The Trump Administration is Making Life Hell for International Students

Teen Vogue 9/15/2019

With new international student enrollment down overall, particularly for master’s degree and certificate programs at graduate schools, some fear that the prospect of less global diversity on college campuses in the U.S. could have far-reaching implications.

“These incidents,” said Okahana, “as isolated as they may be, are troubling and have created chilling effects.”

Universities Disturbed by Visa Delays

FYI Bulletin 9/13/2019

They cited recent reports from the Council of Graduate Schools and Institute of International Education that found new enrollments of international students in undergraduate and graduate programs has declined in the past two years.

Financial Education for College Students Can Also Benefit Families

InvestmentNews 9/13/2019

In an effort to learn about best practices for developing high-impact financial education programs, TIAA embarked on a three-year collaboration with the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and more than 30 leading universities. While the participating institutions developed a range of innovative approaches, some common suggestions emerged for financial education programs aimed at this demographic.

Advocates and Universities Say Student Visas Have Become 'Increasingly Uncertain'

WBUR 8/27/2019

Leaders with the Council of Graduate Schools, a membership organization representing more than 500 institutions in the United States and Canada, said their member schools have been reporting similar frustrations.

"Anecdotally, we're hearing that students are experiencing either rejections or delays with their visa processing," said Lauren Inouye, the group's vice president of public policy and government affairs.

Grad School Group Takes on Student Mental Health

Inside Higher Ed 8/21/2019

The Council of Graduate Schools and the Jed Foundation for youth emotional health and suicide prevention will partner to study and promote graduate student well-being, they said Tuesday. A report is due out by late 2020. The experiences of underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities will be a priority. A grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation will support a focus on students in the sciences, technology, engineering and math. A grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will support work on students in the humanities.

New Initiative to Support Graduate Student Mental Health and Wellness 

Yahoo! Finance 8/20/2019

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), an association of universities that grant master's and doctoral degrees, and The Jed Foundation (JED), a non-profit that exists to protect emotional health and prevent suicide for our nation's teens and young adults, today announced a new initiative to support the mental health and wellness of master's and doctoral students. The 22-month project will create a foundation for evidence-based policies and resources to support graduate student mental health and well-being, prevent psychological distress, and address barriers to effective support and care. CGS and JED will give particular attention to the experiences of underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities pursuing graduate education.

New Initiative Tackles Graduate Student Mental Health

Diverse Issues in Higher Education 8/20/2019

“Our overarching goal is to create a road map for our graduate deans and community to create services and a more supportive environment for all graduate students,” said Dr. Suzanne Ortega, president of the Council of Graduate Schools, “Because so very little is known about services that are already in place and policies that promote wellness.”

The Odds are Stacked Against Black, Latino Students Going to Grad School. Here are Some Solutions

PBS News Hour 8/9/2019

At a time when the numbers of students from backgrounds like these are growing more quickly than the number who are white and whose parents went to college, this has implications for graduate school enrollment and employers who need workers with graduate educations.

'No Singular Pathway'

Inside Higher Ed 8/1/2019

We still know surprisingly little about Ph.D. career pathways. So the Council of Graduate Schools’ data-collection effort on Ph.D. outcomes continues to yield valuable information. This time, the information is about recent jobs changes among Ph.D.s.

Groups Stick Up for Grad Students in Letter to Lawmakers

Diverse Issues in Higher Education 7/16/2019

Among groups singing the letter were the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, Association of American Universities, Council of Graduate Schools, Council of Christian Colleges and Universities and the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students.

Higher Ed Groups Ask Lawmakers to Prioritize Graduate Education

Inside Higher Ed 7/16/2019

More than 30 groups signed on to the letter, including the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, the American Council on Education, the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students, and the Council of Graduate Schools.

Could the Flow of International Students From India be the Next to Shrink?

Education Dive 6/12/2019

Economic and workforce-related factors are driving Indian graduate students to study in the U.S., said Hironao Okahana, associate vice president of research and policy analysis at the Council of Graduate Schools.

