Understanding interdisciplinary science graduate programs at the University of Delaware
Date
2020
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University of Delaware
Abstract
For more than a decade, interdisciplinary methods have been cited as instrumental in stimulating the innovation needed to solve today’s complex scientific challenges. As such, there has been increasing emphasis on incorporating interdisciplinary training into graduate education. However, the traditional university infrastructure often creates barriers to interdisciplinary efforts and the path to solve these challenges is often unclear or even resisted from within. Despite several calls for reforms, many universities are still struggling with the implementation and practice of interdisciplinary approaches, especially in regard to interdisciplinary graduate education. The goal of this project was to better understand the challenges and barriers faced by interdisciplinary science graduate programs at the University of Delaware (UD) and provide recommendations for improving UD’s administrative structure and support for interdisciplinary science graduate programs. The first step towards achieving this goal was to define what constitutes an interdisciplinary graduate program and create an inventory of existing interdisciplinary science graduate programs on campus, including their differences and similarities, as well as their strengths and challenges. This aided in the identification of opportunities and barriers presented by current policies and administrative infrastructure. The study revealed that faculty are eager to engage in interdisciplinary activities but faculty participating in interdisciplinary programs often face unnecessary impediments. This has created hurdles for interdisciplinary programs in many areas, such as program funding, curriculum development, and program administration. From this increased understanding of the specific challenges faced by interdisciplinary programs, eight recommendations were made to further promote and support interdisciplinary graduate programs at UD. These recommendations focused on easing barriers and impediments, leveraging resources, and incorporating best practices into university policies and procedures.
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Keywords
Interdisciplinary science graduate programs, University of Delaware, Interdisciplinary training, Graduate education, University infrastructure, Program funding