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Agenda
Theme: Transforming Graduate Education: Students and Institutions
Wednesday, April 11, 2012 |
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| Time | Description |
| 8 a.m.-5 p.m. | Registration |
| 8-11:30 a.m. | Coffee/tea by Registration |
| 9-11:30 a.m. | New
Graduate Administrators Workshop Robert Augustine, Eastern Illinois University Jackie Huntoon, Michigan Technological University Open to Deans, Associate and Assistant Deans and their staff. Funding, staffing, enrollments, quality, conflict resolution, governance, policy development, legal issues, assessment, and career issues are among the many challenges that confront new graduate deans. During this session, several experienced graduate deans will use a discussion format to identify the specific concerns of the deans in attendance. The focus of the session is to guide participants to resources and best practices to facilitate leadership in graduate education. The program is interactive and the topics will be derived from the participants. In advance of the session, the presenters will ask the deans registered for the session to identify issues of concern. These will be used to initiate the discussion. |
| 10 -11:30 a.m. |
Executive Committee Meeting Carol Shanklin, MAGS Chair, Kansas State University |
| 10 a.m.-5 p.m. | Vendor Exhibit Tables |
| 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. |
New Graduate Administrators and Executive
Committee Luncheon Carol Shanklin, MAGS Chair |
| 1:15-1:30 p.m. | Welcome
and Overview Carol Shanklin, MAGS Chair, Kansas State University Maria Di Stefano, MAGS Chair-elect, Truman State University |
| 1:30-3 p.m. | Plenary
I Quality, Accountability and Competition in Graduate Education: Compatible or Conflicting Claims Debra W. Stewart, President of the Council of Graduate Schools Moderator: Carol Shanklin, Kansas State University |
| 3-3:30 p.m. | Afternoon Break | Networking |
| 3:30-4:30 p.m. |
Concurrent 1 Student Success Programs at Master’s Comprehensives: PACES Program Overview John Stevenson, Grand Valley State University PACES is a voluntary, co-curricular program designed to help masters and professional doctorate students gain non-disciplinary skills for success through and beyond their graduate education. This session will feature one master’s comprehensive story on the inception, development, management, and outcomes of a student success program for professionalism, advancement, communication, engagement, and success. Concurrent 2 Transforming Graduate Education through Mandatory Annual Academic Progress Reports Anne Kopera, Rebecca Bryant, Andrea Golato, and Mary Lowry; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate education includes so many critical aspects that frequently amid the competing demands for everyone’s time, providing feedback to students through annual academic progress reviews is not given the priority it deserves. This session will review the process from conceptualization to implementation of mandatory annual academic progress reviews as part of the on-going transformational process to strengthen graduate education at Illinois and will also provide sample resources developed for the Illinois campus. Concurrent 3 Looking Forward-Future Transition Plans for the PSM Initiative Sally Francis, Senior Scholar in Residence, Council of Graduate Schools Nathan Bell, Director, Research and Policy Analysis, Council of Graduate Schools Jim Sterling, Keck Graduate Institute In January 2006, the Council of Graduate Schools assumed primary responsibility for the growth and promotion of the Sloan Professional Science Master’s (PSM) Initiative, with the goal of making the PSM a regular feature of U.S. graduate education. As CGS intends to transfer the PSM Affiliation review process to a new organization by July, 2012, it is critical to ensure that long-term program outcomes are positive and the quality assurance needs of the PSM are sustained. Therefore, this session will provide the outcome of CGS’ Request for Proposal process, the proposed actions of the selected organization, and offer an update regarding CGS’ transition planning. |
| 5:45-6:30 p.m. | MAGS Reception | Networking (sponsored by ProQuest Dissertations Publishing) |
| 6:30-9 p.m. | MAGS
Banquet MAGS/ProQuest Distinguished Master's Thesis Award Peg Griffin, Northern Kentucky University |
Thursday, April 12, 2012 |
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| 7 a.m.-5 p.m. | Registration |
| 7-8 a.m. | Breakfast
Sponsored by Blackboard Committee Meetings |
| 8-8:30 a.m. |
Blackboard
Presentation Melissa Mintz, Product Marketing Manager, Blackboard A discussion of the use of Blackboard technology to improve student engagement and transform the educational experience. |
| 8:40-10 a.m. | Plenary
II PSM Grads: Where are they Working? What are they Doing? Sheila Tobias, author of the 1995 book "Rethinking Science as a Career" which inspired the creation of the PSM The PSM has been labeled a "key response of the graduate community to meet current and future needs of the 21st century workforce." In 1997, the Sloan and Keck Foundations called into being the new master's programs. 16 years and some $30 million (Sloan and Keck Foundations and NSF) later, there are 240 PSM programs in 110 universities, a half dozen system-wide adoptions and 4600 graduates. Sheila Tobias, whose 1995 book Rethinking Science as a Career sparked interest in creating the new degree, has now turned her attention to tracking graduates. Using social media, she and her team are locating PSM alumns with an eye toward making the ROI (return on investment) case for the PSM. The PSM has been endorsed and supported in significant ways by the Council of Graduate Schools. Program Directors now comprise a National PSM Association headquartered at WPI in Massachusetts. Moderator: Maria C. Di Stefano, Truman State University Respondent: Karen Klomparens, Michigan State University |
