INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the annual report of the Graduate School! This report is published annually by the Director of Administration and attempts to collate as much information as possible concerning recruitment and retention of graduate students, enrollment of those students, graduate assistantship awards, graduate fellowships, and also the significant events and key accomplishments of the Graduate School. The data relate primarily to the academic year 1998/1999, but this report also incorporates the latest details in respect of many areas for the current year, 1999-2000 - in particular graduate assistantship appointments. This report can be found on the Graduate School's web site at www.ua.edu/grad/ and all users of this report are welcome to copy that data for their own use. For any further information about data and statistics contained in this report please contact the Director of Administration at the Graduate School 101 Rose Administration.

ENHANCEMENTS

Strengthening graduate programs is one of the major themes of the University's strategic plan for 1998-2003 (The White Paper). At least two graduate programs will be selected each year for a permanent budget increase of $250,000. Programs are selected on the basis of current quality and feasibility of the program's strategic plan for improvement. In general, each of the enhanced programs will add new faculty, provide support for new graduate students, increase overall productivity (in terms of scholarly publication, externally funded research and recognition), and, as a result, precipitate a rise in national ratings. The first programs selected for this enhancement were Chemistry, Accountancy, Psychology, and the Center for Green Manufacturing.

Chemistry Department

As a result of Enhancement funding in the Department of Chemistry, new student enrollment went from 12 to 22 this fall semester, six new teaching assistants are being supported, and several new staff members have been hired.

Dr. Kevin Shaughnessy, Professor Carolyn Cassady, and Dr. Bo Arduengo were recruited to fill the new faculty positions in organometallic chemistry, mass spectrometry, and the Saxon Chair, respectively. These new faculty will provide graduate students a larger variety of research topics on which to focus and will also allow increased flexibility and variety in the graduate course offering in Chemistry.

The filling of the Saxon Chair was extremely critical to meeting the overall goal stated in the department's Graduate Program Enhancement Proposal. That goal was to move into the upper 50% of graduate programs in chemistry as evaluated by the National Research Council (NRC). Dr. Anthony (Bo) Arduengo, III, Research Leader in the Central Research and Development Department of DuPont at E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Company and Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at the Technischen Universitat Braunschweig is the Saxon Professor of Endowed Presidential Chair for the support of the polymer chemistry program. His work is highly cited in the literature, he is on the editorial advisory board of Chemical Reviews and is the holder of 14 patents. He has held the Alexander von Humbolt senior research prize and the 1996 Gold medal for excellence in main group chemistry from the International Council on main group chemistry. He has created $50M Industrial value at DuPont. He, thus, possesses a strong successful industrial expertise.

Center for Green Manufacturing

The goal of the Center for Green Manufacturing is to study and develop methods for pollution prevention in industry. In order to do this, Dr. Robin Rogers, Center Director, believes we must change the way people think about industrial processes through research, education, and outreach activities.

The CGM received one-time, non-permanent funding for the 1999 and 2000 academic years. The bulk of the proposed budgets were to be spent on two research staff positions and at least five graduate student stipends. The student positions were filled immediately in October of 1998. A national search was conducted for the two research staff positions, and in January of 1999, Dr. Jonathan G. Huddleston (Assistant Research Scientist) and Dr. Banqui Wu (Assistant Research Engineer) were hired.

As a result of the numerous funding proposals which have been submitted by the Center, several positive reactions have occurred. Most notably, the NSF Experimental program to Stimulate Cooperative Research (EPSCoR) to develop a statewide initiative has recently funded the CGM in metal ion pollution prevention. This award ($499,833) was obtained by using CGM Enhancement award monies as matching funds and will more than double the UA White Paper Enhancement investment.

With continued support of UA faculty and administration the CGM will continue to grow and develop into the center of excellence it was intended to be.

Psychology Department

Elevated research productivity has been demonstrated in response to both the increase in research operating funds and the more general increased emphasis on research (particularly funded research) at UA. The allocation of the White Paper Enhancement funds to the department of Psychology has been critical to this shift of productivity.

Two new faculty have joined the department; Dr. Patricia Zapf in the area of Psychology and Law; and Dr. David Boles in Cognitive Neurosciences. Dr. Zapf's interests offer considerable potential for cross-disciplinary work with the law school, and Dr. Boles' work in human factors and ergonomics will hopefully lead to cooperative research with engineering faculty. Although the full impact of the White Paper Enhancement will not be felt until later in the year, the department has shown significant increases in publications and research funding. Faculty research publication increased by 21% last year, with faculty members averaging over three publications each. External research funding showed a 127% increase over the previous year and was the highest amount ever for the department.

