"Steps Taken on the Path Forward" highlights impact of landmark report

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

University Graduate School Dean James C. Wimbush

Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, April 5, 2011, policymakers, business leaders, and higher education stakeholders shared their perspectives on the importance of graduate education to U.S. innovation and competitiveness and discussed the impact of last year’s landmark report “The Path Forward: The Future of Graduate Education in the United States.”

The Path Forward report, a joint effort of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and Educational Testing Service (ETS), called on the federal government, universities and industry to work together to ensure that graduate education remains a viable option for a growing number of students.

The report is produced by the Commission on the Future of Graduate Education, an 18-member group made up of university and industry leaders. James Wimbush, dean of the University Graduate School at Indiana University, is one of seven graduate school deans to serve on the commission.

At this year’s forum, a new paper “Steps Taken on the Path Forward” was released; the document reviews the impact of The Path Forward one year later and outlines issues and challenges confronting graduate education now and into the future. On campuses, the report has:

• Influenced critical decision processes by helping to shape institutional strategic plans and goals for graduate education programs;
• Changed institutional priorities by highlighting the importance of graduate education, the report resulted in making graduate fellowships the top priority for one institution’s fundraising;
• Created new communication channels, such as catalyzing new online discussions between deans and faculty about graduate education issues and development of a video aimed at clarifying career pathways for students; 
• Shaped evaluation metrics and affirming the commitment of graduate deans to developing and using outcome measures and offering more information to prospective and current students;

Introduced new programs, particularly professional development programs for graduate students.

“The report’s findings and recommendations have had an impact on a number of fronts - from federal policy to new university based strategic directions. They have facilitated a national conversation about the role and value of graduate education and its centrality to our quality of life.” said Debra Stewart, president of the Council of Graduate Schools. “While challenges remain, stakeholders across the country have taken the report’s findings to heart and are working to strengthen the graduate education enterprise,” she added.

Among the featured speakers were several policymakers as well as business leaders and graduate deans. Kurt Landgraf, President and CEO of ETS, Stan Litow, VP of Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs, IBM and President of IBM's Foundation, and Ronald Townsend, Executive VP for Global Laboratory Operations, Battelle Memorial Institute, discussed the importance of human talent to innovation and competitiveness.

A panel of graduate deans followed, made up of Robert Augustine, Dean of the Graduate School, Eastern Illinois University; Lisa Tedesco, Vice Provost & Dean, Laney Graduate School, Emory University; and James Wimbush, Dean, The University Graduate School, Indiana University. Each dean shared examples of the ways they used the report at the local and state level.

The event underscored the role of graduate education in maintaining and enhancing U.S. competitiveness and the need to support this strategic national asset.

About The Path Forward report 

The report, The Path Forward: The Future of Graduate Education in the United States, was guided by the Commission on the Future of Graduate Education ─ a group jointly formed by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and Educational Testing Service (ETS) in 2009 to study how graduate education can meet the challenges of the 21st century. The Commission is comprised of 18 university presidents and chancellors, provosts, graduate school deans, corporate leaders and higher education scholars. The report and additional information is available at www.fgereport.org.

Media Contact: Belle Woods / (202) 223-3791 / bwoods@cgs.nche.edu
UGS Contact: Erika Lee / (812) 856-3744 / ebigalee@indiana.edu

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The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) is an organization of over 500 institutions of higher education in the United States and Canada engaged in graduate education, research, and the preparation of candidates for advanced degrees. Among U.S. institutions, CGS members award 93% of the doctoral degrees and 76% of the master’s degrees.* The organization’s mission is to improve and advance graduate education, which it accomplishes through advocacy in the federal policy arena, research, and the development and dissemination of best practices.

* Based on data from the 2009 CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees

Associate Dean David Daleke to join leadership of the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS)

University Graduate School Associate Dean David Daleke

Associate Dean David Daleke of the University Graduate School is the new Secretary/Treasurer for the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS). He will begin his three-year term in 2011-12.

As Secretary/Treasurer, Dean Daleke’s primarily responsibilities will be the collection of member dues and organizing logistics for the annual meeting held each spring. Dean Daleke has also served on the new MAGS Teaching Award committee, which created a new award for teaching assistants (one for a masters and one for a doctoral student) and mounted the first competition.

