This document summarizes and provides tips from interviews with two doctoral candidates - Larry Walker and Avis Jackson. Walker offers eight tips for navigating the doctoral process based on his experience, including maintaining relationships with advisors, understanding course sequences, developing colleague support systems, and treating the program as a marathon rather than a race. Jackson shares "words of wisdom" from her experience, such as preparing for sacrifices, securing dedicated work spaces and times, getting exposure through conferences, and centering classwork around dissertation topics. She emphasizes learning about yourself and developing sustainable habits. The document provides an overview of interviews with these two candidates who offer practical advice to help guide others through the doctoral journey.

1. Inside This Edition
  
 “Navigating the
Doctoral Maze”
Interview with Larry
Walker, page 1
 Quantifying the
Doctoral Experience
with Avis Jackson,
page 2
 Don’t Just Don’t,
page 3
About the Urban
Educator
--The Urban Educator is a
bi-annual
interdisciplinary graduate
student publication; it is
produced BY students,
FOR students and WITH
students in mind -- to
share words of wisdom,
tips and strategies for
negotiating the graduate
school experience!
For more information go to:
www.Urbaned.pbworks.com
“Navigating the Doctoral Maze”
An Interview with Larry Walker, Doctoral Candidate
By: Edwin Green, Jr., Urban Educational Leadership student
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Matriculation at the doctoral
level is about “finding your way,
and making your education your
own” as opposed to having a
degree served to you. Upon
beginning a doctoral
program, the
student quickly
learns that
information is
“somewhere,” and it
is generally up to
him to find it.
Questions such as,
“Where is this…” or
“Where do I find…”
seem almost
insulting to the
doctoral program professor.
Truly, the difference from most
Master’s and doctoral programs
are vast. As the ‘Queen of Soul’
Aretha Franklin sang for the
opening 90’s sitcom, “It’s a
different world, from where you
come from.”
Still, despite the push for
doctoral students to make their
own way, some students find
solace in the social networks that
naturally evolve in a true learning
organization. Larry Walker, who
this past March presented his
final dissertation defense, was
called upon to assist in this
process. Having touched the
proverbial light at the end of the
tunnel, students in his position
have a keen outlook on what
contributed to their success.
Truly, it takes a robust navigation
system to be effective in the
maze of matriculating
toward the terminal
degree. In this informal
conversation, Mr.
Walker offers some
practical tips that served
to “Tom Tom” him
through his program.
1. Maintain a
good relationship with
your advisor
Mr. Walker
referenced having
regular conversations
with his advisor, Dr. Hayman,
who helped him map out a plan
of action and keep on track
throughout the process.
2. Have a good
understanding of the sequence
of courses you need to take
Be careful to learn the
purposes of each course you
have to take, make note of the
prerequisites, when courses are
offered, and which ones build off
of each other.
3. Develop effective
cohorts with your colleagues
Mr. Walker referenced his
friendship with another student,
The Urban Educator!
www.Urbaned.pbworks.com 5/1/2015 Edition 1/Volume 1
Doctoral candidate Larry Walker
(continued on page 3)