Alt-What?: Pathways Beyond the Professoriate

Inside Higher Ed 6/10/2019

While I can understand the sentiment behind the term “alt-ac” (having used the phrase myself as I was beginning to explore the field), it all too often becomes  shorthand for university staff jobs that are taken in desperation, the plan B (or Q or Z) that people can fall back on when the tenure track doesn’t work out. This is hardly a new critique of the term and the Council of Graduate Schools offers some other possible phrasing for these career pathways here.

More Universities Shut Down Traditional M.B.A. Programs As Popularity Wanes

The Wall Street Journal 6/5/2019

Full-time enrollment is down across master’s and doctoral programs in the arts and humanities, education and social sciences, according to an October report by the Council of Graduate Schools. Over the last five years, online and part-time degrees have gained ground in those fields, the data show.

F1 students contributed $39 billion to US economy and supported 455,000 jobs during 2017-18: Study

The American Bazaar 6/4/2019

The brief also says that international students bolster US academic programs. It quotes a February 2019 survey from The Council of Graduate Schools, which revealed that the new international enrollment declined through the previous two fall admission cycles.

China Issues Warning to U.S.-Bound Students

Inside Higher Ed 6/4/2019

The number of Chinese students in the U.S. has not declined yet: the IIE data show a 2 percent gain in Chinese undergraduate students and a 4 percent gain in Chinese graduate students from fall 2017 to fall 2018, while data from the Council of Graduate Schools found that the number of new Chinese students at American graduate schools did not change from fall 2017 to fall 2018.

Visa Woes, Politics, and Fears of Violence Are Keeping International Students Away, Report Warns

The Chronicle of Higher Education 5/29/2019

The trend continued for graduate students, who have declined in rates of both application and enrollment for two consecutive years, according to a Council of Graduate Schools report released in February.

Will the Enrollment Scandal at U.S. College Impact International Student Applications?

Forbes 04/07/2019

According to a Council of Graduate Schools survey of more than 240 institutions, international graduate student applications fell by four percent between the fall of 2017 and the fall of 2018.  While the total number of international students in the U.S. grew last year to a total of over 1 million, new student enrollment declined by over six percent over the same period. 

Convening Explores Strategies to Improve Grad Student Diversity

Diverse Issues in Higher Education 03/26/2019

Improving diversity, equity and inclusion in graduate education should involve intentional efforts to enhance student experience by cultivating a nurturing campus climate through broadening access, mitigating bias and providing strong support services.

Those were persistent themes Tuesday at “Strategies for Increasing Graduate Program Diversity,” a day of speakers, sessions and panels at American University presented by Educational Testing Service in collaboration with the Council of Graduate Schools.

Financial Literacy is New Website's Goal

Think Advisor 03/25/2019

According to TIAA, the free website program, developed with technology firm EVERFI Inc., utilizes research findings from a study of 13,000 graduate students over a three-year collaboration between TIAA, the Council of Graduate Schools and more than 30 universities.

TIAA Launches National Higher Education Initiative

Associated Press 03/20/2019

The program leverages key findings from research conducted with 13,000 graduate students as part of a three-year collaboration among Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), TIAA and more than 30 leading universities.

What to Know About U.S. Computer Science Degrees

U.S. News and World Report 03/19/2019

At U.S. universities, the number of international graduate applications grew by 6 percent in mathematics and computer sciences between fall 2017 and fall 2018, according to the Council of Graduate Schools.

This White House Student Loan Proposal Could Limit How Much You Can Borrow

Bustle 03/19/2019

But some education advocates worry that new limits would disproportionately affect low-income students — particularly those who pursue a master's degree. Susan Ortega, head of the Council of Graduate Schools, told Inside Higher Ed that a postgraduate degree should not be looked at as a luxury.

