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Graduate Studies Task Force
The following is a list of priorities identified by the Graduate Studies Task Force; an executive summary of the findings; and a full report.
Executive Summary
Effective July 1, 2007, the Graduate School was dissolved and reconstituted into a Graduate Studies unit which merged with the Vice Provost for Research to form the new Office of Research and Graduate Studies. Dr. Sara Rosen was appointed as Associate Vice Provost/Dean of Graduate Studies and Dr. Steve Warren was selected to as Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies.
To define the new role of Graduate Studies, Dr. Rosen convened a task force of graduate faculty to provide input and suggestions concerning the role of Graduate Studies in relation to the graduate programs at KU, including the nature and function of faculty governance of graduate programs. A list of the entire committee can be found in the Appendix. The committee met for an opening dialogue with Dr. Rosen and to discuss their task. Dr. Susan Twombly agreed to chair the committee. To accomplish its work, the task force broke up into four subcommittees: Governance and Oversight for Graduate Studies; Assessment, Program Review, Degree Approval and Graduate Faculty Appointments; Recruitment and Graduate Application Process; and Student Services. Each subcommittee agreed on a list of questions to address and met to respond to those questions in the Fall semester.
Collectively, the Task Force recommendations reinforce the need for a Graduate Studies unit that is responsible for supporting graduate education across the university. This unit should work with each graduate division and should strengthen partnerships between the academic and research units as well as other university administrative units. Finally, this unit should maintain a strong web presence throughout the university web site and should provide services to students, faculty and staff in a web-based format.
Following is a summary of Task Force recommendations organized by subcommittee focus:
- Oversight body: It is essential to create a representative oversight body of graduate faculty to facilitate the goal of promoting graduate degrees of the highest quality. This new body, which would replace Graduate Council, would be made up of graduate faculty and associate deans from the graduate division within each school and the College, including each school at the Medical Center. The body will serve as a policy oversight and advisory committee to the Associate Vice Provost/Dean of Graduate Studies.
- Assessment, Program Review, Degree Approval and Graduate Faculty Appointments. Graduate Studies should oversee a streamlined, supportive process for approving new graduate degrees to KU and for reviewing major changes to existing degree programs. Program assessment and program review are most effective when carried out by the academic units, with Graduate Studies providing a collaborative and supportive role. Similarly, the graduate divisions within each school and the College should retain responsibility for appointment of graduate faculty under the general framework established by Graduate Studies.
- Recruitment and Application. Graduate Studies should coordinate graduate recruitment activities on campus. This coordination includes facilitation of efforts within research units, departmental and graduate division levels. The committee acknowledges the need for centralized application processing unit (currently GAPC) and identified as a priority, that Graduate Studies implement an online, paperless process through either a homegrown or third party vendor. The University must reconsider its current resource allocation to adequately support a recruitment and application process necessary to recruit graduate students of the highest quality. Graduate Studies should play a prominent role in gathering, interpreting and disseminating data on graduate students and programs.
- Student Services. Graduate Studies should maintain its current level of programming and it should strengthen its efforts in several areas critical to high quality graduate programs: collaboration in GTA training, development of a more comprehensive web site for current student services, enhancement of Responsible Conduct for Research programming, and provision of data about national/international trends in graduate education.
Priorities
Of the many recommendations contained in the report, the following are singled out as priorities:
- Establishment of an oversight council of graduate faculty to oversee campus initiatives (i.e. new degree approval, changes in university policy) and to provide Graduate Studies an advisory board on current and future initiatives.
- Expansion and modernization of the graduate application process to provide for an all-electronic system that is flexible enough to meet the various needs of the schools and College.
- Collection, interpretation and dissemination of data about graduate students and graduate education for use in program reviews and other decision making efforts.
- Creation of an attractive and comprehensive web site that serve external, recruiting purposes as well as a source of up to date information for graduate students.
- Graduate Studies should take the lead in an assessment and rethinking of the funding model for graduate students university-wide. In the restructuring report to the Provost, one of the benchmarks of this new structure is to "Provide competitive levels of funding for doctoral students". This Task Force concurs with this benchmark and calls upon Graduate Studies to engage the campus on the creation of this model.
Graduate Studies Task Force Committee Recommendations
Each of the four sub-committees addressed specific questions. Following is a summary of the questions addressed by and recommendations of each subcommittee:
Governance and Oversight for Graduate Studies
The governance committee made recommendations in response to the following questions:
- What decision-making/policy-making/advisory body does Graduate Studies need?
- What organization structure will allow for efficient, thorough decision-making processes?
- What is the best selection and rotation process of this advisory board?
