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1、Graduate Education Study Background: The current study was undertaken on behalf of the Faculty Council to document faculty insights about several dimensions of graduate education at Carolina. Surveys were distributed to graduate program directors, department chairs, and deans and 80 responses were r
2、eceived during February 2006. This report was authored by Professor Judith Wegner, Faculty Chair (Judith_wegnerunc.edu) .: UNC Chapel Hill: Executive Summary .Key Findings. Recruitment. Graduate programs universally rely on having prospective students find them, coupled with department efforts, and
3、to a lesser extent efforts of the Graduate School, targeted mailings, and recruitment weekends. Roles. o Teaching roles. Graduate students commonly provide informal assistance in office hours, aid in grading, handle recitation sections, laboratory sections, writing sections, language sections, and l
4、ater in their trajectory courses of their own.o Preparation. Departments use a variety of methods to prepare teaching assistants including in many cases required departmental teaching seminars, class observation, faculty and work with the Center for Teaching and Learning (required by some and option
5、al for many).o English is a second language. Graduate students are screened for language skills before admission, generally are not assigned to teaching duties without administrative review, and are often encouraged to enroll in a special graduate seminar designed to strengthen their language skills
6、 and aid them in appreciating the educational culture of American classrooms.o Research Roles. Graduate students play crucial roles in accomplishing the Universitys research mission, serving as core members of research teams, partnering with faculty, and pushing the frontiers of knowledge. Graduate
7、Student Support.o Support packages. Top-quality students in Ph.D programs generally expect full funding (tuition, fees, health insurance, living costs) to attend graduate school. Such funding is generally provided through full or partial fellowships (if available), tuition grants (in-state level), t
8、uition remissions (incremental non-resident tuition when student is a teaching or research assistant), and service-based stipend (salary as a teaching or research assistant). o Availability. There is considerable unevenness in the availability of support depending on whether a departments students w
9、in competitions for university-wide or national fellowships, departmental trust-funds or external research grants are available, and instructional budgets can be stretched to cover mandatory minimum teaching assistant stipends and health insurance costs. Impediments. o Most significant. More than 50
10、% of responding departments and schools cited the following impediments as significant or very significant: uncertainty in funding from year to year, number of graduate student stipends, and level of funding for graduate student teaching assistants.o Significant. More than 30% of responding units al
11、so cited the level of funding for graduate research assistants, and difficulty in providing funding for international students as significant or very significant impediments. More than 30% of responding units outside the College of Arts and Sciences cited demands on faculty time to supervise graduat
12、e students as a significant or very significant impediment. Solutions. Respondents were asked to identify their top five priority solutions for improving graduate education.o Top solutions. The top two high-priority solutions identified across the campus were enhanced fellowships (first-year non-ser
13、vice fellowships, high-profile competitive fellowships, dissertation-year fellowships) and teaching assistant stipends (which are currently squeezed from uncertain department instructional budgets). Tuition remissions were accorded very high priority among professional schools (including some not cu
14、rrently able to tap such resources), and to a lesser extent within Arts and Sciences (where programs may have been shielded from the financial pressures that exist against limited current funds).o Additional priorities. Other solutions that were accorded priority by some departments and schools incl
15、uded: support for recruitment; supplemental support for costs allocated to research grants, targeted support for workforce or state/national needs, international student support, and family-friendly support packages. Next Steps. Next steps could include: (a) more attention to graduate education, and
16、 clarification of scope of Graduate Schools responsibilities as well as organizational structures responsible for related functions not all of which fall within the Graduate School; (b) investment in recruitment and tracking of graduate student quality and accomplishments; (c) more systematic evalua
17、tion of graduate student teaching; (d) attention to critical impediments relating to uncertainty of funding, number of stipends and level of funding for teaching assistants; (e) improved support (including fellowships, number and level of TA stipends, tuition remissions, and support for internationa
18、l students); (f) attention to parallel needs of professional school students and improved integration of data analysis relating to finances, work, support, and career trajectories.Graduate Education Survey: UNC Chapel HillPreliminary Report (March 21, 2006) This survey and analysis was conducted by
19、Professor Judith Wegner, Faculty Chair and she is solely responsible for any errors or omissions, however unintentional. She was significantly benefited by the contributions of Graduate School Dean Linda Dykstra, and Assistant Provost for Institutional Research and Assessment Lynn Williford. She was
20、 also aided by the suggestions of members of the Faculty Executive Committee in the development of the underlying survey instrument.Introduction. This preliminary report is presented as a further contribution to ongoing discussions about graduate education that have occurred during the 2005-06 acade
21、mic year among faculty leaders, graduate student representatives, university administrators, and members of the Board of Trustees of UNC Chapel Hill. After some preliminary observations about the role of graduate education, the report distills information gathered through a survey of graduate progra
22、m directors, department chairs and deans conducted by Faculty Chair Judith Wegner during February 2006. The report concludes with some thoughts on strategies to enhance graduate education.I.The Role and Importance of Graduate Education. Books could be (and have been) written about the importance of
23、graduate education. Indeed, this arena has been receiving significant increased attention on many fronts. Major studies have recently been completed by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Carnegie Foundation, and the National Academies of Science, among others. Sources include: M. Nett
24、les & C. Millett, Three Magic Letters: Getting to Ph.D (Johns Hopkins, 2006); C. Gould & G. Walker, Envisioning the Future of Doctoral Education: Preparing Stewards for the DisciplineCarnegie Essays on the Doctorate (Jossey Bass 2006) (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching) ; Woodrow W
25、ilson National Fellowship Foundation, Innovations in U.S. Doctoral Education, 2005 (http:/www.woodrow.org/newsroom/News_Releases/ResponsivePhD_overview.pdf ) ; Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future (National Academies Press, 2006) (availabl
26、e for download at http:/www.nap.edu/catalog/11463.html ); National Science Foundation data on Ph.Ds in science and engineering and the science and engineering workforce (http:/www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/c3/c3h.htm ), Survey of Earned Doctorates (http:/www.norc.org/issues/sed-2004.pdf ); Council
27、of Graduate Schools study on Graduate Enrollment and Degrees (http:/www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/GED2004Rep.pdf ); Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Summary of Prior Studies on Graduate Education (as of 2002) (http:/www.carnegiefoundation.org/dynamic/downloads/file_1_9.pdf ); Natio
28、nal Research Council, Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States, Continuity and Change (1995) (http:/www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/researchdoc ) (includes program rankings). One of the most important aspects of the ongoing UNC-Chapel Hill conversation about graduate education is to broaden th
29、e publics understanding of why graduate education is so critical at this time. Only a brief summary is possible here. Teaching. Graduate students are critical partners with faculty in the educational enterprise. As is more fully recounted below, they work under faculty supervision in order to enhanc
30、e the undergraduate experience. They handle recitation sections, writing and language sections and labs. They grade papers and assist students informally and in office hours. They serve as mentors to undergraduates who often find them easier to approach in asking about possible future career paths.
