Rackham’s Strategic Vision for Graduate Education

Our vision for Rackham’s next five to eight years is informed by our school mission, our assumptions about the future of higher education based on feedback from numerous stakeholders, and our values as an institution.

Mission

The mission of the Rackham Graduate School is to partner with University of Michigan graduate faculty and programs to advance excellence in graduate education, to cultivate a vibrant and diverse student community, and to impact the public good through the scholarship and discoveries of its students and degree recipients.

Assumptions

• There will be increased societal need for the advanced training that graduate education offers.
• The career outcomes available to graduate degree recipients will continue to expand.
• Concerns about the costs of graduate education and public skepticism about its value will persist.
• The diversity of the graduate community will continue to be essential to its excellence.
• Scholarship and training will continue to be increasingly collaborative and interdisciplinary.

Values

In pursuit of its mission, the graduate school values the following:

• Intellectual exchange and free inquiry;
• Inclusive excellence as central to the vitality of graduate education;
• Partnership and collaboration with the campus community;
• Innovation and adoption of evidenced-based practices;
• Cultivation of a culture of trust, integrity, transparency, accountability, and respect.

Our work in graduate education aligns with the mission of the University of Michigan, which is to serve the people of Michigan and the world through preeminence in creating, communicating, preserving, and applying knowledge, art, and academic values, and in developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future.

Vision

Our vision is that all of the graduate school’s partners—faculty, students, alumni, and staff—will embrace their membership in the Rackham community and collaborate to promote excellence, diversity, innovation, and a student-centered academic experience in graduate education. To realize a student-centered experience, faculty members incorporate the educational, scholarly, and professional goals and potential of individual students into the design of curriculum, research, and mentoring.

To achieve our vision, Rackham has four major goals.

Goal 1: Reimagined Academic Experience

Rackham and the graduate faculty will continue to advance high academic standards while reimagining the graduate academic experience as student-centered.

Objectives

• Increase exchange among faculty across diverse programs about how content, structure, and milestones of doctoral and master’s programs can effectively support evolving student academic and professional needs.
• Facilitate research and learning opportunities that bring together students, faculty, and staff from different disciplines and fields.
• In collaboration with faculty and graduate programs, develop opportunities, funding, and resources that prepare students to access the wide range of career opportunities available to them.
• Encourage innovation in mentoring and other academic support practices that recognize student well-being, including mental health, as key to academic and research success.
• Expand research about student-centered graduate education.

Goal 2: Strengthened Diversity

The vitality of the graduate student community will be strengthened through increased accessibility of graduate education, thereby expanding the diversity and inclusion of student viewpoints and backgrounds in graduate programs.

Objectives

• Support U-M graduate and professional programs’ expansion of the quantity and nature of relationships with Minority Serving Institutions.
• Increase opportunities to expand and sustain Bridge to the Ph.D. programs.
• Improve Rackham’s capacity to provide a diverse cohort of undergraduates with high-quality research experiences and exposure to the graduate community.
• Increase alignment of Rackham’s campus-wide initiatives that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Support a more inclusive environment to improve the sense of belonging of students from prospecting through completion and beyond.

Goal 3: Enhanced Partnerships and Community

Members of the Rackham community will recognize, value, and capitalize on their community membership.

Objectives

• Increase direct communication and engagement with graduate faculty.
• Increase opportunities for the Rackham community to learn about recent advances in graduate education research and practice.
• Enhance Rackham Program Review activities to strengthen partnerships with the graduate faculty and programs.
• Provide opportunities for alumni to engage with students, the graduate school, and one another in ways that advance Rackham’s mission.
• Assess the alignment of the functions of the graduate school with the needs of graduate program students, faculty, alumni, and staff.

Goal 4: Strengthened Organizational Culture and Climate

The Rackham organization will be configured to promote staff learning, recognition, collaboration, informational transparency, and empowerment.

Objectives

• Provide and expand opportunities for Rackham staff to improve their knowledge of recent advances in graduate education, pursue their career development, and engage in learning that strengthens their expertise within Rackham, the university, and the professional community.
• Increase employee interaction, collaboration, and work experiences within and across units.
• Increase opportunities for recognition and award nomination programs within Rackham, the university, and the professional community for all Rackham staff.
• Create and maintain information systems to better communicate Rackham initiatives to employees and to advance employee-centered initiatives. Incorporate and communicate employee voices and expertise in decision making processes.
• Increase alignment of Rackham space usage—physical and virtual—with the needs of Rackham organizational culture and climate.

Graduate Student Mental Health Task Force

Year One

As mental health challenges continue to pose difficulties for graduate student health, well-being, and academic progress, Rackham formed the Graduate Student Mental Health Task Force to identify and implement specific changes in the U-M graduate student experience. Their report outlines ten recommendations to better support graduate student mental health at individual, program, and institutional levels, as well as a call on Rackham and individual graduate programs to prioritize graduate student mental health and well-being alongside academic success. Download the Year One Report (PDF)

Year Two

As part of its second and final annual report, the Rackham Graduate Student Mental Health Task Force outlined the creation of the Rackham Committee on Graduate Student Mental Health and Well-Being to continue its mission of supporting the mental health of U-M graduate students on a permanent basis. Central to the committee’s mission is the establishment of a mental health and well-being advocate program, which would see mental health advocates embedded in graduate programs across the university. Download the Year Two Report (PDF)

Committee on Graduate Student Experiences with Disability Accommodations

As Rackham continues to work to improve its ability to meet the needs of graduate students with disabilities, the Graduate Students with Disability Needs Assessment Committee was formed in response to informal reports from students that indicated the current system for disability accommodations does not adequately meet the needs of our graduate students. Their report details systematic data collected from graduate students around the specific difficulties they and others they know currently encounter, their unmet needs, and their ideas about potential solutions and improvements. Download the Report (PDF)

State of the Graduate School

• 2021 State of the Graduate School (Video)
• 2020 State of the Graduate School (Video)
• 2019 State of the Graduate School (Video)