Invitation to join Spring 2012 Dissertation Group

December 13, 2011

Dear Dissertator,

Writing Tutorial Services invites you to participate in our Spring 2012 Dissertation Group! Over the Fall semester, we have piloted a program designed to better address the needs of graduate students as they write their dissertations and dissertation proposals. The program also aims to help introduce students to resources available to them in the library and on the web.

Program Expectations

Participants will:

• attend an orientation session on Wednesday, January 11 at 7pm
• commit to regular attendance for the full 14-week session
• keep a writing log of their goals and progress
• provide us with ongoing feedback about the program

Dissertation Group Facilitators will:

• lead a short workshop at the beginning of each session
• facilitate group discussion of goals, strategies, and long-term writing plans
• help participants to remain on-task (and away from email, facebook, youtube, or other distractions)
• be available to offer advice or feedback on the writing process

Writing Group Location and Schedule

Orientation:

Wednesday, January 11 at 7pm (location TBA)

Weekly meetings:

All groups will meet at Writing Tutorial Services, located in the Wells Library Information Commons. These meetings will run from the week of January 16 to the week of April 16.

We will be offering groups at the following times:

Mondays, 5:30pm-8:30pm (Facilitator: Mike Rings)
Tuesdays, 9am-12pm (Facilitator: Holly Schreiber)
Wednesdays, 11am-2pm (Facilitator: Drew Koke)
Fridays, 9am-12pm (Facilitator: Abi Grose)

The structure of each meeting will be as follows:

• Group work (1 hour). This will be facilitated by a WTS graduate tutor who will discuss writing and motivational strategies, followed by 5-10 minutes for each member of the group to share their progress since the last meeting and set goals for structured writing time.
  
• Structured writing time (2 hours). All members of the group will spend the remaining two hours of the session working on their individual projects. While this time will be focused on individual work, the WTS tutor and other members of the writing group will be nearby to answer any questions and offer support.

If you would like to participate in the program, please complete the accompanying application form and email it to Holly Schreiber (heschrei@indiana.edu) as soon as possible. Applications will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis.

WTS Dissertation Group Application_form.pdf

Sincerely,


Abi Grose
Drew Koke
Mike Rings
Holly Schreiber

WTS Dissertation Group Facilitators