Pitt, other colleges to evaluate, improve doctorate programs

Columbia, Duke and Pitt’s innovative English departments are among 83 university departments… Columbia, Duke and Pitt’s innovative English departments are among 83 university departments working together across the country to help create an improved doctoral program.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching selected Pitt’s English department to participate in the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate this year. According to a press release from Pitt, the initiative is a “multi-year research and action project aimed at improving doctoral education at American universities.”

English department chairman David Bartholomae said, “It’s a great honor.”

He added that an organization like CFAT has a very good reputation in the education field, especially in post-secondary education.

“I trusted what [CFAT was] going to do,” he said. “It has put us into contact with some quite wonderful doctoral programs.”

Chris Golde, a Carnegie senior scholar, said the initiative would examine the best practices in graduate programs and determine what should be changed on a national level.

The United States is recognized as the world’s educational leader and as things change in this country, education must also change, she said.

Chemistry, education, history, mathematics, neuroscience and English departments at Pitt are included in the initiative.

According to Eric Clarke, an associate professor and director of graduate studies in Pitt’s English department, the initiative should ultimately lead to a series of articles or papers about the different studies.

He added, each department involved will independently develop its own mission and doctoral program and provide its information to CFAT.

According to the press release, Golde said, “We’re working with departments which are committed to being stewards of the discipline.”

She added, “We don’t just mean a preservation of the heart and essence of the field, although that’s important, but we chose those departments who have a critical eye toward the future, who are willing to take risks and move the discipline forward.”

Golde said about 150 different departments actually applied, though others had expressed interest. Of the 83 departments accepted, 25 were English departments.

“We picked the best ones,” she said. “Pitt’s department really shone in all of [the criteria].”

Clarke said his program has typically been ranked within the top 25 graduate programs by organizations including U.S. News and World Report. He added that the American literature and composition programs have been ranked in the top 10 in the nation.

When selecting the departments, CFAT looked into the number of people interested in each department, if the departments had a clear plan for what they would like to do and the department’s profile.

Clarke is leading a group of 10 English faculty members, who will determine the direction of Pitt’s research. The group has yet to convene, though, he said.

According to Golde, each department involved is at a different stage because of its histories. Within six months, though, each group should have a clear plan established.

Clarke said, representatives from each program involved will meet during the summer in California, where the CFAT is based, to discuss what they have found and to brainstorm future plans.

Pitt’s program has gained recognition for being “innovative,” “rigorous” and “cutting edge” since 1987, according to Clarke. That year the English department started focusing its graduate program on cultural and critical studies.

He said the English department has always stressed self-scrutiny to improve, and this new program is a nationwide extension of that.