| 10 a.m.-5 p.m. | Vendor Exhibit Tables |
| 10-10:30 a.m. | Morning Break |
| 10:30-11:30 a.m. |
Concurrent 4 Transforming Graduate Education Online Ray Schroeder and Karen Swan, University of Illinois-Springfield Faculty will share findings about how students learn online and how that learning is similar to and different from their learning in face-to-face environments. They will discuss the ways in which online education can transform graduate teaching and learning and, as a result, transform graduate institutions. Concurrent 5 Providing Actionable Student Data to Departments Craig Ogilvie, Iowa State University The individual department level is the important level at which decisions are made about educational improvements, yet in graduate education, information about student demographics, as well as performance metrics, such as retention and time to degree, are often collected and analyzed by the Graduate College. In this presentation, I will describe how our Graduate College made this data available to departments, and how we supported departmental decisions on improving their departments’ graduate programs. Developing Measures of Doctoral Program Effectiveness for Annual Assessment and Improvement Simon Greenwold and Lisa Metzger-Mugg, Northwestern University Five years ago, The Graduate School at Northwestern began a quality assurance initiative to review each of its PhD programs. Presenters will discuss the origins of the quality assurance/progress review process, overcoming challenges with data collection and definitions, utilizing available institutional and external data sources, developing new measures, implementation with programs, and program improvement outcomes. Concurrent 6 Master’s Completion Project Sam Attoh, Loyola University Andrew Hsu, Wright State University Mark Smith, Purdue University Jerry Weinberg, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Nathan Bell, Council of Graduate Schools Master’s education is the fastest growing and largest part of the graduate education enterprise in the United States, yet we lack key information regarding master’s completion and attrition rates and factors contributing to student success. To address this gap, the Council of Graduate Schools has launched a pilot project, Completion and Attrition in STEM Master’s Programs, to collect and analyze data on completion and attrition in master’s degree programs in STEM fields. In this session, project participants will provide an overview of the project’s goals, activities, and findings to date, as well as challenges in implementation. |
| 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. |
Business Meeting and Luncheon MAGS/ETS Award for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education MAGS/Blackboard Excellence in Teaching Awards Carol Shanklin, MAGS Chair, Kansas State University |
| 1:45-3:15 p.m. | Plenary
III Assessing Graduate Study: Motives, Issues and Approaches Peter T. Ewell, Vice President, National Center for Higher Education Management Although assessing student learning outcomes began at the undergraduate level in U.S. higher education, graduate programs have been steadily increasing their volume and competence in this arena. This keynote examines growing demands for assessment and the many challenges that make assessing graduate learning outcomes distinctive. It then addresses assessment approaches that appear particularly suited to looking at graduate programs, with a particular eye toward using assessment results to improve effectiveness. Respondent: Steve Wiegenstein, Columbia College |
| 3:15-4 p.m. | Best
Practices Posters and Afternoon
Break Online course development with graduate students participation John Reisner, Air Force Institute of Technology Meg Wiltshire, Wright State University Online instructors face a major obstacle when putting courses online: getting an immense amount of content ready in an engaging format. Yet students often learn better when forced to tackle a complex problem, as opposed to passively listening to lectures – so why not have the students develop some of the content as part of their learning? "I Wish Someone Had Told Me" F. Dale Brown, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Co-authored by Deborah Barnett and Jeffery Kaufman. Remember when you started your graduate program as a new teaching assistant? Recall all of the things you learned about teaching your first and subsequent classes through the 'school of hard knocks', about being a graduate student, about starting your graduate program - and thinking, "I wish someone had told me..."? Development and Outcomes of a Fellowship Writing Course Ambika Mathur, Wayne State University Given the impact of a pre-doctoral fellowship in the career of a graduate student, it is important to provide doctoral students with the necessary tools to craft a competitive fellowship application for submission to national funding agencies. Wayne State University’s MD/PhD program created a course in which faculty and staff lead didactic sessions to assist students in crafting high quality applications; to date, 65% students in the course have been successful in obtaining these fellowships compared to the 25-30% average national rate. |
