Walden University Alumni Association Blog

Ph.D. Survival Tips: An Engineered Approach to Your Dissertation

Embarking on a Walden University Ph.D. program requires resolution, grit and determination, but students don’t walk the path alone. Walden not only helps doctoral students navigate their journey through milestones, academic residencies and mentoring, we encourage alumni to share their experiences.

Dr. Mark W. Monaghan, who earned a Ph.D. in Applied Management and Decision Sciences in Engineering Management from the School of Management and Technology, offered an engineer’s insight on how to make the most of these resources and shared his own best practices along the way.

Scope It Out
When first thinking about your dissertation, Monaghan recommended starting with several preliminary problem statements as one-page summaries to be shared with your proposal committee. The objective at first, he said, is not to finalize your scope. “It just gets you in the ballpark.”

Assemble the Dissertation Committee
Monaghan said there are “must have” qualities in any committee chair. “The committee chair is someone you must trust, respect and value their input....You’ll call them frequently, at night and sometimes just for moral support.”

Monaghan emphasized that committee members should provide technical review—“that detail orientation that you need. And they should be arduous and task-oriented, and really challenge you.”

He added, “Don’t be afraid to have a committee member [who] is going to give you a hard time.”

Craft a Project Plan
“Yes, I’m an engineer, as you can tell,” Monaghan said as he shared a project plan he created with a work-breakdown structure. “I worked on every little element until I built it up into my entire proposal,” he said. “And it did work well on time, to make sure I had [enough] time and that I was focused.”

Create a Task Network
Monaghan suggested creating a task network to help you identify the critical review points for the committee chair. For example: When are you going to submit? Are you going to submit by chapter? Are you going to submit a couple of titles or subtitles? He also recommended tapping an independent editor’s support next, before the material is forwarded to the committee chair.

Once the proposal moves on to committee review, the research scope must now be defined and the problem statement finalized. The requirements for the final abstract—which is different than the proposal abstract—are also met at this point.

Prepare for Oral Presentation
Monaghan signaled that while the oral presentation can be difficult, “it’s meant to challenge your topic and your subject area,” he said. At the end of the dissertation oral, Monaghan suggested creating a post-oral comment sheet to review key element suggestions from the committee.

Persevere
“At the dissertation completion, don’t be disheartened or anxious about the comments,” said Monaghan. “I’ve learned that someone who really dug through your dissertation and came back with many, many comments, really provided you valuable input to make that a very good product at the end.”

Don’t forget to thank everyone for their input, Monaghan said. Finally, persevere. “If you keep pushing at it, you’ll succeed.”

Walden Award Recipient: Dr. Keenjal Pattni-Shah

The Frank Dilley Award is bestowed annually upon a Walden graduate whose dissertation is judged as meeting the highest standards of academic excellence.

Recipient: Dr. Keenjal Pattni-Shah
Program: Ph.D. in Education
Dissertation Title: Bridging the Gap: Home-School Partnerships in Kindergarten

Nominator Comments: “The topic of Dr. Pattni-Shah’s dissertation addresses a growing need for information relating to the needs of young English language learners,” said Pattni-Shah’s dissertation committee chair, Dr. Amie Beckett. “Early intervention can effectively address achievement gaps in vulnerable populations. Dr. Shah's work documents ways that successful teachers have established partnerships with families to promote secure literacy foundations in young English language learners. Her work addresses the critical need for information on effective partnerships with immigrant parents when their children are still in kindergarten.” 

About the Dissertation: Through her research, Dr. Pattni-Shah explored how immigrant parents, whose diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds are largely unknown, interact with home-school partnerships to support kindergarten children’s development of vocabulary, the alphabetic principle, phonological awareness as well as the mechanisms through which these partnerships are established and facilitated.

Her grounded theory study focused on exploring how successful kindergarten teachers defined home-school partnerships with parents, the strategies the teachers used to communicate with parents, the ways these teachers reached out to parents to create and sustain partnerships and how the teachers used these partnerships to support children’s learning.

Dr. Pattni-Shah accepted the 2009 Frank Dilley Award during Walden University’s Board of Directors Awards Dinner in Dallas Jan. 23. “I’m honored to be part of Walden,” Pattni-Shah said. “I tell all of my friends how wonderful Walden is, and it’s because of all the wonderful faculty and all the wonderful experiences I’ve had here.”

For chairing Pattni-Shah’s dissertation committee, Dr. Amie Beckett, faculty member for the Ph.D. in Education program, received the Rita Turner Award.

Click here to watch the video of Dr. Pattni-Shah presenting her research.

Four Ways Forward: How you can help

* Let the troops know you support them, even if it’s just sending a kind letter, a phone card to call home, toiletries, or fresh socks.

“It's important to tell the troops that you support them and support their families even if you don't support the war,” says Brig. Gen. Russell Frutiger, Ph.D. in Applied Management and Decision Sciences.
America Supports You and Any Soldier

* Support economic development in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other war-torn countries by putting a collective of women together to run a business for $300, or by purchasing handmade goods that come from these microeconomic enterprises.

