DUSON's Story of Resilience: Three Successful PhD Dissertation Defenses

In the last week, the world of academia has had to enter a new normal... virtual. All across the globe, face-to-face courses have had to quickly transition to online due to the COVID-19 virus. With this type of quick change comes new opportunities for learning.

As we navigate this uncertainty, we want to take a moment to highlight our resilient moments. Up first is our PhD program, who along with our IT team, made it possible for three candidates to successfully complete their dissertation defenses using WebEx.

PhD students Eunji Cho, Jane Ralphe and Michelle Franklin, originally scheduled to defend on campus, had to transition and prepare in a short time to defend virtually. According to PhD Program Director Sharron Docherty, the presentations of their excellent work was clear, smart and graceful.

The number of participants exceeded the typical turnout when dissertation defenses are held on campus. Cho started with 24 participants, Ralphe increased to 41 and Franklin had 64 participants join her virtual defense. Participants were from all over the country.

"Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems." ~ Gever Tulley

Do you or your team have a DUSON Resilient Moment to share? Email your story, along with any appropriate photo, to dusonweb@dm.duke.edu.