Performance Trends

GPD Spring Summit Recording Available

The GPD Summit on Feb. 4 covered a range of topics from policy updates to student mental health and best practices.

A full recording (Passcode: hn2LFY*D) of the event is available and the PowerPoint presentation is available for download.

First Spring 2022 Enrollment Report Released

The first Spring 2022 enrollment report is now available on GPDNet.  The report, which will be updated weekly, may be downloaded in the GPDNet Graduate School Data section.

The total graduate enrollment goal for Spring 2022 is 5,917 students.

2022 First Destination Survey Launched

The 2022 First Destination Survey, designed to offer insight to shape future curriculum, has now launched.

Faculty is encouraged to promote the survey to graduating students and an example message is provided below:

Graduating this semester? Take the First Destination Survey at https://firstdestinationsurvey.uncc.edu to let us know what you plan to do with your UNC Charlotte degree! The survey will ask you about your plans for post-graduation employment or further academic study, your experiences in our academic programs and the resources you used while you were a student. Completing this survey enhances the value of your degree by supplying us with information to accurately tell the story of a UNC Charlotte education. 

A series of reminders will be sent to students who do not complete the survey after the initial email. The first reminder email will go to students on their UNC Charlotte addresses on Dec. 17 (graduate students) and Dec. 18 (undergraduate students).

The spring 2022 survey will be distributed mid-March.

Reports Out on Student Loan Debt, Enrollment and Degrees

2020-2021 and 2019-2020 Graduate Loan Summary Report
This report, available for download, provides details on federal loan debt by students in graduate programs based on enrollment status by aid year. Have questions about the data? Insights into how the information should be considered and/or compiled for 2021-2021? Join the Graduate School for a Graduate Student Debt Question and Answer Workshop on Wednesday, October 27th, between 11 am and noon. Feel free to drop in (virtually!) anytime.
CGS/GRE 2020 Survey of Graduate Enrollment & Degrees
The downloadable document is the only national survey that annually collects data on first-time and total graduate enrollment across 1) all fields of study and 2) by degree level. The Fall 2020 survey was sent to 763 U.S. institutions and received a 73.1% response rate.

 

Message on Projections from Johnna Watson

Dear Colleagues,

The Projections Manager, located in GPDNet, is now open for enrollment and graduation projection submissions. The information you provide is used to help guide efforts to effectively manage your graduate program enrollment; it’s also vital from a University perspective to better understand program capacity/delivery, future enrollments/graduations, and resources required to support graduate education.

Based on information provided last year, the Graduate School made a request for resources to help two programs grow enrollments, which Academic Affairs provided beginning fall 2021. Additionally, resources and training were strategically provided to support students and programs and aid work to increase recruitment and retention. Given the University’s strategic plan to enroll 7,613 graduate students by 2031, careful planning to achieve the goal is more important now than ever.

Similarly, affirming UNC Charlotte’s commitment to foster access, diversity, equity and inclusion in graduate education, please pay particular attention to ways your program enrollments might reflect a breadth of gender identities, races and ethnicities, nationalities, faith traditions, and other social categories and backgrounds. A new question has been added to better understand program efforts in this regard.

Four open swims are planned to help program directors establish projections and answer any questions related to program capacity and effective enrollment management. For details on the workshops as well as the projections process, please see the attached document. In advance, thank you for your strong support of graduate education and your participation in this year’s cycle to better understand opportunities and challenges in building and retaining the graduate class next year.

Warm regards,

Johnna Watson

P.S. – More details are available for download.

Spring/Summer 2021 Graduation Statistics

Spring/Summer 2021 Graduation Statistics

The Graduate School is pleased to announce the following statistics for Spring/Summer 2021 graduation:

Spring 2021:

Docs – 99

Masters – 981

Certs – 322

Total – 1402

Summer 2021:

Docs – 43

Masters – 203

Certs – 62

Total – 308

Congratulations to our hard-working faculty and staff for moving the class through during these difficult times.