The Enhancement funds also enabled the department to recruit five excellent graduate students who will begin their studies in the fall of 1999.

Culverhouse School of Accountancy

The basis of Accountancy's proposal for the White Paper Enhancement funds was to significantly increase the amount of accounting information systems covered in the curriculum and, in particular, in the doctoral program.

These objectives are being accomplished through several means. A room in the Bashinsky Computer Center has been converted into a state-of-the-art learning environment. Enhancement monies were supplemented with C & BA and Culverhouse School funds to make this conversion. The facility will be a showplace for systems education when it is complete and has already generated a great deal of interest from other schools.

Two new faculty members were recruited, Dr. Amelia Baldwin and Dr. Dale Lunsford. Both joined the Culverhouse School of Accountancy at the beginning of the 1999 fall semester.

Additionally, five new doctoral students began their academic careers at UA this fall thanks to Enhancement funds. It is a diverse group, with one each coming from Maine, Louisiana, Alabama, Belgium, and China.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR

The consensus of opinion throughout higher education is that graduate schools and colleges are facing more and more pressure to attract and retain students in post-baccalaureate education. Many universities report that attendance at career fairs and graduate school open days continues to rise. Broadly speaking, the same number of students are coming to the market place, but they are becoming increasingly sophisticated and aware of the strength of their position and the power of the demand which they represent.

The University of Alabama recognizes the need to respond to this changing market by targeting this demand and offering as much as possible across a wide variety of products and services. The President and the Provost committed the university to a program of increased support for graduate studies: new graduate assistantship and fellowship positions, increased minimum stipends for graduate assistants. These programs are beginning to realize their promise by translating into concrete improvement in all areas of recruitment and enrollment.

The graduate school measures its performance against the principal indicators of applications, enrollment, and degrees conferred. In all areas, continued improvement was experienced or at least maintained at the same levels as last year. Applications received was 4,854 up by 13% over last year's 4,295. Of this total, the number processed and completed amounted to 3,837 again showing a marked increase on last year's level of 3,374. Graduate non-degree applications continued the increase over recent years rising to 1,417 this year compared with 1,401 last year.

On campus enrollment targets were similarly achieved with yet another increase this year of 4.2% to a total of 2,964 (2,844 last year). Of this total, 1,607 were female representing 55% of the overall total which was in line with previous years. The enrollment of African American students continued to increase with a rise of 7% to 262 comprising 77 men and 185 women. The number of international students enrolling in graduate school was similarly higher than last year. A total of 449 students coming from 63 countries were enrolled, with the majority again coming from the People's Republic of China.

The total number of higher degrees awarded was up from last year, with 135 doctorates and 1,159 master's degrees conferred, a total of 1,294. In the same period last year total degrees awarded were 1,180.

Another important measure is the number of credit hours of courses taken by students, which reached an all-time high of 56,776 hours this year. This represented a healthy increase of around 6% on last year's total of 53,665.

Once again, financial support and assistance for graduate students reached record levels. For 1998/99 academic year the minimum stipend levels for graduate assistantships were increased by 6% and additional funds were made available for new assistantships to be added in some departments. Total support for all graduate students was $16,995,563 compared to $15,688,408 in the previous year. This included assistantship stipends, tuition support, fellowships, and specific federal loans. The total tuition support given by the university to all graduate students amounted to $4,680,408 compared with $4,365,007 last year, an increase of over 7%. The number of students who received a graduate assistantship was 1,206 and the average stipend for a 0.50 FTE assistant was $8,899.

Figure 1

Key Indicator Trends

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RECRUITMENT ACTIVITIES

The 1998-99 academic year again saw limited recruitment travel by the Graduate School, due to budget restraints. However, the Graduate School conducted a number of other, less expensive recruitment activities and assisted departments with many recruitment projects. Graduate School recruiters made visits to 12 recruitment fairs for over 25 colleges and universities. In order to ensure that minority programs were not adversely affected, efforts were concentrated on targeting 10 historically black institutions for recruitment visits. During and following each visit, the Graduate School representative developed a list of prospects and wrote each of them a follow-up letter, accompanied by a memorandum to each graduate chairperson, giving the details of those students interested in that department's programs. The Graduate School has implemented plans to expand its recruitment travel in 1999-2000; visits to over 25 recruitment fairs for over 40 colleges and universities are planned.

