Site Team Report

7. Graduate Education

There is a strong and clearly enunciated commitment to quality graduate education across the Michigan Tech campus. This commitment is shared by the graduate faculty, which represents 90% of the total faculty, the Dean of the Graduate School, and the students. The faculty possess many of the characteristics commensurate with successful graduate training: over 40% of the current faculty have been hired since 1988; there is solid extramural funding; there appears to be reasonably good research productivity by the faculty; and the faculty are highly motivated participants in graduate education.

The Graduate Council, which advises the Dean, expresses a positive, constructive, and collegial attitude. The Dean is impressive in his thoughtful and personable administration of a diverse portfolio. The graduate students are described as highly motivated, productive, and of high quality. Many of the graduated students have gone on to successful careers in their chosen fields. And there is an easy atmosphere that promotes open communication among the faculty, the Dean, and the students. Thus, as outlined in the Self-Study Report, the University is currently doing a good job educating and training graduate students at the M.S. and Ph.D. levels.

However, an analysis of the Graduate Program is necessarily guided by the perspective expressed in the Self-Study Report, and it is in this context that there is some concern. A major goal of the University, as enunciated in the Vision Statement, is to substantially increase the proportion of graduate students. Interviews with different sectors of the University reveal that this goal has been well-publicized and is quoted, in some form or another, by everyone. Even a modified University goal, one that would increase the number but not necessarily the proportion of graduate students, requires examination.

Since 1988, the number of Ph.D. students has doubled, and members of the upper administration suggest that Michigan Tech strive for Carnegie Research II status (indeed, the Self-Study states that the requirements for Research II classification will be achieved in two years, by the year 2000). The strategic plan calls for increasing the numbers of Ph.D. students enrolled at any one time from the current ca. 275 to ca. 400.

The plan to expand the graduate program, or at least the perception of the plan, has become a divisive issue. Interestingly, there is concern expressed by all groups with respect to this perceived direction. Those whose focus is on undergraduate education — administrators, faculty, and undergraduate students — worry that there will be a shift away from undergraduates in terms of allocation of resources. And those who participate in graduate education — faculty and graduate students — worry that increasing the emphasis on graduate education, while perhaps conveying certain advantages, nevertheless will place increased time and resource pressures on them because there is no stated compensatory plan to increase support for undergraduate instruction.

There is even some concern that the problem of balancing efforts between graduate and undergraduate education will be exacerbated with the semester system because the undergraduate courses may increase in enrollment. Thus, the rush to enter a brave new world leaves members of the University uneasy about the rapidly evolving balance between research and teaching. And these are the very persons upon whom relies the successful implementation of the expanded graduate program.

Another outcome of the drive for expansion is the potentially divisive aspect of filling many of the new slots with international students. Michigan Tech would certainly not be alone if there were some anti-international student backlash here. At the very least, Michigan Tech would need to expand its English as a Second Language program.

Beyond the issue of morale, there is a strong concern that the University is not yet positioned to accommodate the growth of the graduate program. Will the infrastructure be able to successfully handle the expansion? Of particular concern is the library; there is nearly unanimous opinion among the researchers who use the library that the present facility is unable to satisfy the needs of the current population in terms of research periodicals, electronic access, and its physical plant. This is particularly worrisome since the 1988 Accreditation Report identified the inadequacies of the library as its first concern, and, as indicated in the current Self-Study, this remains a problem area. Other apparent inadequacies are in the areas of providing local computational services (including electronic access to the library and other databases), recurring support for research equipment, and summer salaries for graduate students.

An explicit and financially meaningful commitment from the senior administration to bring the infrastructure up to the level required to sustain even the existing graduate program is not apparent. There is little confidence among the faculty and students that the University has in place mechanisms to address these issues, since the priorities of this need continually slips. [Suggestions 2, 7; Concern 3]

Increasing the numbers of Ph.D. students may be unrealistic for other reasons. For example, concerns were expressed about increased time demands on already very busy faculty, substantial and recurring resources for recruiting Ph.D. students from places other than Michigan Tech, insufficient subsidies for student health insurance, and the possible need to increase stipend levels. The University may wish to consider decentralizing the decision for setting stipends in order to give individual departments more flexibility to compete for the graduate students they want. The need to develop more effective ways of recruiting (this probably includes campus visits, health insurance, stipends, and non-teaching assistantships) is apparent given the very slow rate (or static rate) of increase in Ph.D. enrollment over the last few years.

One way of increasing the numbers of Ph.D. students as well as generating financial support for their research is to expand the distance (asynchronous) learning program. The Dean is well aware of the need to maintain close control over the content and quality of such a venture. If distance learning were to grow, additional staffing in the Dean's office would probably be required. The review team recommends that, before any further steps are taken in this direction, a significantly larger segment of the faculty than is currently involved be given ample opportunity to define the program in terms of its purpose(s), size, and institutional/faculty control. [Concern 7]

A second thrust of the University Vision statement is to increase the diversity of the university. In terms of graduate education, there have been some successes. Notably, the number of women graduate students in several disciplines has significantly increased. Unfortunately, despite the implementation of specific programs aimed at under-represented minorities, the University has been less successful in this area. Diversification, especially in terms of under-represented minorities, is extremely challenging everywhere, and the University is commended for its efforts and encouraged to keep trying. One area that requires additional attention is to establish pro-active, recurring programs aimed at campus climate issues for women, under-represented groups, and international students. The focus should be on the subtle, daily things that occur in and out of the classroom and laboratory that can so strongly affect the perceptions and self-esteem of individuals. It is disappointing to note that, despite the promise that "efforts are underway to improve the climate..." (page 137, Self-Study Report), there is little evidence of such efforts. The Dean, the faculty, and the graduate students were unaware of any new initiatives. [Suggestion 11]

Assessment Each Department has recently implemented an assessment program to evaluate its graduate program in terms of teaching and learning. Although there is a rather wide spectrum of goals and measuring instruments, the different assessment programs all can be utilized to implement improvements in the graduate training program. As a whole, the departments are working together on the very difficult issue of quantifying achievement in a way that allows for comparison while also remaining mindful that the very nature of graduate education is to develop a high degree of specialization and individuality. The job is not yet done, but the effort thus far has been good.

Graduate education is discussed separately for each school and college in Chapter 14 of this report. With respect to the overall program, several issues exist to which the graduate dean would be wise to pay some attention. Among these are the graduate assistants' concerns about excessive work loads for some and the inadequacies of their health insurance plan. These are issues that have been faced at other universities in the recent past, and when not resolved have resulted in deterioration of relationship among the assistants, their faculty mentors, and university administration.

Systematic academic program reviews of graduate programs are just now being undertaken. It will be important to assess the extent to which each program gives adequate attention to the needs and the progress of its graduate students. In an institution such as Michigan Tech, it is very easy for the needs of the much larger numbers of undergraduate students to overwhelm the capacity of the faculty and staff to work with students and graduate students sometimes suffer from lack of adequate attention. This concern should be systematically examined in each program review.[Concern 8]

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