Academic Affairs Review
Academic Affairs Review (AAR) meetings are essential, collaborative conversations about the strengths and stressors of The Graduate School’s programs, across schools, fields, campuses, and disciplines. The process is designed as an opportunity for individual graduate programs and TGS alike to “check in” with one another.
These discussions provide an invaluable opportunity for us to better serve our shared and distinct goals for graduate education and to strengthen the essential partnership between The Graduate School (TGS) and the program leaders that we serve and support. We regularly apply the information and feedback that AARs yield to refine our existing policies and practices, or to create new approaches that better support our graduate student and postdoctoral communities.
Process
At the start of each academic year, TGS Academic Affairs shares a schedule of planned AARs with all TGS programs. We circulate this list as early as we can in the Fall quarter, in order to provide programs with as much advance notice of their AAR as possible and to allow programs not scheduled for an AAR to request an off-cycle meeting, should they wish to do so.
At the beginning of each quarter, TGS staff contacts relevant program administrators and staff (chair, director of graduate studies, admissions officers, and graduate support staff) to set a meeting time that accommodates the program’s representatives and TGS alike.
Approximately two weeks before the scheduled meeting, TGS staff sends a meeting reminder to invitees, a missive that includes a prepared data packet and draft agenda. This notice also includes a brief survey, which invites AAR participants to furnish additional agenda items and identify other priorities they may wish to raise in conversation with TGS. Programs are also encouraged to update graduate placement information and submit program handbooks in advance of their meeting.
Timeline
TGS programs should anticipate an AAR meeting with TGS every two to three years. TGS schedules these meetings during the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters based on the availability of program leadership.
Topics
AAR meetings incorporate priorities indicated by the program, topics carried forward from previous meetings, emergent areas of concern regarding graduate education, and other matters related to The Graduate School’s mission. Program leadership is invited to contribute to the agenda in advance of their scheduled meeting.
Contact
Please email Angela Ripp, Director of Academic Affairs, with any questions on the review process.