Supporting Humanities Doctoral Student Success A Collaborative Project between Cornell University Library and Columbia University Libraries
CUL/IS Staff Forum April 27, 2011Damon Jaggars, AUL Collections & Services
Alysse Jordan, Head, Social Work LibraryJennifer Rutner, Assessment & Planning Librarian
John Tofanelli, British and American History and Literature Librarian
Motivation
• Decline in number of degrees awarded: the number of doctorates awarded in the humanities has declined by 12% between 1998 and 2008, while those in science and engineering have increased by 20.4% (2008 NSF SED)
• Longer time to completion: while the mean registered time to degree in all disciplines has increased since 1978, it is still the longest in the humanities, increasing to 9 years in 2003 as compared to 6.9 in engineering, 6.9 in the life sciences, and 6.8 in the physical sciences (NSF Time to Degree)
• Higher rates of attrition: the cumulative attrition rates at year ten in the humanities are 32% compared to 27% in engineering and 26% in the life sciences (CGS 2008)
• Complex landscape: the factors that influence time to completion and retention rates vary according to discipline, institutional characteristics, availability of financial aid, quality of advising, clarity of program requirements, quality of family life, job prospects, lack of community, etc. (Ehrenberg et al., 2009)
How can the library better-support doctoral work on campus?
Collaboration
The 2CUL Project
“Columbia and Cornell University Libraries are pleased to join forces in a transformative and enduring partnership between our two great library systems that enables us to pool resources to provide content, expertise, and services that are impossible to accomplish acting alone.”
http://2cul.org/
Project Team
Cornell University• Kaila Bussert
• Kathy Chiang
• Michelle Hubble
• Gaby Castro Gessner (Project Manager)
• Sussette Newberry
• Deb Schmidle
• Kornelia Tancheva
• Jill Ulbricht (Admin Support)
• Wendy Wilcox
Columbia University• Amanda Bielskas
• Jim Crocamo
• Fadi Dagher
• Damon Jaggars
• Alysse Jordan
• Victoria Gross (Research Assistant)
• Jennifer Rutner (Project Manager)
• John Tofanelli
Day-to-Day
• Travel (shuttle)
• Video conferencing
• Phone calls (many!)
• Phone conferencing
• Wiki
• Group training
• Camtasia training video
Methods
Research Procedures
Spring 2010• Ethnographic Training• Focus groups (5 total)
Summer + Fall 2010• Interviews (45 total)
– 90 minutes, individual
• Post-questionnaire (paper)
Winter 2010-11• Analysis and reporting
$
870 pages of transcripts.
The Student
Personal Space
Previous Experience
Personal Expectations
Self-determination
Personal Life
The Institution + Department
Institutional Space
Funding
Dept. Requirements + Expectations
Culture + Community
Advising
Teaching
Attrition
Research + Writing
Coursework
Exams + Preparation
Prospectus + Preparation
Discovery
Writing Process + Revision
Defense + Preparation
Information Management
The Library
Librarians
Collections
Services
Library Space
Technology
The Profession
Job Search
Publishing
Challenges
Successes
Opportunities
First
Second
Third
Code Level
Fourth
Code Tree
Results
DEMOGRAPHICS
Interview Participants
Discipline Cornell Columbia Total
Art History 0 7 7
Asian Studies 2 0 2
Classics 2 0 2
Comparative Literature
2 0 2
English 4 6 10
History 7 5 12
Medieval Studies 4 8 12
Religion 0 6 6
Total 21 24 45
Interview Participants
Cornell Columbia Total
Pre-exam 9 8 17
Post-exam 12 16 28
Yes MA 11 13 24
No MA 10 11 21
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
21-24 25-30 31-34 35-38 39-44 45-55 56-65 66-75
Nu
mb
er
of
Stu
de
nts
Age
Age of Participants
Time from BA graduation Through Expected PhD Completion
Graduation from undergrad to start of PhD Start of PhD to candidacy Candidacy to PhD expected graduation
14
14
10
21
24
3
24
22
8
19
16
6
2
2
2
3
2
8
3
2
1
5 1
2
5
3
2
3
1
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Grad Program
Funding
Advising (Columbia only)
Library Services
Library Collections
Library Spaces(Columbia only)
Humanities PhD Student Study QuestionairePlease rate your overall satisfaction with the following at CU:
Very Satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied
n/a
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1< 1 -2 hrs 2 - 4 hrs 4 - 6 hrs 6 - 8 hrs 8+
No
. of
Stu
de
nts
Time Spent in the Library by Frequency and Duration
Daily Weekly Monthly
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
browse
write
read
office hours
research w. library …
research w. non-library …
computers
consult librarian
meet colleagues
otherPost-Exam Pre-Exam
Activities in the Library by Status
Percentage of Students
30
10
5
Humanities PhD Student Study QuestionaireHave you visited any non-CU libraries to use their collections
for dissertation research?