“When you educate a woman, you educate the family; she is more valued in the community,” says doctoral candidate Sharon Jumper, adding that such grass-roots efforts can bring more results than “passing a law in parliament.”
PARWAZ and Women for Women International

* Give the gift of education and donate old textbooks to college and university programs. English is typically preferred so students can learn the language as well as the lessons.

Sabre Foundation and Bridge to Asia

Four Ways Forward: Walden faculty Dr. Reza Hamzaee

Dr. Reza Hamzaee, who has earned faculty awards at both Missouri Western State University and at Walden, could be called an unofficial Iranian ambassador in America. Before each of his workshops and classes begin, the School of Management professor plays music from his country, which launches open discussions about life in Iran and its relationship with America. Oftentimes his students and fellow professors donate workbooks and textbooks to schools in Iran. Hamzaee says the gifts are eagerly welcomed where students buy two-year old copies of the "Wall Street Journal" because they’re aching for information about Western culture. “I wouldn’t read the Journal from two days ago, let alone two years ago, but they are learning any way they can,” Hamzaee notes with sadness.

Hamzaee was born in Iran in 1951 and earned an undergraduate degree in economics from what was then The National University of Iran before departing for America to pursue graduate education. But despite growing up in Iran and returning there for professional and personal trips, the country puzzles Hamzaee—economically, at least.

Because of its massive oil supplies, Iran has recently experienced an average 5% increase in economic development each year, which is well above the average 2.5% growth rate of most Western countries. However, the country’s inflation rate hovers between 18% and 25% and its unemployment rate runs 15%-20%. Typically, with constant growth, these two statistics would be low, Hamzaee says.

One of the issues Hamzaee attributes to the conflicting economic trends and overall social development stagnation of the oil-rich nation is “brain drain”—that is, when educated youth leave Iran for Western universities where research funding and alternative worldviews are more widely available. Despite economic growth, the academic elite are still leaving the country because of a lack of educational and professional opportunities. The result is a shortage of workers and educators needed to continue to grow the economy and affect public policy.

Hamzaee and his five siblings are themselves examples of Iran’s “brain drain.” They each left the country to pursue higher education. Hamzaee has written about this subject, and the solution, he says, is to establish economic and infrastructure programs and projects in the country to retain the brightest minds. One of the solutions, says Hamzaee, is foreign direct investment. The 56-year old travels to Iran up to twice a year for 14-40 days to teach in settings such as the Tehran Stock Exchange, professional M.B.A. programs, and the Industrial Management Institute. Hamzaee’s lectures focus on insider trading, the benefits of an autonomous central bank (Iran’s is not), research methods, and governing finance. One thing his lectures are not, however, is political.

“We are not there to change the system; we are there to educate,” Hamzaee says of himself and others who want to effect social change in Iran. “Education serves a huge purpose. We are not politicians, soldiers, or military agents. We are supposed to be able to help the largest number of people in a positive way with no conflict with the political systems. It’s better that we have support from the authorities in order to do something good for the people at large.”

Four Ways Forward: Walden alumnus Brig. Gen. Russell Frutiger, Ph.D.

Brig. Gen. Russell Frutiger, 52, knows what it takes to raise a family in the U.S. Army. Over the course of his 32-year career in human resources with the military, Frutiger experienced the emotional expense of deployments and career changes that come with serving one’s country, like pulling children out of school to relocate during their senior year of high school, or moving up to 21 times over the course of a spouse’s career.

When the United States deployed troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, though, he and the Army came up against emotional issues from combat not seen in at least a generation.

“The U.S. military hadn’t done a long-term war since Vietnam, and, then, that was a different type of Army,” says Frutiger, chief of staff for U.S. Army, Europe. “Previous information about re-integration hadn’t been written since 1945. Now we had soldiers serving 12-, 15-month tours, and we had to figure out how to bring them back together with their families.”

Frutiger quickly realized the need for an education program about re-integrating soldiers upon their return from duty. And it was imperative, he says, to focus on a soldier’s entire family, not just the service member.

“We like to say that a ready family is a ready soldier,” Frutiger says. “Soldiers perform better when they know their families are taken care of.”

Frutiger and his staff of 50 at the human resources department in Germany created the Big Blue Box, a 3-inch-deep plastic container of booklets, CDs, and DVDs about current military life and resources given to all U.S. Army personnel stationed in Europe. Frutiger, who earned a Ph.D. in Applied Management and Decision Sciences with a specialization in Leadership and Organizational Change, drew from his Walden dissertation, in which he explored the importance of communication between military branches, and consulted with military psychiatrists and physicians to write books and pamphlets about issues such as preparing children for a parent’s deployment and the emotional battle wounded soldiers face. Frutiger himself wrote the booklets on re-integration, survivor’s support, and redeployment preparation.

“For me, Walden took off the blinders that one can get staying only in their field,” he says, noting that the university’s emphasis on sharing knowledge is similar to that by NATO, which pushes relationship-building between national forces and sharing information. “Walden is important because of the associations that you make. You can learn from others outside of your field and go back and engage and really make a difference in the world. [With NATO] the guy you’re working with today may be your buddy in a foxhole in the next war.”

