10:03 a.m., Sept. 25, 2009----The University of Delaware's Office of Graduate and Professional Education is partnering with the Writing Program to offer a Dissertation Boot Camp on Jan. 11-22, 2010, for Ph.D. students who are writing their first dissertation chapters or who have found their writing progress stalled. Applications are due Nov. 1.

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The intensive workshop, adapted from similar programs at the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, Temple, and Yale, builds on the success of previous boot camps offered at UD during the past year.

“A major goal in the Path to ProminenceTM strategic plan is to be a premier research and graduate university,” said Debra Hess Norris, vice provost for graduate and professional education. “These boot camps are part of a growing series of programs to assist and support our graduate students on their path to excellence and future achievement.”

In addition to the dissertation boot camps, during the past year, grant writing workshops and a new international travel grants program for graduate students were established, a graduate student survey was administered in collaboration with the Graduate Student Senate, the Office of Graduate and Professional Education Web site was revamped and enhanced with expanded content, including new Web pages for underrepresented students, and a monthly series of information sessions was launched for international scholars and students, including undergraduate and graduate students.

Participants in the dissertation boot camp will spend the majority of their time writing; however, the workshop also will include brief discussions on topics of common interest to dissertation students such as goal setting, time management, and the writing habits of successful and prolific academic writers, according to workshop leader Michael McCamley, assistant professor of English.

“I have constantly been impressed in these boot camps not only by the amount of writing that the students produce, but by the enthusiasm with which the participants approach two weeks of protected writing time,” McCamley said.

Students accepted to the program must commit to attending a writing session from 10:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, for two consecutive weeks.

Writing Program faculty will provide time, space, and professional tutorial support to help students progress on their projects. Food also will be provided.

As part of the application process, faculty advisers must nominate their students for the workshop with a brief e-mail. In addition, participants will write a brief proposal (no more than 300 words) explaining what they will produce during the workshop.

Applicants will be chosen based upon time to degree completion and the importance of the workshop at this stage of the project.

Applications are due Nov. 1 and should be e-mailed to Michael McCamley at [mccamley@udel.edu].

Article by Tracey Bryant
Photo by Duane Perry