University of Virginia Library

Graduate Education

Both satisfaction and dissatisfaction
should characterize the University's reaction
to the recent survey of graduate education
conducted in 1969 by the American Council
on Education. Certainly we should be pleased
to see that so many of the University's
graduate disciplines climbed up into national
recognition in a relatively short time. We
should also be happy that the departments of
English, history, mathematics, and developmental
biology were rated in the premier
group of institutions in America.

However, we should not be satisfied with
these results. Graduate education at the University
has a long way to go despite its rapid
improvement in the last ten years. Dean
Whitehead of Graduate Arts and Sciences
urged us "to remember that this survey is a
poll of what people think about a department,
not an in-depth study of what the
department actually is. According to the
authors, it is intended to show universities in
quality ranges, not in any specific pecking
order." We do think though that the survey is
a good indication of the direction of graduate
education on the Grounds: it needs more
improvement.

It is also important to remember that the
survey does not measure the level of the
undergraduate programs at universities and
does not necessarily reflect upon the level of
undergraduate programs of any of the departments
that it rates. The University has been
primarily a school for the undergraduate with
the exception of the excellent law and medical
schools. Graduate education has only
recently received the attention that is needed
to bring it to the level of top national
importance. That support needs to be continued.

Allan M. Cartter, chancellor and executive
vice-president of New York University, told a
meeting of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science that "We have
created a graduate education and research
establishment in American universities that is
about 30 to 50 per cent larger than we shall
effectively use in the 1970's and early 1980's,
and the growth process continues in many
sectors."

With observations like those of Mr. Cartter
and sagging economy, there is great temptation
to curtail our expansion in graduate
education. There will continue to be teaching
positions for the graduates of the top graduate
institutions. Excellent graduate education
bolsters academically all sectors of a
university. Virginia must boldly continue to
strive for excellence in all graduate fields.