Graduate Enrollment Research Articles

The Visioning of Policy and the Hope of Implementation: Support for Graduate Students’ Teaching at a Canadian Institution


 
 
 
 Graduate students teach within the complex higher education environment of financial constraint, greater student diversity, and growing graduate enrolment (e.g., Austin, 2003). Teaching roles offer financial support and skill development while multiplying responsibilities (Price, 2008). Across the national working papers and institutional reports, policies, and websites that we analyzed, support for graduate students was linked to their roles (e.g., teaching assistants). Formal messages about responsibility varied; national documents pointed to institutions, while institutional documents pointed to departments, courses, and individual graduate students. Most supports for graduate students reported were already existing piecemeal supports with limited implementation, despite policy recommendations for broad, flexible, open-ended, and recognized programming. Future research is needed to further clarify the pathways from vision to action.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Incubating the research independence of a medical scientist training program graduate: a case study.

Physician-scientists play a critical role in discovering new biological knowledge and translating findings into medical practices that can improve clinical outcomes. Collectively, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its affiliated Medical Scientist Training Programs (MSTPs) invest upwards of $500,000 to fully train each of the 900+ MD/PhD students enrolled in these programs. Nevertheless, graduates face the challenges of navigating fragmented intervals of clinical training and research engagement, reinitiating research upon completing their residencies, managing financial pressures, and competing for funding following what is typically four or more years of research inactivity. Together, these barriers contribute to the high attrition rate of MSTP graduates from research careers. The authors designed and implemented (2009-2014), for a single trainee, an alternative postgraduate training model characterized by early research engagement, strategic mentoring, unyoked clinical and research milestones, and dedicated financial support. The pilot training experiment was so successful that the trainee secured an NIH project grant and completed his transition to research independence 3.5 years after starting the experimental training schedule-nearly 9 years earlier (based on age) than is typical for MD/PhDs transitioning from mentored to independent research. This success has demonstrated that unyoking research engagement from conventional calendar-based clinical training milestones is a feasible, effective means of incubating research independence in MSTP graduates. The authors encourage the design and application of similar unconventional approaches that interweave residency training with ongoing research activity for appropriate candidates, especially in subspecialties with increased MSTP graduate enrollment.

Application of Rough Sets Theory in Graduate Enrollment

Enrollment is the first step of the work of postgraduate education, and also a very crucial step. Therefore, in order to successfully carry out the postgraduate training work, be sure to do the enrollment work. In this paper, rough set theory is applied to the enrollment data of one college of a university. Then follow the general steps of data mining to research and analyze the enrollment data. Finally, draw some useful conclusions. These conclusions have a certain significance for graduate enrollment.

科研为导向的研究生评价与激励机制研究——基于人力资本视角

近年来，随着研究生招生规模的不断扩大，研究生科研能力引起用人单位的质疑，培养质量成为社会关注的焦点。本文以此为切入点，在分析当前我国研究生教育存在的主要问题的基础上，结合人力资本理论，提出激励研究生科研，提高其培养质量的路径在于承认在读研究生的“人力资本产权”；赋予其“人力资本收益权”；从人力资本角度建立研究生科研评价标准,并分阶段公示研究生作为人力资本主体的科研业绩等，从而建立以科研为导向的研究生评价与激励机制，带来制度变迁收益——提高研究生培养质量。 In recent years, with the continuous expansion of graduate enrollment scale, the research of ca-pacity of graduate questioned employers and training quality of postgraduate has attracted the focus attention of society. As a starting point, this article analyzes the main problems of postgra-duate education in China based on the combination of human capital theory. Propose ways to en-courage graduate research and improve the quality of training are to confirm the “Human Capital Property Rights” about postgraduate and give its “human capital gains rights”. From the point of view of human capital, evaluation criteria about postgraduate research are established, and performance indicators of postgraduate human capital are published. Through this innovation, we can establish a research-oriented evaluation and incentive mechanism about postgraduate, thus bring benefits from change of institutional—improving the quality of graduate education.

Application of Rough Sets Theory in Graduate Enrollment

Enrollment is the first step of the work of postgraduate education, and also a very crucial step. Therefore, in order to successfully carry out the postgraduate training work, be sure to do the enrollment work. In this paper, rough set theory is applied to the enrollment data of one college of a university. Then follow the general steps of data mining to research and analyze the enrollment data. Finally, draw some useful conclusions. These conclusions have a certain significance for graduate enrollment.

Contemplating the value of comprehensive exams: Do they have a role in a radical agenda for reimagining the PhD in the neoliberal university?

