Appendix 2
S.O.A.R. Survey Responses (Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results) from
Graduate Program Directors
Number of Respondents: 50
1. STRENGTHS -- Describe the major strengths of your graduate program and include supporting evidence as
appropriate (e.g., student post-graduation employment/placements, national disciplinary rankings, etc.).








student post-graduation employment is high (see coop/employment office for stats),
student diversity for international students, hands-on curriculum
The CS in MS strength is faculty, curriculum.
Research. A number of our theses have resulted in top paper awards at regional
conferences, and one was revised for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The
Department of Communication was selected by the National Communication Association
as a recipient of the 2007 Rex Mix Program of Excellence Award, which honors
innovation and commitment to position the field of communication as indispensable in a
technological world. The department was commended specifically for “using superior
instruction, pioneering research and practical application evaluated through clear
assessment methodology.”
Outstanding employment opportunities,
graduation rate,
acceptance from MS degree program in to top nationally ranked PhD programs.
Rigorous. Applied.
Health Systems Administration Graduate Program 1. Targeted and focused students.
Most students have an extensive work background in health , this allows them to apply
foundation principles immediately. Result is students often advance in their career while
working on their degree so graduate success in health care that is a growth field of
employment in the US.
2. Faculty who are practitioners in the health field, able to blend theory and experience to
facilitate student learning.
3. Part of health college with potential for integrated courses which cross disciplines,
greater depth of learning for all students.
4. Strong ties to industry, viable and engaged advisory board that facilitates employment
for students.
5. Concentrations allow professionals from related industries to transition to health care.
6. Use of an on-line teaching format which is cutting edge for higher education.
Our MS program serves as a launching point for students going on for a PhD. These
students may not have the maturity, confidence, or preparation after their BS degree to
pursue a PhD. Our research focus is the reason why we succeed in doing this.
The MS in Applied Experimental and Engineering Psychology program has many
significant strengths: (1) The program is only human factors program housed in a
psychology department in upstate NY and as such distinguished from the Cornell Human
Factors and Ergonomics Research Group (CHFERG) in the Department of Design and
Environmental Analysis, the Human Factors Engineering/Ergonomics program at the
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University at Buffalo, or human








factors at the Cognitive Science Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI has
a human factors minor in psychology). Our program is also distinct from the MS in HCI
at RIT in its emphasis on empirical research and requirement of a thesis. (2) The demand
for engineering psychologists remains strong with multiple job opening at all levels
throughout the year; as of this writing, we have a 100% placement rate of our graduates
in jobs corresponding to their education at RIT. (3) The quality of the students' theses in
our program is sufficiently good to warrant publication in peer-reviewed journals and
conference proceedings; our program has produced 8 publications between our 11
graduates to date, with more to follow as manuscripts under review and in preparation
appear in print.
The program is well known in the greater Rochester/Central NY area and has been in
existence for more than 20 years. The faculty are experienced, with about half engaged in
community-based activities. The program is fully approved by our national organization.
Nearly all students graduate on time, and of those that graduate nearly all (one exception
in the last 8 years, which was a voluntary departure from the field) find employment
within one year of graduation. The students have become more diverse over the past 5
years, with higher numbers of persons enrolled who: have disabilities, are from diverse
racial-ethnic groups, vary in sexual orientation, and also vary in religious backgrounds.
Our students have reported back that they have the skills necessary to get jobs in the field
and in many cases are the best qualified candidates.
Post-graduation employment
Faculty reputation
Postgraduate placement - two recent graduates have gone on to attend PhD. programs.
Students readily find placement in major companies and Ph.D. programs such as
Harvard, Yale, J. Craig Venter Institute, Pfizer, Proctor & Gamble, Johns Hopkins,
Invitrogen, Roche/454, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Duke, Cisco,
University of Rochester, University of Pennsylvania Medical School.
Employers frequently comment that our students have exceeded their expectations.
Documentation can be provided upon request. Similar comments come from thesis
mentors outside of the Institute. As a result of our reputation, we are receiving more
requests for our graduates than we are currently able to produce.
Graduate students come to us for an opportunity to get a high-quality, hands-on technical
education in an environment with excellent teaching. Our graduate students get multiple
job offers from well-known companies (Sybase, SAS, Amazon, etc.)
However, computing equipment "ages out" and continuing budget constraints are
preventing curricular growth.
The major strength is the diversity of coursework, and opportunity for students to develop
personalized programs. This has led to many recent graduates employed in higher
education (the most common employment opportunity for graduates with an MFA) In the
past few years we have had two graduates hired into tenure-track Assistant Professor
positions, and several hired as full-time instructors/ Visiting Assistant Professors.
The major strength of our graduate programs (MS and ME) is that the course and lab
work have been specifially designed to provide a uniquely valuable skill set for the

semiconductor, photovoltaic and solid state lighting industries. While other graduate
programs may have one or two practical courses on microfabrication our graduates have
seven or eight. Evidence of the strength of our curriculum is supported by the number of
companies that come to RIT to recruit from the program such as Intel, IBM,
GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Micron etc.. We have numerous semiconductor fabrication sites
with more than 30 of our alumni employed. Our students have also been highly
successfull at some of the best graduate schools nationally and internationally such as
Penn State, Princeton, Arizona State, Berkeley, IMEC and Katholic University in
Belgium.
1. Major strengths of the MS in Professional Studies Degree program are as follows:
(a) Uniquely tailored plans of study and individualized degrees supported in their
development and administration by expert committed advisers/director, and a Graduate
Review Committee (GRC) representing college/other graduate program oversight to
ensure proposed plans of study make sense. In effect, this degree program uniquely
belongs to ALL OF RIT rather than to one college or academic department;
(b) Enormous student diversity representing nearly all disciplines and career fields along
with all ages, genders, nationalities, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds of students;
(c) Flexibility of degree planning to suit needs of many government and industry
sponsors, coupled with ability to graduate students within 12-15 months to meet
requirements of international student visas; and





(d) Sound academically developed program learning outcomes in five core areas which
are: professional communications, ethical reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving
and integrative learning. Each are appropriate to any employment sector (i.e., knowledge,
skills and abilities that employers are seeking), and also operationalized with rubrics to
support teaching, student evaluation/feedback and program outcome evaluations.
The major strength of our program is the high job placement rate. The vast majority of
our graduates obtain employment in industrial, nonprofit, or government research labs
upon graduation. A few of our PhD graduates obtain academic jobs. Our advisory council
consistently reports high satisfaction with the education of our graduates.
Reputation
Placement
Quality of graduate faculty
Program attracts a large number of students both domestic and international. Faculty
background- both Ph.D. and industry experience; courses both on-line and classroom so
flexible options; active research agenda for faculty and curriculum blends applied and
theory.
This program is the most successful graduate program for overseas export; curriculum is
current with latest evolutions of thinking about service; students are able to use and apply
their skills for their education produces systemic thinkers; crosses disciplines.
Applied and Computational Mathematics - Post-graduation placement is excellent, as
there is a great need for people with strong analytic and computational skills. This also is
a hindrance numerous times as people are leaving before completing their degree with us.


1-year program with the possibility of a 15-month completion if a quarter is used for
coop; provides rigorous content even for students with no prior background in the
discipline. Most students are international students and many go back to their home
countries, so we do not have good placement data. Those who find placement in the U.S.
do so in the two coasts, in financial firms (consistent with program objectives).
Strong faculty: national and international prominence as evidenced by invitations to serve
as conference organizers, invited speakers (e.g., Merritt invited to give a lecture series at
Institut Henri Poincaré, Paris, in Fall 2013), NSF or NASA grant review panels,
recognition by national societies (e.g., Campanelli is chair of APS Topical Group in
Gravitation); regularly publish in top ranked journals (~60 peer reviewed
publications/year) etc.
Student success: all 4 PhD graduates to date have secured post-doc positions, two of
these being prestigious independent fellowships. Other external recognition includes
American Astronomical Society PhD Dissertation prize and a NASA Graduate Research
Fellowship. Several students have won observing time with major national/international
facilities (e.g., SOFIA, Chandra, Gemini).
Student focus: Director & program faculty engage closely with students; “team” ethos is
encouraged; students encouraged to openly discuss problems or concerns; program
provides funding support for student travel to conferences, research facilities and for
student membership of professional societies.


Flexible interdisciplinary program: students can elect to follow tracks in observational
astrophysics, theoretical and computational astrophysics and instrumentation and detector
development. It is possible to explore different tracks before settling on PhD dissertation
project. It is also possible to transfer from MS to PhD, by satisfying PhD qualifier
requirements.
Strong placement, high national ranking.
1. Program occurs at NTID/RIT. This fact provides the program unique expertise and
resources, including the range of faculty who teach in the MSSE program.
2. Enrollment of a large number of deaf students in the MSSE program helps contribute
to all students in the program, deaf and hearing, developing an in-depth, personal
understanding of education of deaf students.
3. The student group is very diverse.
4. Being housed at NTID means that the programs students have intensive exposure to
Deaf culture and a variety of deaf role models.
5. The program has a very successful job placement record.
6. MSSE is unique in that it prepares teachers who already have a content area of
expertise, a needed credential for a good high school teacher.
7. MSSE is one of a very few places in the university's curriculum that focuses on the
field of education.
8. The strong research background of the faculty affords students opportunities to study
and participate in action research as well as more traditional research projects.
9. The program has a large Department of Education grant that provides fellowships and
internships for students.

Close collaboration with industry, as evidenced by corporate commitments to funded
research and training programs. National and international collaborations with academic,
industrial and national laboratory research institutes.
Program supported through world-class research program (as evidenced by high PI
success rate at competitive funding ie. NSF, EPA, DOE, DOD, etc. as well as high
through-put of high impact, peer-reviewed publications and patents) -program is highly
competitive and selective (as evidenced by comparatively low acceptance rate)

Program is responsive to global societal and environmental challenges that are
increasingly recognized as essential for business, government, and academia. This is
reflected in 100% post-graduation student placement in sustainability field, increasing
demand for program by high-quality enrollees, recognition of faculty and students by
funding agencies, fellowship and scholarship programs, professional societies, media
coverage etc.
The changing landscape of people’s everyday interactions has blurred the
lines between respected design fields giving designers new responsibilities
to shape experiences. Designers must increase their knowledge in all areas
of design, including print media, human-computer interaction design, motion
graphics, and 3D digital graphics.
The MFA Visual Communication Design program at RIT embraces this new
ideology through its curriculum that addresses these merging skill sets.
It provides a learning environment for advancement in innovative research,
user-centered design, and professional practice focusing on the creative
potentials of visual communication through a full spectrum of media.




