Blueprint for Doctoral and Postdoctoral Education

PhD and MFA education, and the work we do with postdoctoral fellows, are important components in George Mason’s research, creative work, academic mission, and overall reputation.

In recent years, we have taken steps to fortify our commitment to PhD and MFA education and have begun to hire more postdoctoral fellows. These early successes form an excellent foundation. But as our university grows in stature as a research institution, we must continue asking important questions about the future of PhD and MFA education and postdoctoral affairs, and we must develop an actionable blueprint for that future.  

Therefore, the provost is standing up a university-wide committee on Building a Blueprint for the Future of Doctoral and MFA Education, and Postdoctoral Affairs. This committee will partly ground its recommendations in the comprehensive work of previous groups, including the 2021 Graduate Education Reimagine Task Force and the 2022 Graduate Division Implementation Teams. This committee will reach beyond that earlier work to help us design a path that places our efforts in PhD and MFA education, and postdoctoral fellows, in line with the nation’s best universities.

The committee will examine two major areas: institutional infrastructure and funding and financial support.

Institutional Infrastructure 

• Examine, and suggest improvements, for the definition of respective roles and responsibilities of school/college versus the Graduate Division (and other central units) when it comes to the work of recruiting, admitting, and supporting the academic and professional development of PhD and MFA students.
• Assess the university’s capacity to intellectually and professionally support postdoctoral fellows and assess whether a more unified infrastructure is needed (if so, where would that infrastructure be located, and what goals should it meet?).
• Suggest metrics the Graduate Division, in partnership with schools/colleges, should use and provide to track the success in providing academic and professional development support to students and postdoctoral fellows (i.e., how do we measure the impact of our work?).

Funding and Financial Support

• Articulate the steps the university—including the Provost’s Office, schools/colleges, and individual academic units—should collaboratively pursue.
• Articulate a bold vision for PhD and MFA student stipend support during the summer months. 
• Articulate how the Graduate Division should work with schools/colleges, and other senior leaders, to set a uniform university-wide minimum level for PhD and MFA stipends during the academic year. 
• Articulate how academic units should leverage their internal and external funding sources (including grants, contracts, industry and external partnerships, and philanthropic funds) to achieve all the above.
• Suggest a unified set of expectations for academic units to engage in cohort size planning on an annual and ongoing basis.
• Provide recommendations for the balancing of PhD and MFA student funding against possible master’s student funding.