| 4-5 p.m. |
Concurrent 7 Factors Affecting Assessment in Graduate Programs Deborah Schwartz and Jennifer Sader, Lourdes College The session will present a conceptual framework for examining assessment in graduate programs and findings from a case study conducted at a small master’s institution on factors affecting assessment progress in the graduate environment. Discussion of organizational structures and leadership strategies used to initiate and sustain processes for assessing graduate program outcomes will be included. Concurrent 8 The Student-Focused Web Presence: Rethinking Communications with Graduate Students from Admission to Graduation John Augusto and Roberta Pokphanh, University of Kansas This session details the process of the creation and maintenance of a student-focused website that incorporates a staged approach to the graduate student’s career at The University of Kansas. This example of how a graduate office at a decentralized Midwestern institution created a multi-channeled approach to information dissemination to graduate students with a minimum or resources will be informative for programs looking to create and strengthen partnerships on campus, build their web presence and communication strategies with students. Concurrent 9 Career Tracks for Graduate Students in the Humanities George Justice, University of Missouri-Columbia Pat Mooney-Melvin, Loyola University Kimberly Nance, Illinois State University According to the pundits, graduate programs in the humanities face an unprecedented crisis. What is the role of Graduate Schools in confronting the challenge of graduate education in the humanities and what opportunities exist to enhance their post-graduate experience? |
| 5:15-6:45 p.m. | Reception |
| 7-9 p.m. | Executive Committee Dinner |
Friday, April 13, 2012 |
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| 7 a.m.-12 p.m. | Registration |
| 7-8 a.m. | Breakfast
Sponsored by ETS Illinois State Meeting Missouri State Meeting State Meetings |
| 8-8:30 a.m. | ETS Presentation |
| 8-11 a.m. | Vendor Exhibit Tables |
| 8:45-10 a.m. | Hot
Topics 1 Challenges Dictated by Transformed Graduate Education for Smaller Universities and Private Institutions Connie Lightfoot, Taylor University James Fuller, Indiana Wesleyan University As Graduate Education units are being implemented in smaller universities and at private institutions, leaders in these units struggle with providing the full-spectrum of experiences that may be needed for students and faculty in these programs to build a graduate identity. This session is designed to provide an opportunity for leaders of graduate education units in small and/or private institutions to discuss their unique challenges and opportunities, especially as they relate to transformation in education. Hot Topics 2 Centralized vs. Decentralized Models Diana Carlin, St. Louis University A comparison of centralized and decentralized structures for graduate education, including discussion of the financial costs analysis presented by Moheb Ghali in the Communicator (Volume 44, Number 5 - June 2011). Hot Topics 3 MAGS/ETS Award for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Admissions Sam A. Attoh, Loyola University Craig Pierce, Marquette University Kimberly Nance, Illinois State University Robert Augustine, Eastern Illinois University (past winner) The MAGS/ETS Award competition encourages and recognizes excellence and innovation in domestic and international graduate education at both the graduate school and program level. Applications may relate to any facet of the graduate education process, including improving student recruitment and retention, enhancing degree attainment, increasing the number of underrepresented minorities and international students, using technology to communicate with and attract prospective applicants in new and effective ways, and strengthening programmatic efforts to improve degree completion. Past winners of the competition will share the ideas and processes they followed for a successful proposal. Members o the Award Committee will discuss what they have looked for in making their decisions. |
| 10-10:15 a.m. | Break |
| 10:15-11:30 a.m. | Special
Session on Graduate Students
Quality of Life Student Life and Wellness by Design: Intentional Approaches to Developing a Student Quality of Life Matt Helm, Michigan State University As part of this session, participants will learn how the Graduate School at Michigan State University collaboratively and systematically studied the student life and wellness needs of graduate students and designed a new graduate student life/wellness unit within the graduate school with specifically designed interventions that facilitate student retention, wellness and a higher quality of life. Assessment of Graduate Students Quality of Life Carol Shanklin, Kansas State University Lee Williams and Tom Davidson, University of Oklahoma This session will describe an instrument that was developed to assess 13 factors influencing graduate students' perception of Quality of Life. Results of survey administration in two comprehensive research universities one of which is a land-grant university will be presented with implications for student services. Moderator: Brooke Noonan, University of Chicago |
| 11:30 a.m. | Meeting
Adjourns Carol Shanklin, MAGS Chair |
| 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. |
Executive Committee Meeting Maria C. Di Stefano, MAGS Chair |