White House Looks to Curb Student Lending

Inside Higher Ed 03/19/2019

Susan Ortega, president of the Council of Graduate Schools, argued that capping graduate lending would disenfranchise low-income and minority students who need loans to pursue further postsecondary education beyond a bachelor's degree.

Moody's: Slow Enrollment Gains Raise Colleges' Financial Risk

Education Dive 03/07/2019

Recently, however, the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) reported that enrollment growth of new graduate students stayed flat and that application levels had dipped between the fall of 2016 and 2017. In a news release, CGS President Suzanne Ortega attributed the slowdown to "typical cycles in the economy."

America is Shutting Its Doors to Some of the World's Best Young Minds

CNN 03/04/2019

In early February, the Council of Graduate Schools released a study showing a 4% decrease in international graduate applications over the past year, following a 3% decrease the year before. Late last year, the Institute for International Education reported a 6.6% decline overall in our international student population -- the first such decline in a decade.

AAHE Conference Highlights Latinx Scholarship

Diverse Issues in Higher Education 03/03/2019

Dr. JoAnn Canales, chair of the AAHHE board and Dean-in-Residence at the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) said that this year’s conference was focused on building a robust pipeline.

Increasing Diversity is a Challenge at Harvard Graduate Schools

The Boston Globe 03/02/2019

“We still have a very long way to go,” said Suzanne Ortega, president of the Council of Graduate Schools, a trade group that represents graduate deans.

Tough Student and Work Visa Policies Are Pushing Legal Immigrants to Canada

CNBC 02/25/2019

The overall decline is primarily driven by a 6 percent decrease in applications and 2 percent decrease in first-time enrollment in master's and certificate programs, according to a report conducted by the Council of Graduate Schools, which surveyed 240 institutions in 2017 and 2018.

Specialty Master's Programs Attract Graduate Students

University Business 02/21/2019

International student master’s applications have fallen as well, according to the Council of Graduate Schools, with a 12 percent decline from the prior year in India, and a 13 percent decline from European countries. While some attribute the international decline to unwelcoming visa and immigration policies, the U.S. decline is usually attributed to the economy.

US: Int'l Graduate Applications and Enrolments Decline Again

The Pie News 02/08/2019

Data reflecting the number of international students seeking master’s and doctoral degrees from US colleges and universities has continued along a “troubling” trajectory for the second year running, with a new Council of Graduate Schools report showing a 1% decline in international graduate enrolments from fall 2017-18 and a 4% drop in applications.

A Threat to the Future of Graduate Education

Axios 02/07/2019

Applications from Indian national students to American graduate programs fell 12% from 2017 to 2018, leading to an overall decline in international enrollment in U.S. universities, according to a new study from the Council of Graduate Schools.

Why Are International Students Turning Their Backs on American Colleges?

Education Writers Association 02/07/2019

Evidence is mounting that the U.S. is becoming a less attractive place for international students to study.

The latest sign: A report published Thursday by the Council of Graduate Schools, which found that applications from international students to U.S. graduate schools dropped 4% between fall 2017 and fall 2018, the second year in a row of declines. First-time graduate student enrollment is also down 1% for the second year in a row.

Grad School Applications from International Students Down for Second Year

Diverse Issues in Higher Education 02/07/2019

The overall downturn is primarily driven by a 6 percent decrease in applications and a 2 percent decrease in first-time enrollment in master’s and certificate programs, the report stated, citing less welcoming government policies as one of the reasons for the decline. The drop in overall graduate applications and first-time enrollment was 4 percent and 1 percent, respectively. In contrast, the report noted that first-time international doctoral enrollment grew by 3 percent.

International Student Enrollment Drops for Second Year, Report Says

The Wall Street Journal 02/07/2019

For the second year in a row the number of students from abroad who enrolled in U.S. graduate schools fell by 1%. The drop was led by a decline in students from Saudi Arabia and India, according to a report released Thursday from the Council of Graduate Schools, a Washington, D.C.,-based organization whose members include 500 colleges and universities.

Why Are International Students Turning Their Backs on American Colleges?