The Canadian university is undergoing the kind of neoliberal restructuring already well-established in the US. Neoliberal restructuring has increased graduate enrolment at universities, because the economy (apparently) needs well-educated workers. It is in this context that the PhD in Canada needs to be rethought. We need to reclaim our “right to the university”. The type of “research” the state, business and even our own universities invite us to conduct is too often in the interests of sustaining a political economy that is unjust. We must make strategic choices in order to undermine the neoliberal university. Inter-alia this may require that we spend less time training our graduate students to be teachers, and invest more energy in supporting original and critical research.

Trends in GRE scores and graduate enrollments by gender and ethnicity

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is a cognitive abilities test that predicts success in graduate training (Kuncel & Hezlett, 2007; Kuncel, Hezlett, & Ones, 2001; Kuncel, Wee, Serafin, & Hezlett, 2010). Because of its reliability, validity, and predictive utility, it is used by many graduate schools to inform admissions decisions. However, some critics describe the GRE as a gatekeeper that limits equitable access across groups to higher education (Dutka, 1999; Pruitt, 1998; Toyama, 1999). We explored how scores on the GRE have fared over time as a function of test-taker gender and ethnicity, and we investigated whether enrollment patterns over time implicate the GRE as obstructing efforts toward increasing parity in higher education. First, we found that the gap between men's and women's GRE quantitative reasoning scores has changed little since the 1980s, although female representation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduate programs has increased substantially. Second, ethnic gaps on the GRE persist, especially in quantitative reasoning, although representation of historically disadvantaged ethnic groups in graduate programs has increased. Enrollment gaps have narrowed despite ethnic and gender GRE gaps persisting, so it appears that continued use of the GRE for admissions decisions has not blocked efforts toward equalizing representation in higher education.

Learner‐Centered SEM and Competency‐Based Education: Exploring the Learning Frontier of Graduate Enrollment Futures

AbstractIn March 2013, the US Department of Education issued guidance to institutions on how to attain approval for competency‐based programs under the current title IV, Higher Education Act (HEA) regulations on direct assessment programs. This article considers the graduate enrollment futures of colleges and universities that have chosen and will elect to adopt and deliver competency‐based programs, and the potential role that strategic enrollment management (SEM) will play in advancing program enrollment and enhancing learner success. This SEM exploration originates at the founding institution, and subsequently emerges in the “academic context” before coming to rest at a liminal zone in the competency‐based learning frontier. Between the borders of student and academic SEM orientations, competency‐based learning figures and grounds the development of a learner‐centered SEM orientation and approach that is aligned with extant initiatives to advance graduate enrollments.

STEM enrichment programs and graduate school matriculation: the role of science identity salience

Improving the state of science education in the United States has become a national priority. One response to this problem has been the implementation of STEM enrichment programs designed to increase the number of students that enter graduate programs in science. Current research indicates enrichment programs have positive effects for student performance, degree completion, interest in science and graduate enrollment. Moreover, research suggests that beyond improving performance in STEM, and providing access to research experience and faculty mentoring, enrichment programs may also increase the degree to which students identify as scientists. However, researchers investigating the role of science identity on student outcomes have focused primarily on subjective outcomes, leaving a critical question of whether science identity also influences objective outcomes such as whether students attend graduate school. Using identity theory, this study addresses this issue by investigating science identity as a mechanism linking enrichment program participation to matriculation into graduate science programs. Quantitative results from a panel study of 694 students indicate that science identity salience, along with research experience and college GPA, mediate the effect of enrichment program participation on graduate school matriculation. Further, results indicate that although the social psychological process by which science identity salience develops operates independently from student GPA, science identity amplifies the effect of achievement on graduate school matriculation. These results indicate that policies seeking to increase the efficacy of enrichment programs and increase representation in STEM graduate programs should be sensitive to the social and academic aspects of STEM education.

