Graduate/Doctoral Council Meeting

September 17, 2015

Announcements:

The Graduate CouncilMembership:• One faculty representative per

department• 3 student representatives (2 master’s

student, one doctoral student)

Minutes online:http://www.gradcollege.txstate.edu/About/Grad_Council.html

The Graduate CouncilRole:• Advisory board and as such governs

policies of The Graduate College• Liaison between The Graduate College

and the academic unit– Share information with other graduate

advisors in your department– Share information with faculty– Share relevant information with students– Bring concerns/issues to the Council

Please,• Read and redistribute

the GradBulletin (see image on the left)

• Notify us of events or use the university’s calendar

FERPA & House Bill 4046• FERPA provides students access to their

own educational records, while simultaneously preventing third parties from having access.

• FERPA covers records of applicants who subsequently become students, House Bill 4046 extends this to all applicants.

Other Security Concerns• Transcripts are not allowed to be

emailed• Student records should not be

uploaded to a TRACS site.

Scholarships Awarded 2014-2015

Award Number of Students

Dollar Amount of Scholarships Awarded

Celebrity Classic Scholarships 12 $46,500

Graduate College ScholarshipsApplied Arts pools funds

16612

$299,500$48,000

Doctoral Merit Fellowships /One-time Merrick funding

12 $93,000

Master’s Merit Fellowships 24 $57,500

Dissertation Research Fellowships 11 $45,884

Thesis Research Fellowships 40 $75,356

Summer Incentive 0 0

TOTALS 267 $665,740

Research Support FellowshipsNew: Students apply directly

• Graduate College Doctoral Research Support Fellowship– Up to $5,000 to cover expenses directly related to conducting

dissertation research– Students must have advanced to candidacy at the time of

application– Spring 2015 fellowship applications must be submitted via the

Scholarship System by November 16, 2015.

• Graduate College Thesis Research Support Fellowship– Up to $2,000 to cover expenses directly related to conducting

master’s thesis research– An approved thesis proposal must be on file in The Graduate

College at the time of application– Spring 2015 fellowship applications must be submitted via the

Scholarship System by November 16, 2015.

Graduate Student Conference Travel Support

*This represents an increase of $27,245. We funded 103 more students than last year

Travel Award Amounts:Up to $150 for travel within the state Up to $200 for travel with the US, Canada and Mexico Up to $300 for travel to other countries

We partially fund up to two trips per student.

2014-2015 Source of Funds Amount Number of Students

Student Service FeeOne-time Funding Student Service FeeAdditional Graduate College Funds

$21,000$15,000$23,405

Total: $59,405* 313

Conference and Research Contest Abstract Deadline: September 25, 2015

Conference Website

Graduate Council Meeting Sept. 25, 2013

Texas State Outstanding Thesis Award

• Awards in 3 different categories a) Social Sciences, Business, and Education b) Life Sciencesc) Digital Scholarship (in any field)

• $500 each• Winners will enter Conference of

Southern Graduate School’s competition

The Graduate College’s Outstanding Mentor Award

• Recognizes and honors a faculty member who has had outstanding success in mentoring graduate students

• $2,500 award to be paid into faculty member’s research account

• Eligibility criteria aligned with criteria established by CSGS. The Graduate will nominate campus winner to CSGS

• More info, see mailing

Grad College Shop Talks

Navigate to The Graduate College home page, then click on the Current Students menu, then click on Workshops – Shop Talks

Discussion

Admissions and 3-Year Bachelor’s Degrees

• Following AACRAO guidelines for the admission of international students

• Students with 3-year bachelor’s degrees from Bologna countries can be considered for admission if the degree program so chooses

Recruitment

Applicants Diff. Change Accepted Diff Change

2014 2015 2014 2015

Doctoral 181 206 25 13.8% 92 95 3 3.3%

Master's 3,497 3457 -40 -1.1% 1558 1713 155 9.9%

Post-grad. 399 344 -55 -13.8% 252 213 -39 -15.5%

Total 4,080 4007 -73 -1.7 1902 2021 119 6.3%

New students

EnrollmentNew Students All Students

Enrolled Diff. Change

2014 2015

Doctoral 65 68 3 4.6%

Master's 710 977 267 37.6%

Post-grad. 165 123 -42 -25.4%

Total 940 1168 228 24%

Graduates Diff. Change2013-2014

2014-2015

Fall 423 452 29 6.8%

Spring 702 797 95 13.5%

Summer 331 302 -29 -6.8%

Total 1456 1551 95 13.5%

Headcount SCH

2014 2015 2014 2015

4201 4126 32,846 32,381

Recruitment Funding• Funds spent 2014 / 2015:

– $104,000 to 71 programs

• Funds 2015-2016:– Up to $1,000 per program to be requested

by Jan 31, 2016 (+ report on prior year)– Starting Feb 1, 2016, unclaimed funds

available to all on a first come first serve basis

• Use recruitment funding request form

Project: Graduate Student Support Through Completion

• Purpose: to better understand our graduate students’ experiences and how those experiences support or impede progress toward their degrees. The goal of the project is to use the findings to implement new, or fine-tune existing, services and professional development initiatives that support graduate students.

• Survey (current & recent alumni) & Focus Groups (six groups)

Project: Graduate Student Support Through Completion

• Survey:– 1,826 completed surveys (response rate of 21.6%)– 36 questions and “groupings” of response items.

