Dissertation Fellowship Gives UCSD Student Step Up to Find a Job

Christine Clark | August 17, 2009

Patricia Davis

Six months ago Patricia Davis, a single mother and doctoral candidate in UC San Diego’s department of communication, was worried that she wouldn’t be able to get a job after graduation. But, with the support of the UC President’s Dissertation-Year Fellowship Program, she recently secured a tenure-track position at Georgia State University and has been working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of North Carolina.

Davis was one of four UC San Diego graduate students who won the 2008-2009 UC Dissertation-Year Fellowship, which provides support to outstanding doctoral candidates during their dissertation year. The awardees receive a stipend of $18,000 and a research and travel allowance of $490.

Also, each fellow’s home department is required to pay in-state fees and student health insurance fees from graduate fellowships or other departmental funds. In addition, the program provides faculty mentorship, information and advice to students as they prepare to become postdoctoral fellows or candidates for faculty positions.

“The UC President's Dissertation Fellowship was instrumental in enabling me to enter the job market,” Davis said. “The fact that I am a single mother made the fellowship even more crucial in getting through the year because it provided me with more time so I would have energy to juggle my work and home duties effectively.”

The fellowship enabled Davis to write two dissertation chapters in a little less than two months, which helped her land a great job, she said.  “I cannot emphasize enough the value of UC Dissertation-Year Fellowship Program,” she said.

The other three recipients of the UC President's Dissertation-Year Fellowship from UC San Diego are ethnic studies majors Myrna Garcia and Michelle Gutierrez and history major Jesus Perez.