Developmental Program Meeting
Feb. 14, 2007
Minutes
Present:J. Turner (chair), B. Baird, M. Cummings, D. Lapsley, N. McNeil, P. Mitchell, D. Narvaez, A. Schermerhorn
Dr. Turner gaveled the meeting to order at 11:30.
Three items were on the agenda:
- Graduate Interview Days
- Summary of Graduate Student Concerns
- A process for revising prelim reading list
Interview Day
Dr. Turner reviewed the tentative schedule for the Graduate Interviews that will take place on Thursday, Feb. 22 and Friday Feb. 23. It was noted that the Friday afternoon schedule is quite flexible. Prospective students can visit various labs and/or meet with recruiting (and other) faculty on personal one-on-one basis. Some concern was raised about the Graduate School recruiting and promotional video that is to be shown to applicants on Thursday evening. With the possible exception of the Graduate Director, no one has seen the video, and some members wondered if it should first be screened. Trish Mitchell did remember seeing such a video a few years ago, with no untoward reaction.
Meeting with Graduate Students
Dr. Turner reviewed the various comments that surfaced in recent meeting(s) with graduate students. Students reported anxiety about prelims, which is expressed in some of the following questions: Which courses best prepare one for prelims? How are courses linked to prelims? What do prelims measure? How to fold in the study of “current literature” into the study for prelims? And so on.
It was noted that perhaps there was much “mythology” about prelims because of lack of information. To that end we committed
- To develop a program handbook for developmental students that will be posted to the DSG website;
- To post the prelim reading list to the DSG website, once it is revised;
- To work-up an FAQ and guidelines on prelims, how to study for them, and so on;
- To develop a ‘tip-sheet” for new students that facilitates their transition to the program and department;
It was noted that some courses have not been taught for some time (although recent curricular revisions will address this issue).
Students wanted to see a more active weekly ‘developmental studies group” (DSG) discussion or colloquia series, and with more active faculty representation (although the weekly DSG meetings this academic year are markedly improved, it was noted).
Some students expressed a desire for more feedback on papers and exams. Various issues surrounding this problem were discussed. Students were urged to solicit more feedback directly from faculty.
One approach to addressing the “feedback issue” might be addressed by assigning each student an advisory committee.
We spent some time fleshing out how this might work. As it stands now, a student is assigned an advisor, who is often the ‘major professor.” In addition to the major advisor, a student would select (or be assigned) two additional faculty members who would, along with the advisor, guide the student through the 1st-year project; be a sounding board with respect to research and coursework; comment on manuscripts; and so on. After the first-year project students might select a different committee for masters or doctoral work. A number of benefits were noted.
We agreed that this idea would need to be brought to the graduate committee and be endorsed by the department, insofar as many students have interdisciplinary interests.
Prelim Reading List
Dr. Turner reviewed the categories of topics on the developmental prelim reading list. Volunteers were solicited to revisit the current selections on the reading list, and to nominate other ‘core’ readings central to the topic.