New Tableau Dashboard Available for Retention and Graduation Metrics

Persistence (retention + graduation) data for master’s and doctoral programs is now available online via a Tableau dashboard at:
Programs should review this information annually to better understand how students are retained to graduation. Please contact Johnna Watson (jwwatson@uncc.edu) with questions.
Many thanks to the Institutional Research staff for providing the information online.

Latest Grad Student Exit Surveys Published

The latest graduate student exit surveys have been updated on GPDNet under Assessments.  The results are published by college along with 2019 results for comparison.

Graduate students are asked to complete the exit survey prior to completing their application to graduate.

Enrollment Projections Manager Now Available

Dear Colleagues,

Congratulations on achieving another record graduate enrollment this semester! Despite unusual and challenging circumstances, your dedication to enroll the new class while simultaneously supporting continuing students is both admirable and appreciated.

Annually, we open the Projections Manager for Graduate Program Directors to submit graduation and enrollment projections for future years. The effort was delayed a bit this semester given the September start of classes, but the system is now available for your submissions. Fall 2021, 2022, and 2023 enrollment and graduation projections are due by Sunday, November 15th.  The information is used to help guide your efforts to effectively manage your graduate program enrollment; it’s also vital from a University perspective to understand program capacity, future enrollments, and resources required to support graduate education. Similarly, affirming UNC Charlotte’s commitment to foster diversity and inclusion in graduate education, I encourage you to pay particular attention to ways your program enrollments might reflect a breadth of gender identities, races and ethnicities, nationalities, faith traditions, and other social categories and backgrounds.

Official enrollment and graduation data by degree and major is available via the institutional research interactive Fact Book at https://ir-analytics.uncc.edu/fact-book. To access projections and plans, log into GPDNet (https://egem.charlotte.edu), select PROGRAM DASHBOARD, select PROJECTIONS, click on your program, click on the plus sign (+) next to the 2021 projection year, and then enter data/information in the form. If you need access to the system, or if your program is not listed or needs to be modified, please email Amy Palmer at aagardi@uncc.edu.

To support your efforts to establish projections, and to answer any general questions related to managing graduate programs, two (identical) workshops will be held: one on Wednesday, October 21st, at 11 am, and another on Thursday, October 29th, at 2:30 pm (ZOOM link).  I invite you to participate as needed whether you’re new to the role of Graduate Program Director or simply need a refresher on understanding program capacity and developing projections.  Similarly, if you prefer a one-on-one meeting to support your efforts or a department-specific session, please email my assistant, Mrs. Amy Palmer, directly to schedule a mutually convenient time.

Additionally, the corresponding graduate enrollment management (GEM) plan that serves as a road map to achieve the projections should be developed in concert with your program’s projections and align to your college’s strategic plan. The plan is an iterative work-in-progress and should be updated regularly throughout the academic year. While it is certainly helpful to have a GEM plan in place by November 15th to support your projections, the November 15th deadline is only for the graduation and enrollment projections.

Warm regards,

Johnna (JohnnaWatson@uncc.edu)

 

Webinar Addresses Test Requirements for Summer/Fall 2021 Applicants

At the outset of the pandemic, with testing centers closed around the world, Graduate Program Directors were given autonomy to waive testing requirements for summer/fall 2020 applicants. Given the ongoing challenge for people to access physical testing centers, and/or the lack of personal equipment and settings to sit for an online test, coupled with significant financial challenges, many programs are considering waiving the standardized test requirement for 2021 applicants.

To address these challenges and opportunities and brainstorm viable alternatives, join Associate Dean Johnna Watson and Director of Graduate Admissions Kathy Giddings for a Zoom meeting on:  Wednesday, July 8, at 11 AM.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/97671625105?pwd=c0pQQ2p6SVRTWGNMaWtGZHAyVVNwQT09

Meeting ID: 976 7162 5105
Password: 6vywP3

Read more on the issue at ScienceMag.org.

Graduate School to Host CGS 'Trends' Webinar

The Graduate School will host the CGS-sponsored webinar, “Trends in Graduate Education” Feb. 26, 2-3 p.m. in the Graduate School conference room, Cato Bldg, 2nd Floor.

