COLUMBUS -- Improving instructional training, developing centralized career services for graduate students, and creating a better campus climate for minority, international and special-needs students are among recommendations contained in a sweeping report on graduate education at Ohio State -- the first such study of its kind in the country.

The preliminary Graduate Quality of University Experience (G-QUE) report, presented to The Ohio State University Board of Trustees Friday (5/5), outlines eight basic recommendations designed to improve graduate students' academic and social life. But the report, based on several information-gathering efforts -- including a statistically analyzed survey of students -- also provides a comprehensive analysis of the graduate school experience and its importance to Ohio State.

"This is the first comprehensive study of the graduate experience at a single institution in the United States," said Susan Huntington, dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for graduate studies. "What is also special about this project is that it is based on compelling data rather than anecdotal information."

G-QUE is a joint project of the Graduate School and the Council of Graduate Students and was launched in the fall of 1997. Though the project primarily is designed to enhance the graduate student experience, Huntington asserted that pursuit of the report's proposals ultimately will advance Ohio State's reputation nationally.

"Ohio State must recruit the best students, give them the best experience while they're here, and help them obtain the best jobs -- in academe or elsewhere," she said. "Having a positive impact on graduate education will help the university make major strides toward achieving its ambitious goal to become a premier educational institution.

"I really think that systematic implementation and evaluation of this project's proposals could place Ohio State as a national leader in graduate education reform," Huntington said.

The report's proposals to improve professional development recommend aggressively enhancing training for GTAs, providing travel support to conferences, facilitating interdisciplinary training and helping students prepare for multiple career options. Along those lines, the report suggests the university establish a centralized career guidance and job placement service for graduate students.

Other recommendations advanced in the report include:

-Address financial concerns that impede progress toward a degree and impair the quality of life.

-Expand the student health center, increase health insurance options, reduce the cost of health insurance and reduce the student share of health costs for GAs. Housing and parking also should be improved.

-Establish a campuswide mediation and conflict resolution service.

-Optimize oversight and management of graduate education.

-Monitor progress by implementing an exit survey for all graduating students and using other surveys to assess quality of life.

The survey of enrolled graduate students, conducted during winter quarter 1998, received a 26.8 percent response rate, garnering 2,313 responses from the 8,650 questionnaires distributed. The census included 240 questions, spanning more than 20 themes, including the overall graduate student experience, satisfaction with academic programs, professional development, university services and the climate toward special populations.

Nearly all respondents reported a very positive or positive overall experience at Ohio State.

Similarly, nearly all respondents reported they were satisfied or very satisfied with their graduate programs.

The intellectual environmental on campus was rated positive overall, as were university services and facilities, such as the libraries, University Technology Services, BRUTUS registration and the COTA bus service. Some services, such as parking and residence halls, received less favorable ratings among respondents.

The G-QUE committee expects to approve and publish the final report for public distribution in June. The committee recommends campuswide discussion and the beginning of the first phase of implementation during the 2000-01 academic year, with continued implementation and the start of assessment over the next five years.

Ohio State graduate education facts:

-The Graduate School offers 118 master's degree and 92 doctoral degree programs.

-Graduate students comprise nearly 20 percent of Ohio State's student population (based on 1999 data): 9,200 students in Columbus and 400 on the regional campuses.

-In FY 1999, graduate students brought in state subsidy of $116.5 million, or 38 percent of OSU's state subsidy.

-Ohio State produces 2 percent of U.S. doctorates, and grants more doctorates to African Americans than any other non-minority institution in the country.

###

(LO)