MarketWatch 02/07/2019

The latest sign: A report published Thursday by the Council of Graduate Schools, which found that applications from international students to U.S. graduate schools dropped 4% between fall 2017 and fall 2018, the second year in a row of declines. First-time graduate student enrollment is also down 1% for the second year in a row.

New International Graduate Enrollments Decline, Again

Inside Higher Ed 02/07/2019

“This is the first time we’ve seen declines across two consecutive years, and while we think it’s too soon to consider this a trend, it is troubling,” Suzanne Ortega, president of CGS, said in a statement. “We continue to monitor issues, including changes in immigration and visa policy, with growing concern over the possible negative impact to the U.S.’s image as a welcoming destination for international students and scholars.”

International Graduate-Student Enrollments and Applications Drop for 2nd Year in a Row

The Chronicle of Higher Education 02/07/2019

The slump shows that President Trump's travel ban and changes in visa policies may have an impact on international applications and first-time enrollment, leading to a "troubling" downhill trend, said Suzanne T. Ortega, president of the council, in a news release. In the fall of 2018, the final application count for prospective international graduate students declined by 4 percent, bringing the overall decline to 6 percent over the past two years, according to the report. First-time graduate-student enrollment declined by 1 percent, making for a total 2-percent drop since 2017.

US Postgraduate Courses Lose Foreign Students for Second Year

Times Higher Education 02/07/2019

The applications from prospective international students shrank 4 per cent, and first-time enrolments fell 1 per cent, said the Council of Graduate Schools, which represents some 500 universities, mostly in the US and Canada.

Women Earn 53% of All Doctoral Degrees But Only 1 in 4 in Tech

Grit Daily 02/04/2019

According to the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), women earned 53% of all doctorates—a total of 41,717 degrees—during the 2016–2017 academic year. The CGS study found that first-time doctoral program enrollment among females was 27.3% in Engineering and 27.8% in Mathematics/Computer Sciences, while doctoral degrees awarded to women in these fields were 23.4% and 25.1%, respectively.

More Than Half of Humanities PhDs Go Right Back to College to Teach

The College Fix 01/08/2019

The Council of Graduate Schools conducted surveys last year on the career aspirations of current Ph.D. students and Ph.D.-program graduates. They found that the products of a humanities doctoral program have far lower career diversity than do other fields: 56 percent are “teaching at the postsecondary level as their principal job.”

What the Numbers Can Tell Us about Humanities Ph.D. Careers

The Chronicle of Higher Education 01/06/2019

Until recently, that type of data was hard to come by, said McCarthy, the director of best practices at the Council of Graduate Schools. The council conducted two surveys last year — one geared toward current Ph.D. students and their career aspirations, one geared toward Ph.D.-program graduates — to fill in those gaps.

Falling Tuition Revenues Could Pinch US Universities

Nature 01/03/2019

Reports from the US Council of Graduate Schools in Washington DC and the Institute of International Education in New York City found that international graduate-student enrolment in US institutions is falling.

Reports from the US Council of Graduate Schools in Washington DC and the Institute of International Education in New York City found that international graduate-student enrolment in US institutions is falling.

Dear CGS Members,

Due to maintenance on the CGS server room, staff will not be able to access their organization email accounts from December 26-28. CGS staff will be unable to field and respond to questions about CGS benefits and services during the outage. Full CGS email access will be restored on December 29. We apologize for any inconvenience this outage might cause.

-  CGS Staff

Contacts:

Katherine Hazelrigg, Council of Graduate Schools

(202) 461-3888 | khazelrigg@cgs.nche.edu

Beth Dempsey, ProQuest

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

Washington, DC – The Council of Graduate Schools / ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards, the nation’s most prestigious honors for doctoral dissertations, were presented to Mohamed S. Ibrahim and Eiko Strader during the Council’s award ceremony during the 58th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. Dr. Ibrahim completed his PhD in 2018 at Duke University in electrical and computer engineering, and Dr. Strader received her PhD in 2017 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in sociology.