Questions were grouped around:• Demographic Info• Program Support• Academic advising and mentoring• Economic and Financial Factor• Department Resources, Events, and Environment• Overall University Climate, Resources, and Services• Personal Circumstances and Time Management

Project: Graduate Student Support Through Completion

• Survey:– Examples of some descriptive findings:

Quality of graduate

curriculum

Majority response: Satisfied (720; 39.6%) & Very Satisfied (689; 37.9%) N=1817

Current Doctoral Satisfied (40.8%)

Current Master's Satisfied (40.6%)

Alumni Doctoral Tie; Very Satisfied and Satisfied (41.2%)

Alumni Master's Very Satisfied (42.4%)

Program expectations are

clearly articulated during all the

major stages of the program.

Majority response:Strongly Agree (806; 44.2%) N=1824

Current Doctoral Strongly Agree (42.7%)

Current Master's Agree (39.5%)

Alumni Doctoral Strongly Agree (51.9%)

Alumni Master's Strongly Agree (52.8%)

I feel adequately prepared as a

result of my graduate degree

work.

Majority response:Agree (719; 39.6%) & Strongly Agree (704; 38.8%) N=1816

Current Doctoral Agree (41.9%)

Current Master's Agree (42.6%)

Alumni Doctoral Strongly Agree (53.8%)

Alumni Master's Strongly Agree (44.8%)

Analysis example: Do students feel adequately prepared as a result of their

graduate degree work?

• We asked students to rate the statement “I feel adequately prepared as a result of my graduate degree work” on a 5-point Likert scale from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree: – We ran a multiple regression on 35

independent variables; 12 of those variables statistically significantly predicted the response to that statement (F(12, 1651) = 199.314, p < .001, R2 = .592, Adj. R2 = .589)

9/21/2015 23

Analysis example: Do students feel adequately prepared as a result of their

graduate degree work?– 12 of those variables statistically significantly predicted the response to the statement “I

feel adequately prepared as a result of my graduate degree work”. Except where noted, responses were constructed as a 5-point Likert scale from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree:

– I have access to adequate information on research ethics and responsible conduct of research pertinent to my field of study.

– Program expectations are appropriate during all the major stages of the program.– I have opportunities to provide feedback to the program.– I sometimes lose the motivation to undertake my research. (inverse)– I have access to research opportunities to prepare me for dissertation/thesis or

other research.– I have access to constructive feedback about my work.– I feel that I need to get work experience in addition to research experience.

(inverse)– I can be overly concerned about attaining perfection.– I have found it difficult to manage a long-distance relationship with my significant

other.– Academic experience at Texas State (5-point Likert scale, ranked from Poor to

excellent)– Quality of course instruction (5-point Likert scale, ranked from Very Unsatisfied to

Very Satisfied)– Quality of graduate curriculum (5-point Likert scale, ranked from Very Unsatisfied

to Very Satisfied)• The top two predictors are in red• The blue color indicates inverse predictors9/21/2015

Project: Graduate Student Support Through Completion

• Analysis Foci:– What factors affect students’ time-to-degree?– Do students feel adequately prepared as a result of their graduate

degree work?– What factors influence whether students experience support

during their graduate program?– What barriers do students face in completing their research?– What factors affect students’ academic experience overall?

• ANOVA, Multiple Regression, Multinomial Regression, and Logistic Regression were used depending on the data type and analysis needs within each research question.

• Working on: Focus Group data

• NEXT STEPS• Faculty Work Groups: interested in looking at some of these foci

with a view toward thinking about pragmatic ways to support & improve graduate education? Contact Eric…

Graduate Admissions Document Upload (GADU)

• Allows students to upload supporting documents

• Will soon allow students to request letters of support electronically

• Will lead to quicker application completion

GADU continued• We state on our program pagesApplicants will electronically submit the documents listed above to The Graduate College at https://tim.txstate.edu/gadocumentupload/. Please only submit what is required by the program. Any additional documents mailed or emailed to our office will not be attached to applications. Letters of recommendation may be sent by the recommender via e-mail to gradrqmt@txstate.edu. Recommenders will need to include the applicant name and date of birth, and preferably a student ID number.

GADU Required Departmental Action• Link to text on previous page or include it

on your pages. • Update recommendation forms

– Recommendations need to include at the top: name of student, their date of birth, and (ideally) a student ID number. Indication whether or not student has waived their right to see the letter.

– Instructions to email (not mail) the letter to gradrqmt@txstate.edu

Graduate Students & Title IX

• All new graduate students will have to undergo Title IX awareness training

• All graduate student employees are considered responsible employees of the University and thus have Title IX reporting requirements. All graduate student employees will be notified by EEO to complete online Title IX training

Reminders

• Remember to submit your program’s dissertation defense info at: http://www.gradcollege.txstate.edu/ddannfm.html

• Appears on The Graduate College webpage at: http://www.gradcollege.txstate.edu/ddann

Graduate Council Meeting Sept. 25, 2013

Next meetings– Monday, October 19, 2015, 1:00 – 2:30 pm in Alkek 105/106– Monday, November 16, 2015, 1:00 – 2:30 pm Alkek 105/106– Thursday, January 28, 2016, 1:00 – 2:30 pm in Alkek 105/106– Thursday, February 25, 2016, 1:00 – 2:30 pm in Alkek 105/106– Monday, March 28, 2016, 1:00 – 2:30 pm Alkek 105/106– Monday, April 25, 2016, 1:00 – 2:30 pm Alkek 105/106

If you are unable to attend, please let Sylvia Mobley (sm39@txstate.edu) know the faculty member’s name in your unit who will attend the meeting on your behalf.