Ph.D. Completion Project
Participating Programs
These programs represent the broad range of graduate study at Illinois. Some are large; both Chemistry and Electrical and Computer Engineering grant more than 50 doctoral degrees each year. Some are small; English, Microbiology, Neuroscience, and Political Science average fewer than 10 degrees. Some are ranked among the strongest in their disciplines; the National Research Council placed the following Illinois doctoral programs within the top 10 nationwide: Chemistry (8), Civil Engineering (5), Computer Science (8), Electrical Engineering (3), Mechanical Engineering (9), and Physics (8).
All of these programs share a commitment to improving Ph.D. completion within their programs. Many have already begun to implement some of the practices that have been identified by CGS as improving retention at the doctoral level. Some conduct annual reviews, some provide completion data to incoming students, and some provide opportunities that involve engage students in research.
All 14 participating graduate programs have agreed to do the following:
- To work collaboratively with the Graduate College and with other participating departments to develop a variety of interventions designed to improve Ph.D. completion within their programs and across the campus;
- To assist the Graduate College with providing accurate program data to CGS and to make degree completion statistics available to future applicants;
- To work with the Graduate College to collect comprehensive qualitative data through exit interviews;
- To pilot selected interventions and to identify and share best practices with other graduate programs.