To date, upward of 185,000 Boxes have been distributed, and the project has won the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2006 Human Capital Leadership Award. In addition, Frutiger oversees an online Big Blue Box Web site that attracts about 17,000 visitors each week. Military families can submit personal questions—like how to handle a child who has stopped talking since his parent was redeployed—and receive responses within 24 hours.

“DUIs, suicides, crime, and family violence have been drastically reduced since we started with the Box and the Web sites,” Frutiger says. “We believe these programs have paid huge dividends.”

Four Ways Forward: Walden Ph.D. student Sharon Jumper

When Sharon Jumper traveled to Afghanistan to better understand the world in which her oldest son, David, was stationed with the U.S. Army, she didn’t expect her entire worldview to shift. The former civil rights attorney had spent the previous 10 years in court arguing for justice, but during her 2004 trip to the Middle East, the Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration student realized that the best way for her to effect societal change was through education. In the arid desert, she learned that teaching women about starting businesses could improve their status and value in a country where the majority of women do not, or are not allowed to, work outside the home.

This realization changed her life, as well as her educational path at Walden University. In fact, Jumper’s dissertation is focusing on education and business capacity building to help ensure economic and social stability in Afghanistan.

During Jumper’s visit to Afghanistan, education was repeatedly stressed by locals as the best hope for a nation where the average household earns less than $400 a year. Jumper was particularly moved by Roshanak Wardak, a female physician in her 50s who operates a makeshift clinic at her home on weekends, and travels during the week to Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul for parliament sessions as one of 68 female legislators.

“I asked her what was the most important thing that could help Afghans,” Jumper recalls. “With her being a doctor, I expected to hear something like medical supplies, but instead she said, ‘Education is the key. This helps more than care packages.’”

Upon her return from Afghanistan, Jumper became involved with Ariana Outreach, a Washington, D.C., group that funds projects in Afghanistan that support basic education, women’s empowerment, and youth leadership development. She is particularly inspired by business-startup programs that encourage new forms of economic development. “When people are invested in their lives and their government, there is less eagerness to go to war. Economic opportunity gives people a stake in government and a stake in society.”

Another field trip—this time to a Kabul work-study school (run by the group Aschiana) where children earn money through school projects for their families— taught her that “encouraging economic development and ultimately social change on a small scale are key to developing peaceful government on a large scale.”

Jumper says her experiences in Afghanistan and at Walden make her feel like a different person. “I’m changing people’s lives now through positive means, without all the negativity of fighting in court. I always knew I wanted to do my dissertation on something that I could personally see and experience. I didn’t want to just write about what I’ve thought; I wanted to meet people and get a rounded view, and Afghanistan has given me that.”

Four Ways Forward: Walden alumnus Donald Grady, Ph.D.

Walden scholar-practitioners with ties to Middle East demonstrate that social change happens one person at a time. Walden alumnus Donald Gracy, Ph.D. student Sharon Jumper, alumnus Brig. Gen. Russell Frutiger, and faculty member Reza Hamzaee share one goal: to create opportunities for people in need. Although their backgrounds range from law to economics to the military, they can all be described with one word -- educators. Even in the politically charged Middle East, their passion for helping others transcends cultures--and their stories remind us that improving the world beginson the individual human level.

The political, economic, and social disorder Iraq has experienced in recent years is vast. As native Kurds and Shiites flee to the relative sanctuary of neighboring countries, hundreds if not thousands of scholars, politicians, and experts have made their way to the embattled nation to help guide Iraq’s new leaders through the country’s transformative time. One of those professionals is Walden scholar-practitioner Dr. Donald Grady, who earned a Ph.D. in Administration/Management [now Ph.D. in Applied Management and Decision Sciences] in 1997.

In the fall of 2006, Grady, chief of police at Northern Illinois University, began a yearlong advisory position as counsel to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior and to the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. His job: advise the ministry on the development of Iraq’s civil defense forces, including the national police, border enforcement, and immigration control services.

While Grady has served in similar roles over the years in Kosovo and Israel with great success, his diagnosis for Iraq is that the country will not be able to grow democratically with only the help of experts who are guiding the new administration. He says success will only come with hard work at the grass-roots level—by garnering support for this new form of government one individual or one village at a time. “The good citizens of Iraq are the most underutilized resource in the country,” says Grady. “Occupation will never settle and stabilize the country.We need the heart of the Iraqi civilization [to succeed].”

Grady’s statement is not political. Over the course of a nearly 30-year law enforcement career that began in the military, Grady has developed a definitive policing vision—called “Integrated Model of Policing”—that is used throughout the United States. At its core, the model is about changing society so that policing is a natural act by all citizens, not just a police force. In Iraq, Grady says, implementing the model means removing corruption from police forces and establishing an environment where members of the general population feel safe to monitor their own neighborhoods and work with the police.

“When it comes to policing, the original model is the best: The police and the people are the same,” Grady says. “The version you see on television when a crime happens and you go out and find the bad guy—the whodunit—that’s a lousy model of policing. The higher purpose [of policing] is for safety and order for everyone in all the various facets of society.”

