The Graduate College hosted a Thesis/Dissertation Formatting Boot Camp on Friday in Parks Library.
A dissertation is the culmination of a graduate degree, a large document that graduate students spend months working on.
“By the time you defend your thesis or dissertation, you are exhausted,” Kristin Terrill, a graduate student services specialist for the Center for Communication Excellence, said.
According to the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, the average dissertation runs between 250 and 300 pages.
“When you then have to face the prospect of formatting a 200-page dissertation–I mean, people come to me in tears–they’re so overwhelmed,” Terrill said.
The boot camp is designed to help students understand the Graduate College’s format requirements for theses and dissertations.
“The Graduate College has a list of format requirements for that manuscript that have to be met, and it’s a little bit complex,” Terrill said. “Rather than have people struggle at the last minute, we try to run the boot camp so they can get a head start on meeting all of the format requirements.”
According to Terrill, the sessions are held multiple times each semester and are open to all graduate students.
“We run them multiple times each semester, so it’s not just a one-off,” Terrill said. “We have two to three opportunities every single semester, that way we can serve people at any point in their degree.”
Mary McArthur-Floyd, a first-year graduate student studying hospitality management, said the session helped her understand how her dissertations should be formatted in the future.
“And I saw boot camp formatting, so I decided to join in and have a feel of how it looks like,” McArthur-Floyd said. “Upon joining, I realized that Kristin, who was a presenter, really took her time and taught us how to get our dissertations formatted. It was a step-by-step, very practical process.”
The Center for Communication Excellence also offers an all-in-one event each semester, designed for students to make tangible progress on writing their thesis or dissertation.
“That’s an all-in-one event,” Terrill said. “We do format consulting, writing, consultant, graduation advice and a three-hour writing retreat so that people can make progress on their thesis or dissertation.”
Learn more about the Center for Communication Excellence thesis and dissertation resources, including writing consultations, a toolkit and a Canvas community, by visiting their website.
“I think if you have time and you need the help, you have to join in,” McArthur-Floyd said.