According to the Business Insider/The World's 25 Best Design Schools
Number 11: Rochester Institute of Technology College of Imaging Arts and Sciences
Our program has a good international reputation and we draw students from the US and
around the world. We don't just accept film and animation students but students that have
other strengths that we feel will help make them good filmmakers. As a result, we have a
wide variety of points of view, which is always good for learning. We may narrow this a
bit more as the reputation of our program grows.
- broad education in information and communications technologies (ICT) with depth in
specialty area(s) consistently leads to very high post-graduation employment levels
Our international students may have some obstacles to find jobs in security areas due to
clearance requirements for many government jobs and indirect government contract jobs.
Domestic students should be able to find jobs easily.
• Interdisciplinary focus – participating faculty are from a variety of departments both
inside of (Center for Imaging Science, Chemistry) and outside of (CAST, NTID, COLA)
the College of Science. Thus students gain a broad perspective and can choose from a
variety of faculty interests when designing their thesis project.
• Curriculum is designed to help jumpstart a student’s thesis by helping guide the student
through their thesis proposal (Quarter courses include: Introduction to Graduate Studies I,
II, III, and Graduate Reading Seminar. Semester course will collapse all courses into a



single course)
• 4+1 Option allows students to know faculty and start their thesis research early as
undergraduate research scholars. The students also benefit financially from this.
• Strong record of employment after graduation.
• There is a good synergy and spirit of cooperation among our faculty.
The new Center for Sustainable Packaging, a large gift from the Wegmans’ Foundation,
will provide graduate students with the perfect environment to develop new ideas and
solutions in sustainable packaging. It will also be a place to develop research skills and
fundamental knowledge in a cross-disciplinary program such as packaging. These skills
will have domestic and international application and will further enhance our global
reach.
Capabilities for applied research continue to grow as lab facilities gain support to stay on
the cutting edge and expand to address the needs of the industry (as evidenced by the
renewal of a large ($1M+) gift from American Packaging Corporation for research
related to polymer applications for packaging)
Executive Leader is a nontraditional method of delivering a MS degree. It affords us an
opportunity to continue to grow both domestically and internationally meeting the needs
of the packaging professional.
Placement and career validation - Two programs:
Non traditional - Executive Leader graduate have consistently experienced promotions
and upward career movements
Traditional – Career placement is at least 95% (by number of responses, not total number
of graduates from the program).
Nationally ranked – one of three graduate packaging programs in the US
Program delivery flexibility – since 2001 the Executive Leader program has been
delivered solely on campus as well as blended (online and on campus), depending on the
needs of the cohort. The ability to be fluid and flexible in delivery has been a hallmark of
strength for our program.
Industrial Advisory Board – we are supported by a committed and active IAB who works
with us to maintain the program’s forward momentum.
Alumni – Our alumni are active and provide generous and consistent support as contacts
for co-op and career opportunities, presence in the classroom (in person or via Skype) as
industry practitioners, sponsors for graduate theses or projects.
Diversity – Each year our graduate cohorts are becoming more diverse with students
hailing from India, China, South America, and Europe. We are seeing more students from
west of the Mississippi which is typically an area dominated by our peer competitor
schools.
1) Sustainable MS program. Program attracts ~50-60 students on a yearly basis.
2) Most students are able to land employment opportunities or pursue additional graduate
studies at other Universities.
3) Indirect link to CIS where several students gravitate to once they complete their MS
EE.
4) Excellent offering of a variety of graduate courses in 7 focus areas.
5) Good connections with corporate partners.
industry/application focus, preparation for the workforce



majority of ME capstone projects are industry based
majority MS thesis have concrete application
• Our leading edge unique curriculum that was created to meet the needs of
environmental, health & safety (EHS) professionals across the globe. The curriculum was
designed by EHS professionals and academic leaders to provide students with a solid
foundation in both the technical and managerial aspects of developing, designing, and
implementing environmental, health, and safety systems that can drive an organization
towards sustainability.
• Student success & external awards.
• Portfolio of graduates in prestigious EHS positions in top companies across the nation.
• Our international reputation with the EU.
• The successful application of many of our graduate projects in the real world.
• Strong ties to industry and related professional organizations.
• Ability to offer the program in an online format suitable for working EHS professionals.
• Exceptional faculty who are dedicated, have significant real world experience and are
well respected within the profession.
• Our BS/MS degree in Environmental Sustainability, Health and Safety Management.
Currently have 20 students in the BS/MS program.
• Strong co-op program.
• Facility Management (FM) MS degree curriculum accredited by the International
Facility Management Association (IFMA).
• Quality, leading edge FM curriculum taught by experienced faculty.
• Only online IFMA accredited FM MS degree program in the world.
• Ability to offer the program in a part-time online format for working professionals.
• Student success & recognition.
• Strong ties to industry and related professional organizations.
• Designed so that Engineering Technology BS degree programs could serve as feeder
programs.
The MSTET program is broad is scope with the opportunity for students to develop depth
and expertise in specific areas such as wireless communications and fiber optics. There
are a very large number of applicants (over 180 last year) and we limit enrollment to
approximately 30 new on campus students each year.
Over the past two years, we have increased our scholarly output, especially in the area of
optics research, and we have a strong, collaborative relationship with the U of R optics
laboratory.

The anecdotal information we have indicates that placements are excellent, and
historically, MS salary data have shown a median of approximately $72K for a starting
salary.
• >95% Full-time and Co-Op placements in industry, government, and academic affiliates
• Strong program reputation among industrial partners (evidenced by recurring
recruitment of graduate students and Co-Op feedback forms from employers).
• All graduate students are actively engaged in thesis research (a requirement) and
publications in conferences or journals.
• Close-knit research groups which are student-centric.

The students, faculty and staff.
ranking:
Design Intelligence Ranks the Grad. ID 2nd nationally.
other publications rank us in the top ten internationally.




overall satisfaction of the students
- only program in Color Science in the U.S., one of three worldwide (UK, Japan)
- strong national/international leadership role in research/scholarship
- 100% graduate placement in-field (Apple, Canon, HP, Dolby, Disney, ...)
- The RIT brand: SCB basically gets technology, innovation, and applied for "free"
through its association with the RIT brand.
- Faculty: Talented, committed, accessible to the students. Also relevant, and reinforce
the applied position of SCB
- Students: Environment focused on achievement, but not competitive. Students help each
other. Good student diversity; variety of different student experiences.
- Programs: Unique programs in digital marketing, technology management, etc.
1. The MS-MMSI is an interdisciplinary program. The program has core and
concentration courses supported by CAST-MMET Department, KGCOE-IE and CQAS
and SCOB.
2. The program had 52 QCH and will have 36 SCH which provides a strong academic
preparation and opportunity to specialize in multiple concentration areas.
3. The core and concentration allows students to specialize in various aspects of
production and quality systems related to any manufacturing industry.
4. Job opportunities ranging from product development, manufacturing automation,
quality, electronics packaging and management.
5. Provides capstone and thesis opportunities for students.
6. Excellent track record of employment and successful growth of graduates within the
first 3-5 years of employment.
Strong faculty: national and international prominence as evidenced by invitations to serve
as conference organizers, invited speakers (e.g., Merritt invited to give a lecture series at
Institut Henri Poincaré, Paris, in Fall 2013), NSF or NASA grant review panels,
recognition by national societies (e.g., Campanelli is chair of APS Topical Group in
Gravitation); regularly publish in top ranked journals (~60 peer reviewed
publications/year) etc.
Student focus: Director & program faculty engage closely with students; “team” ethos is
encouraged; students encouraged to openly discuss problems or concerns; program
provides funding support for student travel to conferences, research facilities and for
student membership of professional societies.
Flexible interdisciplinary program: students can tailor their program to their interests by
selecting from a wide range of electives in subjects ranging from General Relativity to
detector technology. Suitably prepared students may to transfer from MS to PhD, by
satisfying the PhD qualifier requirements.

MS students participate in a vigorous research environment, which includes
approximately 35 PhD students, post-docs and faculty, organized in 3 research centers.
Student Outcomes:
While our program is quite young (starting Fall 2006), our students have been publishing
papers in top international conferences (e.g. CVPR, ICDAR, MICCAI) and flagship
academic journals (e.g. IEEE TMI, IEEE TBME), participating in international doctoral
symposia and competitions, and networking/interning with well-respected research
groups in Berkeley, JHU, Microsoft, Intel, etc, and collaborating with overseas
researchers in France, Spain, UK. And our graduates are well placed in academia,
research institutes, and industry.
It is too early to consider the specific rankings of the program, but our faculty and
students are regularly and increasingly producing work of an international standard
within our relatively short existence. This will only increase as we move forward.
Program Environment:
One particular strength is the program's focus on training both disciplinary
computing/information scientists and interdisciplinary computational scientists who aim
to facilitate, enable, and inspire progress in other domains.
Our curriculum stresses research training from day one. Instead of the typical knowledgebased qualifying exam, we have adopted the Research Potential Assessment at the end of
Year 1 that is driven by research capability and progress. The practice seems to be
working.


In general, faculty-student relationship has been close, and many faculty members are
willing to offer helping hands.
In the past ten years, all the students have been successful in finding suitable careers.
Some of them had gone to Ph.D degree program to reputed universities like Virginia
Tech., RPI, U Mass, University of Akron, Purdue University etc.
Others have gone to industries like Texas Instruments, Global Foundries, Delphi, AMD
etc.
The salaries offered to the Masters graduates in Materials Science and Engineering are
higher then Matsters degree in pure science.
-international population.
-many alumni teaching at major institutions throughout the world.
-many alumni recognized as leaders in their field.
-many alumni included in major museum collections.
-extremely high number of graduates still active in the field.
-one of few programs, worldwide, that emphasizes the dynamic balance between concept
and technique.
-large, strong program for last 25 years.