The University Graduate School regularly connects Indiana University with regional and national grad school organizations to further promote and support excellence in graduate education.

"I am happy to help MAGS fulfill its mission of promoting excellence in graduate education in our region. The work of this organization, and especially the programs offered at the annual meeting of the association, is a great benefit to the graduate programs in the diverse schools that make up MAGS," Dean Daleke said.

MAGS (http://www.mags-net.org/) is a regional affiliate of the national Council of Graduate Schools. Its member colleges and universities are accredited institutions of higher education in the central U.S. offering graduate programs leading to masters, specialist, and doctorate degrees. Areas of active discussion and consideration have recently included the future of graduate education, graduate education funding, program assessment and accountability, as well as attrition, distance education, and administrative and instructional methodologies.

Four Department of English grads to share career paths at panel discussion April 13

April 4, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- So, what can you do with an English degree?

Four recent graduates of Indiana University's Department of English will return to campus Wednesday, April 13, for a 5 p.m. panel discussion about their current careers. This free, open-to-the-public discussion will take place at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, room A201.

The discussion, titled "Working with Public and Professional Writing: What Four Recent English Graduates are Doing with Their Degrees," was arranged by IU Assistant Professor of English Dana Anderson, coordinator for the department's Professional Writing program.

"They will discuss the different professional opportunities they've been able to pursue given their training in English and professional writing," Anderson said.

"Even in these difficult economic times, these students have managed to find different kinds of successes with their English degrees, and it will be engaging to hear the counsel they might have about life after graduation."

Participating alums are:

• Kyle Kartz, a freelance writer;
• Nicholas Parks, language arts and special education teacher at Imagine Life Sciences Academy East in Indianapolis;
• Sara Richart, a student in University of Cincinnati's Accelerated Pathways Graduate Nursing Program; and
• Rachael Tunick, human capital consultant for Deloitte Consulting, LLP.

The alums will discuss their current pursuits in the world beyond academics and the ways in which their training in English prepared them for these opportunities.

Anderson hopes to start a series with perhaps one panel per semester if this program is successful.

Light refreshments will be provided. Current and prospective English majors are especially encouraged to participate.

For more information on the IU Department of English, see http://www.indiana.edu/~engweb/index.shtml.

Call for Applications for the Emissaries for Graduate Student Diversity Program 2011-12

Being an Emissary for Graduate Student Diversity means helping others in the graduate school process, being available as a resource on graduate student life, and representing the strengths and diversity of IU to potential graduate students.

Emissaries are current IU graduate students from a variety of disciplines chosen to represent IU by the University Graduate School. Among other duties, these students produce a blog on student life (http://grademissaries.blogspot.com/), answer questions about life as a graduate student in Bloomington (http://graduate.indiana.edu/emissaries-profiles.php), and offer campus tours to visiting prospective graduate students (http://www.indiana.edu/~grdschl/tours.php).

Interested? Here are the details, including how you apply:

Basic Information
Duration: Fall 2011; Spring 2012; and, Summer 2012 (optional)
Position Open to: all full-time IUB masters and PhD students
Compensation: $500 stipend. Optional: Travel funding and/or $250 summer stipend.
Hours per month: no less than six hours
Sponsor Department: University Graduate School
Number of positions: ten
Application Deadline: Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Website: http://graduate.indiana.edu/emissaries.php

Required Application Materials
To be considered, please complete the following:

1. An online data form (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M8LMJ7L) must be submitted by April 19.
2. A curriculum vitae/resume must be emailed to agep@indiana.edu by April 19.
3. A one-page essay about past experience with similar initiatives, diversity-building efforts, cultural competency, community involvement or leadership skills must be emailed to agep@indiana.edu by April 19.
4. A face to face interview is required.

Once selected, emissaries will sign a contract which certifies the understanding of program requirements, expectations and the basis upon which compensation will be received.

Additional Information
Purpose of program: Emissaries for Graduate Student Diversity serve as first contacts and initial resources for prospective graduate students, in addition to working and engaging in dialogue with graduate programs, departments, the University Graduate School and the Graduate and Professional Student Organization (GPSO).

