Jodie Salter graduated with a PhD from the University of Guelph in English and Theatre Studies, where her dissertation focused on intergenerational storytelling, reciprocity, cultural dislocation, and old women in contemporary Canadian fiction. She is currently a Writing Specialist and the Acting Manager in Writing Services on the Learning and Curriculum Support team at the University of Guelph Library.
Q: Why did you enroll in a PhD program in the first place?
Between my Master’s and PhD, I attended teachers’ college. As part of my teaching practicum, I was working in a grade twelve English classroom in North Vancouver, while concurrently continuing to TA in the Department of English at Simon Fraser University. I quickly realized that I preferred teaching at the university level, where my students were more engaged and excited to challenge their own thinking and assumptions. I was fuelled by their enthusiasm. I knew that if I wanted to continue teaching in higher education, I needed a doctorate. So that fall, I started my PhD at the University of Victoria, where I completed two years before transferring to the University of Guelph for the final three years of my program.
Q: What kinds of teaching experience did you get in your program?
I had TA’d at least five or six undergraduate courses during my Master’s program at Simon Fraser University, so I wanted different types of teaching experience in my PhD. At the University of Victoria, I TA’d a graduate-level course on pedagogy in the English Department, I worked one-on-one as a Writing Consultant in the Writing Centre, and I taught communication courses for English language learners each semester for the Learning and Teaching Centre. Outside of my program, I held a term faculty position at Camosun College in Victoria, where I taught first- and second-year academic writing courses. Then, in my program at the University of Guelph, I was a sessional instructor for a third-year course in the English department, and I worked part-time in the Writing Centre as a Graduate Student Writing Advisor until I secured a contract position as a Writing Specialist for the final year of my PhD. In that role, I worked with students one-on-one, I taught writing workshops at the undergraduate and graduate level, and I created the Dissertation Boot Camp program for the university.
Q: What kinds of financial support did you have?
I had guaranteed funding at UVic for four years, and when I transferred to Guelph, I was funded for an additional three years. However, because I did not hold a SSHRC grant for my PhD, it was necessary for me to work a number of jobs in order to graduate without debt. As part of my entrance packages, I was guaranteed a TA position in the Writing Centre at UVic and an RA position at Guelph. Both provided excellent experiential learning opportunities but added to my program length. I received departmental and university grants for conferences, plus some financial support through professional associations, but the process of searching and applying for funding definitely diverted attention from my studies.
Q: You mentioned that your supervisor was an important part of your experience?
I had four supervisors throughout my PhD program. Within the first two years, two of my committee members left the university and one took sick leave. I began working with another faculty member who was incredibly supportive, but not familiar enough with my area of study to provide the necessary feedback and guidance. I transferred to Guelph to work with a new supervisor, an academic powerhouse who facilitated a smooth transfer, secured my funding, and introduced me to a whole new intellectual environment. She provided innumerable opportunities for her students to learn and excel and become academic tenure-track superstars, yet I was interested in carving out an alternative career path for myself that didn’t fit with her expectations. While she wanted me to focus solely on writing, I wanted to open doors for myself to diversify my experiences for learning and growth. We had different priorities. However, during this same time frame, my supervisor accepted a position at another institution, and I was again without supervision. My department graduate coordinator stepped in and supported me through to completion. While she knew little of my research area, her positive attitude and critical engagement made the final few months of my dissertation writing an encouraging process, and my defence was an amazing capstone experience.
I learned from my own PhD experience that students need to be proactive in ensuring their own academic success and mental health. They need to find resources early on that can help them develop strategies for negotiating challenges and navigating unknowns. In my current position, I hear too many stories from students stuck in negative relationships with their supervisors or committee members, and I know all too well the emotional and cognitive exhaustion that can result from feeling powerless. My advice to any student who feels stuck, stranded, or lost in any way is to reach out to your supervisor, program coordinator, your department chair, a Learning Commons’ advisor, an academic at another university, someone in your graduate studies office, a counsellor, etc. Speak to a variety of people to learn different strategies for success. There are so many people in a university environment who can provide good advice and support you emotionally and academically through transitions and difficult situations. Ask for help.
Q: Did you feel like you were part of a community during your PhD? Or that you are still part of a community?
