CLAS Assembly Minutes
November 16, 2005
- Dr. Scott McCullough, 2005-06 President Pro Tempore, called the Assembly
to order shortly after 4pm. He turned the meeting over to Dean Neil
S. Sullivan, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Professor
of Physics.
- Dean Sullivan gave a presentation in which he summarized the state
of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
- There has been an enormous growth of student numbers, both undergraduate
students (12,300 CLAS college majors) and graduate students (1,980),
as well as a remarkable growth of faculty.
- As an international research institution, the University of Florida
emphasizes departments, programs and other initiatives that focus
on International Studies. Dean Sullivan highlighted the efforts
of
- National Resource Centers (US Department of Education)
Paris Research Center
France-Florida Research Institute
Center for Latin American Studies
- Total undergraduate enrollment at the University of Florida grew
from 25,000 in 1999 to 2005 in 34,000.
- Another positive development concerns the growth of CLAS research
awards for faculty.
- With the increasing number of students, the University of Florida
faces difficult space problems. They will be somewhat alleviated
when the various construction projects on campus are finished in
about two years. The Ustler Hall renovation should be complete by
summer, 2006. The CLAS Life Sciences building is #4 on the PICO
list. Among these, a new building which will house the Graham Center
for Public Service is the most prominent one.
- The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences established the nation’s
first Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions in 2005.
- The two main concerns currently regard the issues related to (i)
student growth, and (ii) training of K-12 teachers, in particular
in sciences and foreign languages. In the past four years, the University
of Florida has experienced a 4% undergraduate yearly growth, but
no increase in budget.
- Dean Sullivan then opened the floor up to questions.
Faculty Question: Can you explain why certain ongoing searches
were cancelled?
Dean Sullivan’s Answer: The cancellation were enforced by new
budget constraints.
- Kenneth Gerhardt, Interim Dean of the Graduate School and Professor
of Communication Sciences and Disorders, then addressed issues related
to Graduate Education.
- Issues in Graduate Education
In the past ten years, there has been a tremendous growth
in the number of graduate students, from 6,000 to 10,000. This growth
mainly concerns the increase in MA students, the number of PhD students
has not changed in any significant way. Given the overall goal of
moving the University of Florida into the top 10 public universities
in the nation, we are faced with significant challenges in improving
the quality of our graduate programs. There should be more emphasis
on PhD education, in certain targeted disciplines, with the goal
of increasing the number of students in these programs. In order
to achieve this goal, the graduate education at all levels must
be given careful attention, focusing on the quality of graduate
faculty, curricula and also mentoring of students (including their
research and teaching experiences). Having successful graduate students
also presupposes admitting diverse cohort of students. Currently,
guidelines for assessment of programs are designed in CLAS: they
emphasize research and graduate education, taking into consideration
resources, students, and faculty. One of the questions concerns
quality indicators: namely, the proper specification of input characteristics
and outcome measurements.
- What does it mean to improve the quality of our PhD programs?
The result should include improved completion rate, lowering of
attrition rates and good job placement. This in turn presupposes
focusing on four areas, which are also in the UF portion of the
larger CGS grant: namely, the right people apply for doctoral study,
the right applicants are admitted as doctoral students, productive
working relationships between students and faculty, social support
among fellow students.
- National Research Council (NRC) PhD assessment is currently undertaking
an assessment survey of PhD programs. The taxonomy of PhD programs
will be completed in January 2006. It is crucial for UF that its
graduate programs be appropriately classified by NRC. The evaluation
process involves an institutional questionnaire (institutional support,
infrastructure), program questionnaire (graduate faculty, employment
history, student demographics, attrition, funding, test scores,
appointments, etc.), faculty questionnaire (citations, publications,
grants, interdisciplinary participation, etc.), doctoral candidate
questionnaire. The final reports of NRC should be ready by 2008.
- Exit survey of graduate students.
- Upcoming project: website for potential applicants listing features
of our graduate programs
- Dean Gerhardt then opened the floor up to questions.
Faculty Question: One of the problems that we face in recruiting
and retaining high quality graduate students is the lack of sufficient
funding throughout their graduate studies. How does the University of
Florida intend to solve this problem?
Dr. Gerhardt’s Answer: One of the solutions to this problem
is to get outside funding, but the University of Florida will have to
address this problem in a systematic way, as well.
Archive
of Minutes
- March 25, 2010
- January 22, 2010
- April 26, 2007
- January 9, 2007
- October 4, 2006
- May 1, 2006
- February 27, 2006
- November 16, 2005
- September 29, 2005
- March 28, 2005
- November 15, 2004
- September 14, 2004
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