Doctoral programs are under growing pressure to improve time-to-completion rates. The students who need the most support are often the hardest to reach through advising relationships alone, and faculty are stretched thin. I work with programs to provide expert dissertation coaching and faculty support that helps everyone move forward, without adding to your load.

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I know this work from multiple perspectives.

I spent 13 years as a tenured faculty member at the University of Rochester, serving as dissertation chair and committee member. I know what it looks like when a student stalls, and how rarely faculty have consistent bandwidth to address it. Since stepping fully into coaching, I have guided 85+ students to completion and built an active institutional partnership with the University of Pennsylvania, where my Dissertation Finishers Circle is now embedded as a standard component of the Mid-Career Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership.

I am also a Fulbright Scholar with international experience supporting doctoral students and faculty across institutional contexts.

If you are part of the CPED community, you can find me at the 2026 Convening in Corpus Christi, Texas (October 27 to 30). Let's connect in person.

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How I Work with Programs

Services can be combined based on your program's needs and budget. All services are available virtually; in-person delivery is available with travel expenses.

White-Labeled Dissertation Finishers Circles

Small-group weekly accountability coaching for up to 10 students, branded as your program’s resource and facilitated entirely by Dr. Jayne. Semester-long, effective for students at any stage. Investment of $5,000 per cohort per semester (approximately $500 per student). Can be offered at no cost to students or with a student co-pay structure.

Faculty Development Workshops

Bespoke workshops supporting faculty in advising, mentoring, and giving feedback to doctoral students. Topics are developed in consultation with program leadership and shaped to fit your institutional context.

Writing Retreats and Boot Camp Weeks

Intensive dissertation support built around your program’s calendar: on-site residency weekends, summer weeks, or standalone virtual boot camps. Structured writing time, targeted mini-lessons, and individual consultations.

Milestone-Specific Student Workshops

Targeted workshops for cohorts approaching common dissertation milestones: proposal development, academic writing, IRB navigation, data analysis, defending with confidence, and more.

Individual Student Referral Resource

Dr. Jayne can be listed as a vetted coaching resource on your program’s student portal at no institutional cost. Students enroll and pay directly.

The challenges are rarely about the research.

In a survey of 66 doctoral students, the most commonly reported barriers to completion were structural and emotional, not methodological.

Results:

82% Feeling stuck or behind

76% Exhaustion and burnout

68% Self-doubt

65% Life interrupting the work

54% Working in isolation

This work does not replace dissertation chairs or editors. It addresses the dimensions of the process that advising relationships rarely have consistent bandwidth to support, and that faculty, even the most dedicated ones, cannot always reach.

Wondering if this fits your program?

Every program’s situation is different. The best place to start is a 30-minute conversation about what your students and faculty need and what I can offer. References are available upon request.