Spring 2018 Programs at the Thesis Office

We are excited to announce a new season of workshops and presentations at the NIU Thesis Office! Each semester we offer programs to help you with everything from proposal development to final editing, and everything in between. Check out our current offerings...

Informative Presentations
We offer several presentations geared to specific audiences, and also a submission process presentation that is essential for ANY student who is nearing completion of their thesis or dissertation.

Saturday, Feb 17:  Writing a Dissertation in Education
Designed for students enrolled in 799 in the College of Education or similar program. We will walk you through general dissertation requirements, discuss frequent dissertation issues in Education and Public Service, and we will have plenty of time for discussion and Q&A. This class meets 9am to 2pm in Naperville for the convenience of working teachers and administrators.

Tuesday, Feb 20: Thesis Essentials (For master's thesis writers)
This is the "411" presentation on getting a thesis done. Whether you don't know where to begin, or you are planning your defense, there is probably a thing or two you don't know about how the Graduate School handles theses. This is not a writer's workshop, but a nuts and bolts, project management approach to ensuring you check off all the boxes. We will meet in Adams Hall room 103, and we will have plenty of time for Q&A.

Wednesday, Feb 21: Dissertation Essentials (for dissertation writers at ANY stage!)
This is the "411" presentation on getting a dissertation done.  This is not a writer's workshop, but a nuts and bolts, project management approach to ensuring you check off all the boxes.  You can attend this session in ANY stage of the dissertation writing process! We will meet in Adams Hall room 103 at 2pm, and we will have plenty of time for Q&A.

Tuesday, Feb 27: Writing a Thesis in Engineering
This presentation covers the ins and outs of the very specific task that is the engineering thesis. ASME documentation as well as general thesis guidelines will be covered. We will meet in Adams Hall room 103 at 2pm, and we will have plenty of time for Q&A.

Wednesday, Feb 28: Demystifying the Submission Process
Carolyn Law, director of the Thesis Office and the arbiter of thesis readiness, will demystify the secrets and confusion surrounding the thesis and dissertation submission process! Pull back the curtain and prepare to become prepared. This special session meets in Wirtz Hall room 104, from 5-7pm.

Hands-On Workshops
Each semester we offer a workshop or two based on the needs of thesis writers. This term, it's the return of the infamous "T/F/P" workshop as we like to call it.

Tables, Figures, Pagination
Come get one-on-one help with wrangling those documents! There will be some instruction and presentation at this workshop, and you will also have ample time to work on your thesis with the help of staff members and peers. Common problems like disappearing page numbers, messy figures and tables, staying within margins, and other issues will be fought and conquered!

Informal Brown Bags
Since we don't want to do all the talking (we're here to help YOU), we host several informal Brown Bag sessions each semester. These are a great way to meet other people who are on this unique journey and facing our unique struggles. Come tell us what you're on about! (And what you'd like us to help with more.)

March 7 Writing the Proposal
Bring your lunch and talk with us about your proposal ideas and frustrations! This session will be hosted by Robyn Byrd, doctoral candidate in English literature, who defended her dissertation proposal this last October. So she knows the process and remembers the ABD journey!

March 21 Breaking through Writer's Block (and other obstacles)
Join us with your brown bag (or styrofoam container) to discuss the many kinds of writer's obstacles we all face, and some possible solutions. Hosted by Carolyn Law, professional editor and Thesis Office director, who knows the fear of the blank page!

Meet-Ups for Writers
Finally, don't forget, we have a writer's meet-up we call "Write Place, Write Time,"on the second Thursday of every month. This three hour block is a stellar opportunity to make an unbreakable date with your self.  We reserve the doctoral study room on the fourth floor of Founders, and we work quietly together. There is no agenda at Write Place, except to write.  Our next meeting is on March 8.

We hope you join us for one or more of these events this season! Find them all on the University events calendar, or on our Workshops page

Announcing Our Fall Programs

Adams Hall, home of the Graduate School
and the Thesis and Dissertation Office.

