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Wednesday,
March 24, 2004 |
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TCU
wants to increase grad funds
A
committee and consulting firm will help TCU to expand
and improve its graduate studies.
By
Lori Russell
Staff Reporter
The university is working to increase funding for its
graduate programs and to recruit better graduate students,
Chancellor Victor Boschini said.
There are many factors involved when determining how graduate
studies will expand, Boschini said. Graduate programs
are more cost-intensive, and the resources per capita
are much greater in graduate programs than in undergraduate
programs.
Specific goals and target dates for the enhancement of
the graduate programs will follow reports from the Vision
in Action committee, which will be available in April,
Boschini said.
The committee, led by Leo Munson and Nowell Donovan, is
working with the support of Kaludis and Associates, a
private consulting firm in Washington D.C., on the university’s
strategic planning process, said William Koehler, provost
and vice chancellor for academic affairs.
The process involves several small study groups at TCU
that act as support committees, offering information and
proposals based on their specific areas of expertise,
Koehler said.
The Vision in Action committee is addressing what the
goals of graduate education are at TCU; the best ratio
of undergraduate to graduate students; and the ideal mix
between traditional graduate programs and nontraditional
graduate programs, such as part-time, night and online
programs, Koehler said.
The reports from this commission are meant to guide fund-raising
campaigns and help to set goals and agendas, Koehler said.
These results will be available to the entire TCU community
in fall 2004.
“Graduate programs are a vital part of our university
because they contribute to our undergraduate program as
well,” Boschini said. “Graduate students give
undergraduates aspiration. They also stimulate ideas for
research and invigorate faculty.”
Bill McClain, a graduate biology student, agrees that
the graduate programs need more funding.
“I receive a ‘living stipend’ from the
school for teaching the freshman biology lab,” McClain
said. “The ‘living stipend’ hardly covers
my living expenses when three paychecks - six weeks of
work - are needed to cover books and fees.”
Koehler said that the amount of living stipends varies
depending on the field of study and the job held by students
and increasing stipends is always a major concern in universities.
“We are working on a plan that would provide the
opportunity to increase those stipends annually,”
Koehler said. |
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