CPAP Alexandria: Doctoral Mentoring Program
The Doctoral Mentoring Program plays an important role in fostering collegiality and scholarship among CPAP faculty and graduate students. On entering the CPAP Ph.D. program in Northern Virginia, graduate students are assigned to a small mentoring group led by a CPAP Northern Virginia faculty member. Each semester, three scheduled meetings of the full DMP and additional gatherings organized among members of the small mentoring groups create opportunities for discussion and learning beyond the confines of the classroom and the dissertation research.
The DMP is facilitated by a planning committee composed of faculty members, student representatives from each of the three mentoring groups, and the graduate assistant assigned to support the program. The DMP agenda is set by students, but typically includes the following sorts of topics:
- Discussion of student experiences in courses and the CPAP Program in general;
- Discussion of preliminary exams and the dissertation process, meeting with potential chairs from Blacksburg and Northern Virginia, as well as the development and review of potential concentration and dissertation topics;
- Professional development - such as how to write an academic vita and how to write a proposal for a conference paper;
- Seminar topics related to academic writing, such as the differences in the voice used in various writing venues, norms of academic writing, etc.;
- Ongoing discussion of topics of intellectual identity and general concern to the life of the mind, such as articles in journals such as the New York Review of Books that would not normally be taken up in class sessions;
- Guest speakers on a range of intellectually stimulating topics.
Participation in a minimum of 15 DMP events is required prior to completing the Ph.D. Beyond this point, participation is voluntary, though students often choose to continue to attend DMP meetings and events.
If you have any questions about the DMP contact Dr. Khademian (akhademi@vt.edu), who is the program manager for the 2008-09 school year.
Click here for the Fall 09 course descriptions and schedule.
CPAP Alexandria Faculty Information:
Professor Matthew Dull
mdull@vt.edu
Professor Anne Khademian
akhademi@vt.edu
Professor Jim Wolf
jfwolf@vt.edu
Visiting Professor Colleen Woodard
cwoodard@fed-tech.com