The Graduate School invites all faculty, staff and students to a social celebrating the retirement of Patricia Ross from 2 to 4 p.m., Wednesday, May 25, in Admin 404. Appetizers and refreshments will be served. Take this opportunity to stop in and wish her well.
Family and friends at this Spring Commencement ceremony noticed something interesting: many PhD and MS candidates were receiving their degrees and hoods.
It’s not by chance.
The Graduate School has been showing steady growth and has exceeded targets for enrollment, according to Dean Jackie Huntoon.
“Across campus, faculty and departments are on board with the Strategic Plan, and we are moving forward with increased graduate education and research,” she says.
The differences between Michigan Tech’s graduate education and other universities are myriad and include completion rate: 62 percent of Tech PhD students finish what they start here, compared to 50 percent nationally. Seventy-five percent of Tech’s master’s students also complete their degrees.
“We’ve always been known for hands-on, application-oriented undergraduate education, and the same is true at the grad level: our students are highly employable,” Huntoon says.
She also discusses how graduate students contribute to economic development and economic recovery.
“We don’t just put PhDs in academia,” she says. “We also place them in industry and government positions.” Some 53 percent of PhD graduates end up in industry, versus 41 percent at Tech’s peer high-research institutions.
R&D is also heavily impacted by Tech PhD graduates, says Jacque Smith, director of marketing for the Graduate School. “Our percentage of PhDs employed in research and development is more than double the national average,” he says.
Increases in graduate enrollment have other benefits.
The large number of international students brings diversity to the campus and area, enriching the lives of those who live and work here.
“We compete on a global scale,” Huntoon says. “And these people give us a global environment on campus.”
“So, when you get that first job in Shanghai,” Smith adds, “you’re prepared with cultural knowledge and tolerance. You know more about the world before you get out and work in it.”
Huntoon tells the tale of a recent reception with students from Iran, Iraq and Pakistan.
“It was fascinating to hear their perspectives and think we were having this discussion here in Upper Michigan.”
As for the future, a new master’s program in geospatial engineering is planned for the School of Technology, their first graduate degreee. And a new University Senate policy mixes bachelor’s and master’s course work to shorten the length of time it takes to complete both.
And Huntoon perceives more new areas being explored and boundaries being crossed.
“PhD programs will become increasingly fluid in the future,” she says. “We will still have departments and Schools, but we’ll also have many more cross-disciplinary collaborations that unite faculty from many traditional units in response to needs for cutting-edge research.”
“What we will preserve is our focus on being ready to do things that serve societal needs,” Huntoon adds. “Not hypothetical or made up, but real.”
Like technology transfer and job creation, Smith adds.
In other words, keeping it all relevant, just like Tech has always done.
by Dennis Walikainen, senior editor
Published in Tech Today
A committee has been appointed to conduct the required review of Graduate School Dean Jacqueline Huntoon. Members include Carl Anderson, Nancy Auer, Andrew Burton, Gerard Caneba, Rob Greenhoe, Jarod Maggio, Paul Nelson, Bruce Seely, Andrew Storer, Greg Waite and Yoke Kin Yap. As part of the review process, the committee has prepared a survey for the main constituencies with whom the graduate dean works and requests input from all constituencies on campus.
The surveys are being run through SurveyMonkey for graduate students, faculty and administrators, as well as academic and professional staff. The committee asks that members from each group log in using the appropriate link listed below.
Faculty and staff access will be automatically restricted to computers with an IP address for Michigan Tech. This means that each computer access the survey only once.
Because several graduate students may need to use the same computer, accesses to their survey requires a password log-in. That password is being distributed to all Michigan Tech graduate students via a message from the graduate student government listserv.
Anyone encountering access issues should contact Bruce Seely at bseely@mtu.edu .
The survey will be open until 5 p.m., Monday, March 21. Responses will be confidential and no information about users or computers is being tracked. The committee thanks everyone for their participation and assistance.
Following are the surveys.
Link to the graduate student survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Graddean_survey-grad_students .
Access is password protected
Link to the faculty and administration survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Graddean_survey_faculty-administration .
Link to the staff survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Graddean_survey-staff .
Published in Tech Today.
One means by which the NACA Foundation demonstrates its commitment to the development of professionals in the field of campus activities is through providing scholarships to individuals pursuing graduate work in preparation for, or to enhance, a career in campus activities. NACA offers four graduate scholarships—the Donald L. McCullough Memorial Scholarship Fund, the New England McCullough Memorial Scholarship Fund, the William E. Brattain Graduate Scholarship Fund and the Hayward M. “Skip” Daugherty, Jr. GraduateScholarship Fund. The Brattain and the Daugherty scholarships are for students in the former Illiana (IL, IN and MO [St. Louis only]) and Great Lakes (KY, MI [area codes 231, 248, 269, 313, 517, 586, 616, 810 and 989], OH, WV and Western PA [area codes 412, 724 and 814]) regions, respectively, while the New England McCullough scholarship is designated for students in the former NACA New England Region (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI and VT).