The Graduate School organizes a large number of on-campus recruitment activities. During October, 1998, the 11th annual Graduate and Professional School Day was held in the Ferguson Student Center. More than 500 prospective graduate students attended and received a great deal of information concerning graduate study. In September 1999, the Graduate School sponsored a workshop on "Applying to Graduate School," which was attended by over 350 undergraduates at UA and surrounding schools and other prospective graduate students. The workshop consisted of presentations by Graduate School recruiters on the application process and presentations by departmental representatives on graduate opportunities in specific fields of study. The workshop concluded with practice administrations of graduate admissions tests, provided at no charge by Kaplan, Inc. The attendees continue to be monitored regularly to ensure that as many as possible decide to enroll in graduate school.

Graduate School recruiters conduct presentations for a large number of campus organizations, including honor societies, undergraduate organizations, undergraduate classes, and many other units. Emphasis continues to be placed on maintaining links and dialogue with all undergraduate organizations concerning admissions procedures and how to improve them and also highlighting the benefits of investing in graduate education. The Graduate School stresses the importance of developing a personal contact with all outstanding undergraduate students (those who have maintained a 3.00 or better GPA) and encourages them to consider attending the Graduate School at the UA.

On the first Wednesday of every month, the Graduate School conducts a seminar on "Applying to Graduate School." The seminar is listed on the Graduate School's Web page and is promoted by the various departments and support groups across the UA campus. The seminar is also advertised widely on other campuses across the state.

The success of graduate student recruitment is dependent upon the active involvement of individual graduate departments and faculty. Graduate students often select a university based on the research and scholarly record and reputation of each department's faculty. Prospective graduate students who have been contacted directly by department chairs or faculty are more likely to apply to a university. Thus, the Graduate School has implemented a number of activities to assist departments with their own graduate recruitment programs. Every Fall Semester, the Graduate School holds a workshop for d epartment chairs and graduate program directors and provides information about possible recruitment activities. Each semester, the Graduate School sponsors a recruitment discussion group for 10-15 Graduate Program Directors. Graduate School staff routinely are invited to attend departmental faculty meetings to discuss graduate student recruitment, application, and admission. As part of the continuing process of assisting departments, in spring 1998 the Graduate School implemented a prospecdatabase. Over 500 inquiries from prospective graduate students are entered into the database each month, and reports are sent out regularly to each department in which the students have expressed a specific interest. The Graduate School actively solicits national databases of prospective graduate students (e.g., the McNair Scholars Program for undergraduates who are from disadvantaged groups or are first generation college students) and sorts and forwards the information to departments. The Graduate School also routinely sends reports to departments about potential outstanding applicants who have submitted parts of their applications (e.g., transcripts, test scores) and who can be encouraged by departments to complete their applications and attend the University of Alabama Graduate School. Developments and improvements within the application cycle also contribute to keeping application and enrollment levels high. In addition, the use of technology in communication will further enhance the recruiting process. The Graduate School has an electronic version of its application on the UA Web Site. This facilitates rapid processing of applications while reducing the amount of paperwork usually associated with the admissions process. Over 20% of all graduate degree applications are now submitted on-line, and the usage of this medium by students continues to increase.

The Graduate School has implemented an option for prospective graduate students to use a "self-managed" approach to applications. This process allows students to have more control over and direct involvement with the application process. The applicant is responsible for seeking and receiving all documentation (transcripts, statement of purpose, letters of recommendation, application fee, etc.) in advance of submitting their application. In this way, the application comes to the Graduate School as a complete packet; only the test score is excluded, which must be sent to the Graduate School by the testing center directly to preserve its validity. The self-managed application process is proving to be a more efficient method of handling applications. The MBA program is currently serving as a trial for using self-managed applications.

ADMISSIONS

The University of Alabama Graduate School benefited from increases in all areas of its recruitment activities, compared to the previous year. The Graduate School received 4,854 applications in 1998-1999, compared to 4,295 applications in 1997-1998, or a 13% increase. A large number of applications were completed and reviewed by departments - 3,837 in 1999 compared to 3,347 in 1998, or a 14% increase. The quality of applications was similar to last year, and an acceptance rate of 60.4% occurred in 1999, compared to 62.3% in 1998. The applications completed in 1999 resulted in 2,319 acceptances, 902 rejections, and 616 still awaiting departmental decisions. In addition, a total of 1,417 non-degree applications were received in 1999, of which 904 were from off-campus. For a more detailed analysis of admissions and applications, please refer to Tables 1, 2, and 3.

ENROLLMENT

Overall on campus enrollment in the Graduate School in fall semester 1999 was 2,964, which represented an increase of 4.2% from the 2,844 graduate students enrolled in fall, 1998. Off campus enrollment was 511 graduate students in fall, 1999. Some divisions showed substantial increases in fall, 1999, compared to the previous year, including Engineering (8.6%) Communication (7.5%), and Commerce and Business Administration (7.3%), although this was partially offset by small reductions on some others. The Graduate School is very pleased with this increase, which contrasts with national trends where the pool of eligible students continues to decline. Universities across the country are faced with increasingly intense recruiting competition from other graduate schools, businesses, and industry. This situation is exacerbated where funding levels are reduced; therefore, efforts must be made to ensure that sufficient financial support is made available to combat these declines. For a more detailed analysis of enrollment for 1998-1999 please refer to Tables 4, 5 and 6.

