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Summary Description In
May, 2005, after several months of deliberations, the faculty adopted a
revised doctoral program. The revised program has three major
initiatives: Early assessment of students' competency and commitment (Quality control)Flexible curriculum that enables interdisciplinary researchOpportunities for integrating communication and learning skills into the programThese
collectively constitute the strategies that we intend to use to develop
our students into professional scientists capable of leadership roles
in academic, government, and industrial careers. Summer Academic Enhancement The
program starts with a summer academic enhancement workshop that
prepares the students for a seamless transition into the university and
the graduate program. Towards this end, we collaborate with the
on-campus Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP)
to bring in prospective graduate students for 6 weeks in the summer.
The students are allowed to engage in academic and social interactions
with faculty and students, at the end of which they take placement
exams in the four classical chemistry sub-disciplines. These are ACS
standardized exams at the undergraduate level. Early Transition to Research Enterprise, Interdisciplinary Training After
the students have demonstrated competency at the undergraduate levels
in the core chemistry sub-disciplines, we require them to take only 15
hours of chemistry coursework prior to candidacy. Thus the student is
provided an early transition into the research enterprise. Depending on
the students' research and career interest, they can take courses from
other disciplines to satisfy the remainder of the 36 hours of
coursework that is required for the doctoral program, thus providing
opportunities for interdisciplinary training. Group Mentoring, Developing Communication Skills The students are now provided the opportunities to hone their communication and learning skills in several ways including: Oral presentations to an advisory committee (3 faculty), and at national professional meetingsEnrolling in on-campus Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) coursesWriting proposals for research and training supportPreparing manuscripts for publicationsThus, the revised doctoral program is aptly titled, "Providing Opportunities for Scholarship and Research"
ACADEMIC ENHANCEMENT AND MENTORING
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
This link provides the detailed program requirements
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Tools and Resources The
program collaborates with nationally funded programs to provide funds
for recruiting and competitive stipends. Additionally, through
industry-university partnership, students engage in summer research in
industrial laboratories as part of a curriculum practical training
program. Some of the tools and resources that are used for developing
researchers and scholars are listed below: Recruiting Competitive StipendScholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)Workshop on Responsible Conduct of ResearchCurriculum Practical Training (CPT) Teaching Assistantship Group Mentoring CourseworkPlacement ExamsCumulative ExamsSeminar PresentationsWriting Grant ProposalsWriting Manuscripts Dissertation Research
ALLIANCE for GRADUATE EDUCATION and the PROFESSORIATE (AGEP)
Through the collaboration with the AGEP program, funds for recruinting and summer academic enhancement are provided.
BRIDGE to the DOCTORATE
Through the Bridge to the Doctorate program a competitive stipend ($30,000/year) is offered to some incoming graduate students.
PREPARING FUTURE FACULTY (PFF)
Students enroll in courses offered by the PFF program. These courses
consist of lectures, workshops, and activities focusing on the
pedagogies of teaching and learning.
RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT of RESEARCH (RCR)
This
is a two-day training workshop that is a requirement for admission to
candidacy. To receive the RCR certificate, students must complete both
training sessions and successfully complete a learning assessment
exercise at the end of day two.
NEW GRADUATE STUDENT ORIENTATION
The
orientation will acclimate the student to the registration process,
familirize the student with available resources, facilitate transition
into Graduate School, and equip the student with the necessary tools to
ensure successful matriculation.
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Program Context The
graduate program assumes that every incoming student intends to pursue
the Ph.D. degree. It therefore seeks to provide a challenging
curriculum for all students in addition to offering significant
opportunities to those students with less accomplished academic
backgrounds. Over the last 20 years the department has graduated 10-20
percent of the African American chemistry doctorates produced in the
United States each year. Feedback from some of these alumni indicates
the need to evolve a program that is more focused on comprehensive
professional development. In the late 70's and early 80's, most of our
doctorates pursued academic careers, while in the late 80's and 90's
most pursued careers in industry and government. Thus, the revised
program focuses on preparing the students for the challenges and
responsibilities of the new doctorates. Consequently, there are several
components that are collectively designed to promote disciplinary
competency, interdisciplinary training and research, group mentoring,
collegiality among faculty and student, communication skills, and
dynamic programmatic assessment. Additionally, the revised program seeks to
build upon a national reputation as a leading graduate chemistry
program as perceived by peer institutions, the National Research
Council, American Chemical Society, and other relevant professional
organizations.to
educate and develop students who are capable of future leadership
roles, as demonstrated by their ability to formulate new ideas and
expand on existing ideas, and who have the capacity to propagate the
vigor and intellectual integrity of the chemistry profession and
related fields.to produce, on a consistent basis, about 7 African American doctorates/year from 2010.
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Goals for Students Upon completion of the Ph.D. program, students should be capable of demonstrating excellent theoretical knowledgethinking criticallycommunicating basic chemistry knowledge to scientists and students through oral presentationscommunicating research findings to scientists through oral presentations and peer-reviewed publicationsextending the frontiers of knowledge in their chosen specialty areasupervising undergraduate and graduate research projectsdemonstrating excellent inter-personal relationships with colleagues and others
Prospective Students in Summer Program
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Reflection from Nicole John, a Ph.D. Student The
program looks extremely good and I know that incoming students will
benefit greatly from these developments. I especially like the summer
preparatory program. I think that in addition to receiving instruction
on the core courses, the students should also be counselled on what
exactly is necessary for successful completion of a Ph.D.
program......The students should be advised to read books on the Ph.D.
experience, possible pitfalls and how to avoid them..........there
needs to be increased collaboration between faculty, too often students
feel that they can not seek out the advice and guidance from faculty
other than their main advisor. That is extemely detrimental to the
student, because no one person can adequately meet all the needs of a
student all the time..........I am seriously considering a career in
education and although I am not able to attend formal classes, I think
that I should start preparing myself as best as I can......
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How Do We Know It Works? There
are several components of the program designed to assist in measuring
the level of competency of each student, some of which are listed below. ACS Standardized Placement Examinations: In
order to test the competency at the undergraduate level, incoming
students must pass the American Chemical Society (ACS) standardized
exams in analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry. Cumulative Examinations: In
an effort to expose students to current literature, topics, and
critical thinking, cumulative exams are given in at least 2 chemistry
sub-disciplines. Advisory Committees and Communication Skills: Each
student has an advisory committee comprised of a research advisor and 2
faculty. This committee plays the primary mentoring role for the
student who is required to give two oral presentations to the advisory committee prior to candidacy,to write and defend a dissertation proposal in form of a grant application, andto give a seminar to the department prior to dissertation defense.Dissertation Defense: This
is the last of the major transitions by the student. The final oral
examination is based primarily upon the student's research, the field
of his/her research and related areas of study. The unanimous passing
of the oral and the unanimous acceptance of the dissertation is
transmitted to the graduate school by the dissertation committee (at
least 5 members) in order to fulfill all the requirements for the Ph.D.
degree.
ASSESSMENT TOOLS
Sample Placement Exam
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Unanswered Questions What constitutes an appropriate cutoff in the placement exams that will demonstrate core competency?How do we formalize the students' participation in professional meetings?How do we promote the culture of grantsmanship among students within their time constraint?How do faculty engage students in the process of peer-review publications?How do we truly measure the ability to think critically?Will the programmatic changes result in better mentor/mentee relationship?
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Contact Information Dr. Folahan O. Ayorinde fayorinde@howard.edu Dr. John Harkless jharkless@howard.edu Dr. Jesse M. Nicholson jnicholson@howard.edu
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