June 18, 1998
TO: Editors, news directors FROM: Terry Devitt, (608) 262-8282 RE: Tip/New Directions in Graduate Science Education
A National Institute for Science Education (NISE) forum June 29-30 will profile innovative approaches and strategies for change in graduate education that are better serving students and industry.
The conference, to be held at the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va., will take stock of three decades of reform in graduate education, and help educators, federal agencies and foundations choose the best strategies for change. More than 40 university programs will be featured.
Among the innovative approaches featured is a masters in science and technology commercialization offered at the University of Texas at Austin. The program takes a global perspective by joining faculty and students in three geographic locations - Austin, Washington, D.C. and Lisbon, Portugal - via video teleconferencing and other digital technology. The global teams analyze the commercial potential and develop business plans for real technologies.
Another program, the Graduate Education Enhancement Program for Underrepresented Minority Students in the Computational Sciences, is offered at Rice University. The Sloan Foundation funded program focuses on student retention through community building, counseling, intervention, mentoring, professional development, and student funding. The program has made a dramatic impact on retention of minority graduate students.
A complete description of innovative programs can be found on the World Wide Web at http://nise.wcer.wisc.edu/gradforum. For more information, contact Terrence Millar, co-director of NISE, at (608) 263-9250.
Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, NISE is a national center for improving science education and is funded by the National Science Foundation.
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