Yes No n/a
39
2
4
Humanities PhD Student Study QuestionaireDo you receive financial support from CU for the academic
year?
Yes No n/a
6
34
5
Humanities PhD Student Study QuestionaireDo you have an outside job that provides income?
Yes No n/a
INTERVIEWS
The Student
The Library
The Institution + Department
The Profession
Research + Writing
Findings: Provide Space
"The thing that has been the best for me is having a space to work. I got more done last year when I had my locked carrel than I had gotten done in years before or since, because it was a dedicated space in which I could keep all of my sources [...]."
Opportunities:
• Provide dedicated spaces for doctoral students that promote academic and social community building.
• Provide spaces that could be reserved by doctoral students for writing groups, dissertation discussion groups, etc.
• Increase the number of quiet individual study areas with appropriate lighting, power, and security.
• Consider 24/7 access to study/research spaces used by graduate students
Findings: Foster Community
“It’s having community. Belonging to your community, having friends that are doing this and feeling that you have something worthwhile to say that other people are recognizing it.”
Opportunities:• Working with appropriate campus partners, position the library as a central
referral hub, or single point of entry, offering guidance and direction in a wide range of areas important to graduate student success.
• Serve as a central repository of sample collections of academic documentation and offer guidelines or best practices for preparing reading lists, prospectuses, etc.
• Offer hands-on training on developing, understanding, and mastering the documentation of doctoral projects.
Findings: Provide Access to Deep Research Collections
“I have to say that I have had every resource that I have needed from the library. I really can’t say, ‘Here I am in the sixth year because you didn’t buy that set of resources for me and I don’t have the materials to work with, so how can you expect me produce work?’”
Opportunities:• Make channels for graduate students purchase suggestions more visible and ensure that specific
resources mentioned as missing are purchased. • Work actively with vendors and publishers to increase the usability of e-books (PDFs,
downloadable, no restrictions, and a standard format).• Improve search and discovery interfaces, including library catalogs, web sites, database platforms,
and the interconnections between them.• Expand the types of materials allowed for borrowing and lending, such as audio and video formats
and primary source materials.
Findings: Provide Research, Information Management, and Teaching Expertise Assistance
“[…] maybe sitting down with an advanced research reference librarian . . . might be in my best interest as I go into the writing stage of my paper, just so that I can make sure I am not saying something that has already been said or duplicating research, or that I am not missing something that is cutting-edge and that's really important to my argument.”
Opportunities:• Work with academic departments to promote graduate student awareness of
subject librarian services.• Take advantage of events sponsored by academic departments and by the libraries
as an occasion for librarians to interact with graduate students and promote library services.
• Offer consultation services, workshops and/or online instruction
Findings: Developing Scholarly Identity
“I had to tell my committee in an email, I plan on having a draft of the first chapter to you by June. If I don't, please get on my case… So, I actually found that I needed to make deadlines for myself and then tell them so that they knew, and even though they wouldn't care, my pride was at stake at that point.”
Opportunities:• Host writing or discussion groups to inspire increased productivity during the dissertation writing
process. • Offer time management workshops for students approaching or just completing exams. • Work with academic departments to help establish best practices for students who wish to publish
before graduation. • Assign librarians to doctoral students as library mentors or "personal librarians," available to consult
on research, writing, publication, discipline-specific literatures, etc. and connect them to other appropriate support services on campus as appropriate.
Next Steps
Next Steps at Columbia
• Share findings with CUL/IS staff
• Communicate findings to GSAS and the University community
• Work with H&H to incorporate findings into planning for Butler Library and DHC
• Further analysis
Photo credits
Columbia University
Cornell University
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3110/3224486233_cd6f7372db.jpg