Materials linked from the May 26, 2011 Graduate Council agenda. Draft Graduate School Strategic Directions NOTE!!! This is a very preliminary overview of the kinds of directions and investments that the Graduate School Leadership team is considering. We need input from others including the Graduate School staff, Graduate Council, Grad Program Directors, Advisers, students and stakeholders to develop a strategic plan. This is a very early first step to understand issues, hear new ideas, set goals, and plan tactics to achieve those goals. The information herein reflects ideas generated from discussions that the Grad Dean has had with the following:  President Ray  Provost Randhawa and Vice Provost Warner  All academic deans and several Associate Deans  Dean of Students, Mamta Accapadi  Vice Provost for International Programs, Sunil Khanna  Vice President for Research, Rick Spinrad  Vice Provost for Informational Services, Lois Brooks  INTO leadership, Amy McGowan and others  Grad School Leadership  Graduate Women’s Network staff, Beth Rietveld  Selected graduate students (I am having lunch with 5 students each week)  Gita Ramaswamy, Director of Assessment  Bella Bose, EECS  Affirmative Action Office, Roni Sue  CGE Leadership  Director, Human Resources, Jacqueline Rudolph I will be meeting with  Graduate program directors and department Heads, by Division  Graduate Council now and repeated meetings (or a sub‐committee) who will help to craft the 5‐year plan  Additional Graduate Students  Grad Deans at PSU,U of O and WOU  OSU Foundation Financial resources available and funding models Based on our current budget allocations and expenditures we have approximately $250‐$300k in recurring funds that we should invest strategically in new, long‐term initiatives (positions or other recurring efforts) and another $150‐250k per year that we should be spending from our carry over (non‐recurring) to make short‐term impacts in high return investment areas. Funding models and administration of existing and future Interdisciplinary programs should be reconsidered. E.g., a shared funding model (Central with Colleges and Ecampus where appropriate) and administratively housed in a home department. We will be coordinating with the Foundation and Academic Deans to raise money for Scholarships and Fellowships. Strategic priorities – more background information is needed. For instance, understand how Graduate Programs in peer institutions are structured and function. Have a GRA research all programs offered among our peers and compare theirs to ours. What follows are some initial ideas for short‐term improvements. I need YOUR feedback on areas that we should be considering. A. Recruitment  Coordinate efforts among degree programs  Focus on those areas with capacity for growth: non‐thesis programs and Provost‐
initiative hire areas.  Coordinate with University recruitment efforts, Admissions, Marketing and INTO B. Admissions  Go paperless in nearly all that we do ‐‐ digital transcripts, etc. Coordinate with COB, others.  Academic standard = 3.0 gpa; find processes to allow students to meet other competencies.  English training through INTO for international students with inadequate English abilities  Bacc core training through classes – work with others to identify a path for international students. C. Student quality  Provost’s Fellowships and recruitment – ensure access to all programs  Identify, recruit and retain the best and brightest D. Enrollment  Acquire a list of the new Faculty hires and their areas of expertise – Project potential number of new students as a result of Provost‐initiative hires in each grad program – develop an alignment matrix.  Grad programs to sunset or restructure ‐‐ identify them – e.g., Entomology  Interdisciplinary programs to grow – Conservation Biology, Plant Sciences, Environmental leadership, Public Policy(?), Climate Change Science  Professional degree growth capacity – develop predictions for future enrollment/capacity. e.g., PSM, MBA, MPP, MPH, MNR, etc. Coordinate recruitment efforts  Begin working with Ecampus to assess capacity for growth of graduate degree programs, especially non‐thesis degrees.  INTO ‐‐ internationalization; reduce redundancy among Graduate School, INTO and International Programs office E. Time to completion: what are best practices? Assess effectiveness of the continuous enrollment policy. Compare what we do to others. What works best? F. Assistantships and scholarships  Complete plans to offer a Graduate Teaching Certificate  Initiate Foundation efforts around scholarships, fellowships and travel grants with academic Deans 
Align strategic goals for Graduate School with the Research Office and theirs with ours to ensure support for students and post‐docs while increasing research capacity  Provide incentives for faculty to support PhD students on grants. G. Diversity support/enhancement  Invest in additional diversity recruitment scholarships each year  Monitor other diversity efforts and hold programs accountable for investments H. Internationalization ‐‐ align our strategic goals with INTO and theirs with ours Space Request a space audit for the Graduate School and consider how we might arrange ourselves as new people and duties are added. Professional development  Staff – Banner, IT, and other training opportunities  Students –grants, writing, teaching certificate, ethics, value‐added training  Advisers – DPD training; mentoring workshops Assessment/Accreditation  Grad Program Review aligned with certification reviews ‐‐ reduce redundancy  Data capture from Banner and on‐line documents to assess metrics regularly  On line exit interviews – adaptive management process; nearly complete.  Alumni tracking – outcomes assessment. Work with Alumni Association Possible new positions and investments New or replacement positions  Support Staff position (1.0 FTE)  Research Office Liaison and Post‐doc program oversight (0.5 FTE)  Associate Dean replacement (6 mos.) while Fisk is on sabbatical leave  IT Technical support (1.0 FTE)  Student Intern (0.49 FTE GRA)  Recruitment – PD needed; must coordinate with others Others???? Possible Investments Highest Priority by Grad School leadership  Travel grant (leverage from ASOSU and departments; 10 per term)*  Web improvements*  Mentoring and workshops (e.g., Hugh Kearns & Peter Fiske)*  Develop a “Craigslist” – like site for available TAs; coordinate with the Career Center*  Revive the proposed TA Certificate Program*  Continue and Expand Faculty Mentoring* Other possibilities 
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Increase our opportunities for Diversity Fellowships Fund and instructor for an expansion of the Ethics course IST520X (1 cr.) to all terms Professional Development for Faculty and Staff Training in Patent Development Campus Visit/Orientation improvements Preparing future faculty Grant/Dissertation Writing Program Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates Program Difference, Power and Discrimination training for Grad Advisers Develop and support new Interdisciplinary Programs Others???