Doctoral Candidate Communication
Subject: Doctoral Candidacy: Resources and Next Steps
From: dean@grad.wisc.edu
To: New doctoral candidates
Date: Rolling as dissertator status is assigned
Dear [Student Name],
On behalf of the Graduate School, congratulations on successfully passing your preliminary examinations and advancing to doctoral candidacy. Attaining candidacy is a significant academic milestone that reflects your intellectual achievement, dedication, and hard work.
As you transition into this next phase of your academic career, the nature of your daily work will shift. Managing your own timeline and maintaining momentum on your writing, research, and scholarship can present new challenges. The Graduate School is committed to supporting you and ensuring you have the tools necessary to complete your dissertation successfully.
To assist you in this new stage, we have compiled a list of recommended resources and action items:
Immediate Next Steps
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Align expectations: Meet with your faculty advisor to discuss program requirements such as continuous enrollment, graduate committee meeting expectations, and timeline to finish the degree. It is important to establish clear agreements regarding meeting frequency, communication methods, and timelines for feedback. International students, verify your anticipated degree completion timeline with your advisor and reach out to ISS with any questions regarding your immigration status.
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Review dissertation formatting guidelines: It is essential that your dissertation meets university accessibility standards, and you’ll save yourself time if you get into this habit from the beginning. Start by reviewing digital accessibility tips. Also, watch for a more detailed message about dissertation accessibility in a few weeks.
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Address data management: Ensure you and your advisor understand the system for organizing, documenting, and storing your data or other research materials for compliance with institutional policy and for reproducibility.
Writing and Research Support
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The Writing Center: We strongly encourage you to take advantage of the Writing Center. You can schedule one-on-one appointments, partner with a Writing Mentor, or attend upcoming workshops and events, including the Dissertation Support Series (such as Getting Your Dissertation Off the Ground). Additionally, check out The Writer’s Handbook for dedicated dissertator resources.
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Library consultations: If you haven't done so yet, now is a good time to establish a citation management system, such as Zotero or EndNote. Consult with your subject librarian to optimize your citation and research data management strategies before you begin drafting your chapters.
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Dissertation Writing Camps: As you enter the final stretch of completing your dissertation, consider applying for a Dissertation Writing Camp, hosted by the Graduate School and Writing Center each January and May.
Health and Wellness
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University Health Services (UHS): Led by University Health Services, Dissertation Groups provide support and discussion around the common emotional, behavioral, and organizational challenges in the dissertation process. Participants establish weekly goals and share perspectives on common themes like procrastination, isolation, negotiating with advisors, relationships, and family.
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Student assistance and support: Your go-to campus resource for navigating personal or academic hurdles. Drop by Bascom Hall (Room 70, M–F, 8:30 am – 4 pm) or email Elaine Goetz-Berman, Graduate and Professional Student Assistance Specialist, at egoetz2@wisc.edu.
Professional Development
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Plan ahead: Update your Individual Development Plan (IDP) to set goals, stay focused, and make steady progress throughout graduate school and beyond.
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WISL Award for Communicating Research to the Public: Consider how to effectively share your research with a broader audience. The Wisconsin Initiative for Science Literacy (WISL) offers a $250 award encouraging doctoral candidates to include a chapter in their dissertation that explains their research to the public.
Congratulations on reaching this milestone! We look forward to supporting your continued success in graduate school and beyond.
Sincerely,
William J. Karpus
Dean of the Graduate School
Vice Provost for Postdoctoral Affairs
Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
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Subject: Dissertation Accessibility Requirements
From: ervin.cox@wisc.edu
To: New doctoral candidates
Date: Rolling approx. two weeks after dissertator status is assigned
Dear [Student Name],
Congratulations on becoming a doctoral candidate. This is a major milestone on your way to the doctoral degree and is an achievement of which to be proud.
While you are now in the stage of writing you dissertation and preparing for its defense, we want to make you aware of a federal digital accessibility requirement under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This requirement ensures digital content used in university programs, services or activities are more accessible to a much wider audience, including disabled individuals. This falls in line with the Wisconsin Idea, that knowledge produced by our faculty and students should be available to anyone in the world.
For compliance reasons, it is imperative that as you write your dissertation, you construct it in a manner that when saved as a PDF prior to depositing, it is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act’s technical standard. Some examples of what are required are:
- titles and headings that are properly ordered.
- alt text and image descriptions.
- For complex images like graphics or charts, incorporate a long description into a caption or nearby text in your document.
- proper color contrast and text labels so that color is not the sole method of conveying information.
- appropriate table structure when presenting data. Do not use “merged” cells in tables.
- text styling that makes your content easier to read and understand.
Visit the UW–Madison Document Accessibility webpage and review the information and resources provided. This information includes:
- a fundamentals guide
- a list of best practices by platform (including Word and PDF documents)
- how to use automated and manual accessibility checkers
There are several links to more specific information, so please spend some time reviewing the resources available. If you use LaTeX, see the UW–Madison Libraries’ guide on Accessibility & LaTeX and the Michigan State University Libraries page on Creating Accessible LaTeX Documents. Because dissertations are lengthy documents, we strongly encourage you to incorporate accessibility as you write, instead of going back to fix issues. This will make for a better dissertation experience.
We will send updates as further resources are identified and made available to you. Note the Graduate School has very limited ability to provide individual assistance or consultation on digital accessibility questions.
Good luck with your research and writing as you move toward your defense, and again, congratulations on becoming a doctoral candidate.
Sincerely,
Ervin H. “Kipp” Cox
Assistant Dean, Academic Services
Graduate School