Campus Coordination

Two committees were formed in Spring 2006. The NRC Assessment Policy Group chaired by Graduate Dean Jeff Gibeling, helps shape the campus response by providing guidance and assistance on the interpretation of the assessment guidelines and to develop strategies for organizing the data which the campus submits. The second committee, the NRC Assessment Advisory Group, chaired by Yuhang Shi, provides guidance and assitance in assembling the data requested and advice on data sources, data verification, and responses by programs, faculty and students. The Advisory Group also acts as an advocate for completion of the assessment.

Initially, much of the work involved with the planning and coordination for the Assessment Survey will be conducted by the staff of the Office of Graduate Studies, with assistance from the Office of Resource Management and Planning (ORMP). As preparations for this study began nearly a year ago, input from staff and faculty was solicited and is still being sought.

Staff from the Office of Graduate Studies and ORMP are currently working to define data elements for the survey and working to "pre-populate" Program Questionnaires with the best available data from the Banner Student Information System, PPS, DaFIS and other campus systems.

Participating Programs

There are 63 doctoral granting programs on the UC Davis campus. In order to participate in the Assessment Survey, the NRC has stipulated that a program must meet three of the following four criteria:

• The program enrolls doctoral students.
• The program appoints its own faculty.
• The program has developed a curriculum for doctoral study
• The program makes recommendations for the awarding of doctoral degrees.

Additionally, to be eligible for particpation, a qualifying program must have produced at least five Ph.D.s in the 2001-02 to 2005-06 period.

Not all doctorate programs at UC Davis may be eligible to participate – some may be too new, others may not have granted the requisite number of degrees. However, the Office of Graduate Studies is working to have as many programs eligible as possible.

Faculty Participation

Most, if not all, of the faculty of graduate programs who accept the invitation to participate will be participating in the Assessment Survey through their responses to the Faculty Questionnaire. Participating faculty will fall into one of three groups, defined by the NRC as:

• Core program faculty. These are faculty members who have served as a chair or member of a program dissertation committee in the past five academic years (2001-02 through 2005-06) or who are serving as a member of the graduate admissions or curriculum committee. The faculty member must be currently and formally designated as faculty in the program and may not be an outside reader who reads the dissertation but does not contribute substantially to its development. In general, emeritus faculty are not to be included except for those who, within the last three years, have either chaired a dissertation committee (i.e. been the Ph.D. supervisor) or have been the primary instructor for a doctoral course listed in the catalog for credit.

• New program faculty. These are faculty members who are not listed as core faculty members, have been hired in tenured or tenure-track positions in the past three academic years (2003-04 through 2005-06), and who are expected to become involved in the graduate program.

• Associated faculty. These are faculty who have chaired or served on program dissertation committees in the past five years (2001-02 through 2005-06), but who are not designated faculty in the program. Do not include outside readers or faculty currently employed at other universities. In general emeritus faculty are not to be included except for those who, within the last three years, have either chaired a dissertation committee (i.e. been the Ph.D. supervisor) or have been the primary instructor for a doctoral course listed in the catalog for credit.

Faculty with multiple graduate group affiliations may appear in more than one program.

The Faculty Questionnaire will be online, at a site maintained by the NRC's contractor. Any faculty directory information will be provided by UC Davis in accordance with our standard protocols.

Student Participation

Student participation will be limited. Only those students in English, Economics, Physics, Neuroscience/Neurobiology, or Chemical Engineering. Within these programs, only students who have advanced to candidacy will participate.

The Student Questionnaire will be online, at a site maintained by the NRC's contractor. Any student directory information will be provided by UC Davis in accordance with our standard protocols.

Staff Participation

In many of the UC davis graduate programs, it may be the responisbility of staff to review the program questionnaire Web sites and verify the data. Staff may also be taking the lead in supplying the items that cannot be pre-populated. On-campus meetings took place in Fall 2006, once the NRC had finalized many of the procedural aspects of the Assessment Survey for those staff (and faculty) who are lead personnel for their programs in this project.