Research Partner Profile

University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign

Principal Investigator
Richard Wheeler
Dean of the Graduate College
Tel (217) 333-6715
rpw@uiuc.edu

Co-Principal Investigator
Karen Carney
Associate Dean of the Graduate College
Tel (217) 333-6715
kmcarney@ad.uiuc.edu

Participating Programs (15)
Animal Sciences
Chemistry
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Computer Science
Educational Psychology
Electrical and Computer Engineering
English
French
History
Mathematics
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Microbiology
Neuroscience
Physics
Political Science

Abstract
The University of Illinois will conduct a project designed to achieve the following:

• To build a core group of 15 diverse graduate programs that will develop and pilot initiatives aimed at increasing completion of Ph.D. students across all programs
• To build on and expand the leadership role Illinois already plays in graduate education, both regionally and nationally, through graduate change initiatives
• To improve collaboration between departments and campus offices that serve graduate students and graduate units
• To make better use of campus data on graduate student retention and to make it publicly available
• To expand upon existing initiatives that focus upon recruiting a diverse graduate student population by providing opportunities designed to retain and connect underrepresented graduate students

Proposed Interventions

• Coordinating an exit survey for all graduate students
• Developing a web-based toolkit of departmental resources
• Establishing a “Ph.D. Completion at Illinois” Web site
• Developing the structure for the Graduate Program Profiles Project
• Annual review of graduate student performance
• Mentoring workshop for graduate faculty
• Facilitate early research experiences for graduate students
• Promote research among underrepresented groups through expansion of “Community of Scholars” beyond annual conference to a series of events throughout the year
• Provide funding for department initiatives
• Open direct dialogue between students and the graduate college
• Workshops for students on graduate student professional development
• Provide Departmental Contacts with Expanded Resources
• Web-based Toolkit of Resources for Faculty