Posts Tagged PhD
Are You Done Yet?
Numerous of our family and friends have ask about my progress and when they get to call me Dr. or when I can afford to take my wife out to dinner. So here is the latest update:
The last six months have been full of set backs, rescheduled dates, and experimental reruns which ultimately shattered any hope of a December 2010 graduation. I am currently in the writing process submitting drafts to my committee chair and then rewriting, rewriting, rewriting….you get the picture. In a research based PhD publications are the key and required by the department at WSU (at least 1). They are how your committee and chair get a return on their investment of time and money. In most cases a graduate student finishes their dissertation and then publishes the outcome after graduation or a combination. My committee chair however wants everything that can be published already submitted prior to my defense. The difference between dissertation and publication ready are VAST, as I have found out in the last 4 months.
My PhD dissertation encompasses 4 major chapters (it was 3 until Friday afternoon).
1) Literature Review
2) “Influence of Biochar on Soil pH, Water Holding Capacity, Nitrogen and Carbon Dynamics. ”
3) Characterization of Biochar made from dairy manure fiber and its ability to sequester phosphorus from dairy lagoons
4) The impact of phosphorus recovered from dairy manure using biochar on soil characteristics and crop yield.
Progress: Chapter 1 – 80% complete but will be in revision until defense
Chapter 2 – DONE Accepted to SSSJA
Chapter 3 and 4 – Writing and rewriting
So it boils down to this – we are not setting any dates for my defense BUT it must happen before April 1, 2011 and I will walk in May.
Thanks for the prayers!
Yoda says
In the world according to Yoda “do or do not there is no try” becomes the motto. This little green Muppets words are haunting me at the moment. Throughout my entire life when someone has told me I could not do something it has become the catalysis for drive and determination. This has been true with sermon contest, pole vault, sending students to Africa or ASB President if the cards were stacked against me…I would win. (with God’s support and help of course…we all know without him I am nothing)
Now I sit here 9 weeks from my written exams and everyone is telling me not to worry I can do this…why I am the only one right now who doesn’t think so? Please don’t send me a ton of email telling me I am a moron and can’t pass these test…I understand like Yoda would say…do or do not there is not try.
More important…I understand and believe with God nothing is impossible…still why am I the only one who doesn’t believe at the moment…maybe I need a good conversation with Dad both heavenly and earthly.
PhD Update
Last night I was ask by a friend what I was going to do with my free time now that classes were over and I have nothing on the schedule and no manure on the ground. Oddly she is not the only one to ask this wonderful question which turns my insides out and causes my back to seize up in stress.
For those who care here is what is next for Jason and the PhD process.
- I have successfully completed all but one graded class in my PhD coursework including
Soil Chemistry, Soil Fertility, Soil Physics, Pedology, Soil Microbiology, Experimental Design (STATS), Environmental Biophysics, and Advanced Soil Fertility Next Fall I will take Soil Microbe Interacts
- Preliminary exams March 10 and 24
- On March 10/11/12 I will be given a written exam covering each of the 5 core areas above. Different Professors in the department will submit questions to be answered . Depending on the professor the test will be closed or open book but you plan on being locked in a room all by yourself with a calculator. The questions will cover everything in the 100 to 500 level range. The exams are graded and your committee returns the following verdict
- Pass – Fail Take more classes you don’t know enough and try again – Fail you do not deserve to graduate from our college leave now.
- On March 10/11/12 I will be given a written exam covering each of the 5 core areas above. Different Professors in the department will submit questions to be answered . Depending on the professor the test will be closed or open book but you plan on being locked in a room all by yourself with a calculator. The questions will cover everything in the 100 to 500 level range. The exams are graded and your committee returns the following verdict
Assume a Pass
March 24 will be an oral exam which will cover the same thing as in the written however they will harp on the items I didn’t master in the written. The exception for this round is that any professor in the department can show up and ask any question they like from anything to do with soils. The purpose is to see how deep your knowledge goes and to see how easily they can destroy you. I have been told “don’t say to much – they can smell weakness, don’t say to little – they smell weakness, if you don’t know the answer don’t bluff – they hate BS – they love the smell of blood.” This process should take anywhere from 3 to 5 hours. With the same 3 options for a result, however both written and oral must be passed to get out and you only get 2 tries.
Assuming a Pass
I am then considered a PhD Candidate worthy of a diploma if I pass my dissertation. I will then spend the next year or a little more experimenting and writing. I need to have at least 3 papers submitted for publication for graduation plus the defense. Because I work with agriculture I only have some much time to get things done because experiments are done in the growing season.
Needless to say it has only just begun…Merry Christmas
Tales From A Poopsmith 