Appendix G - Annual Review of Doctoral Students

Doctoral students will complete an annual report (pdf file) each year and will be evaluated by appropriate faculty members on progress in coursework and research. Those who have work assignments in the college will also be evaluated on the quality of their work. There are two key benefits to this process. First, it allows for a comprehensive review of a student's progress and enables systematic identification of problems as well as successes of doctoral students. Second, it prepares students for the kind of annual report/review that they will undergo as faculty members.

All students complete Section I of the report, which focuses on self-assessment of coursework and research. First-year students are also expected to complete program plans by April 1 of their first year - that plan requires much more attention to coursework. All students who are funded by the college for research and/or teaching, will complete Section II - an assessment of research/teaching activities. It is also due February 1. Students will submit their annual report forms electronically to the associate dean who will route them as appropriate to others who can assess the quality of the work reported by the student.

First year students will receive feedback on Section I of the report from the graduate committee after program plans are reviewed in April. For students in their second year or later, the student's adviser will be asked to provide a brief (one paragraph) summary and evaluation of the student's progress in coursework and research in response to Section I of the annual report. 

For students who have research as part of their assistantship assignment, the associate dean will provide a copy of Section II of the annual report to the director of research and/or the faculty member who has been supervising the research portion of the student’s assignment.  The research supervisor will provide a brief (one paragraph) summary of the student’s progress in research.

For students who have teaching as part of their assistantship assignment, the associate dean will provide a copy of Section II of the annual report to the director of the program for whom the student teaches and request directors to provide a brief (one paragraph) summary of the student's progress in teaching. Also, it will be important for the director to provide copies of the SAIS forms to the students each semester so that they can report those scores on the annual report.

Summary statements (from adviser, school director, and/or research director) will be due March 1 of each year. They will be submitted electronically to the associate dean who will compile these responses and share them with the doctoral students. If all feedback is relatively positive, the review may be simply given to the student with a copy in his/her folder. If improvements are needed, the associate dean may meet with the student to discuss an action plan for achieving those improvements. If serious problems arise that result in the need to relieve a student of an assistantship, this will be done early enough to open that line to another student.