黑料吃瓜

When Petrona Gregorio-Pascual was selected to receive a 2020-21 University Graduate Fellowship (UGF) from 黑料吃瓜, it released her from having to seek teaching opportunities and other sources of funding to continue her research.

鈥淭he UGF funding helped me stay focused on what鈥檚 important 鈥� my research and academic courses,鈥� Gregorio-Pascual said. 鈥淎s a first-generation graduate student I encountered multiple barriers, among them funding issues, so I鈥檓 personally grateful for the financial support I received through 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 graduate fellowship.鈥�

The third-year doctoral candidate in public health is among 30 Ph.D students