From the frontlines to the Forks: UND student earns Ph.D. while serving the nation
UND’s support for military students came through when he needed it most, says Army Staff Sgt. — and soon to be Dr. — Walter Carroll
This Friday, a UND student will travel to Grand Forks for the first time to complete his academic journey – one that has taken him around the world due to his military service.
Staff Sgt. Walter Carroll, who has served in the U.S. Army since 2014, will graduate with his doctorate in Communication on Friday. As a student enrolled in UND’s distance learning program, while also balancing full-time active-duty service, Carroll’s journey to graduation has been anything but conventional.
Journey to UND
A native of California, Carroll initially majored in English but changed his major for professional reasons.
“I had a really great professor, and they encouraged me to become a professor myself,” he said. “I knew I needed a PhD to pursue the academic career I wanted. During my time in the military, I switched to Communication because I got a new job as a public affairs and mass communications specialist.”
Carroll then earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication and a master’s degree in strategic communications, before enrolling in UND’s PhD program in Communication.
Carroll’s academic journey has not been without adversity, however. Just two months after his acceptance into the PhD program, Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, which meant Carroll found himself unexpectedly deployed to neighboring Poland for nine months.
While deployed, Carroll was unable to complete coursework and missed the University’s deadline for withdrawal without penalty. Consequently, his grade point average (GPA) suffered, falling below the threshold of a 3.0 for remaining in the program.
However, Soojung Kim, interim dean of UND’s School of Graduate Studies and former department chair of Communication, understood there were extenuating circumstances and petitioned for Carroll’s reinstatement.
“I explained the situation to the previous dean and asked for more time for him to recover his GPA,” she said.
After other faculty members expressed reluctance, Kim then became Carroll’s PhD advisor.
“It’s not like he was avoiding work – he was serving the country,” she said. “I felt like it was my responsibility to help him, but I told him that I didn’t have a lot of time to advise a PhD student given my administrative duties. I told him from the very beginning that I have expertise in health communication, and that’s the only area in which I can advise.”
Carroll happily obliged, followed Kim’s expertise and improved his GPA. Kim said he demonstrated resilience and a strong work ethic throughout his time at UND. Once readmitted to the program, Carroll earned straight A’s and graduated with a 3.72/4.0 GPA.
“I do have really high standards, but he never once complained,” she said. “I know he was stressed at times, but he trusted that I did it for his best interests and provided the support that he needed to get there.”
Kim said Carroll’s dissertation defense was emotional for all involved.
“He told me that being deployed to active war zones in Afghanistan and Poland was easier than writing his dissertation and getting my approval throughout the process,” she said. “It’s a rigorous process, and he really appreciated the committee and UND’s support. We were all crying on Zoom during his defense.”
“I can tell that he gained so much confidence and grew so much in going through these setbacks,” Kim added. “After the defense, all of the faculty members said they could tell he is going to make a big difference in the military community.”
A balancing act
Carroll, who has been stationed in South Korea for the past year, said balancing the rigorous demands of his military and academic careers requires the best in time management.
“In February of last year, I had to go to Alaska for a month-long mission,” he said. “It was working every single day with zero time to do anything aside from sleep, but I still had classes going on. We all have the same 24 hours in a day, but sometimes that 24 hours isn’t enough.”
“I’m fortunate with the jobs I’ve had in the military – they’ve given me a good amount of autonomy,” Carroll added. “I’m in that middle-senior level range, where I’m trusted to do my job, but they also understand that I’m still in school.”
Carroll said he appreciates the program’s flexibility to attend lectures both synchronously and asynchronously – while also affording him the ability to continue serving the nation. He was effusive in his praise for the program’s faculty and staff.
“The program is here to make you, not break you,” Carroll said. “You hear these stories about PhD programs where students are always under pressure, with a rigorous team of faculty members where you have to be perfect. This really feels like a team, designed as a training program to equip you with the skills to go out into the world and do great things.”
He added that UND’s growing research profile has prepared him for a career in academia.
“The fact that UND is an R1 university now, there’s so much credibility behind it,” he said. “Even though I am remote, I still have that same cohort and am synchronous with my peers. UND really helps us become scholars.”
Carroll said he plans to use the holiday break to rest before returning to South Korea. He plans to pursue a teaching career and conduct research within his dissertation’s focus area of public health.
“There’s a nurse in Korea who’s a professional Army researcher, and I’ve had an offer to do some research with them,” he said. “I definitely want to get into teaching at the public university as well.”
Campus resources for military students
Angie Carpenter, director of Veteran & Military Affairs at UND, said Carroll’s story highlights the collaborative effort between departments to support military-affiliated students. She emphasized the myriad resources available and encouraged these students to use them.
According to UND’s most recent enrollment data for the fall of 2025, the number of military-affiliated students is 2,001 – with 108 of these students serving on active duty.
“To me, Walter is a success story of how well-connected our internal network for military support is,” Carpenter said. “Students aren’t working in silos.”
“I want students to know that regardless of where they are when they reach out, we put the puzzle together for them. If they come up against an obstacle, we tell them to just ask, because it’s something we very likely can help them work around or through.”
