Although the title might sound intimidating, Dissertation Boot Camps – as they are known at university campuses across North America – are meant to be friendly, supportive programs that offer graduate students the time and space they need to work on their theses or dissertations. These programs were developed to help writers get on with the daunting task of writing and make real progress towards finishing a graduate degree. They achieve this by helping participants to build a writing community, reflect on their writing processes and goals, and creating opportunities to talk about their work with other experienced writers. The WCC launched some significant changes to its online Dissertation Boot Camp program in the spring of 2021.
The WCC hosted its first online Dissertation Boot Camp (DBC) program back in 2016, long before anyone had ever heard of COVID-19! Originally, online DBC was intended to support graduate students who were working full-time or living too far from Waterloo to participate in our in-person, four-day intensive program. Because that first online DBC was part of a research project, when the “pandemic pivot” arrived in 2020 we were equipped with lots of information about what does and doesn’t work in moving a formerly face-to-face Dissertation Boot Camp online.
Online DBC has come a long way since those first workshops hosted through clunky platforms like Adobe Connect! In spring 2021 we launched a brand-new version of the program. Participants now connect with facilitators and each other through Teams, which makes informal conversations and post-workshop discussions easier and more organic. Participants now also have access to a personalized OneNote workbook with resources to use throughout the week and keep. These are resources the DBC program will continue to offer in in-person sessions when they return, too. The online DBC program is being offered from February 22-25 this term, and our next session will take place in the spring. If you will be in the writing stage of your thesis or dissertation this coming spring, we hope you’ll apply to participate!