Increasing the number of PhD students

Situation:             With its relatively small size and lack of medical or veterinary schools, a key for Clemson to move into the top 20 is significantly increasing the number of doctoral graduates which increases scholarship and reputation.  Substantial momentum has been made in attracting high quality doctoral students over the past few years and the recommendations from several of the task forces can have a significant impact – poistive and negative – on this critial activity.  

Suggestions for discussion, and/or action:            Increasing the number of high quality doctoral students will require several things.  All students expect quality and affordable health care and living arrangements as well as leading faculty with whom they can work.  Attracting students who require funding will also demand meeting our competition with a reasonable salary (assistantships and/or fellowships) and free tuition.  Fully funded students are most often international (funded by their country or an organization like Fulbright) and will require advertising in targeted countries as well as active recruiting activities.  Recruiting international fully-funded graduate students requires a different mechanism from developing undergraduate international student exchanges.  Leadership for this will be needed that can work with the Office of International Affairs, the Graduate School, and the departments as well as with a variety of government officials in different countries.