scholarly journals A Systems Change Framework for Evaluating Academic Equity and Inclusion in an Ecology & Evolution Graduate Program

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly J Wallace ◽  
Julia M York
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Graduate Program ◽  
Systems Change ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
Change Framework ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The University ◽  
Stakeholder Needs ◽  
Equity And Inclusion

AbstractWhile academia is moving forward in terms of diversifying recruitment of undergraduate and graduate students, diverse representation is still not found across the academic hierarchy. At the graduate level, new discussions are emerging around efforts to improve the experiences of women and underrepresented minorities through inclusive graduate programming. Inclusive graduate programs are that which actively center and prioritize support for diverse experiences, identities, career goals, and perspectives, from recruitment through graduation. Establishing regular and rigorous evaluation of equity and inclusion efforts and needs is a critical component of this work. This is recognized by funding agencies that increasingly require reporting on inclusion efforts; here we suggest use of a systems change framework for these evaluations.A systems change approach emphasizes three levels: explicit change (e.g. policies), semi-explicit change (e.g. power dynamics), and implicit change (e.g. biases). We use the Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior (EEB) PhD Program at the University of Texas at Austin in an exercise to (1) identify areas of concern regarding inclusive programming voiced by graduate students, (2) categorize efforts to address these concerns, and (3) integrating and evaluating which areas of the systems change framework show the greatest progress or potential for progress. We argue this framework is particularly useful for academic systems as they are complex, composed of variable individuals, and must address diverse stakeholder needs.

scholarly journals Teaching 7000 Students Per Year

1990 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 76-80
Author(s):  
R. Robert Robbins
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Teaching Program ◽  
Undergraduate Program ◽  
Credit Hours ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
The World ◽  
Teaching Faculty ◽  
The University

The undergraduate program at the University of Texas has grown into the largest astronomy teaching program in the world, with some 7000 students per year (almost 20,000 credit hours). The department has 22.5 Ph.D.-level teaching faculty, about 45 graduate students, and about 40 pre-professional undergraduate majors. But most of the enrollment is in courses that satisfy the science requirements of students in liberal arts and non-technical majors. In 1985–86, 96.4 per cent of our undergraduate credit hours taught were in such classes. It is instructive to examine the historical reasons for our growth and its educational consequences, and to draw some conclusions from both for other programs.

scholarly journals University extension and teacher training in Brazil: the Zoology Summer Course

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-330
Author(s):  
Karla D. Araujo Soares ◽  
Adriana Jeckel ◽  
Gabriel Silva ◽  
Victor Giovannetti ◽  
Kleber Mathubara
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Graduate Program ◽  
Sao Paulo ◽  
São Paulo ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
College Professors ◽  
Academic Activities ◽  
The University

Teacher training in higher education has been relatively neglected in Brazilian universities because postgraduate programs are mainly focused on the research that students produce. However, these postgraduate students are expected to become the next university and college professors. Herein, we present the experience of the Zoology Summer Course, a university extension course organized by graduate students from the Zoology Graduate Program at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. This course was created aimed to provide graduate students with an opportunity to develop and practice their teaching skills. To understand the influences, motives, and legacy of the CVZOO on its organizers, we developed a questionnaire and evaluated the responses by focusing on elements of academic formation and prospects for a teaching career, using systematic content analysis procedures as parameters. Our results demonstrate the importance of CVZOO as a space of dialogue and interaction for professional teacher training, as well as an opportunity to exchange experiences and build professional identity. The course has also influenced other academic activities such as the organization of scientific events, mentoring experience, and publications. Lastly, we discuss the importance of teacher training in Brazilian graduate programs and propose initiatives to improve the training of future university teachers. Keywords: Graduation; Extension Course; Students; Biodiversity   Extensão universitária e formação docente no Brasil: o Curso de Verão em Zoologia   Resumo: A formação docente universitária tem sido bastante negligenciada em universidade brasileiras, uma vez que programas de pós-graduação focam majoritariamente na produção acadêmico-científica de seus alunos. No entanto, espera-se que os pós-graduandos sejam a próxima geração de professores universitários. Neste estudo, nós apresentamos a experiência do Curso de Verão em Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil. Este curso foi criado com o objetivo de proporcionar aos estudantes de pós-graduação a oportunidade de desenvolver e praticar suas habilidades para docência. No intuito de entender as influências, motivações e legado do CVZOO em seus organizadores, nós desenvolvemos um questionário e avaliamos as respostas buscando elementos da formação acadêmica e prospecção para a carreira docente, usando procedimentos de análise de conteúdo como parâmetros Os resultados demonstram a importância do CVZOO como um espaço de diálogo e interação com a prática docente bem como uma oportunidade para trocar experiências e construir uma identidade profissional. O curso tem influenciado em outras atividades acadêmicas, tais como organização de eventos científicos, orientação de alunos e publicações. Por fim, este artigo discute a importância da formação docente em programas de pós-graduação no Brasil e propõe algumas iniciativas para melhorar a formação dos futuros professores universitários. Palavras-chave: Pós-Graduação; Curso de Extensão; Estudantes; Biodiversidade

Further development of a graduate program in nuclear and radiochemistry at the University of Texas

2008 ◽  
Vol 276 (3) ◽  
pp. 863-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Landsberger ◽  
A. Plionis ◽  
S. Biegalski ◽  
K. Foltz-Biegalski ◽  
E. Schneider ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Program ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
The University ◽  
Further Development

scholarly journals What’s in a Seminar?

