Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan
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PLAN, Manage Your Professional Development as a Graduate Student
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PLAN: Profession, Life, Academics, Network
PLAN will help you to manage your professional and academic development as a graduate student. It gives a comprehensive view of the workshops, training sessions, forums, talks, and consultation services, open to all graduate students, that can help you along the way to your degree.
For doctoral students, PLAN is built around the three stages of doctoral education: the first years of graduate study leading to candidacy; transition to candidacy and the dissertation; and preparation for the dissertation defense and a career.
A version of PLAN for students in master's programs is currently in development and will be launched later this fall. All PLAN events are open to all students, and master's students will find much that is especially relevant to their academic and professional development in stage one and stage two of the doctoral PLAN.
Stage 1: Getting Underway
The first stage of doctoral education involves adjustment to advanced scholarly work, building relationships with mentors around a focused area of research, learning professional standards, and preparing for qualifying exams.
Stage 2: Candidacy & Dissertation
Doctoral students usually reach candidacy within three years and move to the core of doctoral education: doing independent research and writing the dissertation with guidance from faculty mentors.
Stage 3: Preparing for the Defense
The final stage of doctoral education entails refining the dissertation to professional academic standards and preparation for the defense. It is also a time of transition to a career, and planning next steps for advancing as a scholar and researcher.