Bestowed annually since 1982, the awards recognize recent doctoral recipients who have 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 recognize the significant contributions young scholars make in their disciplines,” said CGS President Suzanne T. Ortega. “Dr. Ibrahim and Dr. Strader’s work demonstrates the value and impact of graduate education to the world.”

“These are exceptional scholars who have contributed important insights to their fields,” said Allan Lu, ProQuest Vice President, Research Tools, Services & Platforms. “We’re proud to recognize their work and are confident these dissertations significantly move forward their fields of study.”

The 2018 Award in Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering was presented to Dr. Ibrahim for his dissertation, Optimization of Trustworthy Biomolecular Quantitative Analysis Using Cyber-Physical Microfluidic Platforms. Ibrahim’s work involves microfluidic biochips, or lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technology. These devices integrate one or more laboratory functions on a single integrated circuit, commonly called a chip, and operate using quantitative analysis protocols, including things like blood glucose testing, DNA forensics, pathogen detection, and cancer research. Ibrahim’s dissertation addresses the challenges associated with design optimization and security threats that exist in the development of microfluidic technology and bridges the fields of molecular biology, computing, and electrical engineering. Through his research, Ibrahim hopes to, “streamline design methodologies related to the miniaturization of quantitative-analysis protocols.” Dr. Ibrahim is currently a research and development engineer at the Intel Corporation.

Dr. Strader received the 2018 Award in Social Sciences for her dissertation, Immigration and Within-Group Wage Inequality: How Queuing, Competition, and Care Outsourcing Exacerbate and Erode Earnings Inequalities. In response to the policy rhetoric regarding the economic threat of increased immigration to low-educated, native-born men in the labor market, Strader analyzes 100 metropolitan areas between 1980 and 2007 to better understand the regional differences in the way immigration affects wages. She concludes that, “the wage effects of immigration are the result of gendered, raced and classed queuing processes, as well as changes in household production decisions.” Dr. Strader is currently as assistant professor of public policy and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at The George Washington University.

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

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Contact: Katherine Hazelrigg

(202) 461-3888 / khazelrigg@cgs.nche.edu

Washington, DC – The Board of Directors of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has announced that Dr. Steven W. Matson, dean of The Graduate School and professor of biology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is the 2018 recipient of the Debra W. Stewart Award for Outstanding Leadership in Graduate Education. Matson received the honor at an awards ceremony held during the CGS 58th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

For his invaluable contributions to The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate community, Dr. Matson becomes the third Debra W. Stewart Award recipient. A passionate advocate for graduate education, Dr. Matson developed a number of professional development programs aimed at preparing the next generation of academics as well as the next generation of business, non-profit, and civic leaders. Under Matson’s tenure, UNC launched several Professional Science Master’s degrees, designed to meet the needs of today’s professionals who want to expand their technical and business knowledge and apply it to emerging professional fields within science and health.

During his years as dean, the Diversity and Student Success program was established within The Graduate School, providing programming to support first-generation, international, underrepresented minority, military-affiliated and LGBTQIA graduate students.

Matson has been involved in many CGS projects, including PhD Career Pathways, Professional Development for Graduate Students in STEM Fields, and the Future of the PhD Dissertation. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Council of Graduate Schools, the Board of Directors of the Graduate Record Exam (Chair, 2016-17), and on the Board of Directors for the TOEFL Exam. He also served as President (2016-17) of the North Carolina Council of Graduate Schools.

“Steve Matson works for our graduate students in every possible way. From encouraging their research and teaching at Carolina to preparing them for the rapidly changing global job market, he has tirelessly served as Dean of The Graduate School since 2008,” said UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol L. Folt. “Dr. Matson has led the creation of powerful initiatives that encouraged community, diversity and academic accomplishment, expanding interdisciplinary funding and professional development. Our graduate students have benefited greatly from his leadership, and our university is indebted to him for his outstanding service.”