Grady says it is entirely possible for Iraq to become a stable nation as long as there is sufficient help from outsiders who take the time to understand the Iraqi culture. This, he says, will allow Iraqis to eliminate systemic problems that currently prevent the country from solidifying. “A successful policing institution equals social change,” says Grady, linking his current work back to Walden’s mission.

In addition to the flexibility of Walden’s degree programs, Grady says he decided to pursue the doctoral stage of his academic career with Walden because the university’s principles dovetail with his previous undergraduate work in management and his professional work that aims to change society. “Walden was the finest institution in the country that enabled me to move where I needed and continue my career,” Grady says. “Walden put an enormous emphasis on quality and making certain the experience is meaningful.”

The quality education of other law enforcement professionals is equally important to Grady, who has returned to his position at Northern Illinois University. He is in the conceptual stages of an international police training institute designed specifically for struggling democracies. Grady does not know, though, if he will return to Iraq.

“I have no idea what life has in store for me from here: Africa, Europe, Central America—who knows?” he says. “When opportunities arise, you have to make the decision if you will live to your potential or not, and make an impact on the world.”

Walden Presidential Scholarship Recipient: Joseph Angarella

Joseph Angarella's world was crashing down around him. Shortly after the 52-year-old learned of his mother’s severe problems with alcohol, it became evident that his brother, sister, and four of his seven children were also affected by substance abuse issues. “It became a paramount issue in the family,” says Angarella.

The Southern California father and technology entrepreneur began participating in interventions, group therapy at treatment centers, and family support groups such as Al-Anon and Nar-Anon. In 2003, he put his undergraduate education in social psychology into practice and started working in rehab settings, eventually as a substance-abuse counselor.

As he learned more about treatment practices through his own family’s recovery and as a counselor, Angarella recognized a pattern between a 1972 study of heroin addicted veterans of the Vietnam War by Dr. Lee Robins and his own observations as an addiction counselor: In 90% of the substance abuse cases Robins studied, there was no relapse once the patient detoxified. The remaining 10 percent experienced repeated cycles of relapse and recovery long after having completed an initial detoxification regimen, including intervention therapy such as a 12-step program.

“This remaining 10 percent are the ones who are recycled through the revolving door of treatment, yet they are the ones who receive the least attention,” says Angarella. “They are the broken—the ones who line the back streets of many inner cities. These are the ones who drive my dedication to advancing our understanding of addictive disorders.”

This drive led Angarella to enroll in Walden’s M.S. in Psychology program, where he thrived on Walden’s rigorous master’s curriculum, environment of peer support, and the fact that his professors were working professionals in the field of psychology. But when he enrolled at age 49, Angarella admits he didn’t know if he had the wherewithal to make it through the program. “I didn’t know if I could compete with people who had a lot more energy, or who were a lot closer to their last year of college than I was,” he says. But he did finish, and by the final quarter of his master’s program, Angarella was convinced of two things: He could add value to the process of understanding some parts of human behavior that are traditionally neglected, and he could earn a Ph.D.

Immediately after earning an M.S. in Psychology in 2006, Angarella entered Walden’s Ph.D. in Psychology program, where he is pursuing a specialization in General Psychology—Educational Psychology track. Angarella says he has been encouraged in every class and by every professor to challenge not only his thinking, but also his own ability. “My professors have assisted me in gaining a new respect for psychological science,” he says. “These professors challenged my initial assumptions that I might not be good at psychological testing, statistics, and research. Through valuable student-teacher interaction, I was encouraged to explore my strengths and to work on those areas that presented academic and intellectual challenges.”

This year, Angarella will begin his dissertation, and he hopes to receive his degree [this year]. In his quest to better understand the science of addiction, he plans to include a qualitative study component in his dissertation.

Of his later-in-life Ph.D. pursuit, he says, “I’m not looking at the next 40 years of a career; I’m looking at self development. I’m looking at increasing my understanding of human behavior so that I can add some value.” Angarella sees that value manifesting in a teaching environment, whether it’s working with clinicians in a substance-abuse program or university setting. “The easiest way to inform the greatest number of people is to teach,” he says. “If I can find a position where future clinicians and practitioners are being trained, I think I can effect the greatest amount of change.”

Lifelong Learner: Andrea Davis, '07 MPH, now Ph.D. student

When Andrea Davis does follow-up interviews with heart program patients, she’s not just working at a job, she’s living her purpose. “My mother died of heart disease at age 42, and that’s a very young age to die,” says Davis, who was 15 at the time. “It made me want to learn more about cardiac disease research and public health.”

Reaching that goal, however, required navigating a winding career path. Davis majored in psychology as an undergraduate and then went on to a job at a bank. “I knew that was not my dream, my goal, or my vision,” says the Raleigh, N.C., resident, “but the hours were the same every day, and I was able to take classes at night.”

Her family history and volunteer experience with the American Heart Association had given Davis an interest in community health, so she began with two non-credit classes in medical terminology. “I found that I loved learning about health and medical issues,” she says.

The next step was Walden University’s Master of Public Health program, which Davis started in September of 2004. “I loved the master’s program,” she says, “and I decided that I wanted to keep on going forward at Walden.” At the end of 2005, while in the last quarter of her master’s program, Davis began her doctoral studies in public health with a personal focus on heart research.

