It is all about the students IGERT It is all about the students

IGERT program intends to: Provide a cultural change in graduate education by… Establishing new models for graduate education and training for… Students who will pursue careers in research and education and… Support an integrative research-based graduate education experience

The research theme is secondary Must have a comprehensive interdisciplinary research theme Must be integrative BUT… The focus is on the educational experience, the training, the courses, how you will get the students to have interdisciplinary experiences

Diverse disciplines & Departments

Adaptive Management: Water, Wetlands, and Watersheds IGERT Engineering Education Law CLAS CALS

Core courses including Team taught courses Ecosystem Modeling (Environmental Engineering) Watersheds (Env. Eng., SNRE, Forestry, Law) Water Politics (Political Science, Women’s Studies) Leadership, ethics, and communication (Women’s Studies, SNRE) Field courses Everglades (Env. Eng., WEC, Law) Botswana (Env. Eng, Law, Women’s Studies, Geology, Geography, Political Science) Costa Rica (Law, Env. Eng.)

Training experiences at international sites

Other educational elements Fostering strong interactions among students and among faculty Innovative educational methods Develop in the students an appreciation for interdisciplinary work and for the broad global impacts of their research Encourage ‘side bar’ projects The PI and/or a Co-PI has to be on each student’s committee

Homeless waifs?

Other elements Engage undergraduates – how will you do this? Disseminate the innovative graduate education activities – how will you do this? Institutionalization of successful elements – how will you do this? Recruiting underrepresented students – how will you do this? How will you handle ‘associate’ students? How will you fund international students?

Evaluation plan Student learning outcomes Faculty learning Institutional learning Recruiting success Dissemination success Trainee follow-up – jobs! Research results

It is ALL about the students!