“Providing programming and resources to support first-generation, international, underrepresented minority, military-affiliated and LGBTQIA graduate students by establishing the Diversity and Student Success program within The Graduate School at UNC demonstrates Steve’s dedication and commitment to establishing an inclusive graduate school community,” said Dr. Karen Butler-Purry, associate provost for graduate and professional studies at Texas A&M University and chair of the Council’s Board of Directors. “Steve has always been generous with his time and willing to share his invaluable experience and advice mentoring new graduate deans.”

The award was created in 2016 by the CGS Board of Directors to recognize outstanding leadership in graduate education, and particularly those leadership qualities exemplified by the Council’s fifth President, Debra W. Stewart. The selection committee considers 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. Areas of special consideration include 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.

Nominees for the award must be a current senior, graduate dean at a CGS member institution (Regular or Associate) and cannot be an active member of the CGS Board of Directors. Nominations are made by CGS member institutions and are reviewed by a selection committee of former graduate deans in the CGS community. The winner receives a $4,000 prize to support continuing innovations at the awardee’s institution.

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Contacts:

Katherine Hazelrigg, CGS

(202) 461-3888 | khazelrigg@cgs.nche.edu

Jason Baran, ETS

(609) 683-2428 | jbaran@ets.org

Washington, DC – Today the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and ETS presented Vanderbilt University with the 2018 ETS/CGS Award for Innovation in Promoting Success in Graduate Education: From Admission through Completion. Dr. Mark Wallace, dean of the Graduate School and Louise B. McGavock Endowed Chair, accepted the co-sponsored award on Vanderbilt’s behalf during the award ceremony at CGS’s 58^th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

The ETS/CGS Award for Innovation in Promoting Success in Graduate Education recognizes promising, innovative proposals to enhance student success and degree completion at the master’s and doctoral levels while promoting inclusiveness. The winning institution is selected on the strength of its proposal to meet the award’s goals and to serve as a model for other schools. The winner receives a two-year, $20,000 matching grant.

The proposal for Vanderbilt University’s Russell G. Hamilton Leadership Development Institute, Supporting the Transformation from Students to Leaders promotes graduate student leadership development through three innovative interventions. “FirstGen Success” will provide graduate students who self-identify as first-generation students with three avenues of support: discussion groups and social events, formal training events, and experiential learning of professional norms. “Training Tomorrow’s Mentors” aims to improve the quality of mentoring by providing training to mentees that will prepare them to be the mentors of tomorrow. Lastly, through “Managing Conflict and Difficult Conversations,” external mediation skills trainers will conduct workshops to teach students, postdocs, faculty, and staff how to confront and successfully navigate conflict.

“We are honored and delighted to be the recipient of this generous award from ETS and CGS. Establishing the Russell G. Hamilton Leadership Institute is among several bold strategic investments that Vanderbilt University is making in Ph.D. education, so we are deeply honored with this recognition” said Mark Wallace, dean of the Graduate School and Louise B. McGavock Endowed Chair, Vanderbilt University. “The support provided through this award will allow us to build innovative new programming to provide the tools for our graduate students to become society’s future leaders--through robust career development support, a collaborative culture that encourages interdisciplinary discovery, and much more.”

“We are grateful to ETS, whose support makes possible this innovative way to promote best practices among graduate schools. Vanderbilt’s Russell G. Hamilton Leadership Development Institute is a model that addresses the needs of all graduate students, with particular attention to first-generation students, underrepresented minorities, and women in the academy and is one that could be replicated on other campuses,” said CGS President Suzanne T. Ortega.

“Vanderbilt deserves this honor in recognition of the school’s approach to advancing graduate education by holistically supporting the graduate student lifecycle,” said David G. Payne, vice president and COO of ETS’s Global Education Division. “Their system not only includes an integrated set of supports that help students to be successful on their academic and career journeys, but it also successfully promotes diversity and inclusivity.”

