By Degrees

Betsy Wackernagel Bach (Ph.D., University of Washington) is Professor Emerita at the University of Montana, where she spent most of her career. She is a Past President of the National Communication Association and of the Western States Communication Association, and also worked for two years as Director of Research Initiatives at NCA. She studies organizational socialization/identification, has published one book, 40 articles and chapters, and received WSCA's Distinguished Service Award and NCA's Eckroyd Award for Teaching Excellence. Dawn O. Braithwaite (Ph.D., University of Minnesota) is a Willa Cather Professor of Communication at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She studies discourse dependent relationships, dialectics of relating, and communication in step- and voluntary families. She has published six books and 125 articles and chapters. A Distinguished Scholar of the National Communication Association and Western States Communication Association, Braithwaite received NCA's Brommel Family Communication and Becker Distinguished Service Awards. She is a Past President of the National Communication Association and of the Western States Communication Association. Shiv Ganesh (Ph.D., Purdue University) is a professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He writes about communication and collective action issues in the context of global and technological processes. He has worked in the United States, Aotearoa New Zealand, and India, and has held leadership positions in the National Communication Association as well as the International Communication Association.

Introduction for Students: "Completely Altered the Way I Viewed the World"– Betsy Wackernagel Bach, Dawn O. Braithwaite, and Shiv Ganesh
Chapter 1: "Providing the Intellectual Tools": Getting to Know the Discipline of Communication – Dawn O. Braithwaite, Tina M. Harris, Jessy Ohl, and Trevor Kauer
Chapter 2: "How Do I Find a Good Fit?": Applying to Master's and PhD Programs – Betsy Wackernagel Bach, Kendyl Barney, and Mackensie Minniear
Chapter 3: "I Have to Re-choose to Do This Every Single Day": Beyond Narratives of Success in the Pursuit of Graduate School – Shiv Ganesh and Andrea Zorn
Chapter 4: "Spanning the Abyss": Graduate Student Steps and Tasks - Randall A. Lake, Emma Frances Bloomfield, Beth L. Boser, Allegra Hardin, and Barbara A. Pickering
Chapter 5: "Work with Someone Who Seems Excited About Your Success": Building Advisor/Advisee Relationships - C. Kay Weaver and Bridget Reynolds Sheffer
Chapter 6: "Do Something You're Passionate About": Planning and Carrying Out Research - Sarah J. Tracy, Cris J. Tietsort, and Laura Martinez
Chapter 7: "A Process of Discovery": Finding Your Groove as a Writer - Lisa Keränen and Andrew Gilmore
Chapter 8: "Yikes! What Do I Do Now?": Advice for Graduate Students Sharing Their Work - Ronald Jackson II and Celnisha Dangerfield
Chapter 9: "From Sitting in the Classroom to Facing It": Becoming and Growing as a Teacher - Kirstie McAllum, Simon Mallette, Tyler Rife, and Uttaran Dutta
Chapter 10: "Without People in My Corner, I Will Fail": Personal Resources for Graduate Students - Vincent R. Waldron, Brianna Avalos, Dayna N. Klober, and Jameien Taylor
Chapter 11: "One Mountain, Many Paths": Navigating Roadblocks and Succeeding in Graduate School - Jordan Soliz and Megan E. Cardwell
Chapter 12: "Graduate School is a Human Experience of Struggling, Celebrating, and Striving Together": Graduate Life as a Collective Endeavor - Jenna N. Hanchey, Samantha Gillespie, and Ana-Luisa Ortiz-Martinez
Chapter 13: "It Was Within My Control to Max My Possibilities": Academic Life After Graduate School - Patrice M. Buzzanell, Zhenyu Tian, and Timothy Betts
Chapter 14: "A Roadmap to Career Success": Pursuing Careers Outside of the Academy for MA Graduates - Stephen K. Hunt, Aimee E. Miller-Ott, and Viraj Patel
Chapter 15: "Translate Your Talents": Pursuing Careers Outside of the Academy for PhD Graduates - Katlyn Gangi and James Stiff