-produce outstanding makers who embrace full complement of technology, traditional
and cutting edge.
Master of Architecture program is unique by - focusing on sustainability as a major
thread of design inquiry, integrating with PhD and MS disciplines, and strongly linking
with the professional and public community. Few other professional degree architecture
programs have immersed sustainable design thought in a holistic way as this program
intends.
A multidisciplinary program that builds on the fundamentals of traditional engineering
and science.
Close interaction with faculty and small research groups.
Successful faculty and research groups with international reputations.
Provides students with cutting edge research experience research activities addressing the
challenges of microsystems.
Students interact with each other across many engineering and science disciplines.
1 user did not answer
2. OPPORTUNITIES -- Describe one or more existing, but as yet unrealized, opportunities for your graduate program.
Please explain why the opportunities are important and what it would take to realize or make the opportunities come
about.







increased scholarship with faculty; our new thesis track and 2-year progam will provide
more opportunity; also the semester version of our program will provide for a more
robust culture and mentoring since it will now be a 2-year program
can not see any - sorry
Study abroad would provide students with a greater sense of global interconnectedness.
Also online courses that include international students from other universities and
colleges would add a great deal to their experience.
We have the demand to grow the program but are limited by space and faculty resources.
We could probably grow from 150 students to 225 students.
Executive Education
1. Study abroad- this program can be taught overseas, it would require some addtional
public health courses but over seas locations are seeking to learn form the american
health care system. Also Executive leadership- meaning accelerated courses taught to
promotable persons at RGH- allowing employees to earn a degree and have promotion
opportunities at RGH.,
Organize our efforts around a focus area in the degree discipline.









Engineering psychology is interdisciplinary. There are few opportunities for students and
faculty across different departments to meet, interact, and ultimately collaborate.
Teaching loads are determined department by department, college by college, so it is
difficult to cultivate interdisciplinary academic work outside the thesis.
Our program is developing a doctoral program. We recently received feedback on our
concept paper and are now addressing the feedback. A doctoral program would make us
more competitive for high quality students, address a national need, and increase RIT's
visibility and reputation. Resources will be needed: such as space, additional faculty
hires, materials and supplies, and start-up funding will need to be considered. We are also
examining the resources needed to sustain the program over time. Consultation regarding
program development issues may also be needed.
expansion of dual degrees with other colleges
We are currently seeking accreditation of the program from our national professional
association. This will increase the reputation and visibility of the program, increase the
number of applicants, allowing us to increase selectivity and further enhance the
program's reputation.
Integration of graduate student-led research into the Center for Public Safety Initiatives
and undergraduate programs.
Our enrollments could potentially be doubled and retention significantly increased,
without sacrifice of rigor or hands-on-experience, if allowed to create a non-thesis
(Professional Science Masters) option with standardized competency test after course
work. The thesis option would be maintained as an “honors program” for students who
excel in their first year of course work, creating a driver of student motivation. Non-thesis
students would complete a capstone course, retaining experiential learning.
Analytics and forensics will be key to securely handling big data, but lack of
support/resources will hamper opportunities.
Providing more opportunities for collaboration with other CIAS MFA students. This is
important to give students new insights, approaches, and technical abilities to address in
their own work. Graduate Fine Arts Studio students work in various media, building
traditional practices and techniques while exploring contemporary, "new" approaches.
The idea of the "studio artist" working alone for days on end in the studio is not a reality
in today's art world. Collaboration is key to building exciting work, opportunities to
disseminate that creative work and research, and networking possibilities. Currently the
School of Art, School of Design, and School of American Crafts are working to try to
allow for more of this type of activity to occur through coursework. The Associate Dean,
Twyla Cummings is also working with all CIAS MFA students to try to encourage more
of this activity outside of the classroom. This collaboration however also needs to extend
beyond CIAS. There should be more support for graduate students to collaborate with
others outside their department. I would love to see a Sculpture Fine Arts Studio grad, a
Woodworking grad and a Mechanical Engineering grad work together to research
pattern-making, metallurgy, and foundry practices. I believe to realize this opportunity
there needs to be grant opportunities available to Graduate Students, perhaps with
specific grant money available to collaborations across colleges.
The biggest opportunity for our graduate programs continues to be in the area of
advanced process development in a variety of semiconductor processsing areas, from









microproccessor/logic to advanced memory, to MEMS, sensors, and photovoltaics. RIT
needs to be known as the source of people who can develop these processes and get the
job done. A combined research/education/HR source.
1. Opportunities of the MS in Professional Studies Degree program are as follows: Three
years after leaving CAST CMS now within ILI remains in administrative transition.
Reassignments and impending retirements leave open possibilities for new leadership and
strategic thinking to bring about growth balanced against program quality. It is critical
that in coming months deliberate planning take place to ensure the MS in Professional
Studies Degree program becomes even better positioned relative to college and university
interests in an intentions for graduate programming success. In particular the CMS
Graduate Program Director needs support and empowerment mechanisms heretofore
unavailable. Several specific management level changes and improvements could be
made, and should be made, with senior administrative support in consultation with
faculty not limited to those currently assigned to CMS. When in CAST our program was
at least involved in regular graduate program chair/director consultation and planning
with college deans. Now our graduate program seemingly has no team-building
environment, representation or senior advocacy to ensure our program meshes with larger
visions, goals and so on. We are large but alone. Being left alone of course has its
advantages, but comes at a price.
We need to make the program more attractive to national students and to RIT graduates
with technical degrees.
We could do more in the way of providing international experiences for our graduate
students.
Demand for a 1-year program vs. 2-year
Semester conversion has honed curriculum to be cutting edge content; HRD collaborates
with other programs within department; increased influence in business community given
strong placements.
More international locations that RIT is interested in establishing a start-up in; recognized
contributor to the service arena; enhanced reputation both nationally and internationally.
One opportunity is a program that I designed for undergraduate AND graduate students
that takes place in New York City for 9 weeks in the spring quarter. I have only
implemented this program twice (with great success.) Many of our graduate students get
internships from this program (called "Big Apple Animation".) It's a wonderful
opportunity for graduates to meet artists and studios in our industry and ask questions and
observe all of their operations. It's a wonderful transition into the marketplace. We are
trying to expand this idea out to Los Angeles.
A great opportunity exists in interdisciplinary research for us (applied mathematics), but
at this point only a fraction of our students is interacting other department's researchers.
We have to broaden our students' horizons - we are trying to make steps constantly in this
direction by organizing seminars, creating courses etc.
We need to continue to cultivate domestic applications for the program as well as look at
targeted international markets that go unrealized. We would need investment into the
outreach and advertisement of the graduate programs at a higher rate, and look at ways to
make the experience financially attractive to students.



1. There is a need for improved system for selecting students to ensure that students are
able to succeed in the program and be well qualified to serve as teachers of the deaf upon
graduation.
2. There is a need to improve performance of students on some of the teacher certification
exams, through better selection of students for the program and better preparation for the
exams.
3. Revision of the curriculum with the change to a semester system including new
courses should result in a higher quality program.
4. There is a need to recruit RIT STEM students directly into the MSSE program upon
graduation from their BS programs.
5. There needs to be a greater integration of MSSE students into the life/culture of the
university.
6. Because we are a national program (and due to the fact that placements working with
deaf students are limited in this area and NYS`), students must be placed throughout the
US for their student teaching assignments. However, they can rarely find economical
housing unless they are at a residential school for the deaf. This does restrict
opportunities to work in mainstreamed settings where residential opportunities are very
limited. We have a faculty member who is currently working on a project focused on
identifying new strategies to facilitate student teaching placements in these kinds of
settings.
Resource for K-12 educational opportunities (important as sustainability issues can be a
great filter to build interest in STEM, would require appropriate time and dollar
resources) -resource for high appeal introductory undergraduate courses (important as
many RIT student demand more exposure to sustainability issues in their curriculum,
would require removal of institutional barriers).
Resource for job development and enhancement in the local area (e.g., through
professional education or more agile educational programs rather than traditional degree)
International partnerships to facilitate faculty & student exchanges. As astrophysics is a
truly international enterprise, students would greatly from opportunities to study and/or
engage in research projects at partner institute abroad. To some extent this can be done
“informally” through research collaborations, but at institutional level RIT should
actively seek to establish bilateral agreements with strategic partners and where possible,
exploit government programs (e.g., Brazil’s Science Without Borders program). Expand
telescope access for training and research. Although AST faculty and students frequently
win time with the largest telescopes, for efficiency reasons, observing programs are
increasingly executed by on-site staff astronomers. Therefore, opportunities for hands-on
student training are increasingly limited. There are opportunities to join consortia
operating smaller (but still research level) telescopes. COS (through SoPA and CIS) is
already a minor partner in one of these, but modest funding could secure access to a
larger share and/or a better instrumented facility. Increased co-operation with local
institutes, such as UR. We have a long established and successful joint astronomy
colloquium series with the UR astronomy group. We would like to build on this to
establish more research collaborations and introduce curriculum cooperation (for
example, shared graduate courses). The latter would require an institute level agreement,
which has been problematic in the past. Establish data analysis computer lab. The





