This year, we began efforts to grow
the Graduate School in terms of numbers, quality, and diversity of
students, as well as focusing on improving services to students and
faculty. Our overall goal is to create the best student-centered
graduate program in the SEC. Here are some changes that were made
this past year and some new and upcoming programs that were
developed during the 2006-07 academic year.
Policy Changes/Improvements in Service
- Simplified “Doctoral Plan of Study” document and moved due date
earlier in student’s career. This will virtually eliminate problems
near graduation time, improve graduation rates, and does not
increase paperwork.
- Near completion on move to make all Grad School forms and
paperwork available on line. Open Door policy now in place for any
student or faculty member to drop in and discuss a problem at any
time and without an appointment.
- Changed Incomplete window from 2 to 4 weeks, virtually
eliminating bogus Academic Warnings to students and providing better
integration with Banner
- Worked with Dot Martin and Financial Aid to change professional
judgment procedures in Financial Aid for GAANN fellows, thus
eliminating policies that were needlessly disadvantaging our
students and inhibiting recruiting of new GAANN fellows supported on
grants
- Began on-line catalog process to save dollars and provide better
service
- Created incentive for students to declare doctoral candidacy
early and formally by providing free business cards to all doctoral
candidates, retroactive to 2003 candidates
- Held “Dumbest Procedure/Silliest Rule contest in Grad School: -
resulted in several changes - - applicant status reports now on-line
instead of bi-weekly paper, so departments and applicants can track
at their leisure. Student applicant queries now go automatically to
respective departments by email, instead of paper, and so forth
- Doctoral Residency: By October 2007, will have
streamlined/simplified policy that enforced SPIRIT of residency
(interaction with faculty and full use of campus research resources)
without needless complications and in keeping with best practices at
elite universities. For present, we are approving EVERY extension
that is supported by departments and colleges and, in several cases,
allowing a second extension semester. We can identify NO student who
has failed to complete requirements for the doctorate or master’s
due solely residency issue or time-to-degree policies
- Created new toll-free number for better service to off-campus
constituents: 1-877-UAGRADS
- Worked with Graduate Student Association to eliminate redundant
policies or actions that were at cross-purposes with easy access to
services; e.g., more liberal travel grant policy, less duplication
in orientation activities
- Streamlined on-line ITAP system for international students and
worked extensively with departments to troubleshoot - - several
units report they are “ecstatic” with the way the Grad School has
helped them.
- Eliminated the long-standing ‘rule’ on continuous registration
in 699 (dissertation research) when students mistakenly registered
for this course before candidacy, thus freeing those many students
from having to retroactively register for credits
- Began working extensively with programs in Gadsden and Anniston
to streamline procedures and eliminate red tape for students
- Worked to integrate central assessment activities with program
review forms and procedures to make the process as seamless as
possible
New Programs/Policies to Improve Quality, Maximize Student
Development Opportunities, Enhance Recruitment and Retention
- Worked with several offices to implement health insurance
coverage policies for 2006-07, working to cover all Fellowship
recipients in 2007-08 and make coverage of GRAs on external grants
as seamless as possible for project PIs.
- Seamlessly phased out the Future Faculty Fellows fellowship
program due to desegregation ruling (after all applications were in
and selection was beginning), and moved FFF funds to other
Fellowship pools in real time; Fellowship offers were made to these
outstanding applicants despite the legal mandate to eliminate the
FFF, and number of minority graduate students offers actually
increased
- Worked with members of the AAGSA to create highly visible
‘Opening the Schoolhouse Door’ portal on the Grad School web
homepage to directly address prospective student and faculty
concerns about whether UA is a welcoming place for minority
students.
- Streamlined application/tracking process for Student Travel and
Research Grants – answers back on proposals almost immediately,
mandatory cost-sharing now required, but unlimited number of
students can be supported from each unit. Funding nearly doubled
from previous year ($74,000 in 2005-06 to over $135,000 to date in
2006-07).
In addition to two existing RFPs in Fall and Spring semesters,
policy changed so that funding requests can be made at any time
during the year.
- University Scholars: created first comprehensive inventory of all
extant programs, created a new Incoming Freshman track, standardized
‘double-dipping’ hours to 15, matching the most liberal guidelines
extant at top universities
- Created new Graduate Recruitment Enhancement (GRE) Program,
partnering with departments and programs to recruit larger, more
diverse, and higher quality applicant pools and increase
matriculation of desired students: Twenty proposal were funded, over
$22,000 in GS awards leveraged with ca. $40,000 in funding from
departments and colleges for Fall 2007 projects.
- Co-sponsored GSA’s 2007 Research Conference: goal, increase
visibility and participation, increase size of awards, begin moving
to a much larger and more prestigious Conference in 2008 and beyond
- Began active work with UA McNair Scholars Program to better
recruit both undergraduate and graduate McNair Scholars. Expanded on
long-standing policy of providing tuition support for entering
graduate McNair Scholars from UA to providing support for ALL McNair
Scholars, regardless of undergraduate institution, and actively
brokered assistantship and fellowship offers for several non-UA
McNair Scholars this spring.
David A. Francko
Dean, Graduate School, and Assistant VP for Academic Affairs
18 May 2007
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