Program Description: Graduate student emissaries will participate in information sessions, student panels, and new graduate student orientation. Graduate student emissaries will attend monthly meetings each semester with other graduate student emissaries. Meetings will be held with University Graduate School staff, and others interested in graduate recruitment activities.

The program will begin with a required session on Monday, May 2, 2011 and will officially begin the week before classes begin in August 2011 and conclude May 2011. Summer duties may be included.

Essential Functions: Graduate student emissaries promote peer connections between individuals interested in masters and PhD programs, especially in science, technology, mathematics (STM) disciplines, and current IUB graduate students. Graduate student emissaries serve as community-building liaisons between graduate studies and the graduate student body at IUB. Through e-mail, web logs, video blogs, and conversational video on Connect and VYou, graduate student emissaries answer non-academic questions about graduate student life at IUB, Bloomington and other recruitment related questions to prospective graduate student applicants.

Graduate students are required to submit a monthly progress report about their contacts with potential students as well as other recruitment activities to the University Graduate School.

Required qualifications: Applicants must be full-time graduate students in a masters or PhD program at IUB, be in good academic standing, and demonstrate involvement in program, departmental, university or community organizations. Preference will be given to graduate students who are involved in diversity-building activities and programming.

Compensation: Graduate student emissaries will receive a $500 research/travel award for the academic year. In addition, graduate student emissaries who conduct four 1-hour tours to prospective graduate students will also receive funding to recruit at their undergraduate institution or conduct a job talk. Summer duties will receive an additional $250 award.

Questions: If you have any questions regarding the Emissaries for Graduate Student Diversity Program, please feel free to contact Dr. Yolanda Trevino at agep@indiana.edu.

Grad Students: Opportunity to become a member of the IUSA Funding Board

Dear graduate students,

The IUSA Funding Board is currently seeking board members for next year. This board is responsible for allocating the student activities fees we pay each semester to student organization initiatives. Funding Board represents the voice of all students across campus and needs graduate student representation. There are many graduate student organizations on campus who request and receive funds from IUSA Funding Board; as such, having active graduate students on the board to advocate for our symposia and conferences, professional development, and other educational events is quite important.

The board is comprised of 11 regular voting members and 4 alternates and meets for 2-3 hours (beginning at 7pm) on Wednesday evenings during the semester. If you are interested in learning more about student activities and student self-governance or want to participate in the political processes of your campus, please read below and apply!

Forward to your grad program list-servs!

Thanks for your consideration,

Tracy Teel
HESA Master’s Class of 2012
Indiana University Bloomington
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Interested in becoming more "in the know" about what is happening on campus? Want to serve the IU student body? Do you have a passion for student organization programming?

Apply to be a member of next year's IUSA Funding Board--or one of its two Co-Directors! Applications are currently on the IUSA website: http://iusa.indiana.edu/

The IUSA Funding Board meets weekly to decide on funding allocations for several of IU-Bloomington's 700+ student organizations. The time commitment is 3+ hours per week. With a $350,000+ budget, the Funding Board funds more than 200 student organizations each year, helping to bring student organizations' initiatives to fruition. The Co-Director role requires a significantly greater time commitment (12+ hours per week). Please contact iusaaid@indiana.edu if you have questions about either role.

Applications for Board Members are due Friday, April 8th.
Applications for the Co-Director Position are due Wednesday, April 6th.

Graduate Student of the Month: Nicole Willock

Nicole Willock
Religious Studies and Central Eurasian Studies
April 2011

When Nicole Willock was 18, she didn’t know that studying Chinese would change her life. Currently a graduate student in Religious Studies and Central Eurasian Studies at IU, Willock said her desire to research Tibetan culture began when she was studying abroad as a young adult.

“It’s a passion for me to study and I think as a grad student you have to have that passion and tenacity to keep going. An important part of where that comes from is my own personal experiences studying abroad,” said Willock.

Her adventures began when Willock traveled to China to study Chinese at Sichuan University and film at the Beijing film academy. She also visited Tibet for three months and that experience in particular motivated Willock to want to understand Tibet’s place in China and how those diverse cultures interact.

