Inside this Issue
Graduate Enrollment Holds at Peak Levels
Enrollment............................ 1
Graduate enrollment at UCO has almost never been higher. In the last two decades, four
Elise Marrs Greeting............ 2
years have produced all five of the highest graduate FTE figures. This is the conclusion of
UCO’s New OKC Prgms...... 2
of the top fall enrollment headcounts have occurred in the last four years, and the last five
a new study, by Dean Richard Bernard, which draws on research by previous JCGS Deans
S. Narasinga Rao and John Garic. UCO Demographics Books and Factbooks of earlier
Cohort v. Non-Cohort
years had reported higher enrollment figures, but, as Rao and Garic found that UCO had
Graduation Rates................. 3
counted post-baccalaureate (non-degree seeking) enrollment as part of graduate enrollment,
Swansea@UCO.................... 4
causing inflated graduate enrollment tallies. Today those students are counted with the
undergraduates. By separating the two and using the current definition of graduate students,
Grad. Council Updates......... 5
Rao and Garic provided pure graduate student enrollment numbers for comparisons.
Int’l Visitors........................... 6
Counting only graduate enrollment, as we do today, the highest fall headcount was the 1,959
Theses Formatting............... 6
recorded in 2002, but the next four highest, which range from 1,832 to 1,881, occurred 2010
to 2013. The highest five FTE counts all came in 2009-2013.
Lana Koch............................ 6
Domestic students have led the way. UCO has tracked international graduate student only
since 1999, but the five highest totals for 1999 to 2013 were in the first of those five years,
1999 to 2003. International graduate students peaked at 466 in 2000. After a huge drop
in internationals after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, international student numbers
have steadily increased to a Fall 2013 total of 214.
Demographic Data, Fall 2007 - Fall 2013
From Fall 2007 to Fall 2013, total enrollment has jumped from 1,414 to 1,850 (30.8%).
In the same time period, new student applications are up 47%, applications up 38%, and
enrollments are up 27%. This suggests that were are attracting more students, but that we
are being more restrictive about whom we admit. Among the colleges, CLA (147%) and
CFAD (81%) have experienced the largest growth, while CMS grew by 25%; CEPS by 13%;
and CB by 9%. CEPS continues to have by far the most graduate students.
Three-quarters of our graduate students are female, and over 60% are part-time. NonHispanic whites are still easily the largest ethnic group, but they now count only 60% of the
students, down from three-quarters just seven years ago. African-Americans are 10.5%.
International students now constitute 11.6% of the students, up from 7.5%.
1
Jackson College of Graduate Studies Newsletter
Spring 2014
2
4000
3500
3000
Heads
w/PB
2500
2000
Heads
w/o PB
1500
Inat.
1000
FTE
500
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
0
Greetings from Graduate School Operations!
Elise Marrs
Manager of Graduate Operations
It’s hard to believe another semester has flown by, and we are preparing for commencement once again. Over 400 graduate
students are set to receive their graduate degrees for the Spring and Summer this year. Congratulations on behalf of the
Graduate College!
As we look forward, JCGS is initializing new processes to come in line with “greener” initiatives. We have begun mapping
out preliminary work processes in scanning graduate academic documents into digital databases. We are hopeful this
transition will reduce paper flow and improve access for both program advisors and staff. Thanks to collaboration with the
OnBase team for guiding us through this change. As we implement and complete the process, we will update the graduate
faculty and advisors.
Graduate Council Suggested Guidelines for Designing UCO’s New OKC Programs
The Graduate Council this spring endorsed a set of concepts for graduate
programs to consider as they develop graduate offerings.
These are not
directives or mandates, but they are in the GC’s view worth consideration and
discussion. There are three groupings.
First, cohort scheduling, which suggests within the varying bounds of each
discipline’s pedagogical values and practices the use of block scheduling (with
its faster individual rewards), required courses (with their group bonding and
cost savings) and early advising to keep students on-track. This is notable, if not statistically-validated, data which show
that UCO graduate programs which use cohorts have higher graduate rates. Second, rewards within the first course,
including an early team project success and a mid-term validation and encouragement. And, third, rewards spread through
the program, such as a benchmark endorsement of the student at the end of the second semester, a successful, real-world
group project tied to an internship and a mentor in the third semester, and a capstone semester in the fourth semester, to
which the students bring the third semester experiences. Some of these concepts may be equally applicable to regular,
on-campus semesters.