“When I went to the first residency, that’s when I knew, ‘This is going to be great,’” she says. “The faculty tries to help you in any way they can.” She also had the support of her godmother, a heart-attack survivor, with whom Davis had lived after her mother died. “She’s been a blessing, and she came with me and my husband for the last residency and graduation,” says Davis. “I have self-motivation, but she encourages me along the way.”

While earning her degrees, Davis pursued her goal of working in public health. In addition to her full-time job at the bank, she began working part-time with RTI (Research Triangle Institute) as a field interviewer on an environmental study. The experience gave Davis a love of working on studies, so she applied for a contract position as a researcher and gave notice at the bank.

“I wanted to take that leap of faith, because I couldn’t see myself retiring as a banker,” she says. “I see myself as a community health educator.” A contract job doing clinical research for a pharmaceutical company ended after just six weeks, but Davis had also applied for a job at Duke University, and they soon brought her in for an interview.

In April 2007 she started her job as a data technician for Duke’s clinical research institute. She works on various follow-up cardiac studies and interviews people around the world about medical treatments affecting patients’ lives. “I’d always wanted to work for Duke or the University of North Carolina, and I ended up going from the last class of the master’s to a position at Duke,” she says. “It just fell right into place—I went from banking to where I wanted to be.” And she believes that her Walden education made the difference.

In addition, Davis says, “I think the Ph.D. is going to help me get further along at Duke, and will help me gain more from my experiences. I have so many long-term goals—including implementing a health promotion and a stress program for the community and hospital workers. The Ph.D. will help me promote social change in the community.”

Walden Alumni Author: Trevicia Williams, Ph.D.

There Are Pearls In the Pain of Every Experience: Spiritual Truths about Life's Experiences
Trevicia Williams '08, Ph.D. in Psychology
Morris Publishing, 2004

Dr. Trevicia Williams’ stirring bounce back book, There Are Pearls In The Pain of Every Experience: Spiritual Truths about Life’s Experiences, cuts to the chase about her life as an African American teenager in an arranged marriage to a man of European descent in the United States. It’s about currents of faith, hard decisions and perseverance and ways to bounce back from near life shattering experiences.

Trends in the United States show Mississippi as the state with the highest rate of teenage pregnancies. However, Houston (Texas), the fourth most populous city in the U.S. is probably the last place one would expect to find a 13 year old African American girl facing discussions about an arranged marriage, and, at 14 years of age in an arranged marriage to a man of German descent 12 years her senior. That's exactly where Dr. Trevicia Williams’ arranged marriage happened, and, at the age of 15 she became pregnant and gave birth to her daughter just before her sixteenth birthday.

How she survived an incredible start is in There Are Pearls In the Pain of Every Experience. It’s about being caught between childhood and forced adulthood, and having to make some very difficult choices. Dr. Williams takes readers on a subtle journey between having to create a support system, being a child herself while being a responsible parent to her child. It’s about faith and adversity and Dr. Williams’ use of inner strengths. “Success requires an awareness of inner strengths and greatness, and, it is during the moment of decision that the course of life is determined, or, at the very least, the next experience” says Dr. Williams.

February is American Heart Month

Start!Walking for a Healthier Lifestyle

Walking has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity. It’s the simplest positive change you can make to effectively improve your heart health.
Research has shown that the benefits of walking and moderate physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day can help you:

• Reduce the risk of coronary heart disease
• Improve blood pressure and blood sugar levels
• Improve blood lipid profile
• Maintain body weight and lower the risk of obesity
• Enhance mental well being
• Reduce the risk of osteoporosis
• Reduce the risk of breast and colon cancer
• Reduce the risk of non insulin dependent (type 2) diabetes

Walden reminds students, alumni and faculty to take care of themselves physically by exercising daily, eating right and getting plenty of rest.

Lifelong Learner: Lillie Jefferson, '06 MSED, now Ph.D. student

Lillie Jefferson, a Ph.D. in Education student, is exploring consistency of curricula across schools to find a connection between a particular curriculum and the developmental levels of the students, and the importance of early intervention for children who are not meeting the standards for their grade. This is the focus of her KAMs (or Knowledge Area Modules), which are independent study projects focused on a student’s individual interests, culminating in a research paper.

Jefferson received her B.A. in education from the University of Houston, but when she graduated in 1970, she decided to apply for a position as an insurance underwriter. As a black woman, she faced resistance at first, but she persisted and eventually got the job, and has been defying expectations ever since. She worked in the insurance industry until the company’s branch offices closed, then she had children and decided to return to her initial passion.