program has a modest capital budget intended to support shared computing facilities for
data analysis and modeling. We have not been able to establish this facility because we
do not have a dedicated space to accommodate it.
Creating a certificate program for employed workers to enhance their design and
development skill sets. This could expand graduate enrollment while utilizing existing
courses.
- demobilizing military students: I have been trying for a number of years to get us to
conduct some concrete activities which would affirmative reach out to potential grad
students who were to be demobilized, as the military is going through a post-war
reduction. although it is now too late for some of tose activities, there are still a number
of other things we could do to contact/recruit those who have been demobilized, but most
of those activities fall into the "we have never done that here before" reactions we have
bumped into as a barrier in our past discussions with the RIT bureaucracy.
- telepresence robots: several of us have been seeking internal support for purchasing
telepresence robots to use both for scattered-site education purposes (such as holding
lectures and labs in one location run by an instructor in another part of the world) and to
give students an innovative platform for experimentation/"hacking".
We should do better job in advertising our graduate degree to attract more domestic
students.
• Graduate Teaching Assistants. Many of the courses in GSOLS could benefit greatly
from graduate student teaching assistants, including both field and workshop based
courses. We have been able to provide some teaching experience for graduate students,
but funding is limited and no tuition is included. Graduate students benefit greatly from
teaching, and the ability to offer a significant number of teaching assistantships would
allow us to attract strong students and provide these students with valuable experience.
This also fits with the institute goal of providing teaching opportunities for graduate
students.
• We also have a potential opportunity to have our senior graduate students or recent MS
graduates serve as on the ground teaching faculty abroad (ACMT and AUK). This will
help to fill the need for science courses at these campuses, and allow us to expand our
offerings, while at the same time providing international experience for our graduate
students.
• Currently, most of our students pay the majority of their tuition, and many work
additional outside jobs to support themselves. This leads to slower graduation rates and
less investment in their research. We would like to be able to offer our top applicants
fellowships that include both stipend and tuition remission. This will allow us to bring in
high quality students, who will in turn produce high quality, publishable research. A
strong publication record will lead to more opportunities for external funding, granting
the opportunity to bring in more students.
• We would like to host one or more teaching post-doctoral scholars, who would carry the
responsibility for teaching one or more courses, but also would be available for additional
mentoring of both graduate and undergraduate student research.
As one of three graduate programs in the US in this discipline (which represents one of
the largest industries in the world) we will facilitate more collaborative relationships with
other disciplines on campus and explore opportunities for connectivity which will further
enrich students’ learning experiences.
Executive Leader – There are two Executive Leader programs in Packaging Science in
the US. There is great potential to creatively marketing this program to people in the
industry. This is a proven program that owes it success to “word of mouth” as well as
other forms of promotion. Efficient and effective marketing has been challenging as the
industry is vast.
The graduate program in packaging will be significant driver for innovation in the
packaging industry by confronting the challenges of the most critical issues faced by the
industry in areas such as sustainability, food safety, packaging for distribution, etc.






More international partnerships would increase enrollment and professional development
opportunities. Three faculty hail from South America, Africa and China and will play a
pivotal role in extending our reach globally.
1) Attract higher quality graduate students. This will not happen until we have a PhD
program on board with appropriate & competitive support for incoming graduate
students.
2) Establishment of a PhD program in ECE or Engineering.
3) More research funding from government or corporate partners.
4) A sizable portion of the Overhead $$ from acquired grants should be re-invested into
the program to sponsor 1st year graduate students.
5) Better balance between teaching and reearch without the need to buy out from
teaching. (Buy out is essentially O/H).
6) Space, space, space!! we need additional space for research labs. Space needs to be
parsed out based on research funding $$.
many opportunities for growth in engineering management and sustainable engineering
opportunities for growth/partnerships internationally
• The ability to offer more on-campus courses to make the program more attractive to
other nations who send students here to participate in on-campus courses.
o Need budget increase and marketing.
• Increase the amount of full-time students by creating BS/MS degree programs. (This is
currently in the development stage and several BS/MS degree programs will be presented
for approval this year.)
I am not certain what is meant by 'opportunities' here. It seems as though the should be an
opportunity to attract more US students to campus. Right now, we have only 1 or 2 US
applicants for on-campus study each year.
I believe we have the opportunity to attract a higher quality of student. We have recently
started closely tracking our applicants vs. enrollment and are trying to understand how
the amount of scholarship impacts who comes to campus. It is possible that a PhD
program and/or more scholarship funding could attract the highest caliber students.
• Improve mentoring and advising relationships between students and graduate faculty.
o Builds a strong sense of inclusive graduate community and culture in the department
and thereby enhance the productivity (research, networking, and post-graduation).
• Improve and enhance interdisciplinary opportunities in graduate education
o Currently the interdisciplinary opportunities are limited to the traditional collaborations.





If these opportunities transcend to non-traditional collaborations, it opens a wider
landscape of educational/research opportunities for students and faculty alike. More
importantly it might provide a fresh perspective on some of the educational elements
learnt in classroom and their real world-applicability.
o Restructure graduate program with multiple options (BS/MS, MS, MS/Ph.D.) and
flexibility in research tracks.
• Incentivize assistantship opportunities for graduate students
o While a few graduate students in our program are supported through research
assistantships, most of the graduate students chose the research tracks based on their
passion/interest. Providing competitive GRA opportunities at the department level can
help students.
• Improve the accessibility of graduate courses.
o Online course offerings for students on Co-ops or industrial affiliates.
areas (space) for research. areas and venues for cross-pollination of ideas, skills and
deliverables.
to realize it become the big question, but simple put, overall management, continue
pushing out of the silos and flexibility within disciplines.
- expansion of program scope to include advances in the field (e.g. change from focus on
traditional color science to a more inclusive treatment of appearance measurement,
modeling, and perception (strong need in science/industry)
- new faculty positions
Unfortunately placement is weak, and placement of SCB grads does not seem to be a
priority for the Institute placement office. Marketing is also weak. The Saunders brand is
not well known. Our share of voice versus our competitors is a problem.
1. Increase in part time enrollment.
2. Marketing the curriculum to industry within US and abroad as an on-line degree.
3. Attracting more full time students from within US and abroad.
International partnerships to facilitate faculty & student exchanges. As astrophysics is a
truly international enterprise, students would greatly from opportunities to study and/or
engage in research projects at partner institute abroad. To some extent this can be done
“informally” through research collaborations, but at institutional level RIT should
actively seek to establish bilateral agreements with strategic partners and where possible,
exploit government programs (e.g., Brazil’s Science Without Borders program).
Expand telescope access for training and research. Although AST faculty and students
frequently win time with the largest telescopes, for efficiency reasons, observing
programs are increasingly executed by on-site staff astronomers. Therefore, opportunities
for hands-on student training are increasingly limited. There are opportunities to join
consortia operating smaller (but still research level) telescopes. COS (through SoPA and
CIS) is already a minor partner in one of these, but modest funding could secure access to
a larger share and/or a better instrumented facility. This would particularly benefit MS
students, who will in general have fewer opportunities to compete for time at major
facilities within their 2-year program.
Increased co-operation with local institutes, such as UR. We have a long established and
successful joint astronomy colloquium series with the UR astronomy group. We would
like to build on this to establish more research collaborations and introduce curriculum
cooperation (for example, shared graduate courses). The latter would require an institute
level agreement, which has been problematic in the past.
Establish data analysis computer lab. The program has a modest capital budget intended
to support shared computing facilities for data analysis and modeling. We have not been
able to establish this facility because we do not have a dedicated space to accommodate
it.



Market MS as a valuable alternative to the PhD: almost all applicants to date have viewed
the MS as stepping stone towards the PhD, rather than as a goal in itself. While this is a
valid motivation, we would also like to attract students who do not necessarily wish to
follow a career in astrophysics but for whom the MS would be advantageous, such as
those seeking careers in the aerospace and imaging industries, education, or science
journalism. This would entail a significant marketing effort (i.e. the cost is faculty and
staff time). In addition, the relative lack of support for MS students under the current
funding model is a barrier to increasing recruitment. For the AST program as a whole
maintaining support for the PhD students has to be the first priority for grant dollars.
While we have seen increasing research internship opportunities for our students in
places such as UR Med School, Xerox, IBM Watson, Microsoft, Intel, and Carestream, it
is our goal that the majority of our students would undertake external research
experiences during their study. This includes more (formal) collaboration with more
established PhD granting institutions in the area, which is particularly important for PhD
students who are the only one in that research area in RIT.
It is a very strong and attractive program. We have currently MS, BS/MS and Advanced
Certificate programs. We do not have BS in Materials Science and Engineering and Ph.D.
degree programs.
-further expand our reputation worldwide to attract students. we already have many
students from Korea, China, Japan, and we can refine that and add more from Europe,
and the Americas (we have had students from Colombia, Mexico, India, Thailand,
Nicaragua). needed: outreach initiatives including recruiting trips, international
exhibitions of student work, etc.
-further deepen our involvement with cutting edge technologies appropriate to all the
disciplines. needed: development initiatives to bring this technology to the school.

-most importantly to continue to bring an always improving, diverse group of students to
our programs. needed: maybe most important of all, we needed a strategy and funding
program for graduate student scholarships to help us compete better with other schools,
many of whom are either state-funded schools, or schools with much stronger graduate
scholarship, fellowship, programs than RIT provides.
Engagement with and public service for communities, neighborhoods, town centers, and
regions, are a part of our program intention as a connection to the community provides
for design efforts to be explored with tangible projects, benefiting the community by
offering actual design suggestions, and allows students to investigate sustainable design
concepts first hand.

Question isn't clear - existing but unrealized?
Microsystems is becomming increasingly involved with international collaborative
opportunities.
1 user did not answer
3. ASPIRATIONS -- Please name and/or describe the top three aspirations of your graduate program through the year
2020.















increased student publictions,
diversify the student body
More online courses, funded research, a Ph.D. program
To initiate a broder based PhD in Engineering
Increase enrollments
(1) The program will be nationally, if not internationally, recognized as a top human
factors program that uniquely harnesses RIT's strengths in career-oriented focus, high
technology, and interdisciplinarity to meet the demand for future human factors
professionals, both practitioners and educators. (2) The program will be highly selective
admitting only the best students aspiring to have a career in human factors. (3) The
program will be a resource to RIT, providing connections to industry partners who seek
comprehensive solutions to their product design and systems safety problems.
1. grow enrollment- need help in marketing the program - web site and RIT enrollment
services. Grow engagement of alumni in taking certificates found witn health program so
growth of alumni, expand student base, int
1. Establish this focus, 2. Establish an advisory board, 2. Attract better quality students.
1. Implement a doctoral program; 2. Expand internal and external faculty collaboration
with other scholars and community members (for research productivity and to positively
affect the community- e.g., dissemination of evidence-based information on relevant
problems, trainings/presentations, etc.); 3. Increase internal/external funding to support
program initiatives and to support students (e.g., tuition reduction).
Complete accreditation process. Increase number and quality of applicants. Increase and
stabilize enrollment.
Increasing the quality of the entering student, increasing and formalizing research
opportunities within the program.
grow the number of students, connect to other colleges more, and to be able to offer more
elective courses for our students
Develop more rigor, become competitive with the top MFA programs
Bioinformatics is a rapidly growing field where available jobs are being created faster
than graduates can be produced. Our aspirations and results (Question 4) are as follows.
A. Increase enrollments through the creation of a PSM option in the program. B. Increase
graduate student publication and find grant funding for thesis projects. C. Become
nationally recognized for quality of our graduates.
The first aspiration is to complete the transition to a semester based curriculum. This is
not as simple one might expect. The next aspiration is to grow the programs to a level of











