April 8, 2004

NRC postpones doctorate assessment

The National Research Council (NRC) has announced that it will postpone until July 2005 data collection for its assessment of research-doctorate programs.

The NRC periodically assesses and presents its findings regarding the quality of the nation’s research-doctorate programs. Results are particularly useful to administrators and faculty, as well as those interested in improving the education of Ph.D. candidates in the United States.

According to Richard I. Morimoto, dean of the Graduate School, the assessment is a monitor of the change in disciplinary thought.

“It’s very important to a school like Northwestern where we pride ourselves on creating new disciplines, material sciences, for example,” he says.

In preparation for the study, the NRC will form a committee and consult with the graduate education community to set parameters regarding definitions and data gathering procedures.

The revised timetable means institutional questionnaires will be distributed in July 2005 and program and faculty data collection will begin in September 2005. Analysis of the data will be conducted in 2006 and into 2007. The final report and accompanying databases will be released in September 2007.

Morimoto says that, because of the office of administration and planning and the program review process, Northwestern is always poised for evaluation.

The National Research Council is part of the National Academies, which also comprise the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and Institute of Medicine.

They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology and health policy advice under a congressional charter.