Still Seeking Feedback Academic Affairs February 22, 2010

 White paper committee: Steve Sulkin, Matthew Liao-Troth, Merrill Peterson, Edward Ruchman, John Rybczyk, Elliott Smith, Kate Wayne, Lina Zeine  Moheb Ghali  Paula Gilman and Barbara Fasser  Council of Deans  Faculty and staff who contributed to analyses and feedback so far Academic Affairs February 22, 2010

2000 and 2009 Academic Affairs February 22, 2010

President and Provost Acknowledge the Value of Graduate Education at Western Graduate students serve as mentors, role models and instructors in ways that can and often do enrich the undergraduate experience. Graduate students contribute to the intellectual climate of the campus, which can be important to recruiting the best faculty. Western has distinctive areas of expertise through which it contributes to vitality and quality of life of the region; some of these are reflected in specialized graduate programs. The HECB System Design plan calls for comprehensive institutions like Western to play a greater role in graduate education Academic Affairs February 22, 2010

 Manage Expectations ◦ Be realistic ◦ Gradually increase number of graduate students and programs; do not establish an arbitrary target of 10% graduate enrollment ◦ Recognize the greater expense of graduate programs relative to undergraduate programs ◦ Caution warranted given WWU’s state funding, which is the lowest among the publics ◦ There are shortcomings in some undergraduate students’ experiences that should not be neglected or underfunded due to expansion of graduate education Academic Affairs February 22, 2010

 Gradually expand proportion of graduate students Fully enroll existing quality programs Gradually expand programs in niche areas Conduct thorough market and resource analyses prior to program approval Create pathway to residency for out of state students Continue and possibly increase attention to quality of existing programs Eliminate low quality programs Academic Affairs February 22, 2010

 Expand Support for Graduate Students Gradually increase number of TAs who provide direct instruction Assure TAs teaching are mentored by leading faculty Academic Affairs February 22, 2010

 Senate and Provost Establish a Graduate Strategic Advisory Committee The GSAC… Conducts SCOT of WWU’s graduate program portfolio Recommends principles to guide selection and development of new programs Analyses opportunities for program development Sunsets after two years Academic Affairs February 22, 2010

 Expand Number of Funded Graduate Students Use $75K set aside in FY11 budget to increase TAs for on-campus programs  Improve WWU web, including aspects critical to grad recruiting  Seek additional tuition waivers for out of state grad students Academic Affairs February 22, 2010

 Encourage external advisory boards of departments and colleges to attend to graduate programs Deans orchestrate this at college level Boards discuss opportunities for funding of graduate students and programs Academic Affairs February 22, 2010

 Convene graduate students annually Graduate dean convenes meeting in Fall quarter Academic Affairs February 22, 2010

 Establish regular monitoring and reporting on health of graduate education Graduate dean prepares annual report for campus and posts to website Academic Affairs February 22, 2010

 Spring 2010 Statement on Role of Graduate Ed (President & Provost) Form and convene Graduate Strategic Advisory Committee (Senate & Provost)  Reconfirm role of Graduate Council Academic Affairs February 22, 2010

 Spring 2010 GSAC begins to analyze portfolio of graduate programs, relative size, productivity, etc and provides recommendations Creation of first professional science master’s degree by Huxley Advisory boards attend to existing graduate programs in their meetings and communication Graduate dean works with Graduate Council to prepare first annual report on status of graduate education (e.g, #s, programs, prog reviews; graduate faculty status expl) Academic Affairs February 22, 2010

 Fall 2011 Convene graduate students (Graduate Dean) New graduate assistantships for FY11 are allocated WWU Web enhancement begins Decision on additional out of state tuition waivers  Thereafter Other proposals for graduate degrees emerge Periodic reports from GSAC Academic Affairs April 20, 2010

Academic Affairs February 22, 2010