The clock is ticking

The journey to dissertation dragged on this week, even though I was not 100 percent well enough to be up and around in my normal routine. That is just one of those things you deal with when you are on a mission to finish a degree that is demanding as much of your free time as you can stand to surrender.

I mean, when you’re sick, you’re sick, and you obviously need to take that as a sign that you need to take it down several notches to get well. But when you are a PhD candidate and you come down with something, all you can think about is, “The clock is ticking. I need to finish. I need to graduate. There is no time to be sick. I need this to be done!”

Not being a patient person, I yielded those notches grudgingly. I worked my day job from the couch, upright enough to fire up the laptop and participate in conference calls so that my assignments would progress. I didn’t have much left after that to tap away on the keyboard and make huge progress on my dissertation, but I did find a way to finish Chapter 1 sometime later in the week in between dinner and whatever time the Nyquil started to kick in.

Now, if I had found a way to get a response from my Mentor on the material I had sent him for review a couple weeks ago, I would be doing lame cartwheels in spite of not feeling so hot. (OK, maybe not cartwheels, but I would adjust my pillows and tuck the heating pad behind my back; take that as a major show of energy). If anyone has the secret to getting a response from my wise Mentor, please offer it up. I have not resorted to begging yet (though it isn’t beneath me) but I am not sure how much more of the sweet, polite requests I can conjure up to no reply.

You see, I wouldn’t mind, except my Mentor is the initial hurdle I must clear before my two Readers can take up their review. All the while, I am hearing this: “Tick-tock. Tick-tock.”

This may be the most important thing for a PhD candidate to master, to get his or her degree. How to get your Committee to acknowledge you, respond to you, read your material, and offer comments in a timely fashion so that you continue forward progress within reasonable timelines.

I’ve got to be honest. I am sick of being told, “Take your time and do it right.” Or worse, “Don’t compare your progress to others.”

I’m not overconfident, but I have been a professional writer for close to 30 years. I know how to do this part of it, even if it is academic writing stemming from my own unique research. What I need is regular communication, two-way communication with my Mentor and Committee, so that we are all on the same page -- literally and figuratively -- of where my project is headed. Heck, I am the only one in this quartet who isn’t being paid to participate in this journey.

Now, I will really be in trouble if my Committee takes me up on my invitation to follow this blog. I don’t mean to offend or criticize and I mean no disrespect, especially because I understand that my Committee members each have a full plate of professional and personal obligations.

But so do I. And if I am working regularly to produce chapter sections for their review, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect replies to my messages. A little acknowledgement at least, to indicate you received the message and will await the next pieces -- or will provide feedback within “X” amount of time.

I guess the lesson for all you PhD candidates or potential candidates out there is this: choose your Committee wisely. Interview them. Make sure they are a good fit for your personality, your work style, your project. Find out how responsive they are willing to be and establish those ground rules up front, and then hold them to it (as much as that is possible.) But be prepared to hold up your end of the bargain, too.

Now, to post or not to post...

Heck. The clock is ticking. Where’s the Publish Post button?

Copyright 2012 By Marianne V. Heffernan