This qualitative case study was part of a larger, multi-year National Science Foundation funded project that centered upon a networked improvement community (NIC) of nine institutions seeking to improve racial climate in STEM graduate programs. We were particularly interested in the role of STEM graduate students at two NIC institutions in…

The authors present findings from a recently completed census survey of all mathematics departments in the United States that offer a graduate degree in mathematics. The authors report the viewpoints of departments about characteristics shown to support students' success as well as the extent to which these characteristics are being implemented in…

In 1954, Hugh Stretton took charge of a threadbare history department at the University of Adelaide. By the end of his tenure as department chair in 1966, staff numbers had increased fivefold and the department was recognised as one of the best of its kind in Australia. Stretton wanted his department to "teach history interestingly",…

For this study of social work degree programs, data were drawn from the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) website, the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education (GASE) website, and the websites of 841 U.S. social work programs, including the 763 programs accredited (or in candidacy for accreditation) by CSWE when these data were…

The E[superscript 2]Coach project from the Department of Physics at the University of Michigan (UM) addresses the challenge of providing individual student support in high-enrollment introductory science courses. This web application employs tailored communications technology, course experiences, student data, and analytics to deliver customized…

While there are just a limited number of situation analysis studies, there is almost no situation analysis study referring to the physical conditions of an ELT Department. With this in mind, in this paper, the physical state of an ELT department in one of the oldest and rooted universities of Turkey was tried to be analyzed. The picture drawn by…

Economics departments are faced with growing demands to document what their graduates have learned on completion of the undergraduate major. The results of a national survey of economics department chairs in the United States reveal that nearly two-thirds of the departments have a formal assessment plan. There is substantial agreement on the most…

Many psychology departments do not have industrial-organizational (IO) or human factors (HF) faculty members. As such, potential IO and HF graduate students may miss career opportunities because faculty advisors are unfamiliar with the disciplines and their graduate programs. To assist advisors, this article highlights the content of IO and HF…

Survey results from a large sample of economics departments describe offerings for principles courses, coursework requirements for economics majors, and program augmentations such as capstone courses, senior seminars, and honors programs. Findings are reported for all institutions, and institutions are subdivided into six different categories…

Cross-departmental schemes to broaden the inter-professional and skills-focused development of engineering students, and to emphasise engineering in its context of societal priorities, are presented. The central coordination of the schemes has streamlined implementation of the developments and promoted a culture of shared responsibility for…

Although diversity experiences and diverse interactions can lead to important educational outcomes, the concern is that only those students who actually take advantage of these experiences and interactions will benefit. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of "border crossers"--defined as students who were involved in cultural…

Background: The introduction of the Australian Research Training Scheme has been a strong reason for assuring the quality of the research higher degree (RHD) experience; if students experience poor supervision, an unsupportive climate, and inadequate infrastructure, prior research suggests RHD students will be less likely to complete their degree,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to find out which factors contribute to the decisions of the students when they choose their place of study among the six psychology departments of the Universities in Finland. Design/methodology/approach: The study involved a survey questionnaire. Responses were received from 1,668 people. Findings: It was…

This article identifies concrete steps used at Argosy University/Orange County (Argosy or AUOC) to integrate assessment in daily institutional operations and utilize assessment data for educational and organizational improvements. Additionally, the article addresses the role of an institutional effectiveness committee in facilitating the…

Based on a workshop for theatre department chairs, guidance on administrative and departmental responsibilities are provided in the following chapters: (1) "Chairs and Deans: Working Together" (J. Robert Wills); (2) "Faculty Evaluation" (Patti P. Gillespie); (3) "Evaluation for Promotion and Tenure" (James M. Symons); (4) "Production Program…