The Ph.D. Completion Project:Overview and Research Agenda

CGS Annual MeetingDecember 10, 2004

Presenter:Daniel Denecke

Director, Best PracticesCouncil of Graduate Schools

CGS Ph.D. Completion Project

2004-2007

Pfizer – 10 institutions, SEM fields Ford Foundation – additional 5

institutions, Social Sciences and Humanities

Project Goals To document and promulgate those

changes in institutional policies, practices and procedures that will enable graduate schools to transform the record of graduate programs in successfully graduating those students they admit

To transform the national understanding of achievable Ph.D. completion rates

To inform public policy on issues affecting doctoral attrition and completion

Project Activities (I)

Field 15 pilot “designed experiments” in SEM fields, social sciences, humanities

Award up to $100,000 per Research Partner

Generate and test strategic interventions

Provide a real-time interactive forum on what is working and what is not

Project Activities (II)

Involve all institutions who submitted proposals as Project Partners

Convene an Advisory Board Document findings in a “Best Practices”

monograph on strategies for increasing Ph.D. completion, particularly among minorities and women

Research Partner Requirements

5 programs in SEM fields (physical sciences & mathematics, engineering, and life sciences) AND

3 programs in social sciences and humanities 10-year Completion Data for selected programs 5-contiguous-year Attrition Data for those

programs

Intervention Areas

A minimum of 6 interventions in at least 3 of the following areas:

Selection/AdmissionsMentoringProgram EnvironmentFinancial SupportProcesses/ProceduresResearch Mode of Field

CGS Ph.D. Completion ProjectResearch Partners

Arizona State University University of California-Los

Angeles University of Cincinnati Cornell University Duke University University of Florida University of Georgia Howard University University of Illinois –

Urbana Champaign University of Maryland –

Baltimore County University of Michigan

University of Missouri – Columbia North Carolina State University University of Notre Dame University of Louisville University of Montreal University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Princeton University Purdue University Washington University– St. Louis Yale University

CGS Ph.D. Completion ProjectProject Partners

University of California – Berkeley

University of Colorado-Boulder Florida State University Fordham University George Washington Univ. University of Iowa Louisiana State University Marquette University McGill University University of Melbourne Michigan State University

University of Minnesota New Mexico State University New York University North Dakota State University Pennsylvania State University University of Puerto Rico University of Rhode Island Rutgers – State University of New Jersey Southern Illinois University – Carbondale Syracuse University

Research Goals: What We Want to Know

Completion & attrition rates by program/university in 5 broad field areas: LS, PS&M, Engin, SS, and Hum

Attrition patterns by program/university General TTW and TTC patterns Completion rates by university by demographic group

(gender, race/ethnicity, citizenship) Institutional/departmental causes of Ph.D. attrition Impact of interventions on Ph.D. completion The varieties of attrition Upper limits of completion rates by program and broad

field area

Challenges

No national consensus on how to measure attrition and completion

National databases not adequately prepared to process existing data

Significant variation in attrition/completion within as well as across disciplines

Program resistance to transparency (“warts and all”)

Definition

“Attrition” = “that proportion of the entering cohort into a doctoral degree program that does not complete the graduate program undertaken.”

--National Science Foundation, Workshop, 1998

Definition #2

“Cohort” = “all those who first enroll in a degree program on a given date.”

National Research Council, Path to the Ph.D., 1996

Complexities

Defining the Cohort First post-baccalaureate year When officially admitted to candidacy Upon completion of a required master’s

Defining non-completion Transfer and “stop-out”

Defining “good” and “bad attrition”

Research Tools

Completion Template Attrition Template Pre-project Assessment Survey

(departmental characteristics & existing practices)

Exit Survey Template Project Reports (annual written and semi-

annual oral presentations)

Ph.D. Completion Project Implementation Timeline Proposals Due, September 17 Proposal Review, October Awards Announced, November 15 Pre-project assessments, January

2005 Submit Baseline Data, Implement

Exit Interviews & Formative Assessment, March 2005

Ph.D. Completion Project Website

www.phdcompletion.org

Also accessible from CGS Website home page