Greetings Collegium Members, I wanted to remind everyone of the resources available to you in the Collegium. First, everyone pretty much knows about and takes advantage of our weekly office hours. Don't forget, as well, that all members, can schedule twice-monthly individual sessions.. Second, I'd like to remind members of our curriculum content. As you progress through each phase of the dissertation, do have a look at the corresponding modules in the Classroom. As many of you know, we will be updating these modules over the summer, so you will have some new and improved content to look forward to. Third, when you are ready to collect and analyse your data, we will also bring in guest scholars to lead analysis workshops (both qual and quant). Most everyone is still in the pre-IRB or proposal phase, but once everyone gets closer to data analysis, we can discuss an appropriate time for a workshop. Lastly, don't forget to leverage the support of your peers. Chat with each other and consider setting up writing sessions or peer review session amongst yourselves. If myself or Brenda can be of any assistance in facilitating more peer engagement, let us know. -Ryan

Where I am in life right now: Kids grown. At home with a biz, I have just begun. Business administration doctoral classes are continual. In phase two of five at University of Phoenix. Glad to be here.

Members of the Collegium, With your admission into the Dissertation Collegium, you pass into a learned society ordered towards recovering the traditional ends of doctoral education: scholarly formation and knowledge generation. The Collegium is grounded in the principle of Bildung (meaning self-cultivation) established by Wilhelm von Humboldt who viewed higher education as a union between 'objective science' and 'subjective education'. The traditional model of doctoral education was conceived as a sort of intellectual apprenticeship where doctoral candidates benefited from the mentorship of an experienced faculty member and participated in the scholarly life of the university campus. In the contemporary landscape, however, this environment has often been displaced by an archetype we term Compliance-Oriented Doctoral Education (CODE). In this system, the dissertation is frequently treated as an artifact of procedural adherence rather than a demonstration of disciplined enquiry. Under CODE, the conferral of the degree is evidence that candidates were able to endure the process set up by the university. The Dissertation Collegium is designed to recover the cadence and essence of doctoral education as traditionally conceived. We exist to provide a space where you may navigate the constraints of your university programme while ensuring your work remains governed by rigorous scholarship. Accordingly, our mission is twofold: 1. The immediate goal of the Collegium is to support Members in successfully completing and defending the dissertation. This is achieved through mentoring Members in the underlying logic of the dissertation process, providing a space to receive high-touch and frequent feedback, and to cultivate a collegial scholarly environment that is often lacking in many non-traditional programmes. 2. The longer-term goal of the Collegium extends beyond defence and graduation towards scholarly formation. Members remain affiliated with the Collegium beyond graduation, retaining access to the community, its mentors, and its scholarly environment as they move into publication, professional advancement, and post-doctoral praxis. Defence marks not an exit from the Collegium, but a transition within it {\textemdash} from doctoral candidate to contributing scholar.

Dear Members, I wish everyone a most festive Easter. As we say in Polish — Wesołego Alleluia! -Ryan

Dear Members, The Institute is pleased to announce the publication of a new article entitled: 'On Topic Development — Research Formation Through Conceptual and Methodological Refinement' You may read the article on LinkedIn at this link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/topic-development-research-formation-through-ryan-j-s-kotowski-s21we This article will form the basis of the spotlight lecture for this Saturday's Doctoral Colloquium. I encourage all members to have a read over the article, like/repost it on LinkedIn, and reflect on how the framework proposed therein can inform your own present dissertation work. I welcome any comments and critiques. Yours academically, Ryan