Industry/Research Collaboration Advances Oil and Gas Technologies

R&D on Campus - Universities are working hard to anticipate the demand for new technologies and techniques as oil and gas exploration delves into deeper waters, harsher climates, and unconventional fields. Numerous universities are teaming up with the industry on projects such as modeling software, heavy oil technologies, fines migration, drilling technologies, and foam to enhance oil recovery and production. Through these research collaborations, more efficient methods are being developed to meet the increasing global consumption of oil and gas. Petroleum Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines, US The Petroleum Engineering Department at the Colorado School of Mines has a large undergraduate and graduate enrollment and a healthy mix of multidisciplinary research efforts including the Unconventional Natural Gas and Oil Institute; the Marathon Center of Excellence for Reservoir Studies; the Fracturing, Acidizing, Stimulation Technology Consortium; the Energy Modeling Group; the Unconventional Reservoir Engineering Project; and the Physics of Organics, Carbonates, Clays, Sands, and Shales Consortium. One area of focus is the Routes to Sustainability for Natural Gas Development and Water and Air Resources project in the Rocky Mountain Region. For this project, the Petroleum Engineering and the Civil and Environmental Engineering departments are working with their sister school, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and seven other institutions in a Sustainability Research Network (SRN) funded by a 5-year grant from the US National Science Foundation. The mission of the SRN is to provide a logical, science-based framework for evaluating environmental, economic, and social trade-offs between the development of natural gas resources in the Rocky Mountain Region and the protection of water and air resources. The SRN plans to give the results of these evaluations to the public in a way that will improve policies and regulations governing oil and gas exploration. “Our goal is to find the balance between maximizing the development of natural gas and oil resources for the benefits of short-term reduction of CO2 emissions from power generation and transportation, national energy independence, and national job growth, while minimizing damage to water and air resources and risks to human health,” said Joseph N. Ryan, faculty director of the research project.

Tax benefits for graduate education: Incentives for whom?

Numerous studies have examined the enrollment responses of traditional undergraduate students to the introduction of government-provided tuition subsidies, but far less attention has been devoted to the elasticity of demand for graduate education. This paper examines how the tax code and government education policies affect graduate enrollment and persistence rates along with the ways in which students fund their graduate education. Our empirical methodology is based on exogenous variations in the availability of an income tax exemption for employer-provided tuition assistance for graduate courses. We find that graduate attendance among full-time workers age 24–30 is higher when the tax exemption is available, mostly due to higher persistence in public universities and vocational course work. The use of employer aid for individuals enrolled in full-time and public part-time graduate programs also increases. We present some evidence that universities may adjust tuition to capture part of the incidence.

The Effect of Tuition Fees on Student Enrollment and Location Choice – Interregional Migration, Border Effects and Gender Differences

This paper investigates the effects of tuition fees on the university enrollment and location decision of high school graduates in Germany. After a Federal Constitutional Court decision in 2005, 7 out of 16 German federal states introduced tuition fees for higher education. In the empirical analysis, we use the variation over time and across regions in this institutional change in order to isolate the causal effect of tuition fees on student enrollment and migration. Controlling for a range of regional- and university-specific effects, our results from Difference-in-Differences estimations show that there is generally no effect of tuition fees on internal enrollment rates. However, we find a redirecting effect on first-year students‘ migratory behavior as indicated by a signicant drop in the gross in-migration rates in fee-charging states. Further, our results point at a stronger migration response of male students, which, however, can mainly be attributed to a “border effect”. That is, interregional migration flows of male students are redirected from fee-charging universities to those universities that are geographically close by while being located in a non-charging neighboring state. Controlling for these border effects, the relocating trend in long-distance migration of university freshmen does not show any particular gender differences.

Racial Diversity, Legitimacy, and the Citizenry: The Impactof Affirmative Action Bans on Graduate School Enrollment

This study uses data from the CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees and a methodology that supports causal inference to examine the effects of affirmative action bans in Texas, California, Washington, and Florida on graduate student of color enrollment. The findings show that the bans have reduced by 12.2% the average proportion of graduate students who are underrepresented students of color. Given that graduate education is an important pathway for positions of power and influence in our nation, these findings have broad implications for higher education policies that seek to further national educational and democratic goals. They should also help inform legal determinations in cases concerning the constitutionality of affirmative action-related policies.

The Howard University Program in Atmospheric Sciences (HUPAS): A Program Exemplifying Diversity and Opportunity

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses experiences and lessons learned from developing an interdisciplinary graduate program (IDP) during the last 10 y: The Howard University Graduate Program in Atmospheric Sciences (HUPAS). HUPAS is the first advanced degree program in the atmospheric sciences, or related fields such as meteorology and earth system sciences, instituted at a historically black college or university or minority-serving institution (MSI). The PhD program in atmospheric sciences was implemented in 1996 as a direct result of synergies between overlapping interests in initiating interdisciplinary programs within the Howard University Graduate School, and within a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)–funded university research center to produce greater institutional depth and breadth of research in the geosciences. The development of HUPAS has revitalized a significant segment of the Howard University research community, leveraged a significant level of funding for research and training, raised the visibility of the university in a vibrant area of research, and made a great impact on the national statistics for the production of underrepresented minority (URM) advanced degree holders in the atmospheric sciences. Though the HUPAS program is still in its infancy with respect to many well-established programs in atmospheric sciences and meteorology, it has benefited from a number of federal, state, and academic partnerships, which have led to increasing capacity development, improved resources for students, and research infrastructure enhancements. Specific examples of successful partnerships among HUPAS and federal funding agencies such as NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been critical cornerstones in the development process. The student recruitment and retention strategies that have enabled the success of this program and statistics of student graduation during the last decade are discussed. Entering its tenth year, HUPAS has apparently overcome many of the pitfalls that plague the development of IDPs that draw their faculty from existing, traditional departments. It is hoped that the approaches and lessons learned and discussed in this paper may be illuminating and useful for others to emulate in the development of a similar IDP programs in atmospheric and other earth and environmental sciences, especially at MSIs and at institutions with small- to medium-sized graduate enrollments.

