For Immediate Release

(Updated February 1, 2017)

Contacts:

Julia Kent, Council of Graduate Schools

(202) 461-3874 | jkent@cgs.nche.edu

Beth Dempsey, ProQuest

(248) 349-7810 | beth.dempsey@proquest.com

Awards recognize outstanding research by graduates in the fields of Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering & Social Sciences

Washington, DC – The Council of Graduate Schools / ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards, the nation’s most prestigious honors for doctoral dissertations, were presented to Scott Cushing and Michael Muthukrishna at an awards ceremony during the Council’s 56th Annual Meeting. Dr. Cushing completed his PhD in 2015 at West Virginia University in Physics, and Dr. Muthukrishna received his PhD in 2015 from the University of British Columbia in Psychology.

Bestowed annually since 1982, the awards recognize recent doctoral recipients who have already made unusually significant and original contributions to their fields. ProQuest, an international leader in dissertation archiving, discovery, and access, sponsors the awards and an independent committee from the Council of Graduate Schools selects the winners. Two awards are given each year, rotating among four general areas of scholarship. The winners receive a certificate, a $2,000 honorarium, and funds for travel to the awards ceremony.

“The Distinguished Dissertation Awards demonstrate the dramatic impact young scholars have on their fields,” said CGS President Suzanne T. Ortega. “It’s a testament to the vitality and value of graduate education when recently minted PhDs contribute and expand upon knowledge to raise the level of understanding in their fields.”

Austin McLean, director, ProQuest Scholarly Communication and Dissertations Publishing said, “ProQuest is passionate about the impact dissertations make in advancing both research and learning through their fresh insights and innovative thinking. Dr. Cushing and Dr. Muthukrishna have produced works that will be of tremendous value for generations to come. We’re very proud to partner with CGS in honoring them.”

The 2016 Award in Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering was presented to Dr. Cushing for his dissertation, Plasmonic Enhancement Mechanisms in Solar Energy Harvesting. Plasmonics, the study of the interaction between electromagnetic field and free electrons in a metal, appear to offer advancement in the efficiencies of solar energy conversion. Cushing’s thesis investigates why plasmonics rarely appear in top performing solar architectures given their potential. Using his findings, Cushing developed a theoretical framework to optimize the application of plasmonics in solar energy conversion. Cushing notes that, “Based on this framework, several top performing solar-to-fuel devices were created which use sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Additionally, the developed plasmonics technology is being incorporated into a commercial photovoltaic panel for turning sunlight into electricity.” Dr. Cushing is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Leone Group at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Muthukrishna received the 2016 Award in Social Sciences for his dissertation, The Cultural Brain Hypothesis and the Transmission and Evolution of Culture.  His project introduced two theories: the Cultural Brain Hypothesis and the Cumulative Cultural Brain Hypothesis. The first theory “explains the increase in brain size across taxonomic groups. In doing so, the theory makes predications about the relationships between brain size, knowledge, group size, social learning, and the length of the juvenile period, which are consistent with existing empirical literature.” The second theory, Cumulative Cultural Brain Hypothesis, makes predications about the conditions under which these evolutionary processes lead to a positive feedback loop between brain size and knowledge. Muthukrishna argues that these conditions are the key to what makes the human pathway unique and explains various aspects of our psychology and our large brains. Dr. Muthukrishna is currently an assistant professor of economic psychology at the London School of Economics.

This year the following scholars received honorable mentions: Adam Behrens, nominated by the University of Maryland; and Deblina Sarkar, nominated by the University of California at Santa Barbara.

More information about the CGS / ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award is available at www.proquest.com/go/scholars or at www.cgsnet.org.

**Please note: CGS will only feature stories from CGS member institutions, but we welcome the use of #GradImpact by the larger graduate and professional education community to promote this important work.

Join CGS in Advocating for the Power of Graduate Education

Do you have a great story to share about the impact of master’s or doctoral education? Do you know a graduate student or alumnus whose work has the potential to cure a disease, alleviate poverty, or educate the public? The Council of Graduate Schools would like to hear from you.