Welcome to fall 2017!  In September and October the Thesis Office will once again offer brown bag sessions, presentations, and workshops for NIU grad students at various stages of the thesis or dissertation process. Some brown bag sessions are also open to faculty, and one is geared for faculty and staff.  We look forward to seeing you!

Basics
Brown bags will start in the second week of September and meet Wednesdays from 12 to 1 p.m. in Adams Hall, Room 103.  Presentations and workshops will start in the last week of September, and most will will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. in the same Adams Hall location on a Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday.  Note that two presentations meet at different times, locations, and/or days.  For details on each program, see below.  

Registration
No registration required for brown bags.  Registration is required for a presentation or workshop.  Register via email at thesis@niu.edu.  Include the name of the presentation or workshop you want to attend in the subject line or message.  We do have space limitations for events in Adams 103 (12 seats maximum).  Register early!

What to Expect
Plenty of important information regarding completion of your graduate degree.  After running these programs over several semesters, we’ve learned that most students who attend presentations and workshops are blown away by how much they didn’t fully know about meeting various deadlines, submitting the proper paperwork to the proper place, or formatting the long document.  At all our events, expect thorough coverage of common concerns as well as time to address individual questions.

Brown Bag Sessions 
Breaking Through Writer’s Block (and Other Obstacles)
Wednesday, September 13 (12 to 1 p.m. in Adams Hall, Room 103)
Informal discussion on common obstacles that slow or entirely halt progress on one’s thesis or dissertation.  Carolyn Law, Thesis/Dissertation Advisor, will facilitate the discussion and offer practical strategies.  Students only, please.

Committee Relations
Wednesday, September 20 (12 to 1 p.m. in Adams Hall, Room 103)
Informal discussion on choosing committee members, creating productive working relationships with them, maintaining good communications, and managing feedback throughout the process.  Graduate School policies regarding committees will be reviewed.  Faculty and students welcome.

Robyn Byrd leading a brown bag discussion
in Adams 103.

Writing the Proposal
Wednesday, September 27 (12 to 1 p.m. in Adams Hall,
Room 103)
Discussion will address typical characteristics of any strong thesis or dissertation proposal (sometimes called a prospectus) as well as aspects unique to proposals in various disciplines.  Faculty and students welcome.

The Balancing Act: A Life in Grad School
Wednesday, October 4 (12 to 1 p.m. in Adams Hall,
Room 103)
Informal discussion on the complexities of managing life as a graduate student, balancing family responsibilities, personal health, outside work, and the pressures of a dissertation or thesis.  Session will be facilitated by Thesis Office GA Robyn Byrd, doctoral candidate and mother of two.  Students only, please.

Faculty Q & A

Wednesday, October 11 (12 to 1 p.m. in Adams Hall, Room 103)

(Grad students, you might want to bring this one to the attention of your director or other faculty members in your department.)  Carolyn Law, Thesis/Dissertation Advisor, will introduce the functions and services of the Thesis Office and answer questions about Graduate School requirements and standards for theses and dissertations.  Faculty who are directing a thesis or dissertation at NIU for the first time are especially encouraged to attend, but all faculty and staff are welcome.

Presentations

Carolyn Law presenting on the submission process in Wirtz Hall.

Demystifying the Submission Process
Tuesday, September 26 (5 to 7 p.m. in Wirtz Hall, Room 104)
This presentation is for students preparing to submit a thesis or dissertation to the Graduate School for December 2017 graduation.  Carolyn Law, Thesis/Dissertation Advisor, will walk students through the steps of the process: defense, electronic submission, and final approval.

Dissertation Essentials
Monday, October 2 (2 to 4 p.m. in Adams Hall, Room 103)
Designed for all doctoral students enrolled in 799 in any department.  Staff will walk students through the Graduate School’s specific requirements for dissertations and cover a wide range of the most troublesome issues dissertation writers frequently encounter.

