all-but-dissertation mentoring
ABD Strategies' mission is to provide effective, consistent support and involvement by an experienced mentor-advisor-coach who is a former graduate school dean to make a substantive difference in a student's efforts to complete a dissertation.
ABD Strategies' objective is to provide graduate students with personalized, focused mentoring by someone unaffiliated with the student's school or program. In the mid-to-later stage of dissertation writing this mentoring will clarify objectives, reduce obstacles and motivate students to make progress toward graduating with a Ph.D. degree and moving on to the next phase of their professional lives.
The nature of that mentoring is outlined below.
- I begin with an extensive assessment to understand the factors affecting and impeding a student's dissertation writing. The assessment explores how a student sets priorities, organizes resources and understands the dissertation and its development. I examine how the student has worked with his/her advisor and dissertation committee. In consultation with the student, I will design a program with clear goals, strategies for addressing writing problems, schedules for contact between me and student, and deadlines. The initial meeting[s] are, when possible, face-to-face; once a working relationship is established, telephone and e-mail are the preferred means for quick and efficient contact.
- My work with the student is non-judgmental. I am not affiliated with the student's school and do not know the student's advisor(s). My role is to address roadblocks to progress and to understand student concerns. I focus on the processes of writing and organization. The advisor's role is academic; my work supports that role.
My work with the student is confidential.
I do not ghostwrite.- My connection with the student is important. Students well into the ABD phase of their dissertation invariably feel isolated. I am committed to a plan in which students can contact me when they need to without feeling that they have compromised our relationship. A student's call will be returned within 48 hours. Outreach is integral to the program's success. At scheduled intervals I contact students to insure that they are on-task and meeting their goals. My mentoring builds on an assumption that today's graduate students are different from those of earlier generations. They are more attuned to seeking outside assistance and to working with counselors, advisors and coaches.
- The nature of my involvement is important. I do not assess the quality of the student's ideas, the validity of their research, the accuracy of their statistics or the conclusions they draw from data. These are clearly in the advisor's domain. I do not compete with the advisor but complement his or her efforts so that they can concentrate on the academic and intellectual challenges facing the student. I work with students to develop strategies to keep the writing process on track.
My fundamental commitments are to coaching, support and consistent and sustained contact with the student to reach their goal: a completed, defended, accepted dissertation and a Ph.D. degree.