Jackson College of Graduate Studies Newsletter
Spring 2014
Cohort vs. Non-Cohort Program Graduation Rates
FT Students Who Entered: Fall ‘07, ‘08, ‘09, ‘10, ‘11 and Graduated Fall ‘13 or Earlier
Programs in Green Schedule for Cohorts
(Data reported by Banner and Program Advisors)
MSN (new)
Did Graduate
Did Not
% Graduated
NA
NA
NA
Speech - Lang Path (program est.)
Jazz Studies
97%
26
4
Psychology-Counsel (program est.)
87%
80%
Educational Leadership
103
28
79%
Athletic Training
3
1
75%
Gerontology
3
1
75%
Business Administration
250
154
62%
Adult Education*
66
46
59%
Criminal Justice Mgmt. & Adm.*
38
28
58%
General Education
126
92
58%
Applied Math & Science
28
20
58%
Music
20
15
57%
Psychology
66
62
52%
Forensic Science
37
35
51%
School Counseling
36
38
49%
Nutrition & Food Management
10
11
48%
Library Media
24
26
48%
English*
46
64
42%
Political Science
21
32
40%
Public Administration
2
3
40%
Early Childhood Education*
15
27
36%
Substance Abuse Studies (new)
8
14
36%
Reading
17
31
35%
Wellness Management*
28
55
34%
Secondary Education
5
11
31%
Family & Child Studies
29
67
30%
Adult and Higher Education
2
5
29%
History
16
45
26%
Engineering Physics
4
13
24%
Elementary Education
7
22
24%
Special Education*
7
24
23%
Design (60-hour program)
3
11
21%
Biology
1
11
8%
3
Jackson College of Graduate Studies Newsletter
Spring 2014
4
Swansea@UCO
Paula Farley
Rose Neal
Emily Stacey
The Swansea@UCO at UCO programs now has seven accepted students with another six under consideration for a Fall
2014 start. Current participants, their entry dates, fields, and UCO advisors are:
Paula Farley, 2011 (History, Patti Loughlin).
Rose Neal, 2012 (English, Pam Washington).
Emily Stacey, 2012 (Politics and Media, Brett Sharpe).
Leeda Copley, 2013 (Gerontology, Doug Reed). Leeda is also a UCO faculty member.
Shay Rahm, 2014 (English, Pam Washington). Shay is also a UCO faculty member.
Michele Campbell, 2014 (Economic History, Randy Ice).
Claudette Robertson, 2014 (History, Stan Adamiak).
University Quality. Swansea is a well-established British university. One of the international university ranking tables puts
Swansea just behind OU and ahead of OSU. Both OU and SU are in a top 400 universities worldwide.
Program Quality. At the time of its inception, the program was reviewed by both the Oklahoma State Regents for High
Education and the Higher Learning Commission. At Swansea, the program faced a stiff initial review by senior Swansea
faculty and an outside reviewer from another British university who grilled the co-directors for 2.5 hours before signing the
agreement. Since its launch, the program has scored well on annual reviews by a Swansea-UCO Board of Studies, which
includes high academic and fiscal officials.
Student Work Quality. All FT students are expected to finish in three years and required to do so in four years. All are
on-track to do so. The oral defense includes two faculty reviewers from inside of Swansea and one from another British
university, and both advisers, who have no votes.
The British Ph.D. thesis is far more thoroughly supervised than the American dissertation. In the case of Swansea@
UCO, both advisers and the student take notes on every advisement session: What was assigned and completed, current
research, discussions, next assignment, etc. Swansea files those notes and the Swansea@UCO director reviews them.
They are available for review during Swansea’s regular three-year accreditation evaluations. The students face annual
reviews. If they have varied from their original plans, they must defend the changes.
Jackson College of Graduate Studies Newsletter
Spring 2014
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The first three Swansea@UCO students are winning high praise, scoring as well as the best Swansea-based students.
Each of the three second-year students have already presented parts of their work at conferences. One student, Emily
Stacey, is working on the effects of social media on recent Arab uprisings. Her conferences were in Amsterdam, Dubai,
Morocco, and Oxford, and England, and as a result of her efforts she is already employed by a news agency in Cairo, Egypt.
Another, Paula Farley, has uncovered the role of Catholicism in Elizabeth Fox Genevese’s political swing from left to right.
The third, Rose Neal, has unlocked unknown motivations in the 19th-century writings of E.D.E.N. Southworth.
Graduate Council Policy Changes and Resolution
Richard Bernard, Dean, JCGS
2013-14
1. Clarification of Admission Regulations under Partnership Agreements
Provides single statement covering the admission of partnership agreement students. Standardizes our rules and simplifies
admissions evaluations.