~15 graduates per year. This will require some additional outreacha and advertising. The
third aspiration is to better integrate our programs with the Microsystems PhD program.
Refocusing to address the upcoming computing and analytical needs of our modern
society.
1. Strategic aspirations of the MS in Professional Studies Degree program through 2020
are as follows: More faculty involvement and greater inter/multidisciplinary expertise not
merely to approve individualized plans of study, but also help teach core courses and
supervise capstone projects. Having so few faculty involved is not healthy for students,
faculty or the program. For example, seldom are our graduate students able to become
involved in sponsored research projects because, given the size of the program, the CMS
graduate faculty have insufficient time to engage seriously in funded scholarship much
less involve individual students in such opportunities. Improvements to the gateway
course, Context and Trends, are in the works. This class aims to demonstrate state-of-art
online/blended pedagogy. Our program also aspires to carry out a sound program
learning objectives evaluation within the next three years.
Increase enrollment from the current level of about 25 to about 40; attract at least 10
domestic students each year.
1. Growth in the number and quality of our on-campus students. 2. Growth in the number
and quality of our online MS students. Increased international collaborations.
Get more students
Ph.D. program; teach internationally; increased enrollment of students.
Ph.D. Program; add undergraduate 2 year program to feed graduate program; grow the
US population of students, not just focus on international.
1.Get a good balance of domestic and international applicants
2. Build a better reputation for SoFA in quality and creativity across the country and the
globe.
3. Continue to place top young talent from our program in the industry and continue
relationships with those alum for a strong network and support system.
The program has grown tremendously in the last ten years - now we have to turn the
quantitative change into a qualitative change. The first aspiration is to attract better
students (financial assistance from RIT would help a lot here). Another aspiration is to
create a harmonious co-existence with the possible future PhD program in Modeling and
Computation (if that happens). The third is to utilize our already existing research centers
better.
Continued growth.
Broadening the degree or adding new opportunities to capture changing landscape.
Look at opportunities that span commecial and academic research.
1. Improvement in the rate of passing of certain teacher certification exams among the
deaf students.
2. Improve the comprehensiveness and quality of the education provided to students
through the program as a result of the revisions to the curriculum.
3. Increase the number of students being prepared to be teachers in the science and
mathematics areas.
4. Continue to recruit diverse students into the program while increasing standards for
entering students.

5. Through rigorous and ongoing research regarding the changing demographics of deaf
and hard-of-hearing students and their educational needs, we will constantly modify and
supplement our program with the newest technology, instructional strategies, and
communication skills to make them competitive and excellent instructors, not only upon
graduation but as continuing learners.
6. One of our faculty members believe that the program would benefit tremendously if it
was expanded to five or six semesters (up to three years instead of two)...four semesters
of coursework with the rest of the time spent in practicum or related experiences. This
could allow the students more time to practice their skills and reduce the hectic pace (for
better learning). The challenge would be the financial obligation on the part of the
students (as well as budgetary implications for the program).
Fully funded research activities supporting MS and PhD students in our 4 thrust areas:
Sustainable Production, Sustainable Energy, Sustainable Mobility, Eco-IT. Elective
course offerings that satisfy the needs and interests of the GIS student population, and
attracts significant interest from other RIT programs. Establish strong collaborative
relationships with other regional research universities, including U of R, Cornell,
Syracuse, Buffalo, Toronto, Queen's, etc.
This one is tough; Should we provide real metrics here?
X number of successfully placed students X% acceptance rates Financially solvent?





Recognized as international leader in sustainable education and research.
The program will be competitive with comparably sized and resourced programs
nationally in terms of key metrics, such as graduate rates, median time to graduation,
post-graduation placement and faculty and student research output. The program will be
established in a central location, with adequate space and facilities to support and
accommodate the graduate students, post-docs, admin staff and a critical mass of faculty.
Collectively establish a sufficiently stable funding stream to support a steady state
population of at least 20 PhD students. Ideally, we would like to expand to ~25 PhD
students. This will certainly require new faculty hires.
1. Provide a broader design experience for graduate students 2. Expose students to a
diversity of faculty in the School of Design 3. Allow for future growth and refinement
through alignment with the Industrial Design MFA program
1. increase our international visibility as a center of excellence in innovative ICT
education and experimentation
2. increase the money available to attract superior grad students through offering more
financial support
3. increase the rigor of our program
One day we should have a Ph.D. in computing security.
• To have the ability to offer our students financial aid packages that include tuition, a
stipend and teaching opportunities.
• To hire additional faculty in the areas of biogeochemistry and watershed science, to
bring a larger network of students together to work on multifaceted projects (the NSF
sponsored Science Master Program is a good model). With additional faculty, we could
increase our graduate enrollment but we are currently maxed out.

• To improve the quality of graduate student research and have more students publish and
present their thesis work at national conferences and publish in high impact journals.
US/Global leader in Executive Leader program - need to find successful ways to continue
successful marketing both internationally and domestically to packaging professionals.
Cultivate more funded research projects that deal with fundamental understanding of the
current issues in packaging will set our graduates apart developing the expertise and
skills to take on leadership roles in the industry.





Explore MS and PhD potential and opportunities, especially in partnership with other
disciplines at RIT
1) PhD program
2) Ability to attract higher quality students
3) Re-investment of O/H $$
1. strengthen the quality of MS thesis research - place more students into PhD programs
2. establish/grow PhD programs - place more students in academic and/or research
positions
3. expand applications in healthcare, manufacturing, and sustainability.
• Offer an on-campus version of the program.
• Improve on-campus program recognition.
• Ensure curriculum stays on the leading edge to meet the needs of EHS professionals.
• Have a robust program with a strong contingent of full-time BS/MS students.
• Possible create of an on-campus option to make the program more attractive to potential
full-time students that could help support faculty research.
• Ensure curriculum stays on the leading edge to meet the needs of facility management
professionals.
We aspire to attract the highest quality students.
We aspire to attract more US students to the RIT campus.



We aspire to continue with our excellent track record for attracting and graduating
international students; placing students around the world, and providing a strong
education in theoretical and practically applied telecommunications engineering
technology course and laboratory work.
• Excellence in research, creative, and scholarly work with international reputation.
• Growing opportunities for student financial support through sustainable research and
educational projects
• Recruit/retain high potential students and ensure representation of under-represented
minorities (internationally and locally)
excellent students
excellent design
brilliant discourse and grand failures
- new faculty
- stronger financials
- updated/expanded curriculum



- Top ranking among business schools
- Solid reputation for placement to the point that this becomes a competitive advantage
- Deeper involvement with the local and regional business community to facilitate
economic growth
- Solid reputation for certificate programs that contribute significantly to SCB's and RIT's
financial performance
1. To prepare students to pursue Doctoral Studies.
2. Convert program into complete on-line format.
3. To be the model and feeder for the development and growth of a Ph.D. program in
CAST.
The program will be competitive with comparably sized and resourced programs
nationally in terms of key metrics, such as graduate rates, median time to graduation,
post-graduation placement and faculty and student research output.
The program will be established in a central location, with adequate space and facilities
to support and accommodate the graduate students, post-docs, admin staff and a critical
mass of faculty.

Recruit and maintain a steady state population of ~10 MS students, with a diversity of
career aspirations.
1. A stable, maturing environment with appropriate resources and support for faculty and
students.
2. A vibrant, outward looking culture that is conducive for use-inspired research.

3. An engaging, innovative body of faculty and students that are at the cutting edge
computing and computational research.
The major aspiration is to have a separate department of Materials Science and
Engineering.
To have a laboratory where the students will learn using sophisticated instruments
with hands on experience.
To have graduate students sitting area for general discussions.


Grow the MRS/RIT Chapter.
-continue to enhance our reputation as the best program in the world to become a maker
with strong conceptual depth.
-to be a leader in our field as innovators both technologically and conceptually and lead
the way in experimentation with cross and multi-disciplinary work while continually
addressing the balance between depth and breadth.
First - Official, formal accreditation from NAAB aligned with our first graduating class by not later than 2016
Second - Experimenting, testing, and demonstrating the opportunity for high
performance, net zero, carbon neutral building projects on the RIT campus - the new GIS
building as one of the first, with others to follow, both on campus and within the

community.
Third - Providing service, as identified above, by creating a Regional Community
Sustainability Design Center in a downtown location.
Fourth – Expanding the program into additional Master tracks and professional
certification options.
1. Continual increase in recognition of the program as well as individual research groups.
2. Increase of PhD student body to 80+.
3. Increased support of PhD and research programs by the Institute.
1 user did not answer
4. RESULTS -- Describe major envisioned future outcomes of your graduate program resulting from your program's
strengths, opportunities and aspirations.

















A consistant, healthy sized and diverse student body that is motivated and collaborates
with faculty on scholarship and improving the program
100% employment rate
Funded research, greater international experience, and, hopefully, a terminal degree.
Increased journal publication by graduate students and increased sponsored research
contracts by faculty
Increase in rankings by US News, Business week
More student/faculty collaboration and publication. RIT must devote resources so that the
opportunities and aspirations mentioned above can be realized.
Successful graduates in key positions in medical centers in the Rochester region and
throughout the United States
More, better students. More research grants.
1. A highly competitive doctoral program that has attained international recognition; 2.
Having graduates that make positive contributions to their future workplaces and clients;
3. Recruiting and hiring top scholars and teachers from around the world.
Even better post-graduate employment rate. Increase 7-year graduation rate (currently
many of our students complete the coursework, get a job, and don't bother to finish the
thesis).
Tighter linkage between graduate and undergraduate education, increased research
products (reports, papers, grant submissions) reflecting faculty/student collaboration
gowth in students,offering,and connections to other programs across RIT
Please see our answer to question 3.
Build on the success of the program and expand opportunities for grads
The future outcomes would be to continue what we are doing but be able to do more of it.
Placing graduates in challenging, high-paying positions and increasing opportunities for
research.
As described in our report to Graduate Council for calendar conversion, our program
outcomes center on students achieving a “Good” rubric rating in their capstone project
performance across all five learning outcome areas (i.e., professional communications,
ethical reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving and integrated reasoning). Scoring











