Strategy: Advance the role of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the research enterprise

Point People: Jeffery Gibeling and Enrique Lavernia

Narrative Summary of Fourth Year Implementation Efforts:
Financial support for graduate students has remained a high priority for the campus as a result of multiple factors, including increasingly competitive stipends and a challenging federal research funding environment.  Recognizing the concerns of faculty who support graduate students through research grants, the Provost continued to invest in graduate education by allocating additional student support funds for block grant fellowship support and by instituting a fee and tuition buy-down program for Graduate Student Researchers funded on extramural grants.  In addition, the Graduate Council continued discussion of the burdens imposed by nonresident tuition and developed several strategies for addressing this challenge for academic doctoral students through additional system-wide and campus investment. 

During the past year, several units have also continued to focus attention on the services that are available to support graduate students and postdoctoral scholars engaged in research and scholarship.  As the diversity of the graduate student population increases, additional efforts to support students from underrepresented backgrounds are critical to their academic success.  The Office of Graduate Studies expanded new programs supported by funding from the National Science Foundation Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program. The two key components of the Davis AGEP efforts are the AGEP Scholars summer bridge program that helps entering underrepresented students become established in their research prior to the start of the academic year and the AGEP Advantage professional development program for underrepresented students interested in academic careers.  In addition, UC Davis took the lead in organizing a CSU-UC Faculty Summit to exchange ideas and develop strategies for increasing the numbers of CSU students who successfully transition into UC doctoral programs.  The College of Engineering and Graduate Studies collaborated to successfully launch a NSF-funded Bridge to the Doctorate program that supports 12 first-year graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds in science and engineering for two years.  Graduate Studies continues to seek other partnerships with schools and colleges to expand career and professional development programs and retention programs that strengthen community among graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

Advances and Ongoing Programs Consistent with Strategy:

• Central campus investment in graduate block grants and other student support was increased approximately 5% over the prior year.
• Graduate Studies, Accounting and Financial Services and the Office of Resource Management and Planning implemented a 25% fee and tuition buy-down program for graduate student researchers supported on extramural funds.  This program encourages faculty to support graduate students on research grants and recognizes the challenges of doing so.
• Graduate Studies and Accounting and Financial Services implemented the systemwide program to eliminate nonresident tuition for international doctoral students who are advanced to candidacy.  This new policy followed from a UC Davis led Academic Senate Memorial to the Regents identifying the goal of eliminating nonresident tuition for academic doctoral students and a similar recommendation by the UC Graduate Support Advisory Committee.
• Graduate Studies continued to sponsor grant writing workshops for graduate students.
• The development officer for Graduate Studies, working with the Dean, developed a strategy to increase graduate student support endowments.  She also began to work on specific development efforts with several graduate groups and initiated collaborative development activities with school and college development officers.
• Graduate Studies expanded administrative and analytical support to faculty preparing training grant proposals.  Financial support for matching commitments was strengthened through a commitment by the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor.
• Graduate Studies continued to support the Black Graduate and Professional Student Association for African-American graduate and professional students and has helped organize the Latino/a Graduate Student Association.
• UC Davis and Academia Sinica signed a cooperation agreement that will enable UC Davis graduate students to study chemical biology and pharmaceutical sciences at Academia Sinica.  In addition, Academia Sinica graduate students and postdoctoral scholars will receive research training at UC Davis.
• The Postdoctoral Scholars Association and Graduate Studies collaborated to continue the Excellence in Postdoctoral Research Awards, which were presented to five UC Davis postdoctoral scholars in Spring, 2007.
• Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Scholar career services and professional development workshops provided through collaboration between Graduate Studies and the Internship and Career Center continued during 2006-07 following significant expansion in the previous two years (http://icc.ucdavis.edu/iccdocs/gradpost.htm).
• The annual Pathways Career Symposium sponsored by Internship and Career Center and Graduate Studies for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars continued (http://icc.ucdavis.edu/areas/phd/symposium.htm).
• The Teaching Resources Center expanded support for graduate student TAs and AIs.
• Graduate Studies continued programs to encourage undergraduate students to continue for graduate degrees (McNair Scholars and UC LEADS) and continued the AGEP program to support the research success of graduate students from underrepresented groups.  The College of Engineering, in collaboration with Graduate Studies, implemented an NSF funded Bridge to the Doctorate program to support minority graduate students through research mentoring.
• The annual Laboratory Management Training Program for Postdoctoral Fellows, first offered in Fall, 2005, continued.
• The Responsible Conduct of Research seminar series, designed for postdoctoral scholars and graduate students, was continued for a second year through a partnership between Graduate Studies and the Office of Research.  The series consisted of 9 workshops on different topics and two keynote speakers.

Short Statement of Plans for 2007-08:

• Graduate Studies will formally announce the availability of the Training Grant Support Services unit to assist faculty who are interested in writing training grant proposals.
• Graduate Studies will continue to focus on increasing the amount of graduate student support funding from all sources (campus funds, gifts, extramural grants, extramural fellowships, etc.), with emphasis on external development activities.
• Graduate Studies and the Office of Resource Management and Planning will continue development and implementation of database systems to track all forms of graduate student support.
• Graduate Studies will take the initiative to review and analyze the results of the NRC Assessment of Research Doctoral Programs to identify strategies for strengthening graduate education.
• Graduate Studies will collect baseline data on mentoring and support services programs. This will enable the campus to better plan and integrate support for graduate students.
• Graduate Studies and Student Affairs will collaborate on a review of services to graduate students and identify areas where these could be strengthened.
• Promote collaboration among units currently providing career and professional development services (e.g. Engineering and Graduate Studies). Identify mechanisms for increasing the availability of these services and for assessing their effectiveness.
• Graduate Studies and the Office of Research will expand Responsible Conduct of Research education through credit-bearing courses offered under the auspices of Graduate Studies.
• Graduate Studies will develop and implement database systems to track graduate student and postdoctoral scholar placement. Ensure that historical information is available, at least for the past five years.
• Graduate Studies will continue to work with the Graduate Student Association and Postdoctoral Scholars Association to develop programming for graduate and postdoctoral scholar research conferences.  The third Interdisciplinary Graduate Symposium, organized by the GSA, was held in 2007 and will continue in future years.
• Campus units will continue planning for graduate student and postdoctoral scholar housing needs in the West Village development.
• Graduate Studies will continue to develop the concept of a Graduate and Postdoctoral Community Center (endorsed by GSA).

Evaluation of Metrics:
The campus does not have all of the information systems needed to measure progress using the proposed metrics.  We continue to devote attention to developing these systems to facilitate our future actions and monitor our progress.  Specifically, the student tracking and alumni tracking modules of the GradSMAART system are essential to these efforts.  In addition, the data analyses and tools provided by the NRC through the assessment of research doctorate programs will serve as a valuable source of information to compare the quality of doctoral programs across disciplines and institutions. 

The metrics that are under consideration include the numbers of extramural fellowships received by graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, the number of honors and awards received by graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, the number of successful training grant proposals submitted information on placement of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars and the numbers of papers that include graduate students and postdoctoral scholars as authors.