A teacher preparation program at a local university convinced her “that teaching was really my forté. I chose mathematics because there was a lot of excitement in it in terms of learning experiences.” After more than 15 years, Jefferson retired from full-time teaching and made the switch to part-time consulting for a tutorial service and working as a math tutor. “Maintaining a connection with students keeps me going,” she says. As a consultant, she helps the tutoring company work with the school system to set up mathematics curricula, develop intervention programs for struggling students, and address requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Although Jefferson felt she had the experience and the knowledge, she says, “I didn’t have the credentials.” So she decided to pursue a master’s degree at Walden University. Jefferson completed her M.S. in Education with a specialization in Mathematics in 2006, earning a 4.0 grade point average. When Jefferson’s enrollment advisor suggested that she pursue a doctorate, she decided to return to Walden because her experience at the master’s level was so positive. She also hoped that a Ph.D. would help her expand her consulting career, allowing her to better effect social change by helping to improve the educational process. And after all, she thought: “The Ph.D. is the highest level you can get, so why not go for it?”

A year into her doctoral program, Jefferson particularly likes the way the curriculum is presented. “It allows you to be creative and apply your experience, and at the same time to move your experience in a positive direction,” she says. “It makes you rethink how you’ve done things.” At first, she says, she “was really stumbling with the KAM learning process—it’s a different experience at a higher level—the writing and the research. But I’m beginning to understand how to align what the university is requiring of me with what I want to do in my research.” Her system for staying focused? Myriad Post-It notes arranged around her computer, outlining the work of the different theorists she’s studying.

Jefferson also has the support of her family and friends. “My mom is standing by me,” she says, “and there are other people who say, ‘If you need something, let me know.’” And Jefferson’s two sons are now enrolled in Walden’s B.S. in Business Administration program. Most of all, she’s supported by her own determination. “I don’t want to get anything under an A,” she says, “and I’m going to work until I do!”

Her goals include helping to “improve teacher training and community understanding of what’s required from a society that’s high in technology.” She particularly deplores the practices of “teaching to the test” and allowing young children who have failed a state assessment to advance a grade, because they don’t catch up and “the gap in learning widens, thereby increasing the threat of dropout,” she says.

Jefferson hopes to use her credentials to influence the school system to focus on early intervention. “If a child fails reading and math in the first grade, you have to catch it with an intervention at that point,” she explains. “If we work with our younger children, then we will be able to reduce the dropout rate.”

It’s clear that for Jefferson, a doctorate is not the end of the road when it comes to achievement, but the beginning. “Even once you get the Ph.D.,” she says, “you still have to keep up, because the world is changing every day.”

Share the value of your Walden M.B.A.

Latin Trade, a multinational, multilingual business publication, is currently conducting a survey of M.B.A. programs for their March 2009 issue and has included Walden’s M.B.A. in the list of programs being reviewed. Survey results will be based on a variety of criteria, including opinions from students, alumni, faculty, and other business professionals.

Click here to take the brief survey. The survey closes on February 20, 2009.

Your answers are confidential and will be used only in the aggregate; they won't be sold or shared with third parties

Walden Presidential Scholarship Recipient: Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly is working to facilitate the change he wants to see in the world. Since 2002, the Ph.D. in Psychology student has worked as a functional family therapist and addictions counselor for a cooperative program between the Salvation Army and the Onondaga County Juvenile Justice System. When the time came to find an internship, the upstate New York resident realized the training he needed most was not available locally.

When Kelly read about an internship opportunity publicized by Walden’s field training department, he knew it was everything he was seeking. The internship was offered by an agency that provides high-level services with a focus on families and children. The only catch was that the yearlong internship was in Ohio, two states away from Kelly’s wife and three Labrador retrievers. Although the agency received several applications from a variety of schools, Kelly was awarded the internship based on his experience, academic excellence, commitment to the field, and passion for working with underserved clients.

“In my hometown, there is a lack of trained clinicians doing proper diagnosis and assessment, especially in working with marginalized populations,” Kelly says. “There is a lack of cultural competency and understanding of cultural differences and family values. Without this knowledge, it is difficult to properly diagnose and treat diverse clients. As a result, clients are not compliant with a counselor’s treatment recommendations because they feel labeled and judged. The rift ultimately leads to inadequate treatment planning and non-compliance with mental health services.”

It was this conviction that initially led Kelly, who has also worked as a counselor at an inpatient substance abuse treatment center, a family mental health counselor, and a foster care counselor, to pursue a Ph.D. in Psychology.

“My counseling abilities have grown tremendously since the inception of my doctoral studies with Walden University,” Kelly says. His studies have also improved his ability to establish rapport and trust with the diverse client base involved with the juvenile-justice system. Walden University facilitated Kelly’s ability to approach a difficult population in a way that is empathetic, open, and confident. “I could not own the fact that many of the clients are criminally minded and repressed,” he says. “I wanted to provide assistance and facilitate treatment to make sure clients got the services they deserved.”

Kelly says the Walden faculty has supported him every step of the way, even when it meant pointing out his weaknesses. During clinical assessment trainings at residencies, Kelly says faculty members were helpful, insightful, and “always cared enough to be direct.” He has also grown as an academic writer. “Really you have no choice but to become a more proficient writer,” he says. “Walden is a writing intensive university that prepares you to write at a scholarly level for publication.”

With months remaining in his Ohio internship, Kelly praises his wife for her patience and understanding. “We see this experience as a short-term sacrifice for long-term growth,” he says. One of the first things Kelly plans to do when he returns to New York is complete a post-doctoral program in order to gain licensure as a psychologist in New York state. Next, he hopes to begin a private practice and work with nonprofit organizations to expand programs and implement services not currently available.