criteria have already been developed by the American Association of Colleges and
Universities (AACU) and adopted by our program so we have an externally validated set
of metrics that we can work from. Thus within three years following implementation of
semesters, 100% of our students are expected to achieve at least “Good” scores (3 out of
4) in all 20 different grading criteria.
The ideal result is a constantly improving strong MS program, working together with
researchers from other departments and colleges.
Be described as one among the most "practical" of MS-finance programs; have at least a
few employers actively seek our graduates.
The biggest result would be to expand the number of capable graduates in Imaging
Science available for employment.
The cross-disciplinary nature of this graduate program offers a greater potential to foster
innovation and creativity in visual communication design.
More published research
More technology development
Increased recognition of program will lead to more job placements; more research
generated for the HRD field.
The SLI program will increase in size, quality and recognition.
We would love to have a strong alumni network that feeds back to our program and helps
employ our students. Maybe a theater could be donated from a successful alum . . . or at
least set up a fund for a consistent speaker series with well known talent in our industry.
Basis for strong research and practice direction.
Better ability to make connections and opportunities that create a focus for the world
(attraction of students, faculty, and industry).
Better ability to engage a broader curricular vision.
1. Graduates better prepared to teach deaf students.
2. Higher passing rates on certain teacher certification exams.
3. Increase number of graduates who will teach in the science and mathematics areas.
4. Envision a sustained capacity to meet future needs for educators to provide the best
instruction for the middle and secondary school deaf and hard-of-hearing students, and to
ensure that our graduates keep pace with the changing demographics of the DHH
students.
Increasing interest in STEM disciplines via modern and relevant sustainability
applications -increasing RIT’s reputation as best in class in the sustainability area.
Student contributing in chosen profession to creating a more sustainable world.

Establishing National Center for Sustainability Research, with attendant laboratory
facilities and faculty support
Graduation rate and time to graduation at least consistent with, and ideally better than, the
national averages for the discipline. 90% of graduates find employment (or PhD place in
the case of MS students) in their chosen, or related, field within 1 year of graduation. All
students publish in major peer reviewed journals. All students have opportunity to
participate in major meeting or conference. Enhanced network of inter-institute
collaborations, providing opportunities for students to work abroad.









1. increased international visibility in innovative ICT education
2. increased cooperation with universities in other countries
More domestic graduate students and may be more Ph.D. students in computing security
• Improved multidisciplinarity and innovative research.
• High profile jobs for graduates.
• Increased undergraduate pipeline into program.
The program will grow its reputation as a leader in packaging innovation.
Alumni from the program will go into leadership positions at all levels of the value chain,
suppliers, converters, and brand owners. This will also enlarge our network as a resource
for students and faculty to interact firsthand with companies.
The program will strengthen its presence and international recognition engaging and
promoting knowledge dissemination activities in international conferences, journal,
professional associations, etc.
1) KGCOE is working to establish a PhD program in Engineering. This is a MAJOR step
in the right direction for the college and our graduate program.
graduates who are highly sought after due to their ability to solve problems and transform
organizations.
alumni/faculty/staff that positively impact their chosen field
• Continue to provide a quality leading edge curriculum taught by experienced faculty
and continue to prepare students to be successful EHS professionals and leaders in the
field.
• In addition, RIT could do more to publicize our national and international reputation,
successes and good standing in the EHS community. It would nice to be recognized by
RIT as one of its top tier programs and not always ignored. Examples: international
conferences; standards meetings; gathering of the three major environmental
credentialing bodies to work toward harmonizing a definition of the profession,
participation of our faculty in international conferences, hosting major speakers in the
past . . .
• Continue to provide a quality, leading edge curriculum taught by experienced faculty
and continue to prepare students to be successful facility management professionals and
leaders in the field.
• Additional research opportunities for students. (Semester curriculum includes a thesis
option for students.)
Continue to improve the quality of students attracted to the program.
Continue to increase the quality and quantity of scholarly dissemination.

Continue to place students in excellent career opportunities.
• Streamlined funding process for all graduate students engaged in research activities
• Effective online course offerings and nurturing interdisciplinary professional
community among peers and faculty. Graduate courses that reflect state-of-the-art applied
(industry-focused) educational modules
• Increased student body in the MS and BS/MS programs
• Bridge gaps between multiple programs, requirements and outcomes. Continuously





improve program assessment.
• Improve timely and clear communication with applicants and
Graduates.
an seamless atmosphere of open learning, exploration and understanding the multiple
modalities of achieving excellence
- continued program impact into the 21st century
- expanded funding opportunities
- greater opportunities for interdisciplinary work and technology transfer
- Top 50 ranking in relevant surveys of business schools
- 2X undergrad and grad enrollments from today's levels
- Significant profit contribution to SCB and RIT from successful certificate programs
- Significant recognition of faculty scholarship in disciplines directly relevant to the SCB
and RIT mission.
1. Increased enrollment, relevance and reach.
2. Scholarship opportunities for faculty
3. Ranking and recognition.
Graduation rate and time to graduation at least consistent with, and ideally better than, the
national averages for the discipline.
90% of graduates find employment (or PhD place in the case of MS students) in their
chosen, or related, field within 1 year of graduation.
All students publish in major peer reviewed journals. In the case of MS students, at least
one paper based on their thesis research, within a year of completion.
All students have opportunity to participate in major meeting or conference.

Enhanced network of inter-institute collaborations, providing opportunities for students to
work abroad.
Regularly produce research works of international standard that are published in
respected venues, obtaining citations (i.e. adding to the body of knowledge).
Become international powerhouse in focal area(s) of research.


Ensure our graduates to be competitive in pursuing their career choices in academia and
industry.
The future should attract more graduate students as science and engineering are blended
together.
More revenue to RIT through the graduate program.
see above.
-continue to develop our already existing world-wide network of alumni in important
positions both professionally and academically in their respective countries.
-enhance our reputation in the world of high quality craft, art and design.


Strengthened community relationships, improved collaboration with the professional
community, enhanced economic development opportunities, and integrated and
innovative design process thinking and design concepts. The Master of Architecture
program intends to demonstrate how a rigorous exploration of sustainability around
building sites, skins, structure, spatial arrangement, building systems, and building
operations can improve the energy performance of buildings and user performance and
satisfaction.
High quality, competitive PhD recipients with research experience in micro- and nanotechnology able to transition into premier academic, research, and industrial careers.
1 user did not answer
5. Please explain the relevance of your existing/envisioned program outcomes (described in Question 4 above) to the
overall big picture and future quality of graduate education at RIT.











The results will help raise the profie of the program's reputation as well as that of RIT
itself
That is self evident.
core to RIT mission
Engineering psychology is defined as application of psychological principles, knowledge,
and research to improve the ability of humans to operate more effectively in a
technological society. Engineering psychology as a discipline is thus perfectly congruent
with the RIT mission to provide technology-based educational programs for personal and
professional development and to pursue new and emerging career areas.
As a successful graduate program prove worth of RIT degree to future students and
children of faculty, staff and alumni...bodies.
Consistent with the strategic direction of the college (CLA) and institute; working to help
ensure student success, globalization, and sustainability of the program infrastructure and
the impact observed on the profession and on consumers of psychological services.
Enhanced academic reputation. Increased selectivity.
Project based learning has the capacity to build leadership and academic competence
among graduate student-led research projects.
promotion of interdisciplinary activities across the various colleges.
As per the Key Result Areas for RIT (part of the Strategic Plan), we wish to be nationally
ranked and renowned for student success, maximize opportunities for student research
and scholarship through publication, further improve RIT branding and student
satisfaction through student success and publication, and result in the Bioinformatics MS
program being a revenue generator.
I think the MFA graduate students are often the "others" within graduate education at
RIT. If more collaboration between graduate programs was encouraged and supported the
research could be disseminated through both creative activity and scholarly publications.
If the FAS, Wood, and ME grad I described above collaborated maybe the research
resulted in a cast iron sculpture from an original wood pattern. That sculpture could be
exhibited at the Pedvale Open Air Museum in Latvia, and all 3 graduate students could
present their research at the next International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art
















held in 2014 (also in Latvia). The same research could be disseminated through
publication in The American Foundry Society's journal. I think this type of collaboration
would not only assist the graduate students involved but also the programs, and overall
direction of graduate study at RIT.
I want everyone from large companies down to start-ups to say to themselves "I need
some RIT Microelectronic Engineering graduates to help make this effort a success".
If RIT cannot continue to offer recognized, high-quality education it's just going to be
another struggling, back-water research university.
Our program is attuned with and in compliance with RIT’s goals for graduate education.
Greater success in growing our program quality and internationally are lofty but
achievable if more faculty, faculty expertise, funding and (frankly) political support could
be realized.
I think this is pretty self-explanatory: strong applied mathematics students in
collaboration with researchers from all across RIT will clearly improve the quality of
graduate education.
A rising tide lifts all boats. If RIT graduate programs were to collectively succeed, then
the finance program would benefit also.
Enhancing the quality of our students would benefit RIT certainly, as well as by
expanding our international collaborations we would expand RIT's global footprint.
They are consistent
Ability to teach and offered the program internationally; research success bringing
recognition to RIT.
International recognition for the graduate program enhancing status of the university.
The outcomes are in alignment with RIT's goals for fostering innovation and creativity.
This sort of program helps build awareness and a good reputation for our program AND
RIT and it attracts more talent and resources. . . .
Continuation of the program as a national leader in the field.
1. Is relevant to RIT’s goal of effective, high level education of diverse students,
including those who are deaf/hard of hearing.
2. Is relevant to goal of promotion of science and mathematics education.
3. Our primary goal has always been to meet a national need for excellence among
instructors of DHH students. We believe that we are a program that constantly engages in
self-analysis and reflection and seeks feedback from graduates and their employers in
order to ensure that we are able to fulfill this goal.
If we are successful in reaching these outcomes, this will help raise the national and
international profile of RIT as a graduate school in terms of rankings and reputation. This
will in turn make it easier to recruit higher quality students, attract strong research active
faculty and expand international connections. In addition, as astrophysics is a subject that
inspires intense public interest, there may be benefits for undergraduate recruitment in
STEM disciplines.
ICT is at the core of the future of RIT and of international, national, and regional
economic development
The quality of a graduate education is directly related to the quality of Ph.D. program.