2. Setting a Time Limit on Conditional Admission via Attendance at another Accredited University UCO will not accept
transfer credit older than ten years.
3. Places in the Catalog Notice of Ability to Accelerate Master’s Degrees Acceleration is already possible. This would make
that clear in the catalog.
4. Allowing both Concurrent and Sequential Degrees This allows students under certain conditions to pursue two degrees
concurrently. At present, they must seek them sequentially.
5. Allows UTPA Students to Earn 15 Graduate Hours and CAMP Students to Earn 18 Graduate Hours in Mixed Enrollment.
Due to their special circumstances, this allows students in the Urban Teacher Preparation Program and international
students under a Cooperative Accelerated Master’s Program to earn more graduate hours.
6. Expands Time Allowed for Mixed Enrollment. In order to encourage students to takes courses at any time, including
summers, this allows three semesters for mixed enrollment instead of two.
7. Clarification of Time to Degrees. No change in the rules. This is just a clearer statement for the catalog. “UCO awards
full credit for graduate hours completed within six years. Courses completed in more than six years and fewer than
ten years will satisfy program course requirements but will count for only one-half of their listed credit toward the total
credit hours listed for minimum program and degree requirements. Credit hours completed more than 10 years after the
completion of the student’s first graduate course will not be applied toward the master’s degree.”
Resolution Creating JCGS UCO-Metro Retention Best-Practices, Suggested Guidelines for Designing UCO’s New OKC
Programs. Suggests to those developing new OKC programs cohort scheduling, early rewards, linkages of internships
and capstone project requirements.
If approved by Provost Barthell, these changes will go into effect as of July 1, 2014.
Jackson College of Graduate Studies Newsletter
Spring 2014
6
JCGS Hosts International Visitors
In April, JCGS in conjunction with the Department of English and the College of Education
and Professional Studies hosted the visit of Drs. Leonardo Buonomo and Claire Fennell
and Ms. Judy Moss, all from UCO’s Italian partner institution, the University of Trieste
(Università degli Studi di Trieste). Dr. Buonomo teaches American literature at the
University of Trieste, Italy, where he is currently Associate Dean for Research in the
Department of Humanities.
His research interests include nineteenth-century and
early-twentieth-century American writing (in particular the literary representation of Italy
and Henry James’s treatment of New York); Italian American authors; and American popular culture (especially American
television series). He is the author of several essays and articles and three books: Backward Glances: Exploring Italy,
Reinterpreting America (1831–1866) (Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 1996), From Pioneer to Nomad: Essays on Italian North
American Writing (Guernica, 2003), and Immigration, Ethnicity, and Class in American Writing, 1830-1860: Reading the
Stranger (Fairleigh Dickinson UP/Rowman & Littlefield, 2013). In quasi-retirement, Dr. Fennell teaches medieval English,
and Ms. Moss, TESL. Drs. Jan Wetsel, Kirk Webster and Bryan Duke of CEPS met with them and their colleagues in
Trieste, as did Drs. Pam Washington, CFAD and English, Mickey Hepner, CB, and Mr. Jesse Miller, Photography. Dr.
Bernard set up the agreement between UCO and Trieste, which allows UCO faculty to teach in Italy for brief periods and for
UCO to host Italian colleagues here.
GC Committee Looks at Theses Formats
Like other U.S. graduate programs, UCO is receiving requests for modifications from the standard written master’s thesis.
With the support of the Graduate Council, Dr. Bernard has appointed a special Ad Hoc Committee on Thesis Formats to
review policies of other institutions and recommend either a continuation or a modification of the UCO policy. With John
Springer (English/Film) as chair, the committee includes: Kirk Webster (Educational Leadership), Jessica Sheetz-Nguyen
(History), Hari Koturi (Biology), Lanie Gabbard (Design), and Caleb Lack (Psychology). A committee report is due to the GC
next December.
Welcome to Lana Koch!
Lana Koch is a new addition to the Graduate Office staff. Lana assumed the previous position of
Che’La Nalls as Admissions Specialist. Che’La Nalls assumed the job of Admissions Counselors for
recently retired Terry Nolan. Lana assists each individual with their specific needs. She reviews and
processes domestic applications for admission, evaluates transcripts, prepares all admission
correspondence, reviews student documentation with Graduate Program Advisors, assists students
with enrollment issues and maintains student records.
Lana, a native of South Africa, has a recent Masters of Education from UCO .She has been a delightful
addition to our staff by bringing her international experience to our office.