CGS will draw from member examples to tell the larger story of graduate education through a variety of outlets: the CGS website, newsletters, social media, advocacy efforts, and media outreach. Our goal is to demonstrate that graduate education matters not only to degree holders, but also to the communities where they live and work.

To that end, we invite CGS member institutions to submit stories in one of three categories below.*

• Innovative Graduate Students

Tell us about a current master’s or doctoral student who is engaged in innovative, high-impact research and/or professional activity. Examples might include, but not be limited to, a doctoral student conducting cutting-edge research, a PMA or PSM student advancing the work of a company or non-profit organization, or a group of MBA students who have created a promising start-up company.

• Recent Alumni Making a Difference

Highlight a recent alum or alums (graduating between 2011 and 2016) who has used their graduate education to make a difference. Examples might be alums working to improve public health locally or globally, educating and inspiring the public in a museum or library, doing high-impact research at a university or national laboratory, or improving teaching and learning.

• Exceptional Employers

Tell us about an employer of graduate students or alumni who is making a difference in the business, non-profit or government sectors. Examples might include employers working to bring medications to market more quickly and safely, to inform public policies, or to bring the arts to a public school system.

Criteria for Selection of Stories:

A committee will evaluate our selection of stories using the following principles:

• Impact on the Public Good: We are seeking examples that positively impact (or have a high potential to impact) the lives of others through education, health, safety and security, the humanities, and economic development. Examples from any field of study are welcome.

• Diversity: CGS will seek to present a diverse range of member institutions, fields of study, and degree types. We also seek a diverse representation of participants in graduate education, particularly in terms of race/ethnicity, gender, and age.

• Share-ability: We will give priority to examples that are already available publicly on at least one website. This will allow us to share them more broadly through our own website and social media outlets. For this reason, we require submissions to include a link to a URL address.

Stories deemed to be particularly effective at demonstrating the impact of graduate education on the public good will be highlighted on the home page of the CGS website or in GradEdge.

*There is no limit on the number of stories your institution may submit. However, please be aware that a large number of submissions will not result in greater representation of your institution in CGS outlets. We will work to ensure that representation is evenly distributed among member institutions that choose to submit examples.

Instructions for Submitting Stories:

Please complete this electronic web form.

Contact:

Katherine Hazelrigg

The LaPidus lecture will be presented at 8:30 am on Saturday, December 10. This lecture was established to honor the late Jules B. LaPidus, a past-president of CGS. The lecture is delivered each year by a different international leader and visionary thinker. Rush Holt will deliver the 2016 lecture, "Science in a Changing Political Landscape."

Insider Update is a quarterly online newsletter designed for CGS Sustaining Members. Newsletter content includes developments in collaborative research projects, outreach opportunities, and news and updates relevant to our sustaining members. To learn more about becoming a sustaining member, please click here.

July 2019

March 2019

November 2018

July 2018

February 2018

June 2017

February 2017

August 2016

May 2016

December 2015

June 2015

April 2015

January 2015

CGS Summer Workshop and New Deans Institute Final Program

Selected PowerPoint presentations from the 2016 CGS Summer Workshop and New Deans Institute are below. Presentations are in chronological order by each category. Presentations are offered as Adobe Acrobat PDF files. The file size is indicated after the name of each presenter.

New Deans Institute Presentations

Session I: Freshman Deans' Reflections
Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko (2.18 MB)
Julie Masterson (228 KB)

Session V: Advocacy 101
Kinchel Doerner (275 KB)
Steven Matson (872 KB)

Summer Workshop Presentations

Dean Dialogue: Future of the Dissertation
Nancy Marcus (1.46 MB)

Dean Dialogue: Evolution of Master's Education and the 2016 Project on the Master's Degree
Maria Di Stefano, James Marshall, and Jerry Weinberg (1.92 MB)

ProQuest Breakfast Meeting
Marlene Coles (2.41 MB)

Plenary II: The Graduate Degree's Golden Age: How Trends in the Job Market, Society, and Academic Innovation are Shaping Demand for Post-Baccalaureate Education
Sean Gallagher (226 KB)

Dean's Toolbox: Communicating Effectively Using Social Media
Karen DePauw (4.16 MB)

ETS Breakfast Meeting
David Payne (1.00 MB)