• Improved publications benefit students, faculty, and the Institute.
• Interdisciplinary research helps address problems from multiple stakeholder
perspectives.
• Better financial packages will allow us to compete for the best students, which will lead
to more grant and publishing opportunities.
Each outcome addresses RIT’s vision for “preparing students for successful careers in a
global society”. Reputation as a leader will secure our position in a competitive academic
arena as we attract the most able students; a strong network, as exemplified by a strong
alumni base, will expand our reach domestically and globally; reputation and presence
will help secure and maintain our position.
they were created to align with the mission of KGCOE
I am not sure exactly what the overall big picture and future quality of graduate education
at RIT entails. I do know that our program is recognized within the EHS profession for
our exceptional faculty, leading edge curriculum and well-prepared, successful graduates.
I am not sure exactly what the overall big picture and future quality of graduate education
at RIT entails. I do know that our program is becoming recognized within the FM
profession.
The quality of students attracted to the program, and the quality of thesis and projects
continues to improve. This has led and continues to lead to more and higher quality
scholarly dissemination. Ultimately we anticipate attracting more and larger research
grants. Our MSTET program also has a significant global impact with the students we
attract and place in industry.
• All the outcomes stated in 4, are strongly tied to the overarching goal and long-term
vision of our program.
I believe, if you expand 4 to include graduate education (all) for me, it then becomes the
overall big picture.
- all are part of the core values/goals of the Institute
I envision a virtuous circle: better programs, faculty, facilities, students; increased
enrollments; better graduate placement; increased giving by alums; increased regional
financial support; better financial outcomes that can be invested in programs, faculty, and
facilities.
1. Increase in graduate enrollment and tuition revenue.
2. Support for research.
If we are successful in reaching these outcomes, this will help raise the national and
international profile of RIT as a graduate school in terms of rankings and reputation. This
will in turn make it easier to recruit higher quality students, attract strong research active
faculty and expand international connections. In addition, as astrophysics is a subject that
inspires intense public interest, there may be benefits for undergraduate recruitment in
STEM disciplines.
As a student-centered institution, we must prepare our graduates to be competitive in
their career choices and career paths. For doctoral graduates, our quality-focused program
outcomes echo this ideal.
Answered in $



-we have approximately 30-40 students in our graduate program, which makes a large
and strong graduate program at RIT. we are not a local, regional or even solely national
program. we are a truly international program that promotes interaction, cooperation,
innovation on a world-wide scale. we represent diversity, both cultural and intellectual.
we represent cutting edge investigation of our fields, both technologically and
conceptually. and, we represent a synthesis in values of quality, making skills,
entrepreneurial initiative and multi-disciplinary openness that are at risk today. these are
all values that lead the way for the future of quality graduate education at RIT.
Achieving these desired results needs committed and consistent support from RIT with
long terms goals that are made clear across the institute.
RIT' connection to the community is essential and its focus around technology and design
should be shared, explored, expressed and celebrated with the region as a whole.
6 users did not answer
6. Thinking long-term, what strategic changes should RIT consider making in graduate education?








increased fundng for GA's (it will also help in recruitment), increase library offerings or
allow grad students to keep a book for a term (but can be recalled)
this is not up to me to decide
Providing some incentive for study abroad, designing and offering online courses, and
study abroad programs.
carefully consider the opportunities for international and on line graduate education,
integration of lifelong learning and pursuit of a graduate degree as the norm for the
majority of RIT graduates, or graduates from particular disciplines ... perhaps
encouraging them to enroll in a part time program at the time of BS degree completion.
Increase in rigor
Because graduate advising is inherently a one-on-one endeavor, graduate programs can
never compete with undergaduate programs in terms of tuition revenue. RIT should thus
think of innovative ways of supporting graduate students and those faculty advising them
as well as means to use graduate students as a resource to help achieve institute-wide
excellence in higher education. Constant reminders about the need for tuition/revenue
aren't helpful. There is an attitude that Ph.D. programs are loss-leaders and MS are
second class and must generate revenue.
Self sufficient, marketing dollars allocated to spreading the word of the programs,
accreditation- and paying for it- for those programs that can be accredited.
Exploring financial/economic models to support the program; provide a clear explanation
as to the respective roles of the Deans (CLA vs. Graduate Ed); more support for
recruiting international students (admissions criteria, student-specific assistance for
adjustment to a new society); reconsideration of time allocation across scholarshipteaching-service- course loads should not be expected to the same as for undergraduate
education nor should the scholarship expectations (which should be greater at the
graduate level); increased space (classroom, research labs), materials and resources
(including technology and software products); technical assistance for database creation
and management for program evaluation activities; start up funding for new programs.

















RIT should use as a metric of success of a program the amount of scholarhip not $.
I'm not sure how RIT can do this, but we desperately need more funding to attract better
students.
Emphasis on portfolio research (reflecting competency) approach against the classic
thesis approach.
Need to re-assess the current graduate policies and how they relate to students doing 4+1
(BS+MS)
For some policies, such as maintaining student enrollment throughout their time as
graduate students (through Continuation of Thesis and similar mechanisms), centralizing
monitoring (e.g. identifying students who are not continuously enrolled and reaching out
to them), through automated database lookups and reporting every semester, would free
up more time for directors to achieve our other aspirations.
RIT needs to figure out how PhD and masters programs interact and what level of
financial aid should be distributed to each type of student especially when programs have
a certain degree of overlap but are administered differently.
more assistance to students through scholarship, grants, and sponsored activities
As graduate program director I am pleased with “the smoke and noise” being made
around graduate education at RIT these days. Creation of the Graduate Dean
position/office several years was a good start. Moving things along with more attention
by Graduate Council is also important. And the new Graduate Education Task Force is
great, but FORCE FOR REAL CHANGE is also needed. The Graduate Dean currently
oversees no programs, faculty or budget of consequence. He is but one member of Dean’s
Council, with a very small staff and a solid but thus far ineffectual working relationship
with Graduate Council. I attribute this tenuous situation to insufficiently specified RIT
policies about how the Office of Graduate Studies should work with colleges and with
Sponsored Research Services. He/she needs formal authority with real carrots and sticks!
Higher recognition of the value of graduate education.
From our point of view, a greater financial commitment from RIT towards the MS
students (higher tuition reimbursement, possible TA positions) would mean we can make
a qualitative change faster. I am not sure this is a "strategic" change, but it would
certainly be a change affecting us in a profound way.
Hire faculty specifically for graduate education, give them incentives to do research and
stay current.
The biggest area would be to improve RIT's online education offerings.
I don't have a lot of insight into the future
All Ph.D. programs must be self-sustaining or the “business model” will not be viable.
Ph.D. programs should be self- sustaining; more integration with companies both local
and international; placement assistance for all graduate students.
Consider a little more "cross pollination" between colleges . . .
First, there needs to be better marketing within the United States. Secondly, RIT needs an
online file management system such as SlideRoom for MFA program applicants to
submit their portfolios for review. From the SlideRoom website (scad.slideroom.com)
applicants can upload still images, Word documents, digital and multimedia files and find
instructions for creating a corresponding inventory of work in the portfolio (required)


including titles, dates, media, dimensions, and specific responsibilities on group projects,
if applicable.
Has to be higher dedication to Master's level opportunities. Much effort has been placed
on the undergrad, and now PhD, but seems that Masters programs are not as prioritized.
At RIT there needs to be better understanding of and support for the unique needs of
graduate education; the focus on undergraduate education means these needs are often
overlooked.
NTID is in some ways a unique college at RIT, due to the population served and the fact
that that we have students who study only within this college and others who study in the
other colleges of RIT. This gives us a unique perspective on how to best build bridges
among the colleges and the experience to do so. Graduate education at RIT would benefit
enormously form this kind of collaboration. We encourage more discussions about how
the diverse graduate programs at RIT can collaborate to advance the goals of all
programs.


Long-term, all graduate programs should be less insular. There are potential benefits from
our students taking any of a myriad of courses in psychology, sociology, ethics, arts, the
sciences, etc. The program has had students from our majors sitting in our courses from
time to time. We need to figure out how to make this happen from a practical
standpoint....this may be the makings of a large headache but it might improve graduate
education in general.
Providing avenues for students to become more involved in teaching (it is a major issue
that you can’t pay students as much who are teaching as opposed to doing research) provide more opportunities for graduate students from different programs to interact and
network -remove caps to graduate pay?
Not sure how to say succinctly, but I think we should really push the idea of a "graduate
culture" where research is viewed as equally important as and fundamental to quality
education; and to achieve this through uniform policies and practices that support and
incentivize faculty and student participation in research so that we can attract and retain
high quality graduate students.
- more emphasis and support for graduate students' professional development
A change in institutional culture is needed at all levels, to recognize the importance of
graduate education to RIT. Hitherto, it has too often been an afterthought in planning or
policy making. This is a particular problem for research-based programs, in which
students are normally working throughout breaks and recesses. Steps should be taken to
provide year-round facilities for graduate students – for example, prioritized
accommodation and extended Graduate recruitment and admissions needs to be accorded
a higher priority at Institute level. In particular, a dedicated graduate admissions service,
should replace the current Part-time & Graduate Enrollment office. Recruitment
programs targeting high achieving undergraduates in relevant disciplines should be
initiated. The Office of Graduate Studies should be adequately staffed and funded to
oversee policy and quality and to facilitate new initiatives. A number of University
Research Fellowships, comparable to NSF GRF’s, should be funded and awarded to
outstanding students based on a competitive selection process.









