Because of my own bad dissertation experience. I couldn’t get the help I needed when I needed it. I knew there had to be a better way for Ph.D. candidates to get the support they so desperately needed.

Money. Candidates have shelled out a lot of money. They have paid for their course work, their books and materials, gas, parking, You name it they have spent it to get their degree. So it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me for them to pay these huge deposits to companies when they may not need it.

Time. I spent SO much time waiting to hear back from my committee. I would be working on my dissertation, I would get stuck, send my methodologist a quick question in an email, and then wait weeks, a month even, to hear back from him. It slowed my work down immensely. I could never get anything done. 

I think it could be a very exciting process for people. I mean, when do you get to pick a topic, create some questions, and research what you want to research? It could be a dream-like learning experience. Unfortunately, for most people it turns into a real nightmare. 

I think overall the most common mistake I see is lack of alignment. That the research questions do not align to the data nor the analysis. What this creates is a dissertation where the research questions can never really be answered.  

Unfortunately, it should have been picked up by someone on the committee. But as we know, there is no one at the wheel on many of these committees.