Plenary III: Development: Essential Guidance for Graduate Deans
Penelope Hunt (226 KB)

Hot Topic: Models of Student Funding
Lorie Liebrock and Kent Holsinger (5.78 MB)

Technical Workshop: International Student Recruitment on a Budget
Jessica Horowitz, Christopher Medalis, Sanjiv Sarin, and Margaret Wenger (3.22 MB)

Technical Workshop: Got Data? Now What?
Frances Leslie (1.08 MB)

M.J.T. Smith (957 KB)

Technical Workshop: Pregnancy, Parenting, and Post-baccalaureate Study: Meeting Legal Requirements
Fiona Doyle and Jessica Lee (2.97 MB)

2015 Annual Meeting Program

Selected PowerPoint presentations from the 2015 CGS 55th Annual Meeting are below. Presentations are in chronological order by each category. Presentations are offered as Adobe Acrobat PDF files. The file size is indicated after the name of each presenter.

Pre-Meeting Workshop Presentations

Legal Issues I
Tracy Greene and Tom Shanahan (967 KB)

Advocacy on Your Campus
R. William Ayres (307 KB)
Nancy Marcus (1.31 MB)

Empowering First-Generation and Underrepresented Students to Navigate Graduate School
Charles Ambler (581 KB)

Building Effective Career and Professional Development Programs: Connecting Students, Faculty and Institutional Needs and Outcomes
Henry Campa and Judith Stoddart (2.66 MB)

Fundraising as a Critical Instrument for Improving Graduate Education
Katie Busch (354 KB)

Enrollment Management
Jeffrey Bakken (199 KB)
Christopher Connor (4.18 MB)
Thomas Reynolds (735 KB)
Charles Taber (327 KB)

Post Docs
Jeffrey Engler, Susan Porter, and Elizabeth Watkins (199 KB)

Concurrent Sessions Presentations

Engaging Alumni to Enhance Student Experiences
Stephan Riek (6.03 MB)

Integrating Research, Teaching and Learning into the Preparation of Future Faculty: Lessons From CIRTL, PFF, and Other Initiatives
Karen Butler-Purry (268 KB)
Henry Campa (1.53 MB)
Wendi Heinzelman (385 KB)

Professional Development for Master's Careers
Jessica Horowitz (819 KB)
Jeffrey Potteiger (997 KB)
William Wiener (1.34 MB)

Planning for Changing Demographics: Lessons Learned from MSI's
Joseph Childers (354 KB)

Holistic Review of Graduate Applications: Lessons Learned From a CGS Best Practice Project
JoAnn Canales (574 KB)
Maureen McCarthy (694 KB)
James Wimbush (316 KB)

Understanding the Impact of International Graduate Experiences
Diana Carlin, Karen DePauw, and Henning Schroeder (1.40 MB)

Innovative Strategies for Securing Resources: A Focus on Master's Education
Ryan Hendrickson (207 KB)
Kathleen Kitto (2.78 MB)
Amy McCandless (1.54 MB)

Strategic Initiatives in Graduate Education at the National Science Foundation
Brian Mitchell, Gisèle Muller-Parker, Rick Tankersley, and Roger Wakimoto (2.37 MB)

PhD Career Pathways: Instruments and Tools
Sheryl Tucker (1.03 MB)

Master's Admissions Processes
Maria Di Stefano (1.32 MB)
Susan Morgan (765 KB)

Results from the Enhancing Student Financial Education Project
Scott Herness (790 KB)
Andrew Sustich (1.53 MB)

Accessibility and Inclusion in Graduate Programs
Susan Cozzens (936 KB)

Paths to Prestige: Alternative Models for Master's Institutions
Jackie Eller (1.12 MB)
Joan Ficke (2.64 MB)

Future of the Doctorate in the Humanities
James Grossman (202 KB)
Heather Zwicker (218 KB)

Plenary Sessions Presentation

What Employers Know, What Employers Need: Relationships that Work
Sarah Pratt (215 KB)
Desney Tan (947 KB)

Sponsored Breakfast Presentation

Presentation from ProQuest Breakfast
Austin McLean and Marlene Coles (872 KB)

Presentation from Educational Testing Service Breakfast
David Payne (1.44 MB)

Nominations for the 2022 award will be accepted until August 31, 2022. 