Thesis Essentials
Tuesday, October 3 (2 to 4 p.m. in Adams Hall, Room 103)
Designed for all master’s students enrolled in 699 in any department.  Staff will walk students through the Graduate School’s specific requirements for theses and cover a wide range of the most troublesome issues thesis writers frequently encounter.

Writing a Thesis in Engineering
Thursday, October 5 (2 to 4 p.m. in Adams Hall, Room 103)
Designed specifically for thesis writers enrolled in thesis-credit hours in the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology.  Staff will walk students through the Graduate School’s specific requirements for theses and cover a range of issues that students in engineering fields often find troublesome.

NIU Naperville, venue for Writing a Dissertation in Education.

Writing a Dissertation in Education
Saturday, October 14 (9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at NIU Naperville, Room 119)
This one-day program at NIU Naperville is designed specifically for dissertation writers enrolled in 799 in the College of Education.  Staff will walk students through the Graduate School’s specific requirements for dissertations and cover a wide range of the most troublesome issues dissertation writers in education frequently encounter.

Workshops
Tables/Figures/Pagination
Tuesday, October 10 (2 to 4 p.m. in Adams Hall, Room 103)
This hands-on workshop is designed to help writers comply with the Graduate School’s requirements for tables, figures, and pagination.  Students should bring their work in progress on their own laptops.  Staff will cover the specific format requirements, demonstrate helpful techniques and short-cuts in Microsoft Word, and allow generous time for individual troubleshooting and one-on-one consultation.

ASME Documentation
Thursday, October 12 (2 to 4 p.m. in Adams Hall, Room 103)
This hand-on workshop will teach the documentation style of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, known as ASME journal style.  Using real-word examples, students will apply the principles in real time to their own writing.  ASME journal style is ideal for research documentation in all departments of the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology.

Coming Soon to a Thesis Office Near You

Warm Greetings and Happy New Year!  A quick hello to let you know what's to come this spring at the Thesis and Dissertation Office:

Video Tutorials
This past week our office shifted to production mode and put together our first pair of video tutorials on common questions and concerns about document preparation and formatting.  Soon-to-be available attractions include a short video on formatting leader dots in tables of contents (or similar lists) and a slightly longer one on the sometimes tricky business of formatting page numbers in a thesis or diss.  Stay tuned for further updates!

Spring Presentations and Workshops
We start these again in early February.  Check the NIU Events Calendar for details.

Ongoing Assistance with Your Thesis
Remember--we're available for personal consultation Monday through Thursday from 10 to 2 in Adams Hall, Room 104.

And coming at the end of January to this blog: a guest post by former Project Thesis blogger and recent Ph.D. graduate Michael Yetter.

Welcome Back!

We hope your new year is off to a good start and you’ve had a good break!

For our first blog post of 2016, we want to be sure you know about our upcoming events and remind you of our open office hours, which are Monday – Thursday, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM; stop by Adams Hall 104 anytime with questions regarding theses or dissertations.

Let’s look at the events we have lined up.

Presentations

We have five informational presentations scheduled:

1.      Dissertation 101, Monday, February 8, from 2 – 4 PM (almost full!)

2.      Thesis 101, Tuesday, February 9, from 2 – 4 PM (almost full!)

3.      Writing a Dissertation in Education, Saturday, February 20, from 9 AM – 2 PM (Naperville)

4.      Writing a Thesis in Engineering, Monday, February 22, from 2 – 4 PM

5.      Demystifying the Submission Process, Wednesday, March 9, from 4 – 6 PM

Information about topics covered, exact event/room locations, and who would benefit from each is found on our website.

Workshop

We also have a hands-on workshop, scheduled twice. * NOTE * Our Wednesday, February 3 workshop is full, but you can still attend on Monday, February 29, from 2 – 4 pm.

This workshop is called Tables, Figures, Pagination, and it obviously helps with those tricky topics! It is held in Adams Hall room 103, and almost everyone writing a thesis or dissertation can benefit from this session!