“Walden has made a commitment to improving society through education, and I’m a product of that now,” he says. “I’ve adopted Walden’s mission personally and professionally.”

Click here to learn about Walden's scholarships.

Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership Debuts Video

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Walden University’s Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership debuted a video to help inform and inspire educators interested in earning their M.S. in Education degree. The video touches on such distinctive Walden attributes as

• A student-centered approach to learning
• An engaging online learning experience
• A high-quality curriculum featuring nationally recognized educational experts

Viewers will hear directly from Walden students and alumni. For example, Aliya Tousana shares her thoughts in the video: “Walden is supportive, Walden is a community of professionals, Walden is the opportunity of a lifetime.”

The video was created to give potential students the opportunity to see firsthand how the M.S. in Education program is designed for their success. “We believe this video will be an effective way to heighten awareness of Walden’s M.S. in Education program as well as the quality and reputation of Walden in general,” said Victoria Reid, vice president of the college.

Beyond the Degree: Charles Bolin, Ph.D. candidate, serving on the Las Vegas Strip

When most people think of the infamous Las Vegas Strip, they imagine stories and characters straight out of a Hollywood screenplay: teenage runaways, high-stepping showgirls, fortunes made and broken in a single night, greed, desperation—all the extremes of human experience.

According to Chaplain Charles Bolin, those stereotypes are not far removed from the truth. In his 14 years working on the Strip as chaplain at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, he heard innumerable stories filled with all the drama of a classic film noir. “I helped a lot of people through distressing times,” he says.

Because of his own turbulent adolescence, the California native recognized how important it is for teens to have caring adults in their lives. Bolin first thought of becoming a chaplain after he read The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson, a story about a country preacher who ministered to juvenile delinquents on the mean streets of New York in the 1960s. “But I didn’t want to work in a church,” he says. “I prefer pastoral counseling and crisis intervention. I think it’s a great way to make a difference in people’s lives, to reach out to them when they are at their harshest crisis point and need help the most.”

After graduating from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif., Bolin moved to Las Vegas. He had been enlisted by the Church On The Strip to provide backstage Bible study courses for dancers and stagehands.

Bolin also became a chaplain with the Air Force Reserve, and had a chance to travel to Honduras. “I saw guys who were devastated emotionally and spiritually from what they experienced in the military,” he says, “and I knew I needed to find a way to help them.” Wanting to practice military chaplaincy on a higher level, Bolin took courses in traumatic stress through the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, then decided to pursue an advanced degree in counseling at Walden University. “After 9/11, I began to see how many people were using religion and spirituality to cope with traumatic events like terrorism, and I realized we need to bring theology and psychology together,” he says. “I already had a master’s degree in divinity, but wanted a ‘secular’ degree, to have credibility in the mental health community as well as the theological community. So in 2003, I enrolled in the doctoral specialization in Health Psychology at Walden.”

Bolin says that Dr. Wayne Lever, the chair for his dissertation, was especially helpful. “He offered courses dealing with medical crisis counseling and grief therapy,” Bolin says. “That was right up my alley, and the courses were so powerful.”

Bolin completed his coursework in December 2007 and is working on his dissertation, Spiritual and Religious Coping for Traumatic Stress. Pointing out that 59 percent of people will turn to a faith-based resource when faced with a traumatic life event, Bolin says it’s especially important that chaplains are adequately trained.

“One of the things I’m excited about for the future is trying to get approval from the Pentagon to create a task force to develop a comprehensive program looking at what chaplains do for people in traumatic and stressful situations,” he says. “As chaplains, we are on the front lines. Is what we do really helping? And if so, how? Walden has provided the ability to ask these questions and to find the answers.”

Branding Yourself in Times of Uncertainty

Ivonne Chirino-Klevans, Ph.D., Program Director, International Programs, Walden University

The economic downturn has reached organizations all over the United States, causing companies across industries to struggle to keep their operations going. Consequently, jobs have become scarcer.

We see a similar scenario in different regions of the world. For example, the latest figures show that Spain is facing a 14 percent unemployment rate. This tells us that the job market is now inundated with many talented individuals who are competing for jobs at a time when fewer jobs are available even to the very talented. And just like companies try to become more competitive in their markets, we as individuals must make ourselves more competitive in the labor market. Some of the marketing strategies that organizations utilize to position themselves can be used by individuals to open up more job opportunities for themselves. Branding is one of those strategies.

Organizations have used branding to differentiate themselves from other competitors, first by identifying a brand footprint and then a branding value chain. Let’s start with the idea of using a brand footprint to become more competitive in the job market. In order to create a brand footprint, it is necessary that we identify the following traits:

1. Your “brand attributes”: That is, descriptions of brand priorities. You can identify your brand priorities by asking yourself, “What special skills do I bring to the market that no other candidate may bring?” These skills might include the ability to work and manage virtual teams, work across cultures, or lead and motivate a team of individuals under pressure.

2. Your “brand personality”: How other people see you and which terms best describe your personality. These personality attributes need to be related to your skills and the position you are looking for. Examples of distinct personality attributes are being a high achiever and having a tolerance for frustration.

