Assessment of the Graduate Program - an Innovation at Stony Brook

As part of our Carnegie Initiative efforts, the Chemistry Department at SUNY Stony Brook University organized a full assessment of our graduate program, from the point of view of the students.


Giving Students a Voice

Whatever the strengths of our graduate program, students needed a mechanism for providing feedback and faculty needed a way to learn the students' point of view.


An Extra Benefit

This effort acknowledges the students, and not just those who are part of the CID team, as professional members of the department. Ultimately, the goal is to give our students the best possible graduate education experience. The simple step of asking students their opinion, and acting on their suggestions, helps this goal.


The Organizers

Andisheh Abedini
aabedini@ic.sunysb.edu

Sylvia Tracz
Burcu Anil
Pravin Nair

Nancy Goroff, faculty advisor
nancy.goroff@sunysb.edu


Student-Run Qualitative Assessment

The student organizers used two methods to gather data:

  • a questionnaire with specific but open-ended questions
  • a student meeting
  • Questions and discussion were constructive, focusing on strengths of the program and ways things could be improved.

    Student Questionnaire

    Qualitative vs. Quantitative

    We chose to use a qualitative questionnaire, rather than a quantitative survey, for several reasons:

  • We did not know which issues would prove most important to the students.
  • We wanted answers to open-ended questions, which cannot readily be answered in multiple-choice format.
  • The graduate student body is relatively small, making statistics from a quantitative study less meaningful.
  • We cared about minority as well as majority opinions.
  • We wanted students to feel empowered by providing their opinions.

  • The Product: Student Report on the Graduate Program

    From the information gathered in the assessment, the student organizers created a written report that could be shared with the faculty, describing student views and suggestions for improvements. This professionally written document, containing constructive and specific concerns and ideas, provided a basis for continued deliberations on how to improve the program. The report was critical to getting the faculty to act.

    Student Report
    Table of Contents for the student-written program assessment.

    Shared Governance

    The Graduate Program Assessment provided students with an opportunity to have a direct impact on our program. It served as the basis for in-depth discussions between students and faculty, leading to both minor and significant improvements. To continue this process, we reinstated a past practice, including two student members on the department's Graduate Affairs Committee. In addition to this mechanism for ongoing representation, we are now planning the first update to our Graduate Program Assessment.


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