Council of Graduate Schools

The Ph.D. Completion Project:

Phase II Technical Workshop

Daniel Denecke, Helen Frasier, and Kenneth Redd

December 9, 2006

Washington, DC

Pre-Meeting Workshop Goals

Provide project overview and a set of tools and templates for collecting and interpreting completion and attrition data

Hear from Phase I Project Research Partners Provide information about the new Phase II

RFP to ensure a pool of highly competitive proposals

Supported by Pfizer & Ford Foundation 45 Universities Submitted Proposals 21 “Research Partners” w/ awards up to $100k Three-Year Grants for:

Data Collection and Submission “Interventions” Design and Implementation Assessment of Impact and Best Practice Idea Exchange

24 “Project Partners” 1/3 of “Project Partners” are collecting and submitting

quantitative data

Ph.D. Completion Project (Phase I)

Project Activities

Data Collection, Submission, and Analysis Completion Data, Demographic Data, Attrition Data Exit Surveys Factor Assessments

Program-level and University-wide Interventions or Treatments

Evaluation/Assessment Campus and National Leadership

Areas of Strategic Intervention

Completion Management

Graduate dean as: Protector of Student Interests Champion of Quality Across Programs Steward of Financial Resources

Graduate schools can and should: Collect Data > Share Data > Determine

Appropriate Solutions to Specific Problems > Reward and Monitor Changes

Meeting External Demands and Internal (University) Objectives

Spellings Commission Student Right-to-Know Act The NRC Doctoral Assessment Domestic Recruiting International Competition

Lessons Learned from the

PhD Completion Project Knowing data and feedback to departments is a powerful “intervention”

Graduate deans and faculty must work together in interpreting data and setting goals

Knowing and sharing data is not enough Graduate deans and faculty must work together in

designing activities and “interventions” Data have multiple policy implications

Peeling the Onion: National Data and

Demographic Differences• Completion

• Overall• Broad field• Disciplines

• Attrition• Gender• Race/Ethnicity• Citizenship