Best Practices in Graduate Program Administration
1. Degree Handbooks with clear descriptions of degree milestones and normative time.
Handbooks should clearly indicate normative time expectations for each milestone. (eg. Qualifying exams should be taken by the end of the 6th semester; Dissertation Prospectus should be approved within 1 semester of the qualifying exam). Identify your program’s expectation of how long each step should take. Handbooks should be clear about potential consequences of failure to make academic progress. The Graduate School has developed a guide: Best Practices in Graduate Handbooks to ensure consistency and quality.
2. Annual reviews of graduate student progress
Annual reviews were recommended by the team as a widely recognized tool for improving student success and conveying to students if they are making satisfactory progress. The Graduate School has models of annual review forms used by a number of degree programs. This includes templates for forms to be submitted by students and their advisors. Typically, these involve a google form to be filled out by all active students summarizing coursework or other goals they met in the previous year and listing any special accomplishments or challenges -- Not unlike a Grad Student version of the AFR. Once the form is submitted the student meets with the advisor to discuss the statement and answer questions. After the meeting, the advisor submits a paragraph reporting on their assessment of the student’s progress to the GPD identifying steps to be taken if the student is falling behind. See more guidance on Annual Reviews in GPD LEAD Resources
3. Accountability
Departments should establish clear rubrics for the evaluation of performance (eg completion of milestones, awards/achievements, normative time, etc). Programs should design whatever method makes most sense for them. They may want to create classifications: (eg. outstanding; good; shows cause for concern; probation). Review of the submitted forms can be done in an all-faculty meeting or by a standing graduate studies committee with representation of the various concentrations in the degree.
Departments should decide what method works best and ensure it is conveyed to students. The purpose of a review is to recognize achievements, identify problems, and provide substantive and honest advice/solutions. It is also to ensure that a student knows where they stand and the potential consequences if they do not improve (eg dismissal, end of funding). Programs should develop fair, transparent, and supportive measures for addressing failure to make progress – eg. notification to students and advisors where there is cause for concern, mandatory meeting with graduate studies committee, and the creation of mandatory academic plan to get back on track that has a clear timeline for progress, with repercussions if lack of progress continues.
4. Academic and Mentoring plans for Statute of Limitation Extensions
The Statute of Limitations at UMass Amherst is the outer limit of how much time a degree program can allow a student to remain in the program before they must petition the Graduate School for an extension (1). SOL was never intended to be used as the definition of normative time-to-degree. Programs should decide and convey to students how long milestones should take and what constitutes satisfactory progress.
Graduate School policy is that failure to meet the program’s expectations for two consecutive semesters can be grounds for dismissal. However, when a student is experiencing extenuating circumstances, extensions can be granted. This is done by the GPD petitioning for an SOL extension. Very important: the Dean requires that all such petitions not only explain the causes of the delay, but also provide a detailed account of the work that remains, a timeline to meet specific degree milestones. and a mentoring plan to ensure feedback and support.
5. A department culture that values and rewards inclusivity and excellence in mentoring
The Graduate School provides free research mentor training (RMT) with a curriculum geared to both STEM and non-STEM fields. These faculty-led workshops provide guidance on how to have productive relationships with their graduate students. We have added Culturally Aware Mentor training focused specifically on issues of racial diversity. The Graduate School urges programs to encourage all faculty with Grad Faculty Status to take mentor training and to acknowledge and reward faculty who demonstrate excellence in graduate mentoring. Note that we require RMT for mentors of REAL and Spaulding Smith fellows.
6. Graduate Admissions
The size of newly admitted cohorts should be calibrated to be able to offer each admitted student the equivalent of full-time (20hr) funding (in the form of fellowships and/or assistantships) for the normative TTD expectations. The program should establish agreed-upon criteria for assigning advisors. Among factors to consider are:
advising load; research activity; the timely graduation of a faculty member’s advisees; available funding.
7. Regular review of degree requirements with an eye to streamlining
Regular review of the graduate curriculum is a key component for staying current and competitive. Graduate committees should examine their data to identify areas where students may be getting ‘stuck’ or taking an unnecessarily long time. This is critical for programs with median TTD of 7 years or more. Are all historical requirements really necessary? Are there possibilities to streamline or give students more flexibility in fulfilling requirements or designing their degree (2)? These reviews should occur at least every AQAD and ideally more often.
8. Professional/First Year Seminars
Experience shows that first year seminars are a useful means of introducing graduate students to their department’s handbook, degree program requirements, unveiling the ‘hidden curriculum’, and building many of the foundational skills required for graduate work – all of which contribute to student success, retention, and a more cohesive department culture. Professional seminars or workshops are ideal settings for explaining and answer the questions students have about milestones. The GPD LEAD archive has model syllabi for these kinds of seminar from the Department of Anthropology and a very helpful recorded presentation on the professional seminar in Geosciences.
9. Writing Accountability Seminars
Graduate careers in SBS and HFA are highly individualized and writing intensive. Setting up a seminar for students to work in community with others on grant applications, dissertation chapters, or other major writing projects can be helpful to sustaining progress. The Graduate School offers writing accountability groups and dissertation writing retreats. Hosting writing groups or credit-bearing seminars in your own department or College can contribute to a stronger sense of community.
10. Opportunities for summer stipends, research support, and dissertation completion fellowships
Funding in these areas makes a difference but should come with explicit goal setting and mentoring. The Graduate School will be offering some support here and seek partnership from the Colleges and Provost.
Edited: 3-15-24
(1) The Statute of Limitations (SOL) is the period within which all degree requirements must be completed. Doctoral students are required to achieve candidacy within six years form acceptance and complete their program within five years of achieving candidacy.
(2) CGS Report, Recommendation 1.5: “Based on meetings and discussions, the consultation team believes that historically, many PhD programs have required more qualifying or comprehensive exams than are necessary to ensure student understanding and success, and some programs expect more from a dissertation prospectus than necessary to ensure completion of a quality research project. Some programs would benefit from reducing milestone requirements and altering their expectations of prospectuses.”