Although many handbooks inform doctoral students about how to successfully complete the dissertation, few resources exist that discuss how faculty might help students through the dissertation experience. In the absence of such work, professors, particularly those new to the ranks, are left without conceptual frameworks to guide good practice. This article conceptualizes the roles of the dissertation advisor using the framework of support and challenge. The support roles played by the dissertation advisor are Cheerleader and Counselor; the challenge roles are Coach and Critic. Within each of these four roles, strategies that can be employed by advisors are described. While challenge roles may be more familiar to faculty, these must be balanced with support roles in order to facilitate a successful dissertation learning process.