Designing for Success: Universal Design for Learning in Online Dissertation Advising

Doctoral completion rates are problematic at best, and during the dissertation stage, they become the lowest of the lowest. Even though schools that offer coursework fully online are better equipped than most to mentor graduate students virtually, many such institutions struggle to support students through this process of key indicator of doctoral success. While much of the process of dissertation advising is left to the discretion of individual faculty, there is often little scaffolding, guidance, or systematic professional development in how to support students. The lack is even greater when it comes to online faculty whose schools have not implemented consistent, clear, and comprehensive dissertation milestones that foster success across the online dissertation journey. The dearth of research-based, equity-centered frameworks or models of dissertation advising within the online doctoral education literature reflects this need. Toward that end, this article will leverage Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to intentionally design faculty and student supports across the dissertation experience. As such, this article will draw on established scholarship in adult learning andragogy, online pedagogy, and inclusive instructional design and combine it with my experience and work in dissertation advising at Trident University International to offer a workable model. One implication of this framework is that the application of UDL to dissertation advising has the potential to lessen the obstacles to persistence and directly impact doctoral completion rates.