DISSERTATION AND CONFERENCE RESEARCH AND TRAVEL GRANTS:

To promote professional development and completion of Ph.D. programs, the FEF, in its discretion, awards grants to help defray the cost of writing a dissertation, presenting articles or papers at professional conferences, participating in short term special training programs or institutes, and collecting certain types of data.
FEF CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS, AND INSTITUTES:

To promote professional development and completion of the Ph.D. program, the FEF pays for all travel, lodging and meals associated with Fellows who participate in meetings presented by the FEF, as follows:

New Fellows Orientation (late June) - Mandatory

Objectives:
  • Introduce newly selected Fellows to MDF Program and welcome them to McKnight network
  • Identify and explain best practices for completing Ph.D. programs
  • Demonstrate correlation between graduate courses, comprehensive exams, and dissertation research
  • Introduce newly selected Fellows to key graduate school personnel and support services
Attendance: New and matriculating Fellows, other graduate students, MDF graduates, university professors and administrators
 
Annual Fellows Meeting (late October) - Mandatory

Objectives:
  • Provide detailed guidance for completing doctoral degrees and securing professional appointments
  • Provide guidance on preparing for comprehensive exams
  • Present workshops on developing grant and dissertation proposals
  • Advise best practices for publishing articles and manuscripts
  • Expose Fellows to cutting edge research
  • Introduce Fellows to potential employers
  • Offer solutions for conflict resolution
  • Foster networking and collaboration
  • Celebrate outstanding mentors and new graduates
Attendance: Matriculating Fellows, other graduate students, MDF graduates, university professors and administrators
Mid-Year Research and Writing Conference (mid-February) - Mandatory

Objectives:
  • Provide opportunities for Fellows to
    - Present research and receive professional public critique
    - Consult one-on-one with professional editors
    - Prepare for comprehensive exams
    - Receive advice on how to develop grant and dissertation proposals
    - Learn the intricacies of the publication process
    - Collaborate with peers and professionals
    - Interact with potential employers
Attendance: Matriculating Fellows, other graduate students, MDF graduates, university professors and administrators
Summer Research and Writing Institute (late July)

Objectives:
  • Provide opportunities for Fellows to
    - Finalize articles and manuscripts for publication
    - Finalize or revise dissertation chapters
    - Receive training on software used for data analysis
    - Receive advice on how to develop grant and dissertation proposals
    - Train for dissertation defense
    - Collaborate with peers and professionals
    - Network with acquisition editors from commercial and university presses
Attendance: Advanced matriculating Fellows, other graduate students, university professors, and editors
 
WRITING WORKSHOPS AND EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:

To assist Fellows with publishing articles and manuscripts and writing their dissertations, the FEF provides free live writing workshops at all conferences.
 
After those workshops, participants routinely implore us to extend the sessions and provide more time for interactive, hands-on writing exercises. In response, we have developed FEFaccess, a virtual learning environment through which we present writing workshops online:

Designed to help sharpen skills while refining current writing projects, the workshops offer the following:
  • Opportunities to engage in interactive writing exercises in multiple real-time sessions with the presenter and peers.
  • Time to focus on current writings in several one-on-one, virtual face-to-face consultations with the presenter.
  • A forum in which to pose writing questions to the experts at any time they come to mind.
Pictured above: The presenter and participants revise a paper in the FEFaccess virtual classroom.  


In addition, to further assist with writing, the FEF has partnered with a group of highly skilled editors to offer Fellows editorial assistance throughout the year.
COUNSELING AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION:

To enhance Fellows' ability to complete their Ph.D. programs within a reasonable length of time, the FEF offers free conflict resolution workshops and one-on-one academic counseling.
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