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AC 2007-378: The Doctoral Pathway, an Institutional Journey of Development

GSD, MIND, WIE, INTD

Ronald Kane and Clarisa Gonzalez-Lenahan

The history of one institution’s transformation from a regional specialized institution to a leading research university can be a model for others in times of limited state resources to support graduate education. Through the 1980’s, New Jersey Institute of Technology, known earlier as Newark College of Engineering, was best known as a primary source of practicing professional engineers. Through visionary leadership, reasoned planning and goals setting, an engineering approach to tactics, quality measures, and strategic resource allocation, NJIT became a major producer of graduate degrees, with increasing emphasis on research and the doctorate. Among its priorities were an increase in graduate program participation in both master’s and doctoral programs by those traditionally underrepresented in engineering by both ethnicity and gender. A step-by-step approach is described: data gathering and analysis of student achievement, setting of admission and retention criteria, new program connections for a diverse undergraduate population, policy setting for academic quality, financial support standards and control, retention standards and intervention, faculty and campus community empowerment, and connections with other universities and support groups. A measure of achievement is the growth in doctoral graduates from 14 in 1991 to 75 in 2006, at a public university with a total enrollment of fewer than 8500 students.

Introduction

During 2005-2006, New Jersey Institute of Technology had 75 doctoral students complete their degrees in 18 disciplines. This continues the trend of successive record numbers of PhDs over the past 4 years. NJIT's total enrolment in Fall 2006 was 8, 209 including 2, 396 master's and 433 doctoral students. The 2006-2007 Almanac issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education dated August 25, 2006 shows a table "Number of Colleges by Enrollment, Fall 2003". For NJIT's enrollment (5,000-9,999) and status (public), 377 institutions are indicated with not one being in the Doctoral Extensive Carnegie Classification. (Ref. 1)

The Doctoral Extensive category requires an institution to award 50 or more PhDs per year over 15 or more disciplines. The next category, Doctoral Intensive, requires the award of 20 or more PhDs overall. While, the Carnegie Classification System has been recently revamped, the table suggests that NJIT has achieved the status of being the top producer of PhDs for its enrollment size and type among the 377 institutions. Among all 4,140 institutions in the United States regardless of enrollment size, and type, the table reports that only 151 institutions were in the Doctoral Extensive category and 107 in Doctoral Intensive category. NJIT's inclusion in either category represents unique growth in doctoral degrees awarded and a major shift in the focus of the institution over the last 10 years.

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Kane, R., & Gonzalez-Lenahan, C. (2007, June), The Doctoral Pathway, An Institutional Journey Of Development Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--1679