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Given all the challenges of 2020, Ortega thinks admissions teams may modify their calculus when choosing their next class. Grades and test scores will still matter, but applicants' life experiences could be given more weight.
"Students approaching graduate school will be encountering ... a more humane and holistic process," said Ortega.
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Contact: Katherine Hazelrigg (202) 461-3888 / khazelrigg@cgs.nche.edu
Washington, DC – The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) Board of Directors has announced its officers for the 2021 term. CGS is governed by an 11-member Board of Directors drawn from member institutions. Board members serve set terms.
Dr. Andrew G. Campbell, dean of the Graduate School at Brown University, was announced as the 2021 Board Chair at the conclusion of the 2020 CGS 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting. Appointed to his role in 2016, Campbell is also professor of medical science in the Division of Biology & Medicine at Brown. He has taught and advised Brown undergraduate and graduate students since his faculty appointment began in 1994. He has received numerous honors, including the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, American Foundations for AIDS Research Investigator Award, and Brown’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Faculty Governance. He is also a 2020-elected AAAS Fellow. Campbell is PI and Co-PI for two National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants and leads the NIH-funded Initiative to Maximize Student Development in Brown’s Division of Biology and Medicine, a program to improve recruiting and performance of URM students in doctoral programs.
“Dr. Campbell’s expertise in graduate education and commitment to improved recruiting and performance of underrepresented minority graduate students will be vital as he leads the Council into the next decade. He has provided outstanding leadership during his tenure at Brown University and will help advance CGS’ mission to address the needs of our member institutions, particularly as we continue to navigate these unprecedented times,” said CGS President Suzanne T. Ortega.
The new Chair-elect, Dr. Julie Coonrod serves as the dean of graduate studies at the University of New Mexico. Since Dr. Coonrod became dean in 2013, she has streamlined processes to improve graduate student tracking and completion and expanded funding opportunities. As a professor in Civil, Construction, & Environmental Engineering; she has continued to teach a graduate-level course that emphasizes the modeling capabilities of geographic information systems to students seeking a variety of graduate degrees. Dean Coonrod is the past president of the Western Association of Graduate Schools (2019-2020).
The Council welcomes five new board members, whose terms will begin on January 1, 2021. Beginning one-year terms are Dr. Jeni Hart, dean and vice provost for graduate studies at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and Dr. James Marshall, dean of the division of graduate studies at California State University Fresno. Beginning three-year terms are Dr. April Boulton, dean of The Graduate School at Hood College; Dr. Michael Cunningham, associate vice provost for graduate studies and research at Tulane University; and Dr. Sheryl Tucker, vice provost and dean of the Graduate College at Oklahoma State University.
This year’s outgoing Chair of the Board is Dr. Sally Pratt, former vice provost, graduate programs at the University of Southern California. “We are so fortunate to have had Dr. Pratt’s leadership as CGS Board Chair the past year,” Ortega said. “She has contributed significantly to the success of graduate students at USC and to graduate education more broadly in her efforts to prioritize graduate student mental health and wellbeing.”
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The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) is an organization of approximately 500 institutions of higher education in the United States and Canada engaged in graduate education, research, and the preparation of candidates for advanced degrees. The organization’s mission is to improve and advance graduate education, which it accomplishes through advocacy in the federal policy arena, research, and the development and dissemination of best practices.
Join three experienced university partners and Discovery Education, for a just in time discussion of best practices and lessons learned for developing high quality graduate level online courses that are rigorous, compelling, engaging, and relevant. Learn how Discovery Education partners with universities for online learning. Buena Vista University, University of Findlay and Wilkes University will also share how they deliver innovative instruction while fostering expertise in online teaching and learning among their faculty.
Register to:
The “map” for graduate recruitment is changing. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, international applications were declining in many fields, and travel restrictions to the United States signal this trend will continue into the foreseeable future. Institutions need to tap into new and more diverse domestic applicant pools as they adjust their recruitment strategies. How colleges and universities find their bearings and reorient to this new landscape will determine the health of graduate education in the years to come. Webinar sponsored by Liaison.
“We could have our own lost generation of students who get busy with other things and then don’t fulfill their dreams,” said Suzanne T. Ortega, the president of the Council of Graduate Schools.
First-time enrollment in graduate programs increased by 2.5 percent between fall 2018 and fall 2019 even while the number of applications to graduate programs dipped slightly, by 0.6 percent, according to a new survey conducted by the Council of Graduate Schools and the Graduate Record Examinations Board.
African Americans made up 12.1 percent of all first-time graduate enrollees in 2019. Yet African Americans were just 6.1 percent of all incoming graduate students at doctoral universities with very high research activities. This was only a slight improvement from 2009 when Blacks were 5.3 percent of total first-time enrollments in graduate programs at these research universities.
When Erin Lee, a recent Master’s in Public Health (MPH-Health Services) recipient from the University of Washington (UW), proposed her master’s project, her thesis chair was extremely supportive but cautioned that the scope of work was ambitious for a two-year program. Lee was undeterred. Her passion for addressing maternal and child health inequities was her fuel. In her words, “It is high time to turn the tide, and make Black women’s health a priority.”
Lee’s research project aimed to gain a better understanding of the motivations and experiences of community-based doulas through a qualitative study. She developed an interview protocol and began interviewing doulas who worked at a local nonprofit organization, Open Arms Perinatal Services (OAPS). Her research goals were to demonstrate the improvement in care patients received through community-based doulas and identify ways to advocate for organizations like OAPS that improve public health by reducing racial disparities in health outcomes.
In addition to her research, Lee spent time volunteering at SURGE Reproductive Justice, a nonprofit in Washington State focused on ending reproductive oppression for all. While there, Lee initiated a doula program for incarcerated people. “I am a Black woman, born from a Black woman, raised by a Black woman,” she said. “At the core of why I chose to go into public health is because of my intersecting identities as a Black woman…I understand what it means to not be seen and not be heard.” To learn more about Erin’s work, visit the University of Washington website.
Visit the GradImpact Feature Gallery to learn more about the amazing, innovative research being done by graduate students and alumni across the world.
Photo Credit: University of Washington
The CGS GRADIMPACT project draws from member examples to tell the larger story of graduate education. Our goal is to demonstrate the importance of graduate education not only to degree holders, but also to the communities where we live and work. Do you have a great story to share about the impact of master’s or doctoral education? Visit our WEBSITE for more information.