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Contact: Katherine Hazelrigg

(202) 461-3888 / khazelrigg@cgs.nche.edu

Washington, DC – The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has awarded the 2018 Gustave O. Arlt Award in the Humanities to Dr. Carrie Hyde, associate professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles. The awards ceremony was held during the CGS 58th Annual Meeting.

The Arlt Award is given annually to a young scholar-teacher who has written a book deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to scholarship in the humanities. Dr. Hyde becomes the award’s 48^th recipient for her book, Civic Longing: The Speculative Origins of US Citizenship (Harvard UP, 2018). She received her PhD in English from the Rutgers University, New Brunswick in 2011.

In Civic Longing: The Speculative Origins of US Citizenship, Hyde examines the evolution of the way citizenship was conceptualized in the years between the American Revolution and the Civil War. No Constitutional definition of citizenship existed until the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868, which led politicians and writers to seek a construct of citizenship in fiction, religion, political philosophy, law, and literature imparted with moral and/or ethical guidance. Through Civic Longing, Hyde provides, “a powerful critique of originalism, and challenges anachronistic assumptions that read the definition of citizenship backward from its consolidation in the mid-nineteenth century as jus soli or birthright citizenship.”

“The Council of Graduate Schools is delighted to present this year’s Arlt award to Dr. Hyde for the outstanding scholarship in her recent book Civic Longing. The Arlt award recognizes exceptional work by early-career humanities faculty, and Dr. Hyde’s work is an invaluable contribution to understanding the history of U.S. citizenship and its complexities,” said Dr. Suzanne Ortega, president of the Council of Graduate Schools.

Created in 1971, the Arlt Award honors the first president of CGS, Gustave O. Arlt. The winner must have earned a doctorate within the past seven years, and currently be teaching at a North American university. Nominations are made by CGS member institutions and are reviewed by a panel of scholars in the field of competition, which rotates annually among seven disciplines within the humanities. This year’s field was English and North American Language and Literature. The winner receives a $1,000 honorarium, a certificate, and travel to the awards ceremony.

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CGS Contact: Katherine Hazelrigg                                                                  ETS Contact: Jason Baran

(202) 461-3888 / khazelrigg@cgs.nche.edu                                                (609) 683-2428 / jbaran@ets.org

In Master’s Degree Programs, Admissions Processes Prioritize Retention

CGS Study Highlights Goals and Limitations of Current Master’s Admissions Processes

Washington, DC — Today the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) released findings from a year-long study designed to better understand the processes and criteria used to evaluate applicants to master’s degree programs. Supported in part by Educational Testing Service (ETS), the project sheds new light on the way master’s programs select their future students.

Among the project’s key findings is that both master’s program faculty and graduate deans consider the ability to successfully complete coursework to be an important criterion for evaluating candidates for admission. In a survey conducted by CGS, 79% of research-focused master’s program directors and 84% of professionally-focused master’s program directors identified the potential to complete coursework as a very important consideration during the admissions process. This finding suggests that universities place higher value on the likelihood of a student’s retention relative to their potential to contribute to the program environment and other factors.

The findings also shed light on the various weight given to common elements in a student’s application package. According to the survey, letters of recommendation are used to evaluate a wide range of cognitive and non-cognitive attributes. For example, letters of recommendation were used by 90 to 92% of the graduate program directors as evidence of an applicant’s non-cognitive qualities, such as persistence, dependability, and collegiality/collaboration/cooperation. Because letters of recommendation can introduce biases into the admissions process, however, this finding suggests that it is very important for programs to develop consistent ways of evaluating a letter’s contribution to the admissions package.

“There is quite a bit of agreement about the evaluation criteria and processes used in master’s admissions, and the apparent focus given to student retention is good news,” said CGS President Suzanne Ortega. “However, this study also uncovered opportunities to help master’s admissions committees and deans achieve their admissions goals more effectively. We need better resources, such as rubrics, to help universities consider candidates consistently and with attention to the full range of attributes they are seeking for their programs.”

