TCAC

Index of Commentaries

TCAC Commentaries Concerning Tri-Campus Interconnections, Collaborations and Linkages

Tri-Campus Responsibilities of the Graduate School

(From an e-mail dated March 22, 1999, written by John Slattery, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, UW Graduate School.)

The University has a single Graduate School covering all three campuses. It is the goal of the Graduate School to ensure (a) strategic complementarity in academic programs, and (b) consistent policies in graduate student matriculation, appointments, graduate records and graduate faculty appointments. Communication is facilitated by representation of each of the three campuses on the Graduate School Council. Strategic complementarity of graduate academic programs ia addressed through three mechanisms:

1. New Program Evaluation and Approval: As the Bothell and Tacoma campuses develop, we have taken specific steps to ensure that the appropriate unit on the complementary campuses receives for comment those proposals in which they have an interest. Interest is assumed when a proposed program is similar to one that already exists, when it is known that a complementary campus intends to develop a program similar to the one proposed, or if the educational mission of a given unit appears to overlap a proposed program. An agreement to the concept of the proposed program is sought informally from the complementary campus (es) at an early stage. Individuals from complementary campuses are specifically sought when interest exists in the review of new academic programs. It is most necessary to obtain agreement on content across campuses for programs with external accreditation, particularly when accreditation is shared among campuses.

2. Continuing Program Review: New graduate programs are reviewed for conversion to continuing status after their first five years. Continuing programs are reviewed at ten-year intervals. The review covers all aspects of the department or unit offering the program under review, including the strength of its scholarship and the quality of its undergraduate programs. Individuals from the complementary campuses are specifically sought for review committees. An annual list of Seattle programs to be reviewed is sent to the Associate Dean for Academic programs at the Bothell and Tacoma campuses to allow them to identify reviews on the Seattle campus in which they would like to participate.

3. Graduate School Council Membership: Members of the Graduate School Council from the Seattle campus typically represent several hundred faculty. The Bothell and Tacoma campuses each have been invited to send a voting representative even though the actual number of faculty each represents is substantially less than the representatives from Seattle. This step was taken to improve communication among the campuses and to provide insight into the workings of program approval and review to the new campuses. The Graduate School is also responsible for admissions and monitoring of degree completion at each of the campuses. Graduate students at Seattle have accepted TAs or other graduate appointments at the Bothell and Tacoma campuses. There are issues with these appointments that remain to be harmonized. For example, since the payroll systems at the different campuses are independent, it is not possible for these students to obtain graduate appointee insurance as they would with an appointment on the Seattle campuses.

Appointment of Graduate Faculty:

Graduate faculty are appointed centrally and the Graduate School Council is considering appointment of faculty at the Bothell and Tacoma campuses as graduate faculty representatives for Seattle doctoral supervisory committees.

Center for Instructional Development and Research (CIDR):

The Center for Instructional Development and Research, which is administratively located within the Graduate School, has been requested to provide its instructional development services to the Bothell and Tacoma campuses. Requests have come from individual faculty, programs and campuses. Unfortunately, CIDR has not been able to extend services to the new campuses. The Graduate School's 1999-2001 budget request seeks funding that would allow extension of CIDR services to the Bothell and Tacoma campuses.

TCAC Index of Commentaries