- more direct support of superior grad students
- more direct "seed money" to support labs in innovative areas which may or may not
lead to outside funding in the future (try many things and accept most will fail)
- increase time-in-class from one year to 2 for ICT grad students
We should develop more focused Ph.D. program besides inter-disciplinary programs.
Those focused Ph.D. program should be managed in the department.
• Provide tuition waivers for all students.
• Provide merit-based fellowships for top students.
• Provide health insurance for students.
• Provide travel grants for conference attendance.
• Require teaching experiences of all graduate students (being able to address the public
and a variety of audiences is increasingly important in science, and teaching helps
develop better communication skills)
RIT graduate study needs more focus…we need to highlight our specialized areas of
expertise more effectively.
More consistency in requirements…project/thesis guidelines, more guidance to keep
students active until finished and better definition of the individual student academic
plan.
A strong, clear organizational structure that optimizes the energy and passion the
graduate programs have for their mission and minimizes redundancy.
1) Establishing discipline specific PhD programs (instant name recognition) where
appropriate for depertments that are/have the potential to attarct external research
funding.
the main issue will be to establish strategies that are synergistic with undergraduate
education
• RIT should recognize the difference between research MS degree programs and
professional MS degree programs. RIT should not try to make all MS degree programs fit
the same mold and should not measure the quality or success of all MS degree programs
with the same metrics. It is common in major universities across the nation to clearly
make that distinction and to manage their programs accordingly.
• Don’t micro-manage graduate education. Let the colleges and departments manage their
graduate admissions, curriculum content, scholarship administration, faculty, etc.
• Ensure adequate online learning infrastructure for graduate education.
• Create RIT vision for online graduate education.
• RIT should recognize the difference between research MS degree programs and
professional MS degree programs. RIT should not try to make all MS degree programs fit
the same mold and should not measure the quality or success of all MS degree programs
with the same metrics. It is common in major universities across the nation to clearly
make that distinction and to manage their programs accordingly.
• Don’t micro-manage graduate education. Let the colleges and departments manage their
graduate admissions, curriculum content, scholarship administration, faculty, etc.
• Ensure adequate online learning infrastructure for graduate education.
• Create RIT vision for online graduate education.
Given RIT's recent directional changes, it is imperative that more graduate students are
available to support what faculty are required to accomplish in terms of scholarship,






research, and external funding. The reality is that it is very difficult to meet the current
and future requirements without a cadre of PhD students. Therefore, it appears that it will
be necessary for all faculty members to have access to PhD students in order to earn
tenure and promotion.
• Consolidated and integrated process for fellowships, scholarships and other resources to
support the goals of the graduate program. Perhaps endowments for graduate fellowships
might help.
• Increase dual degree graduate programs within RIT and other academic partners
(locally and internationally)
• Provide centralized support for best practices in graduate education and professional
development
developing:
resource avenues for the institution, leading to tributaries of funded graduate (original)
research.
venues for presentation/discussion of graduates original research outside of the institution
in addition to the standard academic settings.
From an SCB perspective a college of business should have its own placement office.
We also need far more emphasis on cross-discipline programs at the graduate level. For
example technology and new product commercialization, where SCB should play a
stronger leadership role.
-realize that research-based graduate programs are different than professional graduate
programs
- support research-based graduate programs
- reduce teaching loads for graduate program faculty across the Institute to allow more
time for research, pursuit of external funding, and interdisciplinary collaboration
Introduce Ph.D. degree program. Make materials science and engineering courses as
required courses for Biomedical engineering and other engineering degrees.
A change in institutional culture is needed at all levels, to recognize the importance of
graduate education to RIT. Hitherto, it has too often been an afterthought in planning or
policy making. This is a particular problem for research-based programs, in which
students are normally working throughout breaks and recesses. Steps should be taken to
provide year-round facilities for graduate students – for example, prioritized
accommodation and extended access to dining facilities.
Graduate recruitment and admissions needs to be accorded a higher priority at Institute
level. In particular, a dedicated graduate admissions service should replace the current
Part-time & Graduate Enrollment office. Recruitment programs targeting high achieving
undergraduates in relevant disciplines should be initiated.
The Office of Graduate Studies should be adequately staffed and funded to oversee
policy and quality and to facilitate new initiatives.
A number of University Research Fellowships, comparable to NSF GRF’s, should be
funded and awarded to outstanding students based on a competitive selection process.
These should be open to both MS and PhD students.




In addition to efforts to consolidate groups of faculty with common interests and
available resources, equally, if not more importantly, faculty should be encouraged and
provided resources by the institute with time and funds (e.g. for part-time research
assistants) to develop their personal expertise in their chosen area of primary research
interest. It is easier to create teams able to respond strategically to attractive research
funding opportunities if the individuals in the team have strong, specific expertise with a
track record of funding and strong publication to contribute, and present in the funding
application. This takes some time to build, but RIT is in a unique position to achieve this
because of its resources, history, faculty, and strong financial position. The institute could
build towards this community of strong researchers gradually over a period of years,
strengthening faculty engagement and expertise in the process.
Students need to be guaranteed support while in good standing. We should have TAships
and we should go after graduate fellowships/scholarships more aggressively. The NSF
graduate fellowship application workshop was an excellent idea, and we should have
similar training for other opportunities.
-we must retain the freedom and autonomy to chart our own priorites, our own course.
one of RIT's great strengths is its diversity of disciplines. that must be cultivated,
encouraged and supported at every level.
See above.
Explore greater opportunities to link to and connect with professional organizations, and
partnerships with both professional and academic communities at a global scale. Improve
internship and global experience opportunities for students.
2 users did not answer
7. What additional information would you like to add that was not asked about in this survey?









we need more resources to teach grad electives
I'd love to know what this 'task force' can actually do to help us with graduate education.
None.
Allocat emarketing dollars for graduate programs, have graduate enrollment similar to
under grad nrollment, spend money to make money.
Are there any more surveys planned?
Program interlinkage ought to be a formal part of college and Institute wide discussions.
How do we (can we) collaborate on learning (especially with on-line modules) that
leverages resources?
none
For over eight years, Bioinformatics has been consistently producing high quality
students who are able to secure excellent placement. We would like to take this success
and expand it in a way that improves visibility of our excellence, and thus improves the
RIT brand.
As RIT continues to support its doctoral programs, more consideration should be
systematically undertaken about MS/MA/MFA program needs as well. I feel like and
financial numbers provided by F&A reveal that my program effectively subsidizes many







other graduate programs including budding doctoral programs. My situation has gone
largely unchanged in nearly ten years. Currently 70+ graduate program chairs/directors
are dispersed across campus with no effective organizing voice or force to lend support to
the Graduate Dean, to Graduate Council or to the graduate student population as a whole.
RIT has an opportunity through the Task Force to visit these issues explicitly, hopefully
as is being started with this survey and followed by Town Hall meetings. I’m also
committed to having a great graduate program within our excellent university – here’s
hoping for the best and doing what can be done realistically!
The single biggest challenge for launching or modifying programs is RIT's bureaucracy. I
cannot even begin to understand why we do this to ourselves.
Do not treat master and Ph.D. as separate graduate programs.
I've just started as the director of the graduate program in SoFA so I have more observing
and learning to do before I can make any further comments.
No responses
Please provide feedback on how this input has been used to improve the graduate
programs.
For the MSSE program to become a nationally recognized flagship program, it needs to
provide cutting edge research and practices to its graduate students in teaching deaf and
hard of hearing children. The efforts of the MSSE faculty to do so will be enhanced by
providing the following opportunities:
1. A seminar series that brings the experts in specific fields to discuss issues in depth that
are relevant to become effective teachers
This seminar series will be a required component of the program and will need to be
funded to bring in annually prominent researchers and practitioners to share their
knowledge.
For example, increasing attention is being given to autism and how the educational
programs can provide optimal learning environment for autistic children. An expert who
can discuss the research related to this issue and a special education teacher who has
direct experience in dealing with autistic deaf and hard-of-hearing children could enhance
the information available through the course work. Bringing diverse deaf role models to
talk about their educational experiences can give students opportunity to discuss issues
related to diversity in the classroom.
2. An international exchange program for faculty and students to acquire competence in
global education
There are many deaf education programs in different countries that could collaborate in
exchanging faculty and students. Such exchange can enhance the understanding of the
issues related to diverse cultural and language backgrounds that influence the educational
experience of deaf children. It will also illustrate how different educational systems,
policies, and communication practices influence the educational environment. Such
knowledge will enhance the cultural competencies of the faculty and students and will
also help the programs in respective countries to benefit from each other’s expertise.
Funds will be needed to establish such program.
3. A Web-based advocacy program to increase the awareness of the issues related to deaf
education









At present the MSSE program has a web site that includes information about the program
and its faculty. More information can be added to this site to advocate for providing full
access to deaf children in the educational environment. Given the increase in the number
of deaf children entering mainstream schools, such information can be very useful for
those schools that have not traditionally offered access services to deaf students. Funds
for the development of the web site content and for maintaining the web site will be
needed to create this much needed resource, which will increase the visibility of the
MSSE program.
None
None
At this time I believe the College and institution has amazing leadership and is pushing
towards and close to that wonderful tipping point. while Small items, process etc are
crucial, keeping all in the loop of the "big idea" remains and reminds us of why we love
what we do
None
- these comments apply to both the M.S. and Ph.D. tracks in my Program
Consider creating and attracting endownments. Consider the examples of Georgia
Institute of Technology and RPI.
The institute must have a clear and realistic expectation, both short-term and long-term,
for the graduate programs, in both academics and finance. Expecting something for
nothing is unlikely to work.
this form is to serve as information relevant for all of the graduate programs (four in all)
in the School for American Crafts.
Ceramics, Furniture Design, Glass and Metals.
None
25 users did not answer
8. Please check your college and write-in the name of your program in the "OTHER" field.
2 - Business
7 - Computing and Information Sciences
7 - Engineering
2 - Health Sciences and Technology
6 - Imaging Arts and Sciences
5 - Liberal Arts
2 - NTID
9 - Science
2 - Sustainability
7 - Applied Science and Technology
1 - Center for Multidisciplinary Studies
Other Responses (9)









Medical Illustration
Bioinformatics
Fine Arts Studio
Finance
Environmental Science
ISE
Manufacturing and Mechanical System Integration
Materials Science and Engineering
School for American Crafts
9. Graduate Program






















Software Engineering
School Psychology Program (MS/CAS)
?
?
There is no text to question 9?
MS in Professional Studies
MS in Applied and Computational Mathematics
MS in Finance
Computing Security
Human Resource Development
Service Leadership and Innovation
SOFA
MS-IT
Game Design and Development
MS in Secondary Education
PhD
MS in Secondary Education Program
Environmental Science
Packaging Science
MS in EE
ISE
Environmental, Health & Safety Management, MS













Facility Management, MS
Telecommunications Engineering Technology
Computer Engineering
MFA Industrial Design
MBA, EMBA, MS in Management and in Innovaton
Color Science
MS - MMSI
Materials Science and Engineering
Astrophysical Sciences & Technology MS
PhD
Ceramics, Furniture Design, Glass, Metals
Master of Architecture
Microsystems Engineeirng PhD
15 users did not answer