Women’s and Gender Studies

Box 5695, SBS West 100

Flagstaff, AZ 86011

Phone 928-523-3300

Fax 928-523-5560

WGS Graduate Certificate Review – 2011-2012

The WGS Program was one of the first interdisciplinary programs on campus to institute a graduate certificate. The certificate was approved in Spring 2002. Initially, students were required to take one course, WGS 600 Feminist Theories and Methodologies, and in Fall 2005, we added a second required course, WGS 601, a topics class. As currently configured, to earn the Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies, students are required to complete 15 hours of course work. Requirements include:

  • Women’s and Gender Studies Core,
  • WGS 600 (Feminist Theories in the Fall) and
  • WGS 601 (Special Topics in the Spring);
  • Ethnic Diversity Requirement (3 hours);
  • Global Diversity Requirement (3 hours); and
  • Gender Elective Requirements (3 hours). Courses that may be used to fulfill each of these requirements are listed in Appendix A; students may use one 400-level undergraduate course to fulfill Certificate requirements.

This curriculum is going to be under discussion now that we have finished an extensive change in our undergraduate curriculum.

The original goals of the Graduate Certificate was to make sure that those individuals who were pursuing advanced study, as masters or doctoral candidates could specialize in the experiences and status of women across disciplinary fields, occupations and professions. The need for this information has not declined, as some have assumed, however, the numbers have not kept up with our goals either, in part because hiring plans have not been approved. The lack of faculty (we have 51% of one tenured faculty and two lecturers in WGS) results in a somewhat thin foundation upon which to grow a program. We do rely on the program, however, to train graduate students in women’s and gender issues in order to hire qualified part-time faculty. The following figures represent the recent enrollment numbers and the degrees awarded to WGS Graduate Certificate Students for the years made available:

ENROLLMENT in WGS Certificate / 2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2010 / 2011
PAIR
data / 19 / 15 / 11 / 10 / 9
Graduate
College(seem undercounted) / 4 / 2 / 1 / 3 / 0
Wmn's & Gender Stds (GCERT) CER - SPRING 2012[1]
Name / Effective Date / Career / Academic Unit / Primary Academic Plan and Type / Acad Load / Term Units
Castro, Rebecca / 3/5/2010 / GRAD / Women's and
Gender Studies / Curriculum & Instruction (EDD) DCT / Full-Time / 9
Constance, Rachel / 12/21/2010 / GRAD / Women's and
Gender Studies / History (PHD) DCT / Full-Time / 9
Cook, Michael / 2/15/2011 / GRAD / Women's and
Gender Studies / Political Science (PHD) DCT / Half-Time / 6
Doherty, Lisa / 2/15/2011 / GRAD / Women's and
Gender Studies / Wmn's & Gender Stds (GCERT) CER / No Units / 0
Erbe, Kathleen / 2/15/2011 / GRAD / Women's and
Gender Studies / Wmn's & Gender Stds (GCERT) CER / Half-Time / 6
Evans, Matthew / 2/15/2011 / GRAD / Women's and
Gender Studies / Political Science (PHD) DCT / Full-Time / 9
Theimer, Laura / 2/15/2011 / GRAD / Women's and
Gender Studies / Wmn's & Gender Stds (GCERT) CER / No Units / 0
Trujillo, Marcos / 4/13/2011 / GRAD / Women's and
Gender Studies / Sociology-Applied (MA) MST / Full-Time / 15
Updegrove II, Richard / 12/14/2010 / GRAD / Women's and
Gender Studies / History (PHD) DCT / Full-Time / 9
Yelle, Katherine / 6/25/2010 / GRAD / Women's and
Gender Studies / Sustainable Comm (MA) MST / Full-Time / 9

As the table above indicates six of the ten Graduate Certificate students listed here are full-time. Seven of the ten students are enrolled in other degree-granting programs, such as master or doctoral programs; this is the usual pattern among our graduate certificate students. While I provide the degrees earned below as requested from the Graduate College website, they do seem to be out of synch with the actual enrollments.

2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2010 / 2011
Graduate Certificates
AWARDED / 6 / 4 / 2 / 5 / 3

We do not have numbers for the length of time to earn the degree; it appears that some students do not report the completion of a degree until they complete their accompanying master or doctoral degree.

[1] One more student has been approved for admission recently, Jennifer Radakovick, to make for 11 Graduate Certificate students.