Graduate Pathways to Success Model
When you're planning to build something, like a doctoral thesis, it's a good idea to create a model that shows how all the pieces connect. I'm very proud of the model that I created for the Graduate Pathways to Success program at the University of British cancel, and I saw it was still in use when I visited for a special event this week:
https://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/professional-development
Also pleased to see that I'm still being given credit for my work with GPS:
https://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/professional-development/about-gps
Of course that may change shortly, because the special event was the retirement celebration for Dr. Susan Porter, Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at the University of British Columbia. It was a very fitting acknowledgement of everything she has done for graduate students. And I knew her when...
Susan was an Associate Dean when I joined UBC with the mandate of launching a "Professional Development" program for grad students. But I had a larger vision and persuaded the then Dean and Susan to let me build the Graduate Pathways to Success program, in which PD was only one part.
I wanted to model my vision for the GPS initiative, and my "flower" is still in use, with some modifications in the focus of the "petals" as the department has evolved. As I mentioned, the model may not continue to guide GPS because the incoming Dean may have other ideas. We'll see.
The benefit of having a model is that it diagrams a theory, and shows everyone the scope of an idea. It can be changed and built upon as the years pass. Having a model for your thesis is a good idea too, so think about it and ask me how you start to develop a model.