3. Your “brand essence”: This is the key issue in your interaction with the organization where want to work. You can only identify this if you understand your key differentiators from other candidates in your field. Essence is not a skill; it is what characterizes you regardless of what type of job or position you have, for example, authenticity.

4. Your “brand benefit”: Think in terms of cost benefit. What would a company gain, achieve, avoid, increase—if it hired you?

5. Your “branding value chain”: What needs to happen so that the brand benefit can be realized.

Think about:

a. What resources would you have to identify and utilize to notify others that you are in the job market? For example, it might mean joining professional online networks.

b. Are there any skills/certifications you need? You can only identify this if you understand your key differentiators before you become an active job seeker. For example, you might have to become certified in business coaching if you are applying for a position in human resources.

c. If you have considered changing careers, do you need to revise your values/priorities to identify a new career that is compatible with those values/priorities? And what steps do you need to take in order to change careers?

Difficult times are opportunities for growth, for making us more resilient, and for uncovering and developing skills and abilities that we did not have time to develop before. So, take advantage of these turbulent job environments and become stronger in your own profession. Sometimes it takes getting us out of our comfort zones to discover that there is always something new to learn about ourselves.

Honor Society Inducts Walden Members

On January 24, 2009, the Walden University chapter of Pi Alpha Alpha recognized its newest members. Pi Alpha Alpha is a national honor society for schools of public administration.

“It’s what our mission at this university is all about,” Walden President Jonathan Kaplan said of the School of Public Policy and Administration. “The areas in which you study continue to have an important impact.”

At the ceremony, Dr. Mark Gordon, interim associate dean for the School of Public Policy and Administration, pinned each honoree individually. He said, “Today, we are here to honor that you want to be change agents in your communities.”

The following new member were inducted into the Walden chapter:

Dorothy Moore                     
Charles Prospere   
Kathy Torrisi                        
Steven Wuytack
Marshall Sean                        
David Lijadu
Staci Luckett                           
Jennifer Carrisa
Stenia Hall                             
Karen Graves
Michael Orticelle       
Sebsibe Abate
Kerita Kegler                           
Carrie Taylor       
Darlene Duncan                     
Thomas Drake
Ray Coleman                         
Andrea Bastedo   
Christian Lanphere                
Sonia Layne   

Click here to learn more about Pi Alpha Alpha.

New Issue of Walden Alumni Magazine Online

In January 2009, Walden University published the sixth issue of its award-winning Walden Alumni Magazine (see right).

The cover story, “In Pursuit of Justice: A Tale of 2 Wars, 2 Alumni—and 2 Ways of Pursuing the Truth,” explores how two Walden University alumni worked under challenging and even dangerous conditions to bring justice to the people of Sierra Leone and Liberia. One pursued the criminals; the other worked to heal the community.

The article, “Connected in Service: 5 Ways to Improve People’s Lives Internationally,” explores how Walden students, faculty and alumni are creating positive social change in the international arena, and how readers can, too.

The “Beyond the Degree” department features Walden alumni and students whose jobs are anything but traditional. In this issue, we meet Dr. Madeline Frank, a concert violist who is using her Ph.D. in Administration/Management (now Ph.D. in Applied Management and Decision Sciences) to become a more multidimensional teacher. Frank teaches children and adults how to overcome obstacles through music.

In “Faculty Insights,” recipients of the 2008 Extraordinary Faculty Award answer question such as “What is the most important issue people are not talking about in your field.”

The magazine also includes articles by alumni offering their expertise on how to:

* Overcome stereotypes
* Declutter your life
* Market yourself effectively
* Overcome life’s problems with laughter

There are also “Lifelong Learners” articles about graduates who have returned to Walden for a second degree:
* Jill Watson Riley, who earned a M.S. in Education and is now pursuing a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
* Elisa Watters, who earned a Master of Public Health and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Public Health

Click here to view the magazine.

Walden Alumni Accolade: Gene Berryhill, Ph.D., Fulbright Scholar

Georgia “Gene” Berryhill pictured in “Weit Nah” (“Far and Near”), part of her “Transforming Landscapes” series.

Walden Ph.D. in Education graduate Georgia “Gene” Berryhill has collected 200 photographs of an environmentally devastated region near Cottbus, Germany, into a documentary presentation called “Transforming Landscapes.” A result of two Fulbright fellowships Berryhill received when she was teaching at Biola University in La Mirada, Calif., the presentation promotes awareness of industry’s environmental impact. “Awareness is an important factor in promoting successful environmental change,” Berryhill says. “I’ve found that beauty helps to attract people to important causes, so I try to share the beautiful moments along with the issues of truth I’ve encountered.”

Dr. Berryhill was a Fulbright Senior Scholar to Germany in 2003 and a Fulbright Senior Specialist in 2005. Besides exhibiting her camera art in galleries, she worked the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia as a media photographer, holds an honorary professorship in China since 1999 and is listed in Who's Who of the 21st Century for contributions in photography and graphic arts. She has taught photography, digital imaging, graphics, art histories, education technologies and is a published author.