Insights into S&T Graduate Student Fast Facts and Psyche

Venkat AlladaOffice of Graduate Studies

• Graduate education is a strategic national asset*.• “Graduate students really drive the research enterprise.” (Former UC President

Atkinson, Sept. 2010)**

* Future of Graduate Education in the US (ETS & CGS report 2010)** Full report: http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/Gr_GradEdAmComp_0407.pdf

Campus FS04 FS05 FS06 FS07 FS08 FS09 FS10CT 2 6 12 17 17 25 23

Female 1 1 3 6 8 10 13

Male 1 5 9 11 9 15 10

MS 476 481 527 552 505 570 663Female 110 113 124 143 126 132 149

Male 366 368 403 409 379 438 514

PHD 370 357 338 331 345 400 440Female 88 87 89 84 86 100 107

Male 282 270 249 247 259 300 333

Campus Total 848 844 877 900 867 998 1126Distance FS04 FS05 FS06 FS07 FS08 FS09 FS10CT 50 125 198 238 307 320 271

Female 5 21 44 44 51 35 37

Male 45 104 154 194 256 283* 234

MS 312 285 236 252 240 237 250Female 54 52 45 55 38 37 38

Male 258 233 191 197 202 200 212

PHD 7 12 12 13 19 32 35Female 1     1 3 5 8

Male 6 12 12 12 16 27 27

Distance Total 369 422 446 503 566 589 556

Total Enrollment 1217 1266 1323 1403 1433 1587 1682Note: Total enrollment does not include non-degree students .

FS10 Male to Female RatiosFS10

MS

Campus Total663

Female149 (22%)

Distance Total250

Female 38 (15%)

PhD

Campus Total440

Female107 (24%)

Distance Total35

Female8 (23%)

Updated with FS10 census #s

Campus Students by Level and ProgramFS2010 (as of Sept 13, 2010)Program MS PhD Grand TotalMechanical and Aerospace EngineeringAerospace Eng 39 10 49Mechanical Eng 76 28 104Manufacturing Eng 14 14Biological ScienceApplied Biology 13 0 13Business and Information TechnologyMBA 34 34IST 57 57ChemistryChemistry 4 50 54Chemical EngineeringChem Eng 20 31 51Civil Architectural and Environmental EngineeringCivil Eng 53 37 90Env Eng 14 0 14Computer and Electrical EngineeringComp Eng 15 8 23Elec Eng 80 58 138Computer ScienceComp Sci 39 32 71Engineering Management and Systems EngineeringEng Mgt 51 19 70Systems Eng 9 5 14

FS2010 cont. 09/13/10Program MS PhD Grand TotalGeological Science & EngineeringGeol Eng 16 9 25Geol/Geophys 17 20 37Petroleum Eng 35 18 53Materials Science and EngineeringMaterials Eng 8 31 39Ceramic Eng 1 7 8Met Eng 6 8 14Mathematics and StatisticsMath 1 21 22Applied Math 15 0 15Mining and Nuclear EngineeringMining Eng 10 10 20Nuclear Eng 15 6 21Explosives Eng 6 0 6PhysicsPhysics 5 30 35English and Technical CommunicationTech Comm 10 0 10Grand Total 663 438 1101

FS10 Enrolled (9/13/10)Campus MS Students by ProgramProgram MS %Chem Eng 20 4MBA 34 5.1Pet Eng 35 5.2Aero Eng 39 5.8Comp Sci 39 5.8Eng Mgt 51 7.6Civil Eng 53 7.9IST 57 8.5Mech Eng 76 11.4Elec Eng 80 12.0Other 179 26.9

Note: Put any program with fewer than 20 MS students in "other."

FS10 Enrolled (9/13/10)Campus PhD Students by ProgramProgram PHD %Aero Eng 10 2.2Mining 10 2.2Pet Eng 18 4.1Eng Mgt 19 4.3Geol/Geophys 20 4.5Math 21 4.7Mech Eng 28 6.3Physics 30 7Chem Eng 31 7Mat Eng 31 7Comp Sci 32 7.3Civil Eng 37 8.4Chemistry 50 11.4Elec Eng 58 13.2Other 43 9.8Note: Put any program with few than 10 PHD students in "other."