Description

Created by the CGS Board of Directors to recognize outstanding leadership in graduate education, this award is given annually to an individual who exemplifies the leadership qualities of the Council’s fifth president, Debra W. Stewart. The selection committee gives serious consideration to nominees with a strong reputation for ethics and integrity, a history of active participation in the graduate community, and a record of strategic vision and actions resulting in meaningful impacts in areas such as, but not limited to, evidence-based innovation, program development, diversity and inclusion, student learning and career outcomes, personnel management, policy advocacy in support of graduate education and research, and fiscal responsibility.

Eligibility

• The current graduate dean (IHE1) at any CGS “Regular” or “Associate” member institution is eligible to be nominated for the award. 
• Members of the CGS Board of Directors are not eligible to be nominated for the award during active years of board service.
• Please see the Frequently Asked Questions provided in the Call for Nominations for additional considerations.

How to Submit a Nomination Package: A complete nomination package includes the following five components:

• A completed nomination form;  
• 300-word summary of the nominee’s achievements in the relevant areas of leadership; 
• The nominee’s curriculum vitae (5 pages maximum);
• Signed letter of endorsement from the president or provost at the nominee’s institution; and 
• Three additional letters of recommendation supporting the nomination. A combination of internal letters (submitted by individuals at the nominee’s home institution) and external letters is encouraged. Letters should be addressed to the “DWS Award Selection Committee.”

Note: The nomination package must be as a single pdf document to Anna M. Naranjo. Mailed or faxed paper submissions will not be accepted.

Contact

Anna M. Naranjo

A January report on post-PhD careers by the US Council of Graduate Schools in Washington DC found that there are no standardized ways to collect information on graduates after they have left their educational institution; only around one-third of universities in the United States and Canada formally compile such data.

Graduate school has long been a popular choice for people wanting to elevate their careers, but the number of students enrolling has recently jumped.

Between fall 2013 and fall 2014, first-time graduate enrollment increased by 3.5 percent, the largest spike since 2009, according to a September report from the Council of Graduate Schools. These new graduate students were studying education, business and other subjects, but the field that saw the biggest bump in enrollment was math and computer science.

Workshop Agenda - Evaluating International Research Experiences
Executive Summary - Evaluating International Research Experiences
Final Report - Evaluating International Research Experiences
CGS Webinar Presentation Slides: Measuring International Experiences
Webinar Recording: Measuring the Impact of International Experiences

February 16, 2016

Workshop Objectives

To develop a set of common research questions that institutions and organizations involved in graduate education can use to evaluate the benefits of international experiences by their graduate students, especially those related directly to structured research activities.

Workshop Description

There is interest in evaluating the impact of funding for graduate student international research experiences on student success, both in the short and long terms. A relevant body of literature at the undergraduate education level exists on what is broadly termed “global competency,” which includes study abroad and other similar cultural experiences. These studies generally assess student learning outcomes, and not career success. There is little equivalent research at the graduate education level. As the definition of success continues to broaden to include multiple career paths, both intrinsic and extrinsic measurements of success, and across disciplinary boundaries, the difficulty in defining and assessing relevant outcomes continues to increase. We seek to develop a list of research questions and assessable outcomes along with their associated analytical tools that can be used to evaluate the impact of international experiences for graduate students, both longitudinally and across disciplinary boundaries, especially those involving structured research experiences.

Workshop Agenda

8:00 AM     Continental Breakfast

Morning Sessions: What Do We Know?

8:30 AM     Welcome and Overview

Brian S. Mitchell, Council of Graduate Schools/National Science Foundation Dean-in-Residence
Max Vögler, Director, North American Office, DFG
   Supporting Document WO.1.A      Supporting Document WO.1.B      Supporting Document WO.1.C

8:45 AM     Session I:  Funding International Research Experiences: Two Program Evaluations

This session will focus on recent evaluations of funding programs relevant to the international research experiences for graduate students. The presenters will discuss the background of the programs, the reason for the evaluation, and give methods and results.

