Transforming PhD Education: Following The Path Forward

A workshop offered by the Graduate School

September 30, 2016

The Union Ballroom, 49 Abbott Rd, East Lansing MI 48824

The Path Forward Publication

In 2010 the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and the Educational Testing Service (ETS) assembled a task force of university and corporate leaders and policymakers to look at challenges and opportunities facing graduate education. Their report, The Path Forward: The Future of Graduate Education in the United States, identified significant demographic trends impacting both the applicant pool and the ability to recruit and retain a more diverse population in doctoral programs.

This Graduate School workshop for faculty and administrators will focus on successes and challenges in transforming doctoral education to respond to these trends. The morning will begin with a panel of directors of programs nationally recognized for their approaches to recruiting and retaining students historically underrepresented in doctoral education. They will talk about the process of creating sustainable change in their programs, including obstacles and achievements. The second session will focus on research and practice addressing diversity in admissions and recruitment, both in the business sector and in the context of graduate education.

In the afternoon, administrators from the Graduate School will provide information on current MSU programs and resources that departments can leverage to help their own efforts in recruiting, retaining and mentoring a diverse group of students, including opportunities for funding. Participants can register for the full day (including lunch), or the morning session only (with or without lunch).

Agenda

8:30-10:30 Transformational Initiatives that Work

  • Philip Kutkzo, Professor of Mathematics, University of Iowa, Director, NSF-National Alliance for Doctoral Studies in the Mathematical Sciences
  • Dina Myers Stroud, Executive Director, Fisk-Vanderbilt Bridget to the Doctorate Program, Adjunct Professor of Physics, Fisk University; Research Assistant Professor, Dept. of Physics and of Medicine, Vanderbilt
  • Earnestine Baker, Executive Director, UMBC Meyerhoff Scholars Program

10:45-noon Weighing Decisions: Research on Admissions and Recruitment

  • Ann Marie Ryan, Professor, Industrial and Organizational Psychology
  • Maureen McCarthy, Assistant Director of Advancement and Best Practices at the Council of Graduate Schools

Noon-1:00 p.m. Lunch

1-2:30 MSU Graduate School Resources and Grant Program

  • Judith Stoddart, Interim Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Provost for Graduate Education
  • Rique Campa, Associate Dean, Graduate School, Professor, Fisheries & Wildlife
  • Pero Dagbovie, Associate Dean, Graduate School, Professor, History
  • Tony Nunez, Associate Dean , Graduate School, Professor Psychology and Neuroscience
  • Melissa McDaniels, Assistant Dean and Director of TA programs, Graduate School

Registration is required. To register, please email gradwrsp@grd.msu.edu with your name, department, and if you are registering for the full day or the morning session (with or without lunch).