Ed.D. in Educational Leadership Dissertation Writing Group

Dissertation writing can be lonely work. Many graduate students feel isolated when they are working on their dissertations: without courses to give them structure and momentum, and peers to give them motivation and support, they feel adrift, and making progress on their writing becomes so much harder.

Let’s work to change that!

The School of Graduate Studies and the Department of Educational Leadership, Administration, & Research are working together to offer an Ed.D. Dissertation Writing Group program this Fall and Spring (2024-2025). Writing groups are proven to help graduate students make progress on their dissertations and to help foster a sense of community even in virtual cohorts. They give structure to a period of your degree that otherwise has very little structure, and they help you maintain momentum through some of the toughest writing you will ever do.

Here is what is involved in this writing group:

Twice-monthly virtual writing meet-ups lasting up to 4 hours.
- Alternating weeks of writing mini-lessons/activities and peer review sessions, each taking the first hour of the meet-up.
- Students are only required to stay for the first two hours in order to be counted as having attended to make the group accessible to students with families and other obligations, but are encouraged to stay for the full 4 hours to get as much writing done as possible.
Short lessons and activities on various topics in dissertation writing, such as Writing Anxiety & Procrastination, Creating a Writing Schedule, Paraphrasing vs. Patchwriting, Creating Tables & Figures, and many more subjects.
Guided small-group peer review feedback sessions with other members of the writing group.
Goal setting and goal tracking, with training on how to set manageable goals that allow you to meet deadlines while also maintaining a life outside of writing your dissertation.
- Goal tracking is done publicly as a method of keeping accountability and showing off achievements, but you are able to opt-out of public tracking or anonymize yourself as desired.

Participating students should be prepared to attend each session for the full span of the program, barring emergencies and professional commitments. The program will last for the entirety of each semester in which it is offered, in both the Fall and the Spring, pausing over semester breaks.

If you are interested in joining the Ed.D. Dissertation Writing Group, please fill out the application form below! This program is open to anyone who is currently in the post-proposal phase of their dissertation writing, but acceptance will be based on proximity to graduation.

Application:

If you have any questions, please reach out to tharp@rowan.edu.

The Benefits of Being in a Dissertation Support Group

What can you expect to get from a dissertation group? Although doctoral students join dissertation groups for a variety of reasons, here are some of the most common:

To receive and provide good company and support in what can be a time of great isolation. (You’re not alone.)
To take courage from the fact that most doctoral Candidates face the same kinds of problems while producing the dissertation that you will. (You’re not weird or crazy.)
To hold yourself and each other accountable for moving ahead. (The only way you’ll finish the dissertation is to break it into manageable pieces and keep working—especially when you feel discouraged or stuck.)
To expand your network of resources that help you to achieve your academic and personal goals.
To learn from others who have chosen to take the same journey (You get as much from their lessons learned as you do your own.)
In summary, to persevere and achieve your goal (You can do it.)

“Making a Thesis or Dissertation Support Group Work for You.” Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=472539&d=1445982436

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