Research@KU

Research and Graduate Education

Jim Roberts, Vice Provost for Research, discusses research and graduate education.

Diana Carlin’s decision to step down in June as dean of the Graduate School prompted the provost to re-evaluate the administrative structure for graduate education at KU. He charged a committee, led by Don Steeples, with this task and he approved its recommendations in April.

Effective July 1, the existing Graduate School and the existing Office of the Vice Provost for Research will be combined. I will serve as vice provost for research and graduate studies. In addition, a new position—associate vice provost and dean of graduate studies—will be created, reporting to me. We are conducting an internal search for this position now. We are also forming a transition team to review and resolve the details of the combination.

Just as the need to grow research drove the formation of KUCR in 1996, so the need to grow graduate education in lockstep with research is driving this move. The two are intertwined at a university such as KU. As the provost said in announcing his decision:

The two have so much in common, it makes good sense to bring them together with a single, high-priority mandate. That mandate is growth of research and growth in the size, scope and quality of doctoral programs at the Lawrence campus.

Four factors are key to the success of this new combination:

• Interdisciplinary graduate education that reflects KU’s interdisciplinary research;
• In partnership with KU Endowment, deans, and departments, an increase in private giving in support of competitive graduate fellowships and recruitment;
• Private giving for research infrastructure; and
• True integration of research and doctoral programs, "for a common purpose with a unified voice," in the Provost’s words.

I believe KU has the capacity to expand doctoral enrollment and quality. That will require greater grant funding for research, active graduate student recruitment at all levels, competitive fellowships for those students, and the will to make graduate education a higher priority for KU in the future. I look forward to working with you in my new role.

Jim Roberts
Vice Provost for Research