9405 or Thesis@niu.edu. Do check in with her if you have questions about your thesis or dissertation at any step in the process. As for me, it was a pleasure to serve the Graduate School in this position, and I look forward to progressing on my end and seeing you all around.
