Current Students
NOTE TO DOCTORAL STUDENTS WHO WISH TO WORK WITH ME

Introduction

One of the most rewarding aspects of my work at Teachers College is providing advisement to doctoral students in the Ed.D. and Ph.D. programs. I have worked with students in other departments, such as Arts and Humanities and Curriculum and Teaching, but I primarily advise those in the Comparative International Education and International Educational Development programs in the Department of International and Transcultural Studies. At any given time, I am working with more than 20 doctoral students at different stages in their program. Some may be new doctoral students seeking advice on courses to develop a well-balanced program of study; others may be preparing for their certification or specialization exams; and still other students are working closely with me on their dissertation proposal, dissertation chapters, and final version of the dissertation. Advisement at each of these stages is gratifying when a student and I have a clear understanding of our responsibilities and expectations for each other.

Because of the large number of doctoral (and master’s) students with whom I work, it is imperative that each of them takes responsibility for completing the requirements for the program in a timely manner. It is also critical that students select topics that draw upon one of my areas of expertise to insure that I can provide proper advisement. My geographical area of specialization is Sub-Saharan Africa, and I especially enjoy working with students committed to African studies. I also give priority to students whose research focuses on international development and who approach it from anthropological, historical, or sociological perspectives. Additionally, I prefer to work with students who will use qualitative methods in their research, such as participant observation and interviews, or survey methods in conjunction with ethnographic methods because these are the methods I use in my own research. Finally, I seek to develop a cohort of doctoral students who wish to pursue research in one of the following topical areas: gender and schooling; population and health studies in colonial and post-colonial contexts; emergency education and humanitarian assistance; and sociocultural approaches to policy studies. Students who share one or more of these interests and who are prepared for the rigors of a doctoral program should then consider the expectations I hold for my students before deciding whether they want to work with me.

Expectations for my doctoral students

1) Students should become familiar with my work by taking at least one topics course and a doctoral seminar with me. My current list of topics courses includes ITSF 4094-02: Human Rights in Africa; ITSF 4094-6: Gender, Education, and International Development; ITSF 5090: Education and Demographic Change; and ITSF 5094: Reading Development Policy Through Practice in Tanzania. My doctoral seminar is listed as ITSF 6590-015. Such students should also read some of my work, for example Desire and Decline: Schooling Amid Crisis in Tanzania (Peter Lang, 2003), Women and Development: Rethinking Policy and Reconceptualizing Practice (special issue of Women’s Studies Quarterly, 2003), and some of my journal articles listed under "Professional Activities—Research" on my website.

2) Students should be prepared to submit a one-two page progress report to me by May 1st every year they are in the program. If I do not receive a report from a doctoral student by this date, I will mark this student as no longer active as one of my advisees, and s/he will be advised to find another faculty member with whom to work. The report should describe the progress a student has made toward the completion of the proximate goal in the program, such as completion of the requisite coursework before taking the certification exam, the completion of the certification exam or specialization exam, the defense of the dissertation proposal, or the completion of fieldwork. It should also explain how the student intends to meet the next program milestone during the upcoming semester. The progress report also provides an opportunity for students to inform me of awards or honors they have received so that I can post this information on my website and include it in letters of recommendation. In addition, the report gives me a chance to ascertain whether a student is making satisfactory progress in a timely manner. Students who are not making such progress will need to find another advisor because I will not work with students who put off their examinations, accumulate incomplete grades, interrupt their program of study without prior consultation with me, or do not act on the advice of faculty as to how to improve their proposals and dissertation chapters.

3) Students should organize their academic and professional work to insure a timely completion of the doctoral program. This means that my student should: a) take the certification exam the semester following the completion of both ITSF 4090 and 4091; 2) take the specialization exam the semester following the successful completion of the certification exam; 3) write and defend the dissertation proposal no later than the fifth semester in the doctoral program (after the examinations have been successfully completed); and 4) attend my doctoral seminar or the section offered by Professor Bartlett every semester (even after completing fieldwork) to remain involved in the academic community.

4) My students should respect the other commitments on my time from teaching, advising other students, and providing service to the university and the profession. Therefore, they should: a) give me all of the material necessary to write letters of recommendation at least two weeks prior to the deadline. If feedback on a funding proposal is sought in conjunction with a letter of recommendation, then students must give me the proposal at least three weeks prior to the deadline. Students who are unable to plan accordingly will not receive a letter from me; b) give me at least two weeks to read and provide feedback on dissertation proposals and individual chapters. If more than one 30-page chapter is submitted at a time, then the turnaround time will increase accordingly; and c) arrange meetings with me during my scheduled office hours or during a mutually agreed upon time outside of these hours rather than utilizing my drop-in hours for discussions of their work. This is a disservice to master’s students and to others who need my assistance for less time-consuming matters.

If you have read this document carefully and believe you can conform to my expectations for doctoral students, then I look forward to working with you.

Party for doctoral students at the home of Professor Vavrus (back row, third from left; Professor Bartlett, far right)