Faculty Council Presentation: October 25, 2018 Task Force on Graduate Student Funding Preliminary Findings and Recommendations Faculty Council Presentation: October 25, 2018

Task Force Charge Examine the state of graduate student funding at UNC Charlotte and make recommendations surrounding two critical aspects of graduate student support: Secure sustainable and scalable funding for graduate students. Make the most effective and efficient use of internal and extramural resources.

Task Force Members Co-Chairs Members Rick Tankersley, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences   Johnna Watson, Graduate School Members Jack Cathey, Belk College of Business Claudia Flowers, College of Education Benjamin Gordan, Student Representative, Biological Sciences Jose Gamez, College of Arts + Architecture Christine Haynes, Graduate Council Chair Richard Leeman, Faculty Council Chair Heather Lipford, College of Computing and Informatics Annette Parks, Graduate School Heather Smith, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Tony Schmitz, College of Engineering Michael Thompson, College of Health and Human Services

Task Force Activities Campus Forums Solicited input from students, faculty and staff Solicited feedback on draft recommendations Data Collection and Analysis Assessed the nature and scope of graduate student funding Bi-Weekly Meetings Reviewed and discussed standard and best practices Developed set of overarching goals and guiding principles Assembled key findings and associated evidence Developed draft recommendations

Key Findings #1 GA Stipends Management of institutional Graduate Assistantships is decentralized, resulting in a diversity of funding models and policies governing eligibility, duration of support, stipend levels, and workload. Many graduate assistantship stipends are funded with institutional dollars instead of extramural funds; the relative contribution of extramural funds to graduate student support has declined in recent years. The number of graduate students supported on extramural grants and contracts has not increased proportionally with increases in award funding.

Key Findings #1: Cont GA Stipends Many graduate assistantship stipends are far below national averages, and stipends for many students are below the poverty line; nearly all programs fail to provide stipends that are above a living wage. Lack of competitive stipends makes it difficult for programs to attract and retain exemplary students.

GAs by Source Graduate Assistantship Stipend Sources. Bars show dollars spent from Grants & Contracts sources (left) or Institutional General funds (right). Circles show numbers of unduplicated GA positions supported by those dollars, above each bar.

CLAS Graduate Student Stipends 2018 Living Wage (Charlotte) $18,168 (9-months) 2018 Poverty Line $9,045 (9-months)

Annual Survey of Graduate Assistant Stipends Oklahoma State University Benchmarking Stipends Annual Survey of Graduate Assistant Stipends Oklahoma State University

Ranking of Average Stipends All Disciplines, All Ranks $21,735 (survey median) $16,872 (average doctoral stipend, full-time) $10,070 (average master’s stipend, full-time)

Key Findings #2 Tuition and Fee Support Enrollment growth and the addition of new graduate programs has strained the resources available to support students in existing programs, particularly at the master’s level. GASP funds have not increased proportionally with increases in graduate tuition and enrollment. The proportion of GASP funds awarded to non-resident students has increased substantially. Funding packages have not kept up with increases in the estimated cost of attendance, especially fees, health insurance, and tuition increments.

Students Supported with GASP

Distribution of GASP Support

Reliance on Federal Aid Academic Year 2017-2018 AID YEAR STUDENT LEVEL NUMBER OF GRADUATE STUDENTS ENROLLED OR WITHDRAWN NUMBER OF GRADUATE STUDENTS WITH FEDERAL LOANS PERCENT OF GRADUATE STUDENTS WITH FEDERAL LOANS TOTAL FEDERAL LOAN AMOUNT AVERAGE FEDERAL LOAN AMOUNT 2017-2018 GR 6,827* 2,006*** 29.38% $30,026,963 $14,969 4,912** 1,841*** 37.48% $27,501,349 $14,938 * Unique (all) graduate students who enrolled in the fall or spring or both. ** Graduate students enrolled in the fall or spring or both; only includes U.S. citizens. *** Average debt amounts also include debt graduate students had prior to graduate school enrollment.

Reliance on Federal Aid All Graduate Students who Graduated in 2017-2018: AID YEAR STUDENT LEVEL DEGREE TYPE AVERAGE LOAN DEBT AMOUNT 2017-2018 GR ALL GRADUATE DEGREES $53,184 CERTIFICATE $56,868 DOCTORATE $80,147 MASTERS $49,599 All Graduate Students (U.S. Citizens) who Graduated in 2017-2018: AID YEAR STUDENT LEVEL DEGREE TYPE AVERAGE FEDERAL LOAN DEBT AMOUNT 2017-2018 GR ALL GRADUATE DEGREES $54,076 CERTIFICATE $59,226 DOCTORATE $79,328 MASTERS $50,085

Key Recommendations

Recommendation #1 Build a Sustainable Graduate Assistantship Model: Stipends for GA positions should be managed by the Colleges. Programs should manage GAs as “positions” that are tied to specific instructional or research needs. New full-time GA positions must include stipend, resident tuition, fees and health insurance. Establish a GA workload policy Establish a GA baseline compensation of $18K per academic year, 20 hours per week Annually benchmark GA stipends against national and peer data for baseline and competitive wages.

Recommendation #2 Provide a Scalable Tuition Model: Tuition and fee support should be managed by the Graduate School. Only full-time GAs should be eligible to receive tuition support. Resident tuition and fee support should be coupled to all full-time GA positions for doctoral AND master’s students. Non-resident tuition differential support (NRTD) should be provided for all full-time grant funded GAs (if needed). Non-resident tuition differential support (NRTD) support for institutional GAs should be distributed to programs based on program performance. The Graduate Assistant Support Program (GASP) should be continually funded to cover annual increases in tuition and fees.

Questions?