Session Format
In-person Poster
Proposal Synopsis
INTRODUCTION The number of academic libraries providing outreach to doctoral students through dissertation boot camps has steadily increased over the last 20 years. At one mid-sized doctoral-granting institution, more than 60% of graduate students are enrolled in online programs and the traditional boot camp format does not meet their needs. Librarians at this institution developed an online boot camp to serve both online and on-campus students. METHODS This case study examines the fall 2021 dissertation boot camp event through observation and content analysis and explores the benefits and deficiencies of the online boot camp format. The event was hosted online through Zoom on three consecutive days for two hours each evening for a total of six sessions. RESULTS Students were receptive to an online event, although actual attendance was less than the number of registrants and there was a significant drop in attendance for the last two sessions of the event. Comments describe a desire to have many of the sessions earlier in their doctoral work. Conflicts in scheduling elicit requests for recordings of all sessions. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS Due to the decreased attendance of the final sessions of the events, it may be prudent to hold sessions over consecutive weeks instead of consecutive days. Although online events have the potential the reach all doctoral students at the university, this format does not provide intensive writing times nor physical space away from students’ day-to-day lives and demands. Recording of the sessions is somewhat problematic in that there is a significant time commitment to producing the recordings and students are encouraged to ask questions and offer comments no matter how basic or trivial they may believe them to be and therefore event organizers assure students their faces, voices, nor names will appear in any recording which increase editing work.
Primary Conference Tag
Outreach
Secondary Conference Tag
Campus Outreach/Engagement
Optional Conference Tag
Student Success
Location
WAL C 3084
Start Date
27-7-2022 1:00 PM
End Date
27-7-2022 2:00 PM
Online Dissertation Boot Camp: A Case Study
WAL C 3084