Time and doctoral degrees wait for no one: an autoethnography on the creation of a culture of support in an online EdD program amidst a global pandemic

Abstract

Purpose

March 2020 signaled school closures and moves online for many institutions, but an online EdD program at a midsize, Christian university featured fewer than-expected programmatic changes. Because of its modality, program operations continued with relatively few changes. Although COVID-19-related campus closures did not interrupt these students’ scheduled courses, they substantively impacted their personal and professional lives. As a result, the authors in the program-specific writing center serving these students found themselves helping them navigate not only stresses related to the already-strenuous task of writing a dissertation but also personal and professional anxieties related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to explore and reflect on the strategies employed by a program‐specific writing center to support doctoral students during the COVID‐19 pandemic, focusing on relaxed scheduling policies, emotional support beyond writing, and fostering deeper interpersonal connections to address the unique challenges students faced during this period.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted an autoethnographic exploration of their experiences to consider and examine effective strategies for supporting students in times of stress. The authors guided this inquiry by reviewing logs, notes and video recordings of sessions held or rescheduled in Spring 2020.

Findings

The authors identified three major themes in how they adjusted their approach to considering the pandemic: relaxed scheduling policies, emotional support beyond the writing process by permitting students to set the writing aside while they focused on the more immediate concerns emerging from the rapid onset of pandemic life and intentionally using the opportunity to form deeper interpersonal connections with students in their home environments.

Originality/value

As institutions reflect on lessons learned during pandemic stresses, closures and mandates, intentional exploration and reflection allow for a greater understanding of what improvements the authors can make to future practice. This uniquely positioned study offers a valuable perspective on supporting students through crisis.

Citation

Smith, J. and Werse, N.R. (2024), "Time and doctoral degrees wait for no one: an autoethnography on the creation of a culture of support in an online EdD program amidst a global pandemic", Information and Learning Sciences, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-10-2023-0152