DEADLINE
Materials must be submitted online by May 30.
CRITERIA
Graduate scholarships are awarded annually to individuals pursuing a master’s or doctorate degree in student personnel services or a related area. Applicants for graduate scholarships must:
- Have graduated from a four-year college or university with a minimum grade point average of 2.5;
- Be matriculated in a master’s or doctorate degree program in student personnel services or a related area, and provide proof of acceptance and matriculation into an accredited graduate school; and
- Have demonstrated experience and involvement in campus activities and be committed to pursuing a career as a campus activities professional.
- You must be a U.S. Citizen
For more information please visit: http://forms.naca.org/NACA/Forms/NACA+Foundation+Graduate+Scholarships.htm
The Graduate School is pleased to announce the following students have earned Finishing Fellowships to help complete their doctoral studies:
- Amalia L. Anderson, Physics
- Ning Chen, Chemistry
- Linsheng Feng, Chemistry
- Heather L. Jordan, Rhetoric and Technical Communication
- Partha P. Pal, Physics
- Radheshyam Tewari, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
- Helen E. Thomas, Geology
- Wenjie Xu, Electrical Engineering
The fellowships are made possible by the support of the Graduate School.
Details on the summer 2011 competition may be found online, as well as photographs of our recipients.
Nominations for the Dean’s Fellowship are now open. Nominations are due no later than March 1st by 4pm.
These fellowships are available to assist with the recruitment of highly talented applicants to Michigan Tech’s PhD programs. The Dean’s Fellowship is intended to contribute to the development of a diverse academic community, which includes future faculty and others who will be leaders throughout their professional careers.
Dean’s Fellowships provide partial support for the recipient’s first year in a PhD program. The support includes a stipend of $2,000 per academic-year semester (fall and spring) as well as full summer support (stipend plus minimum full-time tuition and fees).
Please see our web page for complete details on eligibility and the nomination procedure. Direct any questions about the program to Debra Charlesworth.
Nominations for summer Finishing Fellowships are now open. Applications must be submitted to the Graduate School no later than 4pm on February 24th.
Students are eligible if all of the following criteria are met:
- Must be a PhD student.
- Must expect to finish in summer.
- Must have submitted no more than one previous request for funding.
- Must be eligible for Research Only Mode in the summer session.
Previous recipients of a Finishing Fellowship are not eligible.
Please see our application page for details on the application procedure. Please direct any questions you have about the application or review process to Debra Charlesworth.
The Graduate School was recently featured on the TV6 news in regards to the new Parental Accommodation Policy. The interview features Lihui Hu, new mother and PhD student in computer science, and the director of graduate marketing, Jacque Smith.
The new policy allows new parents, through either birth or adoption, to take an excused absence from their classes and provides extensions to academic deadlines. It also provides funded students with paid leave for six weeks.
See A (Graduate) Student Affair to view the original Michagan Tech News Story.
Congressman Bart Stupak will address nearly 300 graduates at Midyear Commencement ceremonies Saturday, Dec. 11. A total of 242 students will be receiving bachelor’s degrees. In addition, 26 master’s degrees and 18 doctorates will be awarded.
Stupak will receive an Honorary Doctorate in Environmental and Energy Policy. He is retiring in January after 18 years of service to Michigan’s 1st Congressional District. He is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and, as the ranking Democrat, chair of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. Before his election in 1992, Stupak was a Michigan state representative and worked as an Escanaba police officer and Michigan State Police trooper. He also practiced law. A graduate of Gladstone High School, he earned an associate degree from Northwestern Michigan College, a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Northern Michigan University and a law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing.
Health care has been a priority for Stupak since he was elected to Congress, when he pledged not to accept the insurance that members of Congress receive until all Americans could have access to that same quality health care. He has been a leader in the international effort to ban the sale and diversion of the Great Lakes and opposed the drilling for oil and gas beneath the Great Lakes. Stupak founded and cochaired the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, a bipartisan organization that provides the law enforcement community with an avenue to participate in the legislative process. He has been a leader in homeland security, particularly in connection with programs to train and equip local law enforcement officers and other first responders. In addition, Stupak cochairs the Congressional Northern Border Caucus.
Published in Tech Today.
Students who are scheduling a defense of a thesis or dissertation on or after January 10, 2011 will need to format and submit their document according to the new procedures.
The new procedures do not apply to students submitting a report, or to students who defend before January 10, 2011.
The Graduate School will give a presentation outlining the major changes in formatting and submission procedures on December 9th beginning at 4:05pm. This seminar at least once more in January, based on demand.
Please register online so we can plan for your attendance. After registration, you will receive e-mail reminders closer to the date, and the location of the seminar.
Please contact Debra Charlesworth with any questions.