Figure 2

Fall Enrollment - 1990 To 1999

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AFRICAN AMERICAN ENROLLMENT

The Graduate School continues to be committed to the identification, recruitment, enrollment, retention, and graduation of minority graduate students. While efforts supporting this commitment involve individuals from a variety of normally underrepresented groups, African Americans receive particular attention due to regional demographics. During 1998-99, the Graduate School recruitment staff continued to visit historically black institutions and engage in other activities to recruit minority students. Recognizing the benefits of recruiting UA undergraduate students, the Graduate School also personally contacts outstanding UA minority students and hosts a reception for them. The Graduate School continues to actively recruit students through services and publications directed towards minority. The Graduate School has developed and nationally circulated a minority recruitment brochure. African Americans comprised 8.8% of on-campus graduate enrollment in the fall of 1999 with 262 students out of a total 2,964 of students enrolled. Enrollment of African-American graduate students has steadily increased from a low of 81 students in 1987 (3% of the total graduate enrollment) and remained stable with 200 - 225 students (6-7% of the total enrollment) from 1994 to 1997, as seen in Figure 1. The last two years have seen a significant increase in African American graduate enrollment, with 245 students in fall 1998 and 262 this year. The University of Alabama tied for the rank of 32nd in the nation in the total number of doctoral degrees awarded in all disciplines, according to a report in the July 24, 1999 issue of Black Issues in Higher Education. In sub-categories, we tied for 18th in the nation in the number of doctoral degrees awarded to African American students.

In order to increase minority graduate enrollment, the University of Alabama Graduate School makes substantial efforts to ensure that minority students receive needed financial assistance. In the past 10 years, the Graduate School has provided scholarships, fellowships, and stipends for over 100 minority graduate scholars. Due to expanded Graduate School recruitment and fellowship activities, there were more participants in the minority graduate fellowship programs during 1998-1999 than in any previous year. Several programs are in place to provide targeted financial assistance for minority groups in conjunction with other bodies. For example, the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Minority Doctoral Scholars program is in its fifth year and provides stipends for minority students at the University, while the Graduate School funds tuition scholarships. For some Minority Doctoral Scholars, the Graduate School has a partnership with SREB to provide half of a $12,000 annual stipend plus full tuition support. Similar forms of support include the Joint Faculty Development Program and the Future Faculty Fellows Program, which provide substantial assistance to African American students who plan to become college or university professors. Financial support is also provided for participants in the Joint Faculty/Staff Development Program with Stillman College. The numerous Graduate School fellowship and scholarship programs are described in detail in following sections.

In addition, prospective minority students are directed to fellowships, assistantships, scholarships, and other sources of financial aid for which they may apply. For example, African-American students in fall, 1999 received 5 of the 27 National Alumni Association License Tag Fellowships awarded, amounting to over $63,400 in stipends and tuition grants.

The Minority Graduate Student Assistance Office offers a variety of support services for students, and Graduate School support of the African-American Graduate Student Organization assists the University in successfully retaining and graduating its minority students.

Figure 3

On-campus African American Enrollment - 1994 To 1999

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FEMALE ENROLLMENT

In line with the University's declared goal of ensuring that female representation at all levels continues to improve, the Graduate School was successful in maintaining the ratio of female students. In fall 1999, 1,607 out of 2,964 on-campus graduate students were women representing over 54% of the total (compared to 53% in fall, 1998). A full analysis of the recruitment of female graduate students appears in Table 5.

INTERNATIONAL ENROLLMENT

The number of international graduate students enrolling has seen another increase this year, with 449 students compared to 423 last year and 383 in the previous year. This represents an increase of over 17% since 1997. International graduate students now account for over 15% of total on campus enrollment. The College of Engineering has the largest contingent of overseas students (183) followed by the College of Arts & Sciences (135) and the College of Commerce & Business Administration (57). The ratio of men to women was 326:123, over 2.5 to 1. As in previous years, by far the largest number of international graduate students come from the People's Republic of China - 168 this year, compared with 144 in 1998. The second highest this year was India with 71 (last year 67). A full analysis of international enrollment, programs, and countries is included in Tables 10, 11, 12, and 13.

Figure 4

International Enrollment By Continent - Fall 1999

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