Carter Epstein, Abt Associates Inc.
Ten Years of the Partnerships in International Research and Education (PIRE) Program
   Supporting Document I.1.A            Supporting Document I.1.B

Sebastian Granderath, Program Director, International Research Training Groups, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
The International Research Training Group Program 2015 Evaluation
   Supporting Document I.2.A            Supporting Document I.2.B

Moderator: Denise Manahan-Vaughan, Director of the International Graduate School of Neuroscience, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany

9:30 AM     Session II:  International Research Experiences: The Institutional Perspective

How do institutions and organizations support international research experiences for graduate students?  How can they facilitate the assessment of international research experiences and how would they make use of these assessment results?

Thomas Jorgensen, Head, Council for Doctoral Education, European University Association
FRINDOC: Evaluating the Institution
  Supporting Document II.1.A           Supporting Document II.1.B 

Karen DePauw, Vice President and Dean of Graduate Education, Virginia Tech
International Research Experiences: Challenges and Opportunities for Graduate Students
  Supporting Document II.2.A           Supporting Document II.2.B

Moderator: Henning Schroeder, Vice Provost & Dean of Graduate Education, University of Minnesota

10:15 AM     Break

10:30 AM     Panel Discussion:  International Research Experiences: The Participant Perspective

Why do graduate students engage in international research experiences? How do they feel the experience has helped them scientifically and professionally? What were barriers and what are the opportunities that have developed later in their careers?

Kara Spiller, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Drexel University

Andrea Stith, Assistant Director, Interdisciplinary Education, University of Colorado Boulder

Lisa Deuse, IRTG Participant, Universities of Aachen/Pennsylvania

Moderator: Julia Kent, Assistant Vice-President, Communications, Advancement and Best Practices, Council of Graduate Schools

11:15 AM     Session IV:  International Research Experiences: The PI Perspective

How do the labs and institutes in which the PIs work profit from sending /receiving graduate students? How do PIs deal with and manage exchanges? How is the length of stay a factor? What barriers exist?

Gerhard Erker, Professor, Organish-Chemische Institut, U. Münster, Germany
   Supporting Document IV.1.A         Supporting Document IV.1.B

Judith F. Kroll, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Linguistics, and Women's Studies, The Pennsylvania State University
Lessons from PIRE: An international network for graduate research and training in cognitive neuroscience and linguistics

Moderator: Max Vögler, Director, North American Office, DFG

12:00 PM     Networking Lunch

Afternoon Sessions: What Can We Do?

1:00 PM       Session V:  Tracking the Outcomes of International Research Experiences

What assessment practices and evaluation tools are currently being used to evaluate international experiences at any level, and can they be adapted to research experiences at the graduate level?  Are there existing models that can track the long-term impact of early international experiences on career success?

Mary Besterfield-Sacre, Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh
Measuring the Impact of Global Preparedness and Competency in Students
   Supporting Document V.1.A          Supporting Document V.1.B

Doris Rubio, Director, Center for Research on Health Care, University of Pittsburgh: A Career Success Model
A Career Success Model
   Supporting Document V.2.A          Supporting Document V.2.B

Moderator: Rick Tankersley, Program Officer, Division of Graduate Education, NSF

1:45 PM       Conversation Cafe:  What Questions Should We Ask and How Should We Ask Them?

Participants will be placed into groups with similar interests and will be asked to develop a set of relevant questions that could be used to evaluate international research experiences for graduate students.  Instructions and handouts will be provided.  Time will be provided for groups to share their results with all participants.

Facilitator: Maresi Nerad, Director, Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education, University of Washington
   Supporting Document CC.1            Supporting Document CC.2            Supporting Document CC.3

3:30 PM       Wrap-Up:  Open Discussion and Next Steps

What should be the products of this workshop?  What are the one or two things you would like to see coming out of this workshop as the next steps?

Suzanne Ortega, President, Council of Graduate Schools

Rebecca Keiser, Office Head, Office of International Science and Engineering, NSF

Denise Manahan-Vaughan, Scientific Member, DFG Senate Committee on Research Training Groups

Moderator: Dean Evasius, Director, Division of Graduate Education, NSF

4:00 PM       Adjourn