  

Please REGISTER for any of the presentations AND for the Tables, Figures, Pagination workshop by emailing thesis@niu.edu . Put the name and date of the event that you would like to attend in the subject line please.

Introducing, Brown Bag Discussions!

We are now offering discussions over lunch (bring your lunch please) in Adams Hall, room 103 from 12 – 1 PM. These talks will cover a variety of topics and may include guest speakers.

Our first Brown Bag is scheduled for Tuesday, February 16, and it is aimed at faculty who are directing a thesis or dissertation at NIU, especially for those who are doing so for the first time!

Other Brown Bag topics include Writer’s Block, Open Access, and Writing a Proposal.

Please see the schedule on our website, and stay posted in case we add new “menu” options!

Questions? You can always call us at (815) 753- 9405 or email us at thesis@niu.edu. 

Hope to see you at one of our happenings soon!

“I Didn’t Know What I Didn’t Know.”

The title of this post is a quote from a student who attended our “Writing a Dissertation in Education” Workshop of October 3rd.

We often hear positive comments after our workshops, either through email or in person. Typically, students report that the workshop they attended was very helpful.

So what is it that we do at our workshops?

Well, let me tell what we did at our fall workshops then alert you to some of the changes we have in store for the spring.

Typical Fall Workshop

This fall, we offered workshops for specific discipline areas and departments. Some focused on thesis preparation, and others focused on dissertation preparation. By “preparation,” we mean the actual construction of a document according to the appropriate Guidelines (←link to “Thesis Format Guidelines”) found on our website. Content issues are a matter for students and their committees, of course.

A common core at our fall workshops was to walk students through the appropriate Guidelines (←link to “Dissertation Format Guidelines”) in great detail, as the instructions do seem daunting at first. Yet these Guidelines are the publication conventions for theses and dissertations written at NIU, and they need to be followed closely.

We explained the rules, such as the correct placement of tables, and illustrated the rules by way of example, after which students better understood what they needed to do and felt more empowered to get it done. Hence, the positive reviews! (Not to boast, but here's another student quote: "Your presentation was fantastic and very much appreciated!")

We also directed students towards important areas on our website and the Graduate School’s website, such as where to find — and how to read — the Graduation Deadlines for Graduate Students.

Finally, we left time for hands-on manipulation of documents where we helped students address specific problems.

Workshop Issues

We found that many of these workshops were too extensive for some students to complete. In some cases, workshops were presented over two or three sessions. We also found that some disciplines require individualized information, while most do not. So in the spring, we are changing things up!

Spring Ahead! 

In 2016, we will split the sessions into A) ones that mainly present and cover necessary material, and B) ones in which students work right then and there on the formatting of their documents.

A) Presentations

Our presentations will be divided into “Thesis Requirements” and “Dissertation Requirements,” and anyone in any discipline can attend either as appropriate to their degree. Each will last approximately 75 minutes and will finish in one sitting. We will still offer a couple discipline-specific sessions, but our general presentations will give all writers a wealth of information in short order.

B) Workshops

Our workshops, which will be held on different dates than the presentations, will address specific formatting issues, such as problems that arise with tables, figures, and pagination. During these workshops, students need to bring their document on a laptop so they can implement format changes. These two-hour long sessions are open to writers of both theses and dissertations. They will be particularly helpful for those nearing their graduation semester. And, the first one is already scheduled!

Schedule of Events

You will find the dates, times, and locations of all of our events through our website (click Workshops and Support) or through NIU’s Events Calendar, where you can also subscribe to our RSS feed “Thesis-Workshops.” We will be listing more soon!

For any questions, you can always call us at (815) 753- 9405 or email us at thesis@niu.edu. 

Finally, one last student quote: "I will be encouraging all of my peers to attend your workshop in the future." We hope you'll take this student's advice, and we'll see you at one of our happenings this spring!