Assessment of Doctoral Programs at Illinois
Date:
01/10/2011
Dear Graduate Faculty and Students:
Happy New Year!
On November 16, 2010, Vice Chancellor Richard Wheeler charged an 18-member committee to assess all doctoral programs in the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. The charge asks the committee to address fundamental questions about the overall scope of doctoral education at Illinois including the size, quality, effectiveness, demand and operational costs of individual doctoral programs on this campus.
Since the founding of the American Association of Universities (AAU) in 1900 doctoral education has been at the core of American research universities. Its quality and vibrancy is critical not only for attracting the best faculty and students, but also for ensuring national competitiveness in the 21st century global economy. We have 97 doctoral programs on our campus, with approximately 5000 students enrolled in doctoral programs each year and over 750 doctoral degrees awarded annually. Through this assessment, we will better understand our strengths, codify and share best practices across programs, and identify areas for improvement.
Vice Chancellor Wheeler has asked that this assessment be completed by July/August 2011. This will require a significant effort from each doctoral program, providing the committee with requested qualitative and quantitative information in a timely manner. We will also seek input from doctoral students via a survey.
We have not looked comprehensively at our strengths and needs in doctoral education for a very long time. This assessment, therefore, is extremely important for our campus. A website with information about the process, committee, and timeline has been created at http://www.grad.illinois.edu/DoctoralProgramAssessment. Please feel free to contact me if you have suggestions or questions at gradpgmassess@illinois.edu.
Sincerely,
Deba Dutta
Dean, Graduate College
Chair, Doctoral Assessment Committee