This is really a bummer. Our institutions frequently consult the
1995 NRC report. You may wish to comment on this planned change or
bring the matter to the attention of others in your institutions.
Eleanor Uhlinger
MBL/WHOI Library
Excerpted from:
CORE Weekly Report for 01/13/03
Available by subscription to CORE Member Institutions
CORE Website: http://www.COREocean.org
OCEANOGRAPHY SLATED TO LOSE IDENTITY IN NATIONAL EVALUATION OF DOCTORAL
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
Once a decade, a study on doctoral research programs is conducted under
the auspices of the National Research Council's Board on Higher
Education and Workforce. The last report, "Research-Doctorate Programs
in the United States: Continuity and Change," was issued in 1995 and
included assessments and rankings for U.S. graduate programs in the
sciences, arts and humanities. An NRC committee has been established to
examine the methodology of the assessment of research-doctorate
programs. The committee is composed of panels on: (1) quantitative
measures; (2) reputational measures; (3) student processes and outcomes;
and (4) the taxonomy of fields covered by the proposed study. The four
panels are charged with recommending changes to the study methodology to
better reflect changes in graduate education and research over the past
decade.
The Panel on Taxonomy recently publicized its recommendations to expand
the number of fields represented and subsume some fields within other
ones (see January 10, 2003 issue of the Chronicle for Higher Education).
In its proposal, the panel recommends placing oceanography as a
sub-field of the geosciences, although previously it was listed
separately. Ecology will expand to Ecology and Environmental Sciences
with sub-fields, but it is unclear which sub-fields are being
considered. The proposed changes clearly would weaken the visibility
and identity of ocean sciences as a graduate field. The Panel on
Taxonomy is seeking public comment on the recommended fields and
sub-fields. Comments are due by March 1, 2003. For more information on
the project visit http://www7.nationalacademies.org/resdoc/index.html
and http://www7.nationalacademies.org/resdoc/Draft_Taxonomy.html.
Pilot studies using the revised methodology will start soon at nine
universities including Florida State University, the University of
Maryland (College Park), and the University of Southern California.
Pending availability of funds, a full study of the research-doctorate
programs is slated to occur in the 2003-2004 academic year.
-- ELEANOR S. UHLINGER Assistant Library Director, MBL/WHOI Library Marine Biological Laboratory Woods Hole MA 02543 email: euhlinger@mbl.edu / phone: 508.289.7665 / fax: 508.540.6902
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