|
Master's Support
Brown has been training master's students since the Graduate School was established more than 100 years ago. Until recently, however, graduate training at Brown was almost uniformly doctoral. With a few exceptions, most notably in Literary Arts and the Education department's MAT program, the overwhelming majority of graduate students at Brown were enrolled in doctoral programs. These students may have received master's degrees during their course of doctoral study, but they were not enrolled in programs that were created for the express purpose of awarding master's degrees. Brown now has twenty-two master's programs, and approximately one third of these programs are less than five years old. In 2000, there were roughly 150 students enrolled in master's-only programs at Brown; this year, approximately 400 students were enrolled into such programs. The University in general, and the Graduate School in particular, are in the process of planning more strategically to manage the increased number of these students on campus. This planning process is taking many forms. First, just as we are working to improve the advising and academic oversight in our doctoral programs, we are also working closely with master's program chairs and directors of graduate study to ensure that students in these programs are getting regular and clear messages regarding their academic standing and progress toward their degrees. Second, we have begun coordinating with other offices and centers on campus to account more carefully for the distinct needs of master's students outside of the classroom. For example, the needs of master's students in the areas of housing, health insurance, and career counseling may be very different than those of doctoral students. Delivering valuable and appropriate levels of support in these areas, among others, is a priority for the University. Another area of concern that the Graduate School is working to resolve is in the policies and practices governing financial support for master's students. Unlike the policies governing doctoral support, those governing master's support are not managed centrally by the Graduate School. Most decisions regarding financial support for master's students are presently made at the program level, and there is a wide variety of practices and policies governing how this support is delivered to students. Given the range of practices and policies governing master's student support, in the spring of 2006 the Graduate School began a campus-wide reevaluation of master's support to determine if changes needed to be made, and if so, how best to implement those changes. The deans of the Graduate School are particularly interested in giving master's students the opportunity to be heard and participate in the conversation regarding student support. Please email us any concerns you have (Graduate_School@brown.edu). |