FS10 Enrolled (9/13/10)Campus MS Students by CountryCountry MS %GHA 4 .6THA 4 .6TWN 5 .7SAU 8 1.2NGA 9 1.3LBY 12 1.8CHN 32 4.8IND 223 33.6USA 334 50.3

FS10 Enrolled (9/13/10)Campus PhD Students by CountryCountry PHD %KWT 4 .9TUR 4 .9LBY 8 1.8SAU 9 2LKA 13 2.9IRN 25 7.9IND 62 14.1CHN 94 21.4USA 178 40.6

Note: Countries with less than 4 students were removed from the lists.

FS04 FS05 FS06 FS07 FS08 FS09 FS100

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

198221 237 233 238

293 291

648617 628

650612

677

812846 838

865883

850

970

1103

Total Campus Enrollment (MS & PhD)

NEW ENROLLMENTOLD ENROLMENTGRAND TOTAL

# of

stud

ents

Updated with FS10 census #s

Incoming Graduate Student Profile

Fall 2010

When They Were Born

1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

1273

697

1

When They Were Born

Series1

Decade

# of

Stu

dent

s Bor

n in

Dec

ade

A Little About Them…When they were kids…• Pac-Man was introduced• Cable was born• Personal Computers (PC) Introduced by IBM • Hole in the Ozone Layer Discovered • Mikhail Gorbachev Calls for Glasnost and Perestroika • New Coke Hits the Market • Wreck of the Titanic Found • Challenger Space Shuttle Explodes • U.S.S.R. Launches Mir Space Station • DNA First Used to Convict Criminals • Berlin Wall Falls • U.S. President Bush announces that he doesn't like broccoli

Sources: http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade80.html, http://history1900s.about.com/od/timelines/tp/1980timeline.htm

Frequently Asked Questions – Prospective Students

Prospective Student FAQ’s are based on the questions we have received from:

• 18 Webinars in the past year• 32 Grad Chat Sessions• 24 Chinese Grad Chat Sessions

Top Question Categories

• Life in Rolla (cost of living, weather, sport facilities, etc.)

• Funding (how can I get funding?)• Admissions Process• Job Placement After Graduation• What Research Specializations are Available in

Various Programs

Frequently Asked Questions – Prospective Students (contd.)

Frequently Asked Questions – Current Students

Top Question Categories

• Graduate Forms• Thesis/Dissertation Specs• Deadlines• Transferring credits from another university• Reduced enrollment for the final semester

Feedback from S&T Admitted Graduate Students

Total Responses

Coming Not

Coming Undecided

Why They are Coming Domestic 100 37 13

Reputation of University 156 62%

International 158 135 36

Reputation of Program 154 61% Total 258 172 49

Financial Aid 95 38%

International Students Who Plan to Come

Personalized Service 89 35% Yes No

Geographic Location 61 24%

I-20 Received 119 33

Other 21 8%

Source of Survey: Enrollment Verification Survey sent by Office of Graduate Studies. Received by: 663 students .

Source: Office of Graduate Studies 2010 Enrollment Prediction Report (As of 6/24/2010)

Why They Came

0%20%40%60%80%

11%

36% 28%

68% 68%

35% 35% 38% 40% 48%

InternationalDomestic

FS10 Chancellor’s Fellows Survey Analysis

Funding11 have .25 FTE funding34 have .5 FTE funding14 have another level of funding

Why They Came # of Stu

Reputation of University 36

Reputation of Program 32

Funding 48

Other 17

Their Post-Grad School Plans # of Students

Academia 14Federal Lab 17Company 39Pursue PhD 4Other 4

Of the 64 Surveys Currently Received…

Top Things on Grad Students’ Minds

• Funding – Multi-year commitment– Tuition fees– Work expectations and evaluation

• Selection of Thesis/Dissertation advisor

• Selection of Thesis/Dissertation topic

• Time-to-degree

• Perceptions of past students

• Career opportunities (WIIFM)

Top Things Grad Students’ may need help on

• How to write a thesis/dissertation? How to acknowledge works of others?

• Motivation to complete the degree

• Time management

• Career choices

• Present their research succinctly ideas to diverse audience groups

• Engage in a constructive dialog with advisors without fear (and learn that it’s sometimes okay to disagree w/ other people’s viewpoints)

Typical reasons for advisor-advisee conflicts

• Implicit or not clearly stated expectations of one or both parties– Research work and time-line – Publications – Office/Lab. Hours – Professional service – Attendance to research meetings

• Fear that advisor may get mad if work is not delivered on time (which in some cases may lead the student to take short-cuts)

• Change of plans

• Authorship issues

• Personality issues; Work style issues

• Advisor/student interests not congruent

Thanks for your time

and attention.