The necessary qualification for membership on the graduate faculty as an associate member is appointment at the rank of assistant professor or higher. The appointment may be in the tenure track or in adjunct or visiting status. If a candidate does not hold the doctoral degree, there must be demonstrable evidence that she/he possesses the experience, knowledge, and capability in the area of intended participation in the graduate program of the University. Associate members of the graduate faculty may teach courses that carry graduate credit and sit on students' graduate advisory committees. They may also chair master's advisory committees or co-chair doctoral advisory committees. In the latter instance, it is necessary for the other co-chair to hold full graduate-faculty status.
Full members of the graduate faculty must be tenured (or tenure-track) faculty who have distinguished themselves (as judged by the full members of the graduate faculty of the department or program and the dean of the Graduate School) in research, thesis or dissertation direction, and graduate teaching. Evidence of this distinction is indicated by a number of significant publications, by service as chair of the advisory committee for several master's students or as co-chair of the advisory committee for doctoral students, and by excellence in graduate teaching. Sometimes one or two of these experiences may be considered sufficient. Full members of the graduate faculty may participate fully in all phases of the graduate program of the University.
Through an interinstitutional arrangement, members of the graduate faculties of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Duke University are also members of the NCSU graduate faculty, and members of the NCSU graduate faculty are also members of the graduate faculties of those universities.
Persons who are not members of the graduate faculty may also serve on graduate advisory committees in one of two capacities: as external members or as technical consultants. External members and technical consultants serve on advisory committees in addition to the required committee composed of members of the NCSU graduate faculty.
An external member of an advisory committee is a faculty member from another university or a professional from industry or government (with credentials comparable to those required for membership on the NCSU graduate faculty). External members have full voting rights on advisory committees. A recommendation for an external member of an advisory committee must be accompanied by the nominee's curriculum vitae.
A technical consultant to an advisory committee is a person from industry, government, or a college or university who contributes to a student's research or project. A technical consultant serves upon recommendation of the graduate advisory committee and the department or program, but has no voting rights.
Graduate classes are generally small, but the instructional methods and delivery systems vary. Many courses are taught in the traditional lecture format, and many of the faculty who lecture in graduate courses have been elected to Academy of Outstanding Teachers at NCSU. In addition to the lecture format, other instructional methods include workshops, laboratories, practicums, internships, case studies, seminars, and independent study [4.2.5.4].
Departmental and interdisciplinary colloquia and seminars take place regularly, and information about these talks is publicized weekly by the NCSU Office of Information Services.
The promotion of effective teaching at NCSU is discussed on page 23 of the Handbook for Teachers. The discussion starts with the statement that "NCSU has a number of programs, policies, and resources designed to encourage effective teaching of all instructors." Although the handbook does not specifically state that course evaluations are required, it does state that "each department may develop or adapt an evaluation instrument appropriate to the types of courses offered by that department." The handbook also requires that "a copy of the evaluation instrument currently in use in each department as well as any future revisions should be sent to the provost and the appropriate dean." The Handbook for Teachers further states that "all recommendations forwarded for the conferral of permanent tenure, promotion, or merit-salary increases of teaching faculty should be accompanied by a statement on the individual's teaching effectiveness," which "should indicate the bases for the judgment, and one of these bases should be data obtained from an evaluation by students of the faculty member's effectiveness as a teacher." Therefore, while student evaluation of teaching is not required, it is clear that it is considered important in the evaluation of quality of instruction at the University. Of the 497 students responding to the self-study graduate-student survey, 84 percent indicated that they had been given an opportunity to evaluate instruction in the courses they had taken [4.2.5.10]. On the other hand, only 49 percent of the respondents believed that the information from these evaluations was often or almost always used to improve courses and/or curricula [4.2.5.1].
In May 1992 the Provost's Office completed a survey on teaching evaluation in all NCSU colleges and schools. The survey results show that teaching is occasionally evaluated by techniques other than student evaluation, including announced and unannounced teaching observation by the department head and/or peers, self-evaluations via videotape, and exit interviews of graduating students. Most of these, however, are conducted on a voluntary basis. Neither the University nor any college or school has a policy requiring revision of the instructional process based on student evaluations or any other evaluation technique [4.2.5.10].
Recommendation 6.11: NCSU should require student evaluation of instruction in all graduate courses. The evaluation instrument should contain some questions tailored to individual programs and some universitywide questions so that the results of the evaluation can be used to facilitate decisions on the professional advancement of faculty.
Recommendation 6.12: NCSU should conduct and encourage attendance at seminars that focus on methods of improving instruction in areas addressed in the universitywide questions on the evaluation instrument.
Respondents to the self-study graduate-student survey indicated a high level of satisfaction (i.e., response was "often" or "almost always") with the instruction they received in graduate courses at NCSU. Among the 497 respondents,
92 percent indicated that they received syllabi that explained course objectives and requirements [4.2.5.3]91 percent indicated that their courses achieved the stated objectives
93 percent indicated that their courses required them to analyze and synthesize knowledge and skills
89 percent indicated that faculty conducted carefully prepared classes.
The library is obviously a critical resource in graduate education. As the self-study graduate survey indicates, the current level support for graduate education provided by this resource is not adequate. Thirty percent of the survey respondents indicated that they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the book collections in their field to support their course and research assignments, and 38 percent indicated that they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with periodical collections in their field to support their course and research assignments.
The decimation of NCSU's periodicals collection (due to high prices and low funding) is a particular burden for graduate students, who typically lack the resources to purchase journal subscriptions or even offprints. Students do not have control over research-grant budgets to purchase periodicals. However, given the current limitations on the NCSU library, the library is working as effectively as possible with graduate students to address their priorities and needs.
Recommendation 6.13: NCSU should take immediate action to make significant improvements in the library resources available to graduate students.
Some graduate instruction at NCSU takes place in a concentrated or abbreviated time frame. Such programs are limited to a minimum of one week of elapsed time per credit hour delivered, and occur in limited cases, usually in the summer, and most often in the College of Education and Psychology. These programs are approved only when it can be demonstrated that faculty will evaluate the students according to the same criteria used in the conventional-course format (i.e., the same syllabus content, equivalent exams and assignments, are given, and grading on the same scale) [4.2.5.7; 4.2.5.8].
In 1992-93 the Graduate School also initiated a new program, Preparing the Professoriate, an initiative to provide a significant teaching experience to a select group of doctoral candidates who plan to be university professors. The objective is to provide these students with an opportunity for an extensive mentoring experience with an outstanding research professor who is also an outstanding teacher.