Jaqui Falkenheim and Josh Trapani from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics at NSF will present the most recent data on graduate students from the Survey of Earned Doctorates and the Science and Engineering Indicators. They will address trends in enrollment and degree awards, student demographics (sex, race/ethnicity, citizenship), financial support patterns, and post-graduation employment, among other topics.

No registration is required to participate in this event.

Online Graduate Programs Rank High

UNC Charlotte continues to offer outstanding graduate programs through an online delivery.  Several recently made top-tier ranking as conducted by U.S. News and World Report.

Equaling programs offered by the University of Virginia and Michigan State, UNC Charlotte ranks #7 as a Best Online Master’s in Special Education Program.  The M.Ed. in Special Education is a 33 credit hour professional graduate degree consisting of two online concentrations: Academically or Intellectually Gifted, and Special Education.  Additionally, the University was picked as a top 30 Best Online Master’s in Education Program.

Annually ranked by the publication and based on criteria such as employment outcomes of its graduates, rankings are a baseline to aid prospective students in their graduate program research.  To see detailed information about rankings and their methodology visit U.S. News and World Report.

UNC Charlotte ranked highly as a Best Online Master’s in Nursing Administration Program at #17, and Best Online Master’s in Engineering at #39.

For more information or to attend online information sessions visit the Distance Education website.  To learn about graduate education at UNC Charlotte or to begin your application, visit the Graduate Admissions website. We also invite all prospective graduate students to attend an online information session or if you’re in the area, stop in during Office Hours, Tuesdays from 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM and Thursdays from 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM.

Spring Enrollment on Track to Top Goal

Graduate enrollment is trending ahead of the number of students enrolled at this time last year, suggesting we could exceed the goal of 5,012 students for spring.

“It will be vitally important for programs to encourage every eligible but not registered student to enroll,” said Johnna Watson,  Associate Dean for Graduate Enrollment Management and Funding.  Watson encouraged GPDs to

  • make recommendations on ready-for-review applications
  • encourage new students to enroll, and
  • encourage continuing students to register for classes

The full Spring 2020 enrollment report is available on GPDNet’s Graduate School Data page.

 

2018-19 Time-to-Degree Data Available

Time-to-Degree Data for 2018-2019 (as well as the previous three academic years) is now available in the Graduate School Data section of GPDNet. The information is framed both by category (doc/masters/cert/pm cert) and program (degree/major).

The time required to complete a master’s degree for 2018-2019 completers decreased from prior years, while the time to complete a research or professional doctorate climbed slightly.

A copy of the data is available for download.

Please utilize this information as part of your standard practice in evaluating program performance, and email Johnna Watson (JohnnaWatson@uncc.edu) with any questions.

DegreeWorks Survey Published

A recent survey of Graduate Program Directors assessing usage level and soliciting suggestions for improvement has been published.

The summary of results of the survey is available for download.

Higher Ed Reacts to Travel Ban Decision

The travel ban to the U.S. placed on seven countries is responsible for a steep decline in the number of international students and visiting scholars at U.S. universities, according to an article in Inside Higher Ed.

The article says a high level of opposition to the ban exists among academic institutions that consider the move discriminatory and detrimental to higher education.

Justice Sotomayor, in her published dissenting view, “cited difficulties in recruiting and retaining students and faculty members as being one among a number of irreparable harms caused by the travel restrictions.” the publication said.

Share your thoughts on the issue in the space below.  To view the original article in its entirety, please visit Inside Higher Ed.

 

 

 

GRE® Test Takers Snapshot Available

Categories: Performance Trends

Interest in physical sciences, engineering and life sciences all are up 2-3% among test takers this year compared to last, and interest in business grew by five percent.
Read more…

Holistic Review in Graduate Admissions

Categories: Performance Trends

Holistic review, or the consideration of a broad range of candidate qualities including “noncognitive” or personal attributes, is a growing strategy that many graduate programs consider when evaluating a candidate for admission.Read more…

Graduate Application Reports Available

Categories: Performance Trends

Graduate Application Reports are uploaded to the Graduate School Data tab in eGEM weekly.  The reports include applications submitted by citizenship (domestic/international) and college as well as decisions rendered (admit/deny).Read more…