Faculty/Candidate Agreement Statement
Regarding Dissertation Advising
October 1, 2007
This agreement spells out the faculty advisor and candidate responsibilities regarding the important work of developing the dissertation proposal, defending the proposal, and writing the dissertation for publication. This agreement addresses (a) faculty dissertation loads and the timeline for signing off on the dissertation, (b) the faculty member's responsibilities in advising candidates with their dissertation research; and (c) the candidate's responsibilities in completing the dissertation.
Faculty Advising Loads and Timelines for Signing off on the Dissertation
Every doctoral faculty member works with several candidates throughout the various phases of the dissertation journey: (a) the conceptual, planning phase, (b) the development of the dissertation proposal phase, (c) data collection and analysis phase, and (d) the writing of the dissertation phase. As a general rule, no faculty member should be advising more than four candidates who intend to graduate in any given academic year. An academic year includes Summer, Fall, and Spring Semesters.
When a candidate asks a faculty member to serve as the chair or advisor of the dissertation committee, the candidate needs to provide a desired graduation timeline. The faculty member will talk with the candidate about whether the timeline is realistic in light of the normal time it takes to complete the dissertation in a quality fashion. This timeline is important to faculty members to assure they will not have more than four candidates they are advising who will be graduating in any given academic year. If a faculty member's dissertation load is already "full" for that academic year, then the faculty member may agree to be a member of the committee but may not be able to serve as the advisor (or chair) of the committee; or the candidate may agree to change his or her timeline for graduation to accommodate the faculty member's dissertation load.
The faculty realizes there is some flux in the timelines candidates set for themselves, in that s candidates may come to realize that the data collection, analysis, and writing takes longer than anticipated to create high-quality work; or life brings unanticipated events that require shifts in plans. These situations can create a backlog for the faculty advisor, such that the subsequent academic year he or she may be serving as dissertation advisor for more than four candidates who intend to graduate that year.
When a faculty member has more than four graduates for that academic year, candidates may be asked to change to another faculty member as their dissertation advisor in order to assure that (a) candidates will be provided the assistance they need to get through the dissertation process in order to graduate that given academic year, and (b) any one faculty member is not becoming exhausted from the intense work associated with dissertation advising. If candidates need to change their dissertation advisor under this circumstance, efforts will be made to have the new advisor be a faculty member who is already on the dissertation committee and is familiar with the candidate's work. In most instances this would mean the candidate would keep the same committee membership, but there would be a switch in who would serve as the main advisor. Candidates would be involved in making decisions about such shifts.
Keep in mind that candidates can have their dissertations signed off during either Summer, Fall, or Spring semester. When a dissertation is signed off, then the "Doctor of Philosophy" degree is completed, if all required course work also has been completed. If the dissertation is signed off in July of that academic year, the graduation is listed as Summer Semester of that year; if the dissertation is signed off in October of that academic year, the diploma will indicate a Fall Semester graduation. All graduates of that given academic year are invited to participate in the May graduation celebrations.
The faculty prefer to have dissertation sign-offs occur throughout the academic year, rather than having all sign offs during Spring Semester. Candidates and faculty alike, experience high levels of stress when there are many candidates trying to complete their dissertations Spring Semester.
Note that candidates intending to have their dissertation signed off Spring Semester would need to have a draft of the entire dissertation to their dissertation advisor by February 1, and this draft needs to be in good shape in order to meet the mid April sign-off deadline. Typically, there are two to three drafts of the dissertation required (sometimes more) before it is ready for a full committee review. And each draft requires further expansion of thought, and this tends not to be something that can be rushed.
NOTE: THE DOCTORAL FACULTY IS COMMITTED TO HIGH-QUALITY, SCHOLARLY DISSERTATIONS AND WILL NOT SACRIFICE THIS QUALITY FOR A DESIRED GRADUATION TIMELINE.
Faculty Advisor Responsibilities
As dissertation advisor, the faculty member serves as a mentor to candidates, providing them encouragement and support along the dissertation journey. More specifically, the faculty advisor will:
1. Engage candidates in conversations about their dissertation topics that help them formulate meaning and purpose for their research, and help them think about the direction their research might take.
2. Review candidates' thoughts and expressions of those thoughts verbally and in writing, providing feedback that challenges them to think about their dissertation topics and research methods in new ways, encouraging candidates to move beyond their current thinking.
3. Assure the dissertation exemplifies "deep" thought concerning the topic:
a. There is a clear explanation of the purpose of the study and its social significance.
b. The questions being asked will expand existing knowledge concerning the topic.
c. There is a sound conceptual or theoretical framework explicated that guides the candidate's thinking about the topic.
d. The research methods chosen allow candidates to answer the research questions and gain new insights about the topic.e. The results are presented clearly and represent the data collected.
f. The findings or conclusions are based on the data collected and discussed in a way that clearly expands understanding about the topic.
g. The writing style and tone throughout the dissertation is scholarly and represents high-quality work.
4. Provide candidates feedback on their written drafts within a two to three week timeframe, unless other arrangements have been made with the candidate. Note that faculty members are not available for reviewing dissertations during semester breaks.
5. Slow down the dissertation process and revise the candidate's timeline for graduation if this timeline compromises the quality of the candidate's work.
The Candidate's Responsibilities
The dissertation is to represent the candidate's best work. This means that candidates must take it upon themselves to provide careful thought to each dissertation draft submitted to their faculty advisor. Although each draft submitted will not be "perfect" and there is likely to be more work needed to strengthen the document, doing one's best work at any particular time is important. Not only does this save time for the review process, candidates gain an appreciation for and a sense of personal mastery over their own work.
In working with your dissertation advisor, you are responsible for the following:
1. Maintain a reasonable timeline for completing your research, and be willing to adjust the planned graduation date if more time is needed to complete your dissertation in a quality manner. If your timeline needs to be altered, talk about this with their dissertation advisor.
2. Listen carefully to your advisor's feedback and be willing to engage in conversation concerning this feedback. If you do not make changes suggested following the conversation, then you should explain to your advisor the reasons why.
3. Be attentive to your thinking and writing, always putting forth your best work, work that represents a logical flow of thought, is clearly written, and carefully edited.
4. If needed, be willing to consider hiring a writing coach, one who can help you formulate and organize your thoughts and put them on paper; or a good editor who can help you with the technical aspects of writing.
5. Dissertation writing and advising is much about the relationship formed between you and your advisor. Working with your advisor in a manner that is healthy and positive can reduce stress associated with dissertation writing. If you have a complaint about your advisor, talk to him or her about this to see if you can come to some agreement about how your partnership might continue in the future. If this does not resolve the concerns you have, the doctoral faculty suggests you schedule a meeting with your dissertation advisor and at least one other faculty member to talk about the disagreement.
6. Remember, this is YOUR dissertation and not your advisors. This means you are responsible for doing the work. Your advisor will provide you feedback for improving your work, but it is you who are responsible for making it something both you and Gonzaga University will be proud of in the end.
7. You are encouraged to deepen collegial relationships with committee members throughout the dissertation process. At a minimum, you are responsible for developing, maintaining, and coordinating committee relationships, meetings, and deadlines. Your relationships with committee members are important to cultivate and attend to.