I was fortunate to have had Dr. John Creswell as my dissertation advisor. He was instructive on how to form a committee that “works.” By that, he meant that the committee works for the topic, works as a functional and integrated group, and works to aid the doctoral candidate in developing and improving as a scholar/practitioner/leader.

Chairing a doctoral dissertation is a very rewarding and challenging mission. Doctoral dissertation chairs guide doctorate candidates through the last stage of their higher education and toward the completion of their journey. To successfully fulfill such a mission, a chair plays multiple roles.

As a doctoral student in the School for Advance Studies at the University of Phoenix, there are three particularly cr