Getting a Bigger Picture in Less Time: Viewing Curriculum Reform in a Chinese Graduate Chemistry Program through the Lens of an Organic Structure Analysis Course

As China’s university enrollment has been rapidly expanding since 1999, along with a steady increase in graduate enrollment, graduate-level chemistry education is confronted with many challenges, such as how to enhance the connection between fundamental knowledge and advanced frontier knowledge, and how to encourage students to do self-directed study with creativity and passion. In the 2009–2010 autumn and spring terms, the Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences undertook curriculum reform; one change made reduced the instructional time for most courses to 40 hours from the previous practice of 60 hours, with the intention of freeing up more time for students to do self-directed study. This paper reports on curriculum reform efforts implemented in one fundamental graduate course, Organic Structure Analysis, identifying changes in teaching topics, assessment results (including students’ feedback), and the syllabus (guest lectures were added). During the teaching process, greater efforts were made to introduce new spectra developments as well as broad “practical” applications gathered from top research papers or related to daily life, which are highly welcomed by the students. Students’ feedback data were analyzed and used to guide adjustments to curriculum reform.

Medical physics graduate programs should adjust enrollment to achieve equilibrium between graduates and residents

Medical physics graduate programs should adjust enrollment to achieve equilibrium between graduates and residents

Does Intercollegiate Athletics Draw Local Students to a University?

This article presents evidence showing that success in football and men’s basketball at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level positively affects enrollment of local high school graduates at a college or university. Panel regressions for eight California State Universities (CSUs) from 1986 to 2009 show that one win in football can increase the percentage of local high school graduates entering the local CSUs by 0.051 percentage points and one win against a Division I basketball team results in an increase of 0.018 percentage points.

QUALITY AND ECONOMIES OF SCALE IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A SEMIPARAMETRIC SMOOTH COEFFICIENT ESTIMATION

I. INTRODUCTION Institutions of higher education comprise knowledge creation (research) and knowledge dissemination (teaching). Thus, the university's mission is to deliver quality undergraduate and graduate education and to expand the frontier of academic research. Numerous studies (Verry and Layard 1975; Cohn, Rhine, and Santos 1989; deGroot McMahon, and Volkin 1991; Nelson and Hevert 1992; Lloyd, Morgan, and Williams 1993; Dundar and Lewis 1995; Koshal and Koshal 1995, 1999) have investigated, as in the case of firms, the multiple-product cost function of producing the vector of outputs on undergraduate and graduate education and research. The cost structure of higher education is studied via the scale economies and the scope economies of the cost function. However, these measures of scale and scope economies may be elusive if the quality dimension of colleges and universities is not considered. Without taking into account the quality variation, in the short-run, a university can reduce the average cost of operation by lowering the quality. Universities with more congested educational facilities are substituting facility utilization for capital; universities with a higher student/faculty ratio and less research engagement are substituting quality of education for quantity of undergraduate and graduate enrollment. The consequence is an upward bias in estimating the economies of scale and scope. This conclusion is consistent with the early studies of Nelson and Hevert (1992) which showed that failure to control for class size in cost function may result in specification bias, and an economy of scale is evident if class size is allowed to expand. Quality of higher education is multidimensional. Quality in instruction, faculty research, and the quality of educational environment are all significant factors determining the long-run university cost structure and the crucial determinants of the scale and scope economies of higher education. How and to what extent quality affects a university's operating cost depends on the goal and orientation of the institutions. Higher quality increases the university's cost of operation. But, in a large research-oriented university, a disproportional share of the budget often benefits the graduate, not the undergraduate program. It is unrealistic to assume that quality affects only the average cost and that the marginal costs of various educational programs are independent of quality. Quality is unlikely to be simply a neutral cost-shifting factor. The purpose of this paper is to propose a university cost function and a semiparametric-estimating technique that treats quality as a nonneutral cost-shifting factor, which directly affects the marginal cost of outputs in undergraduate and graduate education. More precisely, the marginal costs of outputs are specified as a nonparametric smooth function of quality. A semiparametric specification of university cost is applied to 56 comprehensive and science/technology universities in Taiwan over the period 2000-2003. II. SEMIPARAMETRIC COST FUNCTION AND ESTIMATION TECHNIQUE Following the conventional multiproduct cost specification for higher education (Cohn, Rhine, and Santos 1989; deGroot, McMahon, and Volkin 1991; Lloyd, Morgan, and Williams 1993; Dundar and Lewis 1995; Koshal and Koshal 1995, 1999), the total cost (C) is specified as a quadratic function of outputs, undergraduate and graduate enrollments. However, the quadratic cost function is modified by allowing for the coefficients to be functions of quality in the following form: (1) C = [[beta].sub.0](Q) + [k.summation over i=1] [[beta].sub.i](Q)[Y.sub.i] + (1/2) X [k.summation over i=1], [k.summation over j=1], [[beta].sub.ij](Q)[Y.sub.i][Y.sub.j] + [m.summation over i=1], [[alpha].sub.i][Z.sub.i] + [epsilon] where C is the total cost of producing k educational outputs (Y), and [Z.sub.i] is the ith institutional characteristics. …

