Grad Tools Pilot

1
Grad Tools Pilot

• Grad Tools and The Dissertation Checklist
• CARAT Updates Presentation
• March 19, 2004
• Presenters
• Michelle Bejian Lotia, Duderstadt Center
• Rex Patterson, Rackham

2
Investigation

• Rackham and Media Union Partnership
• Conducted Study and Focus Groups
• 40 participants (students, faculty and staff)
• Assessed need for web-based dissertation tool
• Gained insight on current processes
• Identified user requirements
• Researched peer institutions
• Recommended the development of Grad Tools

3
Project Timeline 

• Pilot
• Fall 2003 - Student training and evaluation
• March 2004 - Second student evaluation
• Spring 2004 - Integration of evaluation feedback
• Participants
• 16 Doctoral Students
• 12 Doctoral Programs
• Grad Tools Go Live Fall 2004
• All doctoral students can create their own site

4
Software Environment

• Part of CourseTools Next Generation
• One web environment for many uses
• Courses, projects and collaborations,
  dissertation
• One-click access to sites
• Accessible to UM and external users
• UM users use uniqnames and Kerberos passwords
• External users use their email addresses
• Based on CHEF 1.0 framework
• Integrated with Rackham and MAIS data
• Framework migration to Sakai 1.0/CHEF 2.0 in
  Summer 2004

5
Features 

• Dissertation Checklist - documents the major
  steps in the process that a student might
  typically follow toward degree conferral
• Schedule - record students personal, committee
  and Rackham milestones
• Announcements Rackham news, upcoming workshops,
  changes to deadlines, etc.
• Resources - documents can be stored, organized
  and shared links to important resources to
  assist with the research and writing of the
  dissertation

6
Features (continued)

• Discussion - committee members and the student
  can have interaction online to provide comments
  on the drafts of the dissertation
• Chat Room student may send messages to others
  that are signed onto their site
• Email Archive - allows group email to be
  established, sent and archived
• Grad Tools Help - provides online documentation
  for student, department staff, and committee
  members

7
Dissertation Checklist 

• Overview
• student driven/interactive
• access to individual site is student controlled
• provides 32 major steps including all Rackham
  required steps
• includes links to helpful information sites
• ability to add departmental, individual student
  and committee member steps
• legend indicating responsible actors associated
  with each step

8
Dissertation Checklist  (continued)

• Overview
• prerequisites are noted with reference number(s)
  for the prior steps that must first be completed
  
• option to show/hide completed checked off steps
  
• date step was checked off appears if cursor is
  moved over the checkmark
• updated weekly via extracts from MPathways
  (student records) and the Office of Academic
  Records and Dissertation (doctoral degree system)

9
Conclusion 

• Doctoral Degree The Steps
• http//www.rackham.umich.edu/OARD/docsteps.html
• Project Team
• Monique Washington (Rackham)
• Jody Misiak (Rackham)
• Dick Ellis (Duderstadt Center)
• Questions and Answers