My PhD cohort worked really hard to create a social community that supported each other emotionally, and my first supervisor at Guelph fostered an academic community for her students that extended beyond the university, creating networks that lead to diverse learning and research opportunities. However, the department wasn’t successful at fostering strong connections between faculty and graduate students. For example, most faculty members never attended our monthly graduate student colloquiums, and this absence of interest fostered resentment amongst the student population.
The Writing Centre where I worked as a Graduate Student Writing Advisor became an integral part of my community on campus. I worked daily with academics pursuing PhDs from different departments and universities, and we created a social and academic support network for each other. I gained more knowledge of academic writing, research, and publishing through my collaborative teaching experiences in the centre than I did from my PhD program or home department. Through my teaching in the centre, I also became much more socially connected across campus, and through these engagements with our various campus partners, I gained greater insight into the larger structural workings of the institution, its strategic priorities, and the complexities of research practices and methodologies of the different departments across campus.
Q: Did you feel like you completed your PhD in the right amount of time?
If I hadn’t transferred schools halfway through my program, moved across the country, completed an additional comprehensive exam, and shifted the focus of my topic because of my new committee, I might have completed sooner. I had hoped to finish in four years, as I had believed was possible based on the expectation established with my four-year funding package. However, unless you are fully funded with a tri-council grant, four years is not realistic (particularly in the Humanities) and especially if you have to work to support yourself. Also, if you want teaching experience, your timelines to completion get further stretched. I completed in five years, and I feel this was the right amount of time for me. When I was finishing, I felt confident in my research, was fairly pleased with my dissertation, and was well prepared for my defence.
Q: How did you end up in your current position as Writing Specialist?
I am my current position today because I strategically sought the jobs that I did at UVic’s Teaching and Learning Centre, at Camosun College, and at Guelph’s Writing Centre. I wasn’t confident that there would be a tenure-track position for me at the end of my program, especially if I didn’t want to move again, so throughout my program, I fostered opportunities that would open different doors and potentially lead to a stable career. As soon as I arrived at Guelph, I approached the Writing Centre because I had experience as a Writing TA and I knew I enjoyed the variety of teaching opportunities this job provided. Over the next two years, I worked part-time in the centre, availing myself in any way needed. Then, in the final four months of my PhD, I was extremely fortunate. A permanent position came available, and I started full-time in my new role as a Writing Specialist just four days after my PhD defence.
Q: Why did you choose the non-academic path in a university as opposed to a tenure-track?
To clarify: I actually consider my career a non-conventional academic path (not a non-academic path), as I still engage in the same types of academic conversations and contribute to research, teaching, service, and publishing.
As I became friends with faculty, I saw the reality of a faculty position – the long hours, the publishing demands, the stress of tenure, etc. – and I realized I didn’t want it. In my current role, I work closely with faculty as writers and with graduate students. I love engaging with other academics, providing advice on their research, and helping them think deeply about their projects, but I don’t have to evaluate their work, mark papers, or feel pressured to publish, and I can relax at the end of my work day. I get to mentor, teach, create programs, develop curricula, secure grants, collaborate on projects with other academics, and I can publish if I want, but it’s not part of my job requirement. And most importantly, when I take time off, I can completely disengage from my work.
Q: Are there other points you would like to share?
1. Teaching is a great experience, but creating and teaching a course during your PhD swallows up that semester and thus increases time-to-completion. Students need teaching experience before entering the academic job market, but to teach and to finish in four or five years is challenging and stressful. Also, not everyone has the experience that it takes to create an effective learning environment, so departments should provide formal instructional skills training (or bring in Teaching and Learning staff) to facilitate this professional skills development. Plus, students should be mentored during their teaching terms to build confidence, develop skills, and receive feedback.
2. Faculty should increase their awareness of the different support services that exist on their campuses for graduate students in order to more accurately and proactively refer students. Some faculty assume that our Learning Commons offers remedial help for students who are struggling, when in fact a large percentage of our consultations are with faculty writers and graduate students working on publications. We know that when faculty endorse services, students are much more likely to seek support, and thus faculty can help normalize help-seeking behaviours. When students learn strategies for success early in their programs, they are much more likely to complete on time and with considerably less stress.
Many thanks to Jodie Salter for sharing her PhD narrative! You can find out more about her work on LinkedIn and the University of Guelph Library.