Eos ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Keisling ◽  
Raquel Bryant ◽  
Nadia Fernandez ◽  
Mariela Arredondo ◽  
Nigel Golden
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Seminar Series ◽  
University Of Massachusetts ◽  
The University ◽  
Equity And Inclusion

Graduate students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst redesigned their departmental seminar series to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion, and other institutions could do the same.

The College-Wide Interdisciplinary Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Program

MRS Bulletin ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 46-48
Author(s):  
D.L. Bourell ◽  
H.L. Marcus
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Program ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Science And Engineering ◽  
Traditional Concept ◽  
Course Content ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Program Approach ◽  
Materials Science And Engineering ◽  
The University

The college-wide interdisciplinary graduate program approach to graduate education is a viable alternative to the departmental structure for areas of study that span two or more traditional disciplines. This article will explore the nature of this organizational style using materials science and engineering as the example discipline. We will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the graduate program approach in the light of more than 18 years of experience at the University of Texas at Austin.The primary task of any center for higher learning is the education of students in an environment conducive to the open exchange and dissemination of ideas and knowledge. Traditionally, the university has approached this task by assembling scholars with common foundations of expertise into a collective group, the department. Besides the obvious function of providing a structured setting for the concentration of scholars with similar interests, the department also serves as the front line of faculty governance for matters including tenure, promotion, salary, resource management, and distribution. For example, course content and degree requirements are initiated at the department level. Thus the organizational structure of the college, and hence of the university, is firmly built on the traditional concept of department, a concept that has served education well.However, there are liabilities to the departmental structure since its natural tendency is to compartmentalize knowledge with the concomitant academic provincialism. This mindset poses a particularly serious problem for a number of subject areas that are intrinsically multidisciplinary. Several examples in the field of engineering science are biomedical engineering, manufacturing and industrial engineering, nuclear engineering, environmental engineering and also materials science and engineering.

Power and place

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Achugar ◽  
Silvia Pessoa
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Program ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
El Paso ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Academic Context ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
The University ◽  
Linguistic Attitudes

This paper explores the role of Spanish in an academic community in Southwest Texas in order to demonstrate how power, history and place affect linguistic attitudes. The changing status of Spanish from being an index of low wage paying jobs to being a marker of membership in an exclusive academic community serves as a case to investigate how power relations and history interact to shape linguistic attitudes of individuals and groups. Members of the Bilingual Creative Writing Graduate Program at the University of Texas, El Paso, were interviewed to identify the prevalent attitudes towards bilingualism, Spanish in the community and Spanish language users. A discourse analysis of the interviews revealed that participants in this community value Spanish use and bilingualism in the academic context, but have mostly negative attitudes towards local varieties of Spanish and monolingual speakers. This study demonstrates the importance of history, power and place in understanding language attitudes as shared evaluations of language users and uses.

scholarly journals DAVID APTER

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (04) ◽  
pp. 797-798
Author(s):  
Joseph LaPalombara
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Graduate Program ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
World War ◽  
The World ◽  
The Moment ◽  
And Behavior

David Apter, with whom, sixty years ago, I enrolled in the graduate program of Princeton University's department of politics, died on May 4 of this year. Along with other graduate students of that era, we shared the conceit that we would change the ways in which the discipline went about doing comparative politics. The moment for striking out in that direction seemed propitious. World War II had introduced countless Americans, among them many future political scientists, to “exotic” countries where political institutions and behavior appeared quite unlike anything they had learned in their undergraduate courses. War itself led to an explosion of interest in nation-reforming in the case of defeated totalitarian systems, and nation-building in those parts of the world where empires were breaking up.

scholarly journals Behavioral Citation Analysis: Toward Collection Enhancement for Users

2006 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 304-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth E. Fuchs ◽  
Cristina M. Thomsen ◽  
Randolph G. Bias ◽  
Donald G. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Educational Psychology ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Library Services ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
Graduate Research ◽  
Students First ◽  
The University ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Research Analysis

A pilot study was developed to determine use of the University of Texas at Austin General Libraries’ research collections in the fields of civil engineering and educational psychology and to investigate the research behavior of graduate students. First, the authors sampled bibliographic citations from dissertations completed during the years 1997 and 2002 in the above-named fields. Then, a survey was sent to the dissertation writers to gain insight into use and opinions of library services for their graduate research. Analysis of information provided by both collection-and user-centered data-gathering techniques serves to underscore the value of the merged evaluation methods.

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