Recommendation: The representative body overseeing Graduate Studies (no name was proposed) should include two representatives from each academic professional school and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Each of the schools at KUMC will have two representatives. The associate dean for graduate studies from each graduate division will serve as one representative from each unit. The second representative will be elected from the graduate faculty within that School or College. Elected members will serve staggered three year terms. (Representative from 4 schools will serve three year terms, 4 will serve 2 year and 4 will serve one year terms initially until the rotation gets set.) The Associate Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies on the Lawrence Campus will serve as the chair/ex officio member, and the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs & Dean of Graduate Studies at KUMC will serve as an ex officio member. The body will serve in a policy-making, oversight role for some functions and also as an advisory body to the Associate Vice Provost/Dean of Graduate Studies. There are currently general policies guiding graduate education specified in the Graduate Catalog, such as those that exist for the Ph.D. The oversight body should be responsible for monitoring and changing such policies as well as for developing frameworks guiding program review, assessment and appointment to the graduate faculty. Additional responsibilities will become apparent as the new structure matures.
Rationale: Having two representatives from each school or college makes the body large enough to have multiple subcommittees but not so large that members feel no obligation to participate. Because Graduate Studies no longer has status as a school offering degrees, a traditional faculty governance system is not appropriate.
Assessment, Program Review, Degree Approval, Graduate Faculty Appointments
The subcommittee addressed the following questions:
- What role should Graduate Studies play in approval of graduate degree programs?
- What role should Graduate Studies play in outcomes assessment in graduate programs and graduate program review?
- How should Graduate Studies facilitate approval of degree program changes?
- What role should Graduate Studies play in graduate faculty appointments?
Recommendations:
Approval of new degree programs:
- Graduate Studies should maintain a role in approval of new graduate degree programs. Although new degrees and programs are housed in individual schools and the College, Graduate Studies, and its representative oversight body, provides a forum in which new degree and program proposals can be reviewed from a broad, university-wide perspective.
- The actual process of new degree program review by Graduate Studies should be streamlined to ensure thorough review in a timely manner. Although the basic information requirements for new programs are set out by the Board of Regents, Graduate Studies may choose to define internal standards to which new degree programs should be held. The approval process should look for duplication of programs, adequacy of resources and research infrastructure, opportunities to integrate with other programs etc.
- Through its review of new degree and program proposals, Graduate Studies will provide assistance to units to strengthen proposals and address university-wide concerns.
Outcomes assessment and graduate program review:
- The role of Graduate Studies in assessment efforts should be closely linked with those of the individual schools and the College. Regular assessment efforts mandated by the University/Kansas Board of Regents and conducted by those units should include attention to graduate programs. The academic units are in the best position to ensure completion of assessment/review activities, to implement changes identified by review, and to provide resources as necessary to complete reviews and to make changes resulting from reviews.
- Graduate Studies should be involved in identifying core indicators of high quality graduate programs to be included in reviews. These indicators include enrollment trends, demographic data on students, time to degree, GRE scores, etc.
- Graduate Studies, through a subcommittee of the oversight body, should conduct periodic reviews of outcomes assessment and program review reports for the purposes of making recommendations to strengthen graduate education at KU.
Approval of degree program changes and curricular reviews
- Although program changes will be subject to policies and procedures of the appropriate professional school or the College and will be approved by the appropriate unit, there is a need for major degree changes to follow the same sort of process as new degree/program proposals described above.
Graduate faculty appointments:
- Appointments to the Graduate Faculty/dissertation chairing status should be the responsibility of the schools and the College. Individual schools and the College are ultimately responsible for the quality of the faculty who are providing graduate instruction and directing dissertations.
- Graduate Studies should track standards established by the Schools/College and processes for approving and reviewing Graduate Faculty/dissertation chairing privileges, including policies on ad hoc appointments; require schools/College to file written copies of their policies and process with Graduate Studies; and should periodically review those policies and procedures.
- Graduate Studies should establish a framework for appointment of the “outside” member on graduate committees and monitor implementation by the schools and the College.
- Graduate Studies should continue to sign off on appointments and should maintain a database of faculty who hold Graduate Faculty and dissertation chairing status.
Recruitment and Graduate Application Process
This subcommittee addressed the following questions:
- How can Graduate Studies best facilitate the application process?
- In what capacity, if any, should Graduate Studies be involved in recruitment of students?
- How should Graduate Studies facilitate recruitment activities of individual departments?
Recommendations:
Application process:
- The committee accepts the need for a centralized graduate application process administered by Graduate Studies. That process should have the following characteristics:
- Be paperless (recommendations and documents except official transcripts submitted electronically)
- Be flexible enough to allow individual academic units to set deadlines, to change those deadlines, to specify the types of supporting materials required, and to tailor recommendation forms
- Be able to link to existing student data systems to allow tracking of student progress.
The University must provide the necessary resources to create its own or invest in an existing third-party application process that meets the above characteristics. Many of KU’s peer (and competitor) institutions use ApplyYourself, an easy way for students and recommenders to complete graduate application forms. To continue with a system that does not permit electronic submission of all materials but the transcript may discourage potential applicants from applying. Not only is KU’s current process more difficult for students and their referees, but it also communicates that KU is behind the times.
