Committee on Doctoral Education

Short URL:  http://fora.aa.ufl.edu/go/54

President Machen's Charge to the Committee:

The Board of Trustees has reaffirmed research and graduate education as UF’s primary emphases. These emphases, when coupled with our goal to maintain and improve our position as a top-ranked public university, suggest an examination of UF’s doctoral programs, including their successes, reputations, and productivity. 

We are fortunate to have two detailed datasets to inform this examination. The first is the recently released NRC dataset. We also have the detailed dataset compiled last year by the Graduate School.

I ask the committee to use these datasets and other information that you may find appropriate to provide advice to the President, the Senior Vice Presidents and the Dean of the Graduate School about the following issues:

• What are the lessons and best practices to be learned from units with successful doctoral programs?
• What criteria should be applied to determine reallocation of resources to doctoral programs?
• How should the university choose a set of doctoral programs to strengthen, through reallocation of resources, with the goal of raising them into the top 25 programs nationally?
• What is the value, if any, in maintaining doctoral programs perceived to be weak in one or more important dimensions?

I also ask that you query campus doctoral programs about the following:

• Does the NRC ranking reflect accurately the current status of the program? Would you rank your program among the top 10 or 25 programs. In the top 50% of programs nationally or the lower 50%?
• What resources and strategies would be required to raise your program into the top 10? Into the top 25? Into the top 50%?

I thank you for your service on this important committee, and I ask that you report your findings to me by February 15, 2011.