Graduate Education Commission

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Graduate Education Commission
at Washington State University
Howard Grimes
Dean, Graduate School
Richard Shumway
School of Economic Sciences
February 16, 2006
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Graduate Education Commission Membership

• David Bahr, Mechanical Materials Engineering
• Donald Bender, Civil Environmental Engineering
• Karl Boehmke, Budget Office
• Wendy Brown, Veterinary Microbiology Pathology
• Steven Burkett, Graduate School
• Cynthia Corbett, Nursing
• William Davis, Molecular Biosciences
• Thomas Dickinson, Physics Astronomy
• Don Dillman, Sociology
• Lenoar Foster, Educational Leadership
  Counseling Psychology
• Stergios Fotopoulos, Management and Operations
• Howard Grimes, Graduate School
• DaVina Hoyt, Graduate and Professional Student
  Association
• Carol Ivory, Fine Arts
• Norman Lewis, Biological Chemistry

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Graduate Education Commission Membership

• Michael Morgan, Psychology and WSU Vancouver
• John Nilson, Molecular Biosciences
• William Pan, Crop and Soil Sciences
• Susan Dente Ross, Communication and Liberal Arts
• Sally Savage, University Relations
• Dawn Shinew, Teaching and Learning
• Richard Shumway (Co-Chair), Economic Sciences
• Michael Tate, Equity and Diversity
• Orlando Taylor (Co-Chair), Howard University
• Joe Valacich, Management Information Systems
• Kelly Ward, Educational Leadership Counseling
  Psychology

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Co-Commissioned by President Rawlins and Provost
Bates as First University-Wide Graduate Education
Commission in February 2005
Charged to

• Articulate a new identity for graduate
  education at WSU
• Propose the means to achieve this identity

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The Commission Rallied Around a Transformational
Vision

• Bold innovation and excellence in broad number of
  disciplines
• Dynamic research and education collaboration
  across the university
• Environment for graduate students to excel and
  innovate
• Profound commitment to build quality first

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Current Situation

• WSU Strategic Plan encompasses continuum of
  higher education
• - Vision WSU offers a premier undergraduate
  experience, conducts and stimulates world-class
  research, graduate and professional education,
  
• - Strategic Goal 2 Nurture a world-class
  environment for research, scholarship, graduate
  education,
• Identity of research university linked to
  graduate education
• Pockets of excellence, but graduate education not
  one of WSUs strongest assets

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Vision Transform Graduate Education

• EMBRACE our mission as national research
  university
• EVOLVE our graduate programs and a
  performance-driven model of graduate education
• University community must be EMPOWERED with the
  tools to drive this evolution

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Call to Arms
If this Commission doesnt succeed, Im not sure
when the next chance will come for trying to
energize graduate education and change how it is
viewed by the WSU community.
- WSU Graduate Education Commission member and
faculty member
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Context for Change WSU becoming an institution
of choice for high-achieving undergraduate
students

• Research reputation and prowess has grown
  significantly
• Cannot claim this level of excellence in our
  graduate programs
• Of criteria for AAU membership, WSU most
  deficient in graduate education

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WSU Doctoral Degrees Overall and for Science
Engineering, 1990-2004
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National Trend in Ph.D.s Awarded
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Graduate Enrollment, of Total Enrollment, WSU
and Peers, 2003
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PhD Degrees Awarded WSU vs Peers (2002)
University Of Wisconsin-Madison
Ohio State University-Main Campus
Texas A M University
University Of Minnesota-Twin Cities
University Of Illinois At Urbana
North Carolina State University At Raleigh
University Of California-Davis
Cornell University
University Of Florida
Purdue University-Main Campus
Michigan State University
University Of Georgia
Oklahoma State University-Main Campus
Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State Univ
Iowa State University
Colorado State University
University Of Tennessee-Knoxville
Kansas State University
Auburn University Main Campus
Louisiana State Univ
University Of Missouri-Columbia
Washington State University
Mississippi State University
0.000
0.050
0.100
0.150
0.200
0.250
0.300
0.350
0.400
PhD Degrees Awarded per Faculty (per year)
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More Sobering Statistics

• Lower ratio of Ph.D. to masters students than
  peers
• Research grant money and number of post-docs have
  grown steadily
• Number of graduate research assistants has not
  grown
• Few multidisciplinary programs and grad training
  grants

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Clear Message Graduate Programs are Not One of
Our Strongest Assets
WSU must transform its approach to graduate
education, improve the quality of its graduate
programs and increase the number of high quality
Ph.D.s that it graduates. Success here will
impact everything that we do and aspire to become.
What will graduate education, and the Ph.D., look
like in 2015?
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Some Key Trends

• Globalization driving social change
• Other countries investing heavily in R D
• Disciplinary boundaries pressed to solve societal
  problems
• Disciplinary training applied in new
  interdisciplinary settings
• Fewer Ph.D.s seek employment in research
  universities

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Graduate Education for 2015

• Foster innovative approaches in research and
  education
• Prepare students for new leadership roles
• Students benefit from enhanced interdisciplinary
  training
• Students partner more extensively
• Graduate experience enhanced by greater cultural,
  gender and ethnic diversity

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Recommendations for Transforming Graduate
Education

• 13 recommendations grouped in 3 areas
• - Changing the culture
• - Promoting interdisciplinary opportunities
• - Improving student climate
• Solutions not uniform across colleges,
  departments, or programs
• Full draft report at www.gradschool.wsu.edu
• Please comment by March 3

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Fundamental Change in Our Culture and Goals

• Articulate University commitment to graduate
  education
• Develop and implement a performance-driven model
• Double number of Ph.D. graduates and increase
  graduate enrollment to 17 of student body by
  2015
• Expand efforts to attract brightest students and
  faculty to WSU
• Enhance new and existing revenue streams

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Promotion of Interdisciplinary Opportunities

• Clarify roles of Centers, Institutes,
  Departments, Schools and Programs
• Implement changes to facilitate interdisciplinary
  graduate programs
• Quadruple the number of training grants over the
  next decade

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Improving Student Climate and Promoting
Leadership Opportunities

• Enhance graduate student experiences
• Provide University-wide opportunities to develop
  leadership skills
• Include post-doctorates in these opportunities
• Improve University-wide career counseling
• Enhance system-wide, multi-technology
  opportunities for graduate education

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Summary

• Very different approach to graduate education
  than currently exists at WSU
• We must EMBRACE transformation of graduate
  education as the next priority
• Need to EVOLVE graduate programs and develop
  performance-driven models
• University community must be EMPOWERED,
  culturally and financially
• Much can be done with existing resources
• Will also require new revenue streams

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We Sincerely Hope That Our Work Leads to
Transformative Change at WSU. We Believe it Must
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Graduate Education Commission
at Washington State University
Howard Grimes
Dean, Graduate School
Richard Shumway
School of Economic Sciences
February 16, 2006