2. Working on a doctorate is “…a
cave of your own making…”
because you have the opportunity
to deeply pursue things that you
are interested in. This and a host
of other `words of wisdom’ come
from Avis Jackson. Avis is the 2nd
Ph D. recipient of Morgan’s
graduate program in
Psychometrics. Psychometrics is a
specialized psychology field that
studies test theory, construction
and other quantitative processes to
understand phenomena –in other
words these are the type of people
who develop tests like the SAT or
PARCC. Avis has spent 7 years
in the doctoral program at Morgan
and she offers the following words
of wisdom:
1. Prepare yourself –the
doctoral process causes one to
make a great sacrifice, but it is for
a great reward—a professional
terminal degree. So be prepared
to miss out on family time, the
growth and development of loved
ones and even a rough toll on your
body (because you may have to sit
to read or write for hours at a time);
2. Know yourself—you
should be prepared to learn about
yourself, as you learn about your
interest area. One of the most
valuable lessons for Avis, came
from Dr. Trent Haines of the
Morgan Psychology department,
who stressed the importance of
“learning to teach yourself” and
“learning how to find the answer for
yourself, by finding what you need
and who you need…” Avis says
that she realized that one has to
“do whatever works best for you…”
For example, she learned that she
had a high sensitivity to noise, so
she had to do much of her work at
home in a quiet place because
many outside places, even the
library, were too noisy. She
advises that you develop a set of
preemptive helping habits that will
sustain you for the long-haul (like
being well organized; pro-active;
developing supportive surrounding
people; good eating; regular
exercise; etc);
3. Secure a sacred place
and sacred time—you should
develop a routine every day, where
you set aside revered time (where
you do not
take phone
calls, check
devices or
watch shows)
to read and
write; and you
should have a
consecrated
work space that
will allow you to be productive.
Avis found it helpful to leave
herself notes which reminded her
where she left off and what she
needed to do as a result of the last
`sacred time’ period. Also, if you
are not going to read or write, you
can use that `sacred time’ to
organize your thoughts or your
notes or your paperwork;
4. Be strategic—if you have
a clear idea about what you hope
to do your research and
dissertation on, then try to center
all of your class work assignments
around that interest; Avis had a
colleague who did this strategic
centering of her class assignments
on her dissertation topic and was
able secure her Ph D. in two years!
Also, if you are not sure what your
dissertation topic is, then you can
develop a list of subject areas,
interested topics or other areas
that fascinate you and center your
research on that;
5. Exposure, exposure,
exposure!—you should go to as
many conferences, lectures and
take advantage of opportunities to
get published as much as possible.
Getting out to network and see
what others are doing in your field
will enlighten and potentially inspire
you. Avis noted “…I was motivated
by listening to what
others were doing…and
being around like-
minded people…”
Additionally, Avis
advises graduate
students to join
professional organizations
(such as AERA or APA)
and then look to join one
of the smaller working-groups or
committees of that professional
organizations (for networking and
CV boosting opportunities).
These are some of the
`words of wisdom’ from Avis
Jackson who said that she did not
regret being in this torturous and
intense process because it was a
wonderful experience! Go on-line
to www.urbaned.pbworks.com to
read her other valuable lessons
learned. UE
“Quantifying the Doctoral Process”
An Interview with Avis Jackson, Doctoral Candidate, conducted by Ayize Sabater I
Doctoral candidate Avis Jackson

3. Oppressed but still Self-Determined!*
“The oppressor has always indoctrinated the weak with his interpretation of the
crimes of the strong.” ― Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-Education of the Negro
I have many thoughts
in relation to the events in our
nation occurring between the
police force and African-
Americans. Chief among them
is my concern over the overt
racial bias used by law
enforcement, political
authorities, and the media,
against people of color. It is no
secret that these figures have
made intentional strides to
paint a picture of those of us
who have been victimized.
While I do not support violence
of any kind, I do not support
violence of ANY KIND!! (the
repetition here is intentional)
What the three afore-mentioned
groups have done, is highlight
the violent acts of victims, for
the purpose of moving the
spotlight away from the violent
victimizers.
To bring home my
feelings, I pose this question: If
you slap me in the face, do you
then have the right to tell me
how to respond to it?
Imagine after being
smacked, the smacker then tells
you, “Now, I know what I just
did, but this is how you must
respond – you cannot be
violent with me. You must
peacefully respond to what I
just did, merely because I say
that this is the right way for
you to handle it…”
Sounds ridiculous, right?
Well now, take into
consideration what recently
happened in Baltimore. A man
is dead. He was killed by those
sworn to serve and protect him.
This taking place after at least
10 other unarmed Black men
and boys have been killed
under similar circumstances –
not to mention the countless
others who have been killed
over the years, particularly
during bondage, Jim Crow, etc.
Consider these acts to be the
proverbial “slap in the face.”
Given these events, how then
do law enforcement, political
authorities, and the media tell
us how we ought to respond?
What gives them the right?
I say, NO, you don’t get to tell
me how to respond!
How dare you set up a
system where people of low
socio-economic status (who
tend to be Black and Brown)
remain of low socio-economic
status, and then act as if they
are the reason that they are.
When good jobs, access to
affordable health care, decent
schools, and other support
services and resources rarely, if
ever, find their way into
Baltimore City (and other
urban areas), do we really
believe that the conditions will
be the same as say Pikesville,
Perry Hall, Owings Mills, or the
like?
Who is unclear that,
regardless of race, where there
is poverty, there is also crime
and violence? If we are aware
of this, why then do we act
surprised when it happens –
and especially after a violent
act occurs?
No, I don’t want to hear
about rioters – especially when
in the case of Baltimore City,
there were PEACEFUL protests
for FIVE days, all of a sudden a
few rogues decide to act in
emotion and ignorance, and all
of a sudden that’s the only
story you hear. Nothing more,
is said, about the thousands
who “acted right.” No, the
conversation ought to be about
the fact that what we see are
reactions to the real problems –
or else I will not engage.
In regard to the question
of why are we protesting when
police kill Blacks and not when
Blacks kill Blacks?, the answer is
simple. When Tyrone kills
Dominic, Tyrone gets caught,
arrested, goes to jail, and serves
time. When Officer Friendly kills
Dominic, the systems in place
run to his protection, utilizes the
media to put a spin on the story
(i.e., he owed child support, or he
robbed a store, or he had been
smoking marijuana, or his tail
light was out), and Officer
Friendly gets off. That’s not
opinion, that’s fact. UE
*go online to www.urbaned.pbworks.com for complete blog