Graduate student recruitment:
Although a departmental or school/College function, Graduate Studies can facilitate recruitment.
- Graduate Studies should maintain a list of University personnel attending various recruiting events for both international and domestic graduate students and should publicize that list to graduate programs. (This might be something that could be placed on a strengthened Graduate Studies web site.)
- Graduate Studies should maintain a pool of funds to provide summer stipends for graduate students who are not covered in the summer. Short of obtaining and maintaining this pool of money itself, Graduate Studies should advocate to the Provost for creation of such a pool of funds.
- With exception of a few fellowships, current funding for full-time graduate students in some fields is tied almost exclusively to graduate teaching positions. Graduate Studies should work towards changing the funding model for full-time graduate students especially in those fields in which large external grant funding is not available to provide research assistantships. Although teaching experience is critical component in Ph.D. preparation, an over-reliance on teaching assistantships can have a negative effect on the overall quality of students admitted in order to meet teaching obligations and on the time-to-degree for students.
- An effort should be made to define expected outcomes of recruiting efforts and to assess effectiveness of those efforts so that resources can be put into the most effective efforts.
- In addition to funds Graduate Studies has available to assist departments recruit students from underrepresented groups, Graduate Studies should also have a pool of travel funds to allow departments to attend recruiting events.
- Graduate Studies could facilitate recruitment of KU’s own students by holding internal recruiting fairs.
- Graduate Studies could also provide sessions for undergraduate students about graduate school in general.
Student Services
The Student Service Subcommittee addressed the following question:
- What services should Graduate Studies be involved in and in what capacity?
Graduate Studies intends to continue its current involvement in the following activities:
- Graduate Hooding Ceremony
- Deans of respective colleges will present candidates for master’s and doctoral degrees to Chancellor at Commencement where degrees will actually be conferred
- Spring awards ceremony
- Graduate student orientation
- Manage selection and awarding of existing fellowships and dissertation awards
Recommendations:
- Graduate Studies should play a greater role in planning the GTA orientation. Some dissatisfaction was expressed about the overly general nature of the current orientation.
- Graduate Studies needs to develop a strong website with information on the services it offers and with links to other services (such as career and counseling services).
- Graduate Studies should strengthen the Responsible Conduct of Research program, providing more intellectual “meat.” Although the subcommittee does not think all students should be required to complete a Responsible Conduct of Research course/workshop, an attractive and interesting option involving faculty from multiple disciplines should be provided for graduate students; and students should be encouraged to attend.
- Graduate Studies should play an important role of providing faculty with information about trends in graduate education, both internal trends and external. For example, the committee members were surprised at data John shared indicating that a relatively small percentage of doctoral students actually end up in faculty positions. We felt that kind of information needs to be shared with graduate program faculty on a regular basis.
- Offer or publicize existing University career resources, such as assistance with cover letter writing, CV development, etc.
- Continue the Research and Graduate Studies Support Program offered by Dr. Christine Jensen.
In general, the task force thought that programs such as Preparing Future Faculty and Preparing Future Professionals could potentially be decentralized to the school/College level with support of Graduate Studies. Everyone agrees that these programs need to be strengthened but there’s some disagreement about who should offer the programs and whether they need to be offered at all.
Appendix
List of Committee members, rank, their academic department, and subcommittee.
Name |
Title |
Department |
TF Subcommittee |
Tim Shaftel |
Professor |
Business |
Recruitment and Graduate Application Process |
Kent Spreckelmeyer |
Professor |
Architecture |
Student Services |
Mary Anne Jordan |
Professor |
Design |
Student Services |
Elizabeth Topp |
Professor |
Pharmaceutical Chemistry |
Assessment, Degree Review/Approval,
Graduate Faculty |
John Colombo |
Professor |
Psychology |
Governance and oversight |
Susan Twombly |
Professor |
Educational Leadership & Policy Studies |
Task Force Chairperson |
Susan Kemper |
Professor |
Gerontology |
Assessment, Degree Review/Approval,
Graduate Faculty |
Arvin Agah |
Professor |
Electrical Engineering & Computer Science |
Recruitment and Graduate Application Process |
Ann Schofield |
Professor |
American Studies |
Assessment, Degree Review/Approval,
Graduate Faculty |
John Ferraro |
Professor and
Associate Dean |
School of Allied Health |
Assessment, Degree Review/Approval,
Graduate Faculty |
Rita Clifford |
Professor and
Associate Dean |
School of Nursing |
Student Services |
Allen Rawitch |
Vice Chancellor
and Dean |
Office of Academic Affairs,
KU Medical Center |
Governance and oversight |
Sara Rosen |
Vice Provost and
Dean |
Office of Research and
Graduate Studies |
Ex officio member |
John Augusto |
Assistant Dean |
Office of Research and
Graduate Studies |
Ex officio member & staff support |
