Task Force Addresses Success of UT Research Enterprise

Stancel leads UT System group examining doctoral and post-doctoral education

The United States is falling behind in the number of young people who get a college degree or better: on a national level the U.S. ranks 13th in the world.

George M. Stancel, Ph.D.

Prompted by a global climate change in academia, the newly formed Task Force on Doctoral and Post- Doctoral Programs has been given the charge to examine critical areas for improvement in Ph.D. programs across The University of Texas System and recommend actions.

“These critical areas include improving quality and quantity, recruiting and graduating more doctoral students and post-doctoral trainees, increasing awareness and interest at the K-16 levels, making careers more attractive in areas where critical shortages exist, and enhancing the value and contributions of these programs to UT institutions and the state,” said George M. Stancel, Ph.D., task force chair. He is dean of The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston and is the John P. McGovern Professor of Biomedical Sciences.

Several factors are responsible for the formation of this group, made up of representatives of the UT System campuses offering doctoral and post-doctoral programs.

A primary consideration is the lagging rate of graduate education in the U.S. Research shows that doctoral training develops problem-solving skills and critical thinking, which are needed in our increasingly technological world.

National Competitiveness Lags

Unless graduate education rates increase, “our country will not be as competitive in the future as it has been in the past,” Stancel said.

“Equally important is the change in Texas demographics. Not only are Hispanic and African-American populations increasing in general, but the increase is taking place in schools,” he said. “Too often children of minority families drop out of high school. Some who do get to college are turned off by science and technical fields,” he said. “It is an economic necessity that we get these expanding groups included in higher education, including doctoral and post-doctoral programs.

“We can’t solve the problem of competitiveness if we do not solve the problem of diversity,” Stancel emphasized.

The UT System wants to be on the leading edge of helping to solve this challenge. Also, if the UT System is to be competitive in enrolling the best students, hiring the best faculty and getting its share of grant money, it must increase the quality and quantity of its graduate and post-graduate programs.

Stancel had several pleasant surprises at the inaugural June meeting in Austin as the task force members introduced themselves and identified primary problems in their graduate programs.

Stunning Similarities

“The similarities were stunning,” Stancel recalls. Task force members were relieved to have a forum to describe the major difficulties at their campuses that limit the improvement of their graduate programs.

Topics included more time for faculty to devote to one-on-one advising and mentoring, increasing financial support for graduate training, conducting career advising when the majority of university faculty have not worked outside the academic setting, identifying professional areas with documented shortages, increasing the pipeline of students from college into graduate programs, and finding ways to partner with government, foundations and industry to solve the problems.

Task force members agreed that a major challenge will be to find ways to expose young students at an earlier age to math and science. Teachers must be trained to provide interesting and age-appropriate experiments that are fun and fascinating. The same is true for the arts, humanities and social sciences.

“We need scientists and engineers to develop new technologies and approaches, but we need people in these other fields to help us apply new knowledge wisely to the best benefit of a global society,” Stancel said. “So, the task force will be considering doctoral and post-doctoral programs in all major areas, not just the natural sciences.”

Stancel notes that the controversial subject of shortening the time it takes to complete a Ph.D. came up. When he was in school, the norm was four to five years. Now the average is five to nine years and getting longer. Graduate schools should develop clear guidelines for student progress, and faculty advisors need to monitor that progress carefully. “The success of the UT research enterprise depends upon the quality of Ph.D. graduate students who are recruited throughout the UT System,” said Kenneth I. Shine, Ph.D., executive vice chancellor for health affairs.

“The success of these students and the caliber of their educational programs will significantly impact the quality of our faculty and advances in science, technology and the health of Texas. I am very pleased Dean Stancel has agreed to lead this important committee and look forward to hearing its recommendations.”

Members of the task force will be holding focus groups on their campuses and in communities. Members of each institution’s Development Board will be approached for their input.

The task force reports directly to Shine and Geri H. Malandra, Ph.D., interim executive vice chancellor for academic affairs and associate vice chancellor for institutional planning and accountability. The task force report and recommendations will be presented by the summer of 2007.

By Nora K. Shire