Graduate Education at the University of Illinois Senior Administrator Orientation August 17, 2006

Graduate Education at the University of Illinois

Senior Administrator Orientation

August 17, 2006

The Graduate College at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Outstanding graduate programs are crucial . . .

to our standing as a world-class university, to our ability to recruit and retain superior faculty, to our capacity to conduct cutting-edge research, to our ability to provide excellent undergraduate education, to the vibrant intellectual culture of the campus.

Importance of graduate education


Some basic data More than 9,000 grad students, and well

over 10,000 grad & professional students c. 6,000 are not Illinois residents c. 3,500 are from other countries c. 650 are underrepresented students (6-

7% of all grad students, 10-11% of domestic grad)

over 5,000 students accepted each year, from c. 20,000 applications.


Scope

c. 100 departments – some tiny, some very large. Over 90 doctoral programs. About 150 master’s level programs.

Each year, about 2,500 will complete masters degrees; avg. just over 2 years

Each year, about 600 of them will complete doctoral degrees; avg. just under 7 years, but varies widely


Graduate College Dean Richard Wheeler Associate Deans Kelly Tappenden &

William Welburn Graduate admissions; graduate programs

& policies & practices; fellowships; student issues; recruiting & retention; data & surveys; career services; graduation

Coble Hall, 2nd & 3rd floors http://www.grad.uiuc.edu


Student support Students range from paying their own

way, to 25% appointments at minimum stipend level, to very high-paying fellowships and research assistants.

About 5,700 assistantships – nearly 3 for

each member of the tenure track faculty – largest employee group on campus.


Research Assistants

About 3,000 research assistantships; basic to research all over the campus, but particularly the federally funded research that is such a large part of our budget, and such a large part of our reputation, and such a large part of faculty satisfaction


Teaching Assistants About 2,500 teaching assistants: c. 22% of UG teaching c. 41% of 100-level teaching c. 25% of 200-level teaching Their ICES ratings mirror those of faculty. Teaching Assistants and Graduate

Assistants in GEO Contract negotiations underway


Graduate Admissions

Grad Admissions now in Graduate College -- Jose Koonce-Evans

Apply Yourself application system -- Todd Nelson


Graduate student issues & initiatives

•Competition for the best graduate students is keen •Doctoral programs attrition rates are high, time-to-degree long•Special effort is required to recruit and support underrepresented students in graduate programs •Globalization threatens to erode our edge in recruiting the best international students •Too few of the most highly talented domestic majority students are electing research careers •Compensation for graduate students with assistantships in the core disciplines need to be increased


Underrepresented studentsHow do we make the best us of available funds and the

effectiveness of the programs they support?

How do we integrate our programs more fully into the graduate education environment?

Review of all our major programs: recruiting, SROP, SPI, Campus Visits, community building, Graduate College Fellowships


International studentsWe cannot afford to lose our strong attractiveness to

international students

Nor can we count on keeping that attractiveness without more effort than we have put into recruiting these students than in the past.

No obvious way to recruit the World.

What are the most effective ways to recruit international students into our graduate programs?


Domestic majority students51% of U.S. citizens earning Ph.D.s nationwide are female,

though distribution is very uneven.

U.S. citizen white male Ph.D. decreased 20% from 1994 to 2004. What, if anything, does this say about the attractiveness and stature of Ph.D. in American culture?

Issues that cannot be addressed simply by increasing fellowships or assistantship stipends, but point to much larger issues in how doctoral education is managed and perceived across American universities.


Attrition – Completion A fair bit is now known about attrition in doctoral programs:

importance of good mentoring and advising; substantial annual reviews; clear guidelines that enable students to understand their place in their program; clear understanding of the expectations of the program and the nature of the various program components; assimilation into the social dynamic of the department; protection from program politics; access to sources of financial support that do not pull extensively away from doctoral education; effective peer mentoring; good reasons to complete in a timely fashion, etc.


Best practices

For the most part, implementation of good practices that promote these qualities is less a financial than a “cultural” issue in graduate programs.

What are the best ways to effect change in the many and varied program cultures across campus?

In place: CGS Ph.D. Completion study, annual symposium, GC Career Services Office, faculty-mentoring workshop, annual review workshop for DGSs, etc.


Time to degreeA national problem, with many sources, most of them not

directly related to, or issuing from, the educational demands of doctoral programs.

National average for the last 20 years: 10 years between bachelors and Ph.D., 8 years of enrolled time. Causes related to those that produce the high attrition rates.

Contributes to the decreasing attractiveness of doctoral study for many highly qualified to pursue it.

Difficult to address locally, because programs have adapted to this long rhythm of doctoral study nationally. First big step is recognition of the seriousness of the problem.


Interdisciplinary research & graduate educationIllinois a powerful national leader in interdisciplinary research

Importance of Beckman Institute, NCSA, and other interdisciplinary research centers

Research Assistants crucial to cutting edge research that crosses disciplinary boundaries

Less successful in driving interdisciplinarity down into graduate education

Poor record of acquiring interdisciplinary training grants

Lack effective enough ways to transcend the disciplinary silos that shape much of the graduate degree structure


Professional Master’s degrees

Chance to develop professional master’s programs responsive to changing workforce needs and evolving student interests; to prepare students for careers in business, government, and non-profit employment sectors.


PSM

Professional Science Master’s (PSM)

In 1997, Sloan Foundation gave first grants to universities to help establish PSM

Professional Master’s degrees in Humanities and Social Sciences developed with CGS-Ford Foundation help

Oversight now with Council of Graduate Schools


UsesResponse to:

work force needs for master’s level expertise;

low rates of graduate school enrollment for students with UG majors in STEM fields

Provides:

alternative to Ph.D. for students seeking careers in STEM related fields

About 75 programs established with help from Sloan grants


FieldsFields:

Biosciences

Bioinformatics

Mathematics

Environment/Geology

Chemical Sciences

Physics

Computation Science

Medical-related


Characteristics2-3 year program, tuition-fundedexternal advisory board core of advanced disciplinary or interdisciplinary course work

of about 18-24 hoursteam oriented projects -- research methodology and leadershipcourses and activities that address business and ethical

principles and such issues as in intellectual property, project management, regulatory requirements

emphasis on developing communication skills, presentation methods, and other workplace necessities

internship in business, government, or non-profit workplace


Newer developmentsProfessional Master’s degrees in Humanities and Social Sciences (Ford

Foundation) CGS consolidation –The CGS Professional Master's Initiatives are designed to help

member institutions respond to documented local and regional workforce needs and student interest/demand for master's programs that prepare graduates for careers in business, government and non-profit (BGN) employment sectors. In the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities, baccalaureate graduates generally have insufficient technical or disciplinary background, limited mastery of desired skills sets, and not enough understanding of non-academic work to qualify for professional employment. Doctorate graduates are often over-qualified in research but lack professional skills required for BGN careers.


Next

Preliminary Campus planning:

Explore options - ACES, ALS, Engineering, LAS, FAA, Business

Campus visit October 9 & 10:

Carol Lynch, CGS Senior Scholar in Residence

Sheila Tobias, formerly PSM Outreach Coordinator for Sloan Foundation


NRC

National Research Council

Assessment of Research Doctorate Programs

Sally Mikel, Rebecca Bryant, Pam Hohn; Carol Livingstone; Barb Welge

Documents

Graduate Education at the University of Illinois Senior Administrator Orientation August 17, 2006