San José Gateway PhD Students Reach Milestones and Welcome Newcomers during August Residency

News

Students in the San José Gateway PhD program recently met in San José, California for a one-week residency to share updates, receive feedback on their research, work on developing advanced skills, and network.

Students in the San José Gateway PhD program, an international doctoral program offered in a partnership between the San José State University School of Information (iSchool) and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), recently met in San José, California for a one-week residency to share updates, receive feedback on their research, work on developing advanced skills, and network. The annual residency was held from August 3-7, 2015, and was attended by 13 doctoral students, as well as by faculty members from the iSchool and QUT.

According to Dr. Cheryl Stenstrom, San José Gateway PhD alumna and assistant program coordinator, the residency is an important part of the primarily online program. “Students benefit from interacting in this face-to-face setting with a large peer and faculty group and develop a foundation for the virtual meetings held throughout the year,” stated Stenstrom.

Two new students embarked on their doctoral journeys during this year’s residency. Lettie Conrad will be working with Dr. Virginia Tucker, who is also an alumna of the San José Gateway PhD program. Conrad plans to conduct a behavioral study exploring how advanced higher-education students manage citations, literature, and other digital information collected during their research.

New doctoral student William H. Weare, Jr. will be working with Dr. Mary Bolin, who is also joining the San José Gateway PhD program this year in the role of faculty supervisor. Weare will be comparing faculty research practices and investigating how faculty find and manage research materials.

Continuing San José Gateway PhD students reached major milestones this summer as well. Laura Anderson successfully delivered her final seminar and her dissertation is now being prepared for final examination. Shelly Buchanan presented her confirmation of candidature seminar and will now work toward completing her dissertation (pictured L to R:  Dr. Sandra Hirsh, Shelly Buchanan and Dr. Mary Ann Harlan; photo courtesy of Nilo Sarraf).

The San José Gateway PhD program is holding an online information session on Thursday, October 1, 2015, at 5:00 p.m. PDT for interested PhD candidates. Applications are accepted once a year for an August start, and current application deadlines are available on the iSchool website. Additional information about the part-time PhD program can be obtained by contacting Stenstrom or by filling out an information request form.