David Payne, ETS vice president of global education, said, “The programs and deans surveyed consistently identified critical thinking as a key attribute they consider when evaluating an applicant’s potential to achieve desired outcomes, such as degree completion and post-graduate success. The GRE® General Test measures aspects of critical thinking in each of the test’s three sections, and it continues to provide value as a common, objective measure to compare applicants with various backgrounds and educational experiences. The report recommends that those involved in the admissions process receive more training around evaluating submitted materials, including score interpretation and avoiding bias. This may include how reviewers should weight GRE scores — as part of a holistic admissions process that places appropriate value on all submitted materials — to achieve their program’s enrollment goals.”

The study’s authors outline five recommendations aimed at master’s education leaders interested in improving the master’s admissions process. The recommendations include providing greater transparency in master’s admissions procedures, providing information and support to help admissions committees avoid biases, offering training to increase faculty and staff involvement in the process, and developing tools to evaluate non-cognitive attributes. The report also calls for additional research to clarify best practices in this area.

More information about the report, including data tables from the surveys, can be found on the CGS website.

About the report

Master’s Admissions: Transparency, Guidance, and Training is the final report of the CGS/ETS Master’s Admissions Attributes project, which was conducted in three stages: regional focus groups to develop survey tools; two surveys, one for graduate school staff and for master’s program directors; and a colloquium to discuss the results from the two surveys and their implications. Three research questions were developed to guide the conversation: 1) What is success in a master’s program? 2) What attributes are currently used in admissions decisions to predict success? 3) What evidence is currently used to evaluate the attributes? The report outlines and summarizes the project findings.

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Alisha J. House has always been driven by a spirit of service. Before enrolling as a graduate student at Cleveland State University, House served in the United States Navy from 2007 until 2011. In the Navy she served as a nuclear reactor operator and technician before moving up to become a petty officer. These dual passions for service and science would motivate House to return to graduate school after her naval service.

Since she arrived at Cleveland State University in 2012 as a post-baccalaureate student in the College of Sciences and Health Professions, House has continued her service by participating in organizations meant to empower veterans as well as women in science. House founded the CSU chapter of the Global Medical Brigades in 2013. The organization’s mission is to “resolve global health and economic disparities by empowering student volunteers, local professionals, and community members in a collaborative holistic approach to sustainable development in under resourced regions.” To that end, House oversaw and participated in two medical mission trips to Nicaragua (2013) and Panama (2014). While at CSU, she has also been active in two other organizations – the Graduate Student Interdisciplinary Research Club and the Scientista Foundation – which aim to improve research opportunities as CSU, particularly for women.

House’s growth as a volunteer has been matched by her growth as a student and researcher. She is currently a doctoral candidate in Clinical and Bioanalytical Chemistry at CSU. Her research “involves developing differentiation methods for induced pluripotent stem-cell derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs), and the subsequent biochemical characterization of them using mass spectrometry.” This research is part of a larger project helmed by her advisor, Yana Sandlers, in the field of metabolomics and aims to better understand Barth’s Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder which leads to slow and diminished development in men. The hope is that this research will provide a better understanding of Barth’s Syndrome and guide the development of new treatments.

House’s combination of curiosity and discipline has helped her excel as a graduate student. She was always interested in designing experiments and thinking about how to better integrate research findings with clinical applications. Success did not always come easily to House, however, and that’s when her military background proved particularly valuable.  “The level of determination and perseverance that I have needed to use to make it this far could only have been instilled by the United States military,” she said. “To be honest, there were times when I felt like I wasn't going to make it all the way, and that I would end up leaving school with a master's degree instead of a PhD.” Still, she persevered and will be graduating with her doctorate next spring.

After finishing her degree, House hopes to continue to serve patients by bridging the gap between research and clinical application of stem cells. This career path perfectly fits her two passions for serving others and scientific research and has motivated her to become a more successful graduate student. To learn more about Alisha and her work, visit the Cleveland State University website.

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Photo Credit: Cleveland State University