The results of the 2016 Canadian Graduate and Professional Student Survey (CGPSS) are in.
Close to one half of Carleton graduate students filled in the survey that asked several questions about their student experience.
The survey is conducted every three years. Carleton University improved its performance substantially for Master’s and PhD students in many areas including Academic Experience, Program Satisfaction and Student Life when compared to its own 2013 results. At the Master’s level, there was a notable increase of 11% in the area of Student Experience when compared to 2013.
The survey asks a large number of questions about student satisfaction. In almost every instance where a difference in satisfaction was found between 2013 and 2016, Carleton’s results were significantly higher. As well, in almost every instance where there were differences between Carleton students’ satisfaction and the rest of Ontario, Carleton’s results were significantly higher.
Carleton exceeds or matches the rest of Ontario in questions related to Overall Experience and Program Satisfaction at both the Master’s and PhD levels. Overall satisfaction results improved over time predominantly due to the increase in those rating their experiences as “Excellent”.
“The results demonstrate the high quality of academic experience that graduate students have at Carleton University,” says Dr. Peter Ricketts, Provost and Vice-President (Academic). “The survey shows significant improvement from the previous two surveys in 2010 and 2013 as we now exceed the provincial average in many areas. This reflects the increased investment that Carleton has made in recent years into the expansion of graduate programs and improved space, services and supports for our graduate students.”
The comparison through the Comprehensive Universities Benchmarking Consortium (CUBC) also highlights a positive trend for Carleton vs. the rest of Canada’s comprehensive universities. In terms of satisfaction with students’ Overall Experience at the PhD level, Carleton is seven points higher in the Excellent and Very Good categories when compared to other Canadian universities while, at the Master’s level, Carleton leads by five percentage points.
“The University is proud to have implemented several initiatives, over the past years, to improve the student satisfaction level,” notes Dr. Matthias Neufang, Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs (FGPA). “These range from additional space for graduate students to the creation and expansion of academic programs and student services at several levels.”
A new position, the Coordinator of Graduate Professional Development, was created. This led to the development of Grad Navigate, an online hub for professional development opportunities. FGPA worked with service groups, organizations and departments on campus to ensure that dozens of workshops specifically targeted at graduate students are now offered each term in Grad Navigate.
FGPA expanded the Cotutelle program that provides a unique, international academic experience to PhD students. Currently, 22 PhD students are participating while two have graduated with doctoral degrees from both Carleton and a partner institution abroad.
TheGraduate@Carleton newsletter was created using extensive feedback from graduate students. It is distributed 22 times a year to keep students up-to-date and share news on exciting research conducted by fellow Carleton graduate students.
The current graduate student website was redesigned to ensure that it is user-friendly, relevant and topical.
A Twitter channel keeps more than 1,800 followers informed while more than 150 videos have been added to FGPA’s own YouTube channel (YouTube.com/gradsatcarleton).
To help graduate students showcase their research, students have been videotaped, talking about their research. As well, more than 150 stories have been written about graduate student researchers and award winners at Carleton. Most of these have been featured on the university home page, and some have garnered media attention.
FGPA created Grad Research Link, an online hub for graduate student research activities across campus (conferences, calls for papers, speakers, etc.).
In conjunction with Co-op and Career Services, FGPA organized a workshop and panel discussion on Working Outside Academia with a Graduate Degree.
Graduate students are invited to attend media training workshops and training sessions for the Three Minute Thesis and Storyteller competitions.
To further the discourse about the value of the PhD in the Humanities, Carleton hosted a national conference on this topic which was attended by 150 participants from over 30 universities and related institutions across Canada.
To find out full details about the 2016 CGPSS results, please click here.
