Graduate students give UW's doctoral programs a 'C+'

Report cards are in, and more than 870 UW graduate students graded the University's doctoral programs slightly above average, according to a national survey conducted by the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students (NAGPS).

The survey, which lasted from March through August 2000, polled about 32,000 graduate students and recent Ph.D.s nationwide, who graded over 1,300 doctoral programs on their implementation of educational practices recommended by the National Academy of Sciences, the Association of American Universities and other educational institutions. Results were just released nationally.

Participants used four generic responses, ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree," to answer questions regarding their departments' doctoral programs. Points were dispersed among 17 grading criteria that were used in forming "program reports" -- essentially, departmental report cards. Eight of those criteria were then averaged and an overall "recommended practices" grade was allotted. However, departments that did not have at least 10 participants respond were not evaluated in the survey.

Of the 43 UW departments that qualified, 11 doctoral programs fared better than their average corresponding U.S. programs, 12 performed identically to the national average and 20 did worse. The highest grade earned by a UW doctoral program was a 'B+', achieved by the nursing, astronomy and computer science and engineering departments, all of which performed better than the national average for their corresponding programs. The average grade for participating UW departments was a 'C+'.

Nationwide, 81 percent of the survey's participants said they were pleased with their programs, but only 45 percent reported satisfaction with their preparation for teaching and 38 percent with career services.

"Even programs that excel at research may get an incomplete when it comes to preparing students for non-research aspects of their careers," said Adam Fagen, survey author and a doctoral student at Harvard University.

The survey also revealed that while 89 percent of the participants believed their doctoral programs are aptly preparing them for academic careers, only 52 percent expressed confidence in their level of preparedness for nonacademic careers.

"It's a real problem when Ph.D.s can't function outside the university," said Geoff Davis, another survey author, software developer and former Dartmouth math professor.

"Getting science and engineering Ph.D.s into industry is the best way to get new research and ideas out of the lab and into the world," he said.

The NAPGS expects that university faculty and administrators will apply the survey results, which "highlight model doctoral programs," when attempting to improve students' educational experiences. By engaging graduate students in decisions that affect their education and providing more information about their respective programs, as well as offering greater curricular breadth in graduate training, student satisfaction has been known to increase, according to NAGPS President Kimberly Suedkamp Wells.

"Graduate students often report feeling overwhelmed by the process of higher education and helpless to change things," Suedkamp said. "Our survey is important because it provides students with the opportunity to feel like they can actually make a difference in their educational experience."

To view survey results, visit survey.nagps.org.