The Future of Graduate Education

Launched in June 2023, the Sustaining Teaching and Research Task Force, or START, will assess challenges, prioritize strategies and recommend specific actions to bring about substantive improvements to our education, research and service models, thereby enhancing our ability to fulfill our mission at the highest levels of achievement.

The Future of Graduate Education Committee will assess current and future challenges in providing excellent graduate education; develop new education and enrollment models; and improve the structure and funding models for graduate students, department-based graduate programs, and graduate groups.

The committee's members are:

Working Groups

The Future of Graduate Education Committee has formed working groups that will focus on specific topics and address the full range of questions submitted to START. The working groups, their conveners, and members are:

  • Graduate Education Financial Support
  • Convener:
    Jeffrey Schank, Chair, Graduate Council
    Members:
    Steven Albrecht, Director of Student Financial Support, Graduate Studies
    Alisha Bartolomucci, Graduate Staff Advisor, Graduate Group in Nutritional Biology
    Ian Blake, Executive Assistant Dean, College of Letters and Science
    Rachel Chen, Professor, Graduate School of Management
    Natasha Costa, Labor Relations Consultant, Human Resources
    Rachael Goodhue, Professor and Chair, Agricultural and Resource Economics
    Eleonora Grandi, Professor and Chair, Biophysics Graduate Group
    Jessica Lewis, Principal Budget Analyst, Budget and Institutional Analysis
    Dean Tantillo, Professor, Chemistry
  • Graduate Education Structures
  • Convener:
    Rana Jaleel    , Vice Chair and Associate Professor, Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies
    Members:
    Elva Diaz    , Professor, Pharmacology
    Janet Foley, Professor and Agronomist, Medicine and Epidemiology
    Robert Irwin, Professor, Spanish 
    Anita Oberbauer, Distinguished Professor and Executive Associate Dean, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
    Duncan Temple Lang, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, Graduate Studies
  • Non-Doctoral Graduate Education
  • Convener:
    Richard Corsi    , Dean, College of Engineering
    Members:
    Jasmine Durias Bonite    , Director of Policy and Programs, Graduate Studies
    Beth Greenwood, Associate Dean for International Programs and Director of LL.M. Programs, School of Law
    Erich Muehlegger, Professor, Economics
    Menesh Patel, Professor, School of Law
    Woutrina Smith, Professor, Agronomist, and Associate Dean for Global Programs, School of Veterinary Medicine
    Francene Steinberg, Professor and Chair, Nutrition
    Rao Unnava, Dean, Graduate School of Management
  • Re-imagining Doctoral Education and Training
  • Convener:
    Nicole Rabaud, Executive Director, Student and Postdoctoral Support
    Members:
    Ben Ruilin Fong    , President, Graduate Student Association
    Brian Gaylord, Professor, Evolution and Ecology
    Aldrin Gomes, Professor, Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior
    Ellen Hartigan-O'Connor, Associate Dean for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars, Graduate Studies
    Jill Huynh, Ph.D. Candidate, School of Veterinary Medicine
    Pamela Jennings, Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Studies, UC Office of the President
    Cynthia Schumann, Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
    Brian Trainor, Professor and Vice Chair, Psychology