4. (continued from page 1)
Ramon Goings, who he met
during his first semester. Mr.
Walker and Mr. Goings
developed a friendship, and
have served each other by
editing papers, collaborating
on assignments, alerting one
another about symposiums,
conferences, and other
opportunities. Mr. Walker and
Mr. Goings recently
collaborated on a piece that is
set to be published in the
coming weeks.
4. The program is a
marathon, not a race
Pace yourself, and be
smart and intentional about
your individualized course of
action.
5. Take reputable
dissertation intensive
workshop
The next offering of
the workshop, for MSU, is
scheduled for June 22 – 26.
Visit
www.morgan.edu/dissertation
workshop to register. This is
for students at the concept
paper phase and beyond.
Early birds get the discount!
6. Get regular
feedback from your
program Chairperson
The program Chair is
the last person to review your
document. It would serve
you well to get a good idea of
what that person is looking
for, and what he/she
considers to be satisfactory.
7. Carefully choose
your dissertation Chair
Your dissertation
Chair should be someone
who has knowledge of your
topic, and can advocate for
you during the process.
8. Know your stuff
The dissertation is a
scholarly endeavor, therefore,
regurgitation of the
information is not sufficient.
You must critically analyze the
information, and demonstrate
mastery of the topic. You
must effectively synthesize
the data, and be mindful as
you write of how what you are
doing contributes to what
already exists. You can
challenge assumptions, but be
sure to have sufficient data to
support your argument.
According to Mr.
Walker, these eight tips were
significant contributors to his
educational progression. This
list is certainly not exhaustive,
but it does supply a good
foundation for current and
future doctoral students.
Congratulations to Mr. Walker
and all other doctoral
candidates! We wish you the
best in your efforts to obtain
equity for students in urban
educational systems. UE
Rescheduled!
May 20 – 21, 2015
Hosted by School of Education & Urban
Studies—Morgan State University
In MSU Student Center
The first annual Maryland Cultural Proficiency Conference will
provide a forum for educators, community members, students,
and parents to share ideas on how we can ensure that all
Maryland area schools meet the learning needs of our diverse
population. We are seeking to partner with presenters who can
lead interactive, highly engaging sessions that address four
components (conference strands) essential to enhancing cultural
competence through our schools and institutions of higher
education: Awareness and Connection, Knowledge, Practice, or
Research. Please contact Dr. Tracey L. Durant at
tdurant@bcps.org or 410.887.2444 to learn more about the
conference.
OFFICIAL CONFERENCE DATES
Thur., Oct. 8 – Sat., Oct. 10, 2015
CONFERENCE LOCATION
The DoubleTree by Hilton Atlanta Downtown
160 Spring St. NW Atlanta GA 30303
Conference Theme
Paying It Forward: Turning Research into Practice
The Black Doctoral Network Conference will
bring together both world renowned and
emergent scholars and professionals from the
Social Sciences, STEM and humanities to
function as a resource, a support system, as a
space of intellectual exchange, and a place to
create connections and develop collaborations.
The Black Doctoral Network, Incorporated
14 Wall Street - Suite 2067
New York, New York 10005
www.blackphdnetwork.com