31、They make it possible to offer a “liberal-arts-college” experience in a large public university and to foster active engagement with those who will follow in their shoes. Research and Engagement. Carolina takes great pride in its stature as one of the nations leading “research universities.” For a r
32、ecent explanation of the role of research universities, see statement from the Association of American Universities at http:/www.aau.edu/resuniv/UResFS.pdf That title gives pride of place, signifying that this institution is at the cutting edge, pushing the frontiers of knowledge as well as dissemin
33、ating well-honed wisdom. Graduate students are a crucial part of the research program in every field, keeping their faculty mentors fresh by asking cutting edge questions and providing necessary assistance in accomplishing daily tasks. They forge their own way with new insights, and fresh discoverie
34、s, adding to the Universitys capacity to compete successfully for research grants and stretching the Universitys ability to engage with crucial public issues. Contributors to the State and its economy. A review of alumni records reveals that nearly 3400 individuals with UNC Chapel Hill doctoral degr
35、ees currently live in the state. They are educators at colleges and universities from Murphy to Manteo. They are scientists, editors, researchers, CEOs, teachers, psychologists, deans, interpreters, physicists, consultants, ministers, epidemiologists, museum directors and much more. Their work as un
36、iversity researchers contributes significantly to the Universitys capacity to conduct research that fuels the states economy. They graduate and work for pharmaceutical manufacturers, law firms, and start-up businesses. They bring their insights as well-educated individuals to the cities and towns ar
37、ound the state, adding to the collective social capital and leadership talent. Faculty Recruiters. Faculty members repeatedly testify about the critical role that graduate students play in their lives. Without talented graduate students, the best and brightest faculty members could not be recruited
38、or retained. Graduate students in turn play crucial roles in bringing out the best in their faculty mentors. Faculty members often give great consideration to the quality of graduate students in making decisions about joining a faculty or staying at an institution when efforts are made to lure them
39、elsewhere. In addition, faculty research productivity and prominence is often closely tied to collaborative work with graduate students which continues for years following the students graduation. Carriers of the Universitys Reputation. As graduate students emerge with new Ph.Ds, they move across th
40、e nation and the world as representatives of the Universitys talent. In fact, success in placing graduate students who finish their Ph.D.s in jobs at research universities is an important item in studies of reputational rankings of departments. Some might say that the reputation of universities in g
41、eneral (including their undergraduate programs and the worth of an undergraduate degree) is directly traceable to university reputations built upon the quality and recognition of their graduate programs. The quality of Ph.D graduates is essential if the universitys long-nurtured reputation for excel
42、lence is to be sustained. Workforce of the Future. Graduate students are the intellectual leaders of the next generation, and North Carolina needs to draw the best from all over the world. They are creators and augmenters of intellectual capital that will prove crucial in the new “knowledge economy.
43、” They bring a network of contacts with them, and upon leaving Chapel Hill become emissaries and ambassadors spread around the state, the nation, and the world, providing links for North Carolina businesses and magnets for those elsewhere who want to connect to the intellectual and business leaders
44、of the Old North State. Census data ranks North Carolina as 40th in the country in terms of percentage of population over 25 with advanced degrees (beyond the bachelors degree). http:/factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GRTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-_box_head_nbr=R1403&-ds_name=ACS_2004_EST_G00_&-redoLo
45、g=false&-format=US-30&-mt_name=ACS_2004_EST_G00_R1403_US30&-CONTEXT=grt (7.7% of the population compared to the national average of 9.9%). II.Survey on Graduate Education at UNC-Chapel HillIn recent meetings of the University Affairs committee of the Board of Trustees, the Dean of the Graduate Schoo
46、l, the deans or associate deans of several schools and colleges, and graduate students have all offered insights about the nature of graduate and professional education here and the challenges they currently face. Copies of related presentations are available at http:/www.unc.edu/depts/trustees . Be
47、cause a number of topics discussed in these settings seemed best understood with the aid of additional empirical evidence, faculty leaders prepared, vetted, and distributed a survey focused on several key issues for distribution to graduate program directors, department chairs and deans across the c
48、ampus during early February 2006. A.Background. The survey A copy of the survey instrument is included as an appendix. sought to gain further insight on the following questions in order to assist University leaders, members of the Board of Trustees, policymakers, and others interested in assisting t
49、he University to achieve in this critical arena.(1) Recruitment and retention of graduate students-are we recruiting the best, enrolling the best, and providing graduate students with competitive, needed support?(2) Roles of graduate students in the areas of teaching and researchwhat duties do graduate students perform, how is oversight provided, and what contributio
