Thesis Dissertation Boot Camp Goes Virtual

The Graduate School, along with Joyner Library and the University Writing Center have provided in-person thesis-dissertation boot camps since 2016.  These camps are designed to help graduate students make significant progress specifically on writing page of their master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation prospectus or final document.  Previously held in Joyner or Laupus Libraries, the Boot Camp was held virtually through Teams in June 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The feedback from this pilot was excellent so the decision was made to continue virtually during the 2020-2021 academic year to provide greater flexibility for students to attend, but also to continue to implement COVID-19 safety precautions and minimize contact in small spaces, such as study rooms.

During the days of September 9 – 11, students will gather in a Teams meeting four times over the course of 6 hours.  These brief “check-ins” will provide students with time to ask questions, get information about writing or submitting their document, and to learn how to motivate themselves to write daily, how to set achievable writing goals, and how to not get stuck in a procrastination cycle. Students are encouraged to write for at least 3 hours of the day with a specific goal of producing pages within their documents.  This could include revising chapters, doing statistical analyses, creating tables or figures, or incorporating edits from their committee.

Each semester, about 5-15 students participate in a boot camp and many students come to camp several times to provide themselves with an opportunity for focused writing time.  Graduate students who are working on a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation can review dates/times the Boot Camp is offered on the Graduate School’s website. Questions can be directed to Dr. Kathleen Cox, Associate Dean, Graduate School.