After a year and a half in China, she began a Master’s degree program with a major in Chinese literature and a minor in Tibetan language at Hamburg University in Germany. She also spent time teaching English as a second language for the university and various language companies.

“At the time, I knew I loved to teach and in particular, to teach about China, but it was hard to marry those two in Germany,” she said. “Up to that point, I was ambivalent about being a professor, but I knew I wanted to study Tibet and the best place to study Tibetan is IU; it has one of the best departments in the country. My advisor Dr. Elliot Sperling speaks Tibetan and uses both Tibetan and Chinese language source materials. He’s one of only a few people who can do that.” She also works closely with Dr. Gendun Rabsal from the IU Department of Central Eurasian Studies, who was instrumental in helping Willock select source materials and the subject of her dissertation.

The religious studies part of her doctoral work came from her deep interest in intellectual history. Willock said she likes understanding how people think, and in Tibetan society, those intellectuals tended to be religious figures. Taking classes in religious studies gave Willock the foundation she needed to approach her doctoral research.

“I love Chinese culture and Tibetan history and sometimes it’s a clash and sometimes it’s harmonious. The paradoxes have driven me to figure that out and it still does. I have friends there, both Tibetan and Chinese, and those personal connections and experiences have driven my work,” Willock said.

Willock’s work on Tibet is hagiographical, she said, meaning she studies the lives of saints. “Hagio” means saints or holy people, and “graphy” essentially means to study. Her dissertation takes a multidisciplinary approach to the life and writings of a Tibetan Buddhist scholar and monk named Tseten Zhabdrung Jigme Rigpe Lodro (1910-1985). Tseten Zhabdrung is interesting as an intellectual figure, Willock said, because he was well respected by both Tibetans and Chinese.

In 2008, Willock travelled to China and Tibet for field research on a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship. Based at Qinghai Nationalities University (in Xining, Qinghai Province), she traveled to six monasteries where Tseten Zhabdrung had resided. She also interviewed former students from when he taught classes at secular universities, several of whom now have important intellectual positions in Tibet today as deans, research scholars, writers and editors.

This semester, Willock is revising her dissertation while teaching a course on the politics of religion in modern China at the University of Boulder in Colorado. She plans to defend this summer and graduate in August.

Fluent in German, Tibetan, Chinese, Willock has received a number of awards including the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation. She has presented her research in the US, Canada and Europe and currently holds her the Department of Religious Studies’ Dissertation Fellowship. Additionally, Willock is the only graduate student participating in a five-year seminar on Tibetan literature taking place in the American Academy of Religion at the University of Virginia. The seminar focuses on how Tibetan literature is seen in the academy and in general.

Media Contacts:
Erika Lee, Director of Communications, The University Graduate School, ebigalee@indiana.edu
Angela Jones, The IU Graduate and Professional Student Organization, gpso@indiana.edu

The Graduate and Professional Student Organization and the University Graduate School would like to congratulate Nicole Willock on receiving the GPSO/UGS Recognition Award. Students selected for this award were nominated by a faculty member from within their department, and selected by the GPSO and UGS for excellence in their graduate studies at Indiana University. 

Responsible Conduct of Research Series: Authorship Workshop

Note: This workshop is for IU graduate students and postdocs.

The University Graduate School, Poynter Center and the Office of Research Ethics, Education and Policy (REEP) are pleased to announce an educational session of the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Educational Program - Authorship.

This series is designed to introduce and explore the principles and practices of RCR. RCR constitutes the integration of research ethics, best practices, and adherence to professional and regulatory standards.

Responsible Conduct of Research Series: Authorship Workshop

April 6, 2011
4 - 5:30 pm
Office of Research Administration Building, 509 E 3rd St, Room 050

Presenters:

Dr. Caroline Chick-Jarrold, Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Chemistry

Dr. Thomas Doak, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Biology

Eric Cesar Morales, Graduate Student, Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology

TO REGISTER http://researchadmin.iu.edu/REEP/reep_sessions.html

The Course Title is Responsible Conduct of Research Series - Bloomington. The Class is EE1920110406.