{"id":2163,"date":"2015-06-08T11:00:39","date_gmt":"2015-06-08T16:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/?p=2163"},"modified":"2017-02-07T11:29:04","modified_gmt":"2017-02-07T17:29:04","slug":"what-support-is-available-when-writing-a-dissertation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/what-support-is-available-when-writing-a-dissertation\/","title":{"rendered":"What Support Is Available When Writing a Dissertation?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Writing a dissertation can be a long, demanding, and solitary process. You\u2019ve completed coursework and residencies, but the research and written interpretation are largely individual pursuits. It can be intimidating at times. What if you need assistance? Where could you find help?<\/p>\n<p>Jonathan Gehrz, Capella University\u2019s dissertation success program manager, has answers to these questions. Most importantly: Yes, there is help out there. At Capella, it comes primarily in two forms\u2014human and written resources.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>Human Resources<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Mentor.<\/strong> Gehrz says this should be the student\u2019s first line of enquiry, as the mentor has subject matter knowledge, theoretical knowledge, and practical experience.\u00a0The relationship a PhD student has with his or her mentor should be a close one, with frequent, regular contact. Capella has a platform, the Dissertation Courseroom, that students can use day-to-day to reach their mentors.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dissertation Advisor.<\/strong> Unlike course advisors\/coaches, dissertation advisors specialize in problem-solving at the dissertation stage. Gehrz notes that these are the best people to approach with questions about integrity, time management, professional conduct, etc.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Additional Specialized Personnel.<\/strong> These may include Disability Services, Career Center, or Financial Counseling (especially if the dissertation phase requires travel that could be underwritten by a grant or a fellowship, or if the student needs to take a leave of absence from his or her job to finish the dissertation).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dissertation Writer\u2019s Retreat.<\/strong> This face-to-face time can be beneficial to students for many reasons, including moral support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>Written Resources<\/h4>\n<p>Start with both university-level resources and school- or program-specific resources offered by your school.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/ohrp\/assurances\/irb\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Institutional Review Boards<\/strong><\/a><strong> (IRBs)<\/strong> are a helpful resource for those in the research phase of the dissertation.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>university library<\/strong> should have a wealth of databases and information on dissertation writing best practices (the Capella University Library maintains hours for Dissertation Literature Review Consultations).<\/li>\n<li>An external option for support is <a href=\"http:\/\/smarthinking.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Smarthinking<\/strong><\/a>, which offers basic and advanced statistics tutoring.<\/li>\n<li>Your mentor should be able to point you towards more written resources at your university. PhD programs usually have extensive collections of written materials for study, including accepted and published dissertations in your field, or materials on the writing and research processes. At Capella, the <strong>Writing Center, Success Factors <\/strong>collections, and<strong> Dissertation Research <\/strong>collection provide comprehensive resources for information literacy and management, and critical thinking, ranging from conceptualization of a problem to publication of a final manuscript. The <strong>Dissertation Success Program<\/strong> is a good source for students facing problems in completing their dissertations. There\u2019s also the <strong>Dissertation Knowledge Base<\/strong>, where students can submit their questions and find most popular answers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>With all of these resources, the primary message is: don\u2019t hesitate to ask for help. Your university wants you to succeed as much as you do, and these resources are there expressly to help you get you to the finish line.<\/p>\n<p><em>Capella University offers PhD and professional doctorate degrees in programs ranging from business to education and health to technology. Learn more about Capella\u2019s <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.capella.edu\/online-phd-programs\/\">doctoral programs<\/a> <em>and <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.capella.edu\/about\/online-learning\/support-services\/\">support services<\/a><em>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Writing a dissertation may be a singular effort, but that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re alone in the process. Learn what faculty and written resources at Capella University are available to help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":2237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[61,7],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2163"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5605,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163\/revisions\/5605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}