May 2, 2002

Contact: John Colombo, Graduate School, (785) 864-4141.

Graduate School launches widespread study of graduate education at KU

LAWRENCE -- A task force is meeting to examine how to keep graduate education at the University of Kansas competitive is expected to issue draft recommendations by October and a final report by December this year.

KU Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost David Shulenburger and Diana Carlin, dean of the Graduate School and International Programs, formed the Graduate Education Task Force last fall. The KU task force, which is reviewing five essential issues central to graduate education, is working in concert with other graduate education programs across the country.

The five issues to be examined by the task force are:
1. Graduate education and KU's mission
2. The organization and structure of graduate education at KU
3. Graduate recruitment, retention and completion of graduate degrees at KU
4. Support, development and achievement of graduate students at KU
5. Assessment and evaluation of graduate education at KU

Graduate programs at KU face the challenge of meeting the changing job markets their graduates face, said John Colombo, associate dean of KU's Graduate School.

"Graduate education has changed," Colombo said. "There are new challenges. The system we have was set up some time ago, and in the past decade, a host of new challenges has come up."

A major challenge is the stipends offered as scholarships and fellowships, Colombo said.

He said the task force also must define whether to measure the quality of graduate education by the placement of graduates in jobs, the quality of the faculty or both. Success once was defined by the number of doctoral degree holders entering academe as part of teaching and research faculty, Colombo said. But many people leaving with their doctorates are seeking and landing professional, not academic, jobs.

"Are we preparing graduate students who are optimally marketable in their disciplines?" Colombo asked.

Task force members and subcommittees are (asterisks denote subcommittee chairs):

Subcommittee 1: Role of Graduate Education
Mabel Rice*, speech, language, hearing
Jack Fincham, pharmacy
John Ferraro, hearing and speech

Subcommittee 2: Structure of Graduate Education
Rich Morrell*, registrar
Thomas Taylor, biological sciences
Victor Bailey, Hall Center for the Humanities
Mary Lou Michaelis, pharmacology & toxicology
James Roberts, research & public service
John Gronbeck-Tedesco, theatre and film

Subcommittee 3: Recruitment, Retention, Time to Degree
Steve Hillmer*, business
C. Rick Snyder, psychology
Paul Cheney, physiology
Joanna Mashunkashey, doctoral student in clinical child psychology

Subcommittee 4: Professional Development and Achievement
Sandra Gautt, associate provost
John Augusto, assistant dean, Graduate School
Mary Ryan, associate dean, Edwards Campus
Heather Attig, journalism graduate teaching assistant

Subcommittee 5: Graduate Program Assessment and Evaluation
Philip Schrodt*, political science
Susan Twombly, teaching and leadership
Liz Kowalchuk, design