The Master of Guidance and Counseling Study Program , Yogyakarta State University (UNY) hosted Dr. Vijay Kumar Mallan from the University of Otago, New Zealand, as a resource person in a workshop focused on improving doctoral supervision practices. Dr. Mallan has developed a strong academic interest in doctoral education. In both his teaching and research, he focuses on enhancing the doctoral experience for supervisors and students alike. Over the past decade, he has developed, disseminated, and published extensively on doctoral support, examination processes, and feedback practices.

On this occasion, Dr. Mallan delivered a Workshop on Best Practices in Enhancing Doctoral Supervision for Heads of Study Programs and doctoral students. The workshop was conducted over a three-day period and aimed to strengthen the quality of supervision and support within doctoral programs.

“My research philosophy is to produce scholarship with practical implications. At Otago, I am responsible for academic development programs for supervisors and PhD students. Beyond Otago, I have been invited to share my expertise and teach doctoral supervision programs in Australia, Estonia, Finland, India, Japan, Malaysia, Norway, and Sweden,” Dr. Mallan stated during his presentation.

He also emphasized the importance of effective presentation skills, advising participants to avoid being self-centered when presenting. “Remember, when using PowerPoint, do not include more than 27 sentences, or you will see your audience falling asleep. Another important thing to avoid is reading directly from your slides,” he added.

During the workshop session with doctoral students, Dr. Mallan also conducted a teleconference with current students and graduates from the University of Otago. In this session, participants were given the opportunity to share their experiences and discuss challenges encountered in completing their dissertations.