Campus Conversation about Graduate Education

This process will result in a document of consequence that will provide direction to the next leader of the Graduate School. Ohio State graduate students, faculty, staff, and other stakeholders will have an opportunity to participate in these conversations.

Roadmap

Phase 1
Autumn 2016
Environment Scanning
Identify the three critically relevant questions facing graduate education through a survey and facilitator-led focus groups

Phase 2
Spring 2017
The Campus-Wide Conversations
Future and vision each question through evidence-based, faculty-led conversations

Phase 3
Late Spring/Early Summer 2017
Synthesis
Identify internal challenges, align with university strategic plan, and produce document

Topics

• Professional / Career Development
  Are we best preparing our students for their academic and non-academic careers?
• Diversity / Inclusion
  The pressing need to diversify the composition of our graduate students and those who teach them.
• Interdisciplinary Graduate Education
  Graduate students to learn to approach scholarly problems in interdisciplinary manners. Additionally, we support interdisciplinary research and interdisciplinary graduate programs.
• Modes of education delivery
  Higher education is being delivered in new ways stacking credentials, certificates, professional masters, distance education.
• Graduate Faculty Composition
  Declining numbers of tenure-track faculty is a national trend. What is the role of clinical, professional, and associated faculty in providing graduate education?
• Funding Environment
  The challenges of supporting graduate education in a fiscal environment with declining federal grant dollars and state subsidy.
• Globalization
  The need to train both domestic and international graduate students to work and thrive in global environments.
• Enrollment
  Sizing graduate programs properly with an appropriate composition of students in response to external needs (e.g. job markets).

Participants

Framing Committee Members

Cheryl Achterberg
Dean
College of Education and Human Ecology

Mike Boehm
Vice Provost for Academic and Strategic Planning

Janet Box-Steffensmeier
Divisional Dean
Social and Behavior Sciences

Pat Green
Associate Dean
College of Veterinary Medicine

Joanna Groden
Vice Dean
College of Medicine Administration

Scott Herness
Interim Vice Provost and
Dean Graduate School

Randy Moses
Associate Dean
College of Engineering

Carol Whitacre
Vice President
Office of Research

Susan Williams
Vice Dean
Arts & Sciences Administration

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Phase I Working Group

Cynthia Carnes
Pharmacy
Professor

Tamara Davis
Social Work
Associate Professor

Anita Hopper
Molecular Genetics
Professor

Rich Petty (chair)
Psychology
Distinguished University Professor

Andrea Serrani
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Professor

Scott Herness (ex officio)
Interim Vice Provost for Graduate Education and
Interim Dean of the Graduate School

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Facilitators

Roland J. Loup
Deb Peluso