What is the Future of Agricultural Economics Departments and the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association?

AbstractThe downward trends in Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) membership and faculty numbers nationwide have many departments wondering about the future of agricultural economics. The author examines trends in undergraduate and graduate enrollment, as well as trends in extension and experiment‐station funding, to suggest what the prospects are for future survival and growth. Although there exist challenges like shrinking faculty numbers, agricultural economics programs still have a strong undergraduate element and address important research issues. Consequently, agricultural economics should remain viable for many years to come.

Michigan State CSD Program Faces Possible Closure

You have accessThe ASHA LeaderAcademic Edge1 Jan 2010Michigan State CSD Program Faces Possible Closure Kellie Rowden-Racette Kellie Rowden-Racette Google Scholar More articles by this author https://doi.org/10.1044/leader.AE.15012010.8 SectionsAbout ToolsAdd to favorites ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In No realm is safe from the recession, including higher education. The undergraduate division of the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders (CSD) at Michigan State University (MSU) has been recommended for possible closure. On Oct. 30, 2009, the MSU provost sent a list of proposed cuts—30 academic majors, specializations, and other programs within the university—to the university’s board of trustees. The goal of the MSU administration is to approve final cuts by the end of the spring 2010 semester. Although the reasons are varied and include some administrative misunderstandings, the likely culprit is funding, said associate professor Peter LaPine of the CSD department. “The economy in Michigan is so dire that budget cuts to higher education have been deep and painful,” LaPine said, “and the MSU administration is responding to the reduced funds.” An additional 15% reduction is expected in the next fiscal year. Still, the proposal came as a complete surprise to CSD faculty and students. The department has produced high-performing, employable graduates for more than 73 years, and faculty were given no opportunity to weigh in on this proposal, which was formulated by the dean of the College of Communications Arts and Sciences. At press time, undergraduate applications were no longer being accepted; there is hope, however, that the recommendations can be overturned. Current enrollment is 312 undergraduates and 63 graduate students. “The impact on our graduate enrollment will be substantial and immediate,” LaPine said. “We will continue our graduate program; however, very few graduate programs exist without an undergraduate program.” Faculty members are using the delays in the academic governance process to gain support from other units on campus as well as others in the CSD field. Already ASHA and the Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders have written letters to the university’s administration on behalf of the department. Alumni, faculty, and staff also have launched an online petition and are encouraging supporters from both inside and outside the university system, particularly those within the ASHA community, to speak up. “In light of such a well-documented shortage of professional SLPs and audiologists, we certainly hope that the administration will see fit to retain this valuable and needed program,” LaPine said. “Any support we can garner from our colleagues would be appreciated.” Author Notes Kellie Rowden-Racette, print and online editor for The ASHA Leader, can be reached at [email protected]. Advertising Disclaimer | Advertise With Us Advertising Disclaimer | Advertise With Us Additional Resources FiguresSourcesRelatedDetails Volume 15Issue 1January 2010 Get Permissions Add to your Mendeley library History Published in print: Jan 1, 2010 Metrics Current downloads: 72 Topicsasha-topicsleader_do_tagasha-article-typesleader-topicsCopyright & Permissions© 2010 American Speech-Language-Hearing AssociationLoading ...