Jodie Salter graduated with a PhD from the University of Guelph in English and Theatre Studies, where her dissertation focused on intergenerational storytelling, reciprocity, cultural dislocation, and old women in contemporary Canadian fiction. She is currently a Writing Specialist and the Acting Manager in Writing Services on the Learning and Curriculum Support team at the University of Guelph Library.
Q: Why did you enroll in a PhD program in the first place?
Between my Master’s and PhD, I attended teachers’ college. As part of my teaching practicum, I was working in a grade twelve English classroom in North Vancouver, while concurrently continuing to TA in the Department of English at Simon Fraser University. I quickly realized that I preferred teaching at the university level, where my students were more engaged and excited to challenge their own thinking and assumptions. I was fuelled by their enthusiasm. I knew that if I wanted to continue teaching in higher education, I needed a doctorate. So that fall, I started my PhD at the University of Victoria, where I completed two years before transferring to the University of Guelph for the final three years of my program.
Q: What kinds of teaching experience did you get in your program?
I had TA’d at least five or six undergraduate courses during my Master’s program at Simon Fraser University, so I wanted different types of teaching experience in my PhD. At the University of Victoria, I TA’d a graduate-level course on pedagogy in the English Department, I worked one-on-one as a Writing Consultant in the Writing Centre, and I taught communication courses for English language learners each semester for the Learning and Teaching Centre. Outside of my program, I held a term faculty position at Camosun College in Victoria, where I taught first- and second-year academic writing courses. Then, in my program at the University of Guelph, I was a sessional instructor for a third-year course in the English department, and I worked part-time in the Writing Centre as a Graduate Student Writing Advisor until I secured a contract position as a Writing Specialist for the final year of my PhD. In that role, I worked with students one-on-one, I taught writing workshops at the undergraduate and graduate level, and I created the Dissertation Boot Camp program for the university.
Q: What kinds of financial support did you have?
I had guaranteed funding at UVic for four years, and when I transferred to Guelph, I was funded for an additional three years. However, because I did not hold a SSHRC grant for my PhD, it was necessary for me to work a number of jobs in order to graduate without debt. As part of my entrance packages, I was guaranteed a TA position in the Writing Centre at UVic and an RA position at Guelph. Both provided excellent experiential learning opportunities but added to my program length. I received departmental and university grants for conferences, plus some financial support through professional associations, but the process of searching and applying for funding definitely diverted attention from my studies.
Q: You mentioned that your supervisor was an important part of your experience?
I had four supervisors throughout my PhD program. Within the first two years, two of my committee members left the university and one took sick leave. I began working with another faculty member who was incredibly supportive, but not familiar enough with my area of study to provide the necessary feedback and guidance. I transferred to Guelph to work with a new supervisor, an academic powerhouse who facilitated a smooth transfer, secured my funding, and introduced me to a whole new intellectual environment. She provided innumerable opportunities for her students to learn and excel and become academic tenure-track superstars, yet I was interested in carving out an alternative career path for myself that didn’t fit with her expectations. While she wanted me to focus solely on writing, I wanted to open doors for myself to diversify my experiences for learning and growth. We had different priorities. However, during this same time frame, my supervisor accepted a position at another institution, and I was again without supervision. My department graduate coordinator stepped in and supported me through to completion. While she knew little of my research area, her positive attitude and critical engagement made the final few months of my dissertation writing an encouraging process, and my defence was an amazing capstone experience.
I learned from my own PhD experience that students need to be proactive in ensuring their own academic success and mental health. They need to find resources early on that can help them develop strategies for negotiating challenges and navigating unknowns. In my current position, I hear too many stories from students stuck in negative relationships with their supervisors or committee members, and I know all too well the emotional and cognitive exhaustion that can result from feeling powerless. My advice to any student who feels stuck, stranded, or lost in any way is to reach out to your supervisor, program coordinator, your department chair, a Learning Commons’ advisor, an academic at another university, someone in your graduate studies office, a counsellor, etc. Speak to a variety of people to learn different strategies for success. There are so many people in a university environment who can provide good advice and support you emotionally and academically through transitions and difficult situations. Ask for help.
Q: Did you feel like you were part of a community during your PhD? Or that you are still part of a community?
My PhD cohort worked really hard to create a social community that supported each other emotionally, and my first supervisor at Guelph fostered an academic community for her students that extended beyond the university, creating networks that lead to diverse learning and research opportunities. However, the department wasn’t successful at fostering strong connections between faculty and graduate students. For example, most faculty members never attended our monthly graduate student colloquiums, and this absence of interest fostered resentment amongst the student population.
The Writing Centre where I worked as a Graduate Student Writing Advisor became an integral part of my community on campus. I worked daily with academics pursuing PhDs from different departments and universities, and we created a social and academic support network for each other. I gained more knowledge of academic writing, research, and publishing through my collaborative teaching experiences in the centre than I did from my PhD program or home department. Through my teaching in the centre, I also became much more socially connected across campus, and through these engagements with our various campus partners, I gained greater insight into the larger structural workings of the institution, its strategic priorities, and the complexities of research practices and methodologies of the different departments across campus.
Q: Did you feel like you completed your PhD in the right amount of time?
If I hadn’t transferred schools halfway through my program, moved across the country, completed an additional comprehensive exam, and shifted the focus of my topic because of my new committee, I might have completed sooner. I had hoped to finish in four years, as I had believed was possible based on the expectation established with my four-year funding package. However, unless you are fully funded with a tri-council grant, four years is not realistic (particularly in the Humanities) and especially if you have to work to support yourself. Also, if you want teaching experience, your timelines to completion get further stretched. I completed in five years, and I feel this was the right amount of time for me. When I was finishing, I felt confident in my research, was fairly pleased with my dissertation, and was well prepared for my defence.
Q: How did you end up in your current position as Writing Specialist?
I am my current position today because I strategically sought the jobs that I did at UVic’s Teaching and Learning Centre, at Camosun College, and at Guelph’s Writing Centre. I wasn’t confident that there would be a tenure-track position for me at the end of my program, especially if I didn’t want to move again, so throughout my program, I fostered opportunities that would open different doors and potentially lead to a stable career. As soon as I arrived at Guelph, I approached the Writing Centre because I had experience as a Writing TA and I knew I enjoyed the variety of teaching opportunities this job provided. Over the next two years, I worked part-time in the centre, availing myself in any way needed. Then, in the final four months of my PhD, I was extremely fortunate. A permanent position came available, and I started full-time in my new role as a Writing Specialist just four days after my PhD defence.
Q: Why did you choose the non-academic path in a university as opposed to a tenure-track?
To clarify: I actually consider my career a non-conventional academic path (not a non-academic path), as I still engage in the same types of academic conversations and contribute to research, teaching, service, and publishing.
As I became friends with faculty, I saw the reality of a faculty position – the long hours, the publishing demands, the stress of tenure, etc. – and I realized I didn’t want it. In my current role, I work closely with faculty as writers and with graduate students. I love engaging with other academics, providing advice on their research, and helping them think deeply about their projects, but I don’t have to evaluate their work, mark papers, or feel pressured to publish, and I can relax at the end of my work day. I get to mentor, teach, create programs, develop curricula, secure grants, collaborate on projects with other academics, and I can publish if I want, but it’s not part of my job requirement. And most importantly, when I take time off, I can completely disengage from my work.
Q: Are there other points you would like to share?
1. Teaching is a great experience, but creating and teaching a course during your PhD swallows up that semester and thus increases time-to-completion. Students need teaching experience before entering the academic job market, but to teach and to finish in four or five years is challenging and stressful. Also, not everyone has the experience that it takes to create an effective learning environment, so departments should provide formal instructional skills training (or bring in Teaching and Learning staff) to facilitate this professional skills development. Plus, students should be mentored during their teaching terms to build confidence, develop skills, and receive feedback.
2. Faculty should increase their awareness of the different support services that exist on their campuses for graduate students in order to more accurately and proactively refer students. Some faculty assume that our Learning Commons offers remedial help for students who are struggling, when in fact a large percentage of our consultations are with faculty writers and graduate students working on publications. We know that when faculty endorse services, students are much more likely to seek support, and thus faculty can help normalize help-seeking behaviours. When students learn strategies for success early in their programs, they are much more likely to complete on time and with considerably less stress.
Many thanks to Jodie Salter for sharing her PhD narrative! You can find out more about her work on LinkedIn and the University of Guelph Library.
Discussion