Tag Archives: PUBP820

No Plan Survives First Contact …

Posted on by Don

As I look back on my most recent post, I note to myself just how aggressive the plan I laid out 2 months ago really was.  Although I’m theoretically working only 20 hours a week and am theoretically able to dedicate the rest of my time to my studies, the theoretical and the actual don’t always match.  I’ve “donated” a lot of extra time to my employer over the past two months and I’m struggling to figure out how I can more efficiently organize my time.  As a result, I’m nowhere near as far as I’d like to be on my field of study plan, and will need to be more creative going forward.  After speaking with a classmate, I learned a couple of important pieces of information I will need to work into my plan.

What did I learn?  After completing all required courses (both core and elective), PhD students need only 6 credit hours to remain full-time.  Awesome!  I have carried 9-11 credit hours every semester since I started the program and, after this semester ends, I have completed all required courses.  Great news!  I also learned that I may be able to take those 6 credit hours as directed readings since I’ve not taken any directed readings yet.  A directed reading is an individualized course put together by agreement between the student and a professor with a syllabus and agreed-upon deliverable(s).  So, the combination of a reduced hours requirement and ability to take directed readings should definitely help.  I will be checking with the university staff to make sure everything works, but things are looking up.

Back to my plan … given the slow progress this semester, here is my updated plan:

201211 – 201304 – Write Field Statement / Finalize Field Committee / Finish Coursework (including directed readings)
201304 – 201305 – Finish Field Statement / Obtain Final Concurrence from Committee
201305 – 201305 – Take Field Exam
201306 – 201307 – Propose Dissertation
201308 – 201403 – Write Dissertation
201404 – 201405 – Defend Dissertation

We’ll see how well this plan survives … 🙂

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Year 3, Week 1 – Complete

Posted on by Don

I posted early last week about how the summer months flew by and how I found myself back in class without having posted much in the intervening time about where things stand or where I’m headed this semester.  The first week of the semester is now complete and it’s (past) time to update you on what courses I’m taking.

So without further ado, here’s the list:
1) PUBP 705 – Advanced Statistical Methods for Policy Analysis
2) PUBP 820 – Technology, Science, and Innovation: Institutions and Governance
3) PUBP 880 – Doctoral Seminar in Global and International Public Policy

This is a great lineup of courses and I think they fit very well into my planned way forward.  I need to spend a little more time on my Field of Study Plan to define the lenses through which I will be analyzing nuclear nonproliferation policy in both my fields and my dissertation.  I think these courses will help me flesh out those areas in order to then define my fields.

While I am on the topic of fields, let me take a moment to provide a rough schedule for the next two years. As I was preparing this schedule, I took into account where I am in the program today and the fact that I must continue to take coursework until I have passed my field exam.

201209 – 201212 – Write Field Statement / Finalize Field Committee / Take Coursework
201301 – 201302 – Finish Field Statement / Obtain Final Concurrence from Committee
201303 – 201304 – Take Field Exam
201305 – 201306 – Propose Dissertation
201307 – 201402 – Write Dissertation
201403 – 201404 – Defend Dissertation

The schedule is in rough draft form right now.  It will change some here and there, and I will add more detail as time progresses.  I will also need to run my dissertation through a prepublication review by my employer, so I will need to build that in to the process.  As I am writing and submitting chapters to my committee, I will be able to submit them for prepublication review at the same time.  As the schedule is built right now, I will also need to take coursework next semester (as a result of not having completed my field exam before the semester begins).  Because I will have met all the coursework requirements, however, I may be able to take only two courses instead of three.

Well, that’s all for this update – stay tuned for future updates (which should be more frequent now that the semester has begun).