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[needachange]

Hello all,

I'm currently ABD in history at a reserach university in New York.  I'm considering leaving my program because my dissertation has been stalled for a year now and I am not motivated to pick it back up.  I love the college environment and would like to stay connected to it in some way.  Are there any administrative departments where my ABD status (plus my BA and MA) would make me a suitable candidate?  I'm thinking maybe Academic Advising or Continuing Education?  Any advice on how I might continue to work for a university without finishing my dissertation would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[phdbliss]

I feel your pain. I've been where you are.

You might try searching the fora - this topic comes up fairly often.

Other than that, try thinking about how the skills you've developed up to this point as a graduate student can contribute to areas of higher education administration. You might try setting up meetings with some administrators at your institution to find out what it is that they do specifically (brief - 30 minutes or so), and consider how your abilities might translate to that context.

Similarly, there are professional organizations for higher education administrators - try Googling. The websites and journals for those organizations might prove to be illuminating.

Think about what you'd like to be doing as well - are you good with people? You might consider development, working with alumni, working with prospective or current students, or working with faculty in some capacity. Are you better with data? You might look into information technology, non-librarian library positions, grants administration, or research positions.

Good luck! 

[needachange]

Thanks a lot for the advice!  I like your idea about meeting with administrators at my college.  I think I will try that this summer.

Do you have any thoughts about a particular job that an ABD (good people skills, enjoys interacting with students, generally interested in the academic side of college life) might be suitable for?

Thanks again.

[zharkov]

It may not be what you want to hear, but completing your PhD will give you many more inroads into working in higher ed that with just an MA. 

[sibyl]

You can pursue almost any kind of career in a college or university setting.  These institutions have accountants, recordkeepers and archivists, statisticians, recycling managers, health professionals and paraprofessionals, legal counselors, et cetera ad infinitum.  So you need to decide what you would like to pursue, and then pursue it.

Get hold of a university directory and work through each of the offices.  Eliminate those places where you think you would not want to work (e.g. if accountancy gives you a headache, cross off the business office).  If you don't know whether you want to work there ("What is a 'laboratory compliance manager?'"), don't cross it off.  Talk to people in the remaining offices and see what you think.

Alternatively, talk to the career services office at your university.  They can help you do some self-evaluation so that you can decide what you might want to pursue.

By the way, Zharkov is right: finishing your Ph.D. will open doors that are closed to ABDs.  That said, the Ph.D. is not the sine qua non of career happiness in higher education.

Good luck.

[starfleet_grad]

Being ABD isn't exactly a point of pride. It is more an indication of your inability to finish the Ph.D. than of your ability to complete doctoral coursework. Believe me, I was in the position far too long. At first, people look at your with admiration because you are about to get the Ph.D. (or so they think), but after a while, it becomes plain embarrassing, and the looks turn to pity. If you're ABD and tout the fact, you WILL be asked again and again how the dissertation is going, and eventually the excuses just become sad. That's when I pulled myself together, changed fields, and was finally able to get done.

Thus, you should focus on your M.A. degree and forget about the ABD business. What are you qualified for with an M.A.? Depends on the uni and on your field, really, but there are plenty of jobs in student services (advising, admissions, tutoring center, student life, etc.) you might be able to do, or, if that's your cup of tea, you could teach at a CC or a technical college.

[mayreh]

I know of a number of people at Columbia and NYU who are ABD and working as administrators.  Most of them are in well-paying, interesting jobs in academic affairs/advising and a few them are also able to teach.  However the expectation is that they will finish - at some point - the dissertation and in order to be promoted (to director, asst. dean, etc.) they will have to have the Ph.D.  This is the case at many if not most schools where directors and low-level deans are required to have a terminal degree.  If you at all have it in you to continue writing I encourage you to stick with the dissertation.  Even if it takes a long time (and I know a guy who's now a high ranking admin who took 13 years to finish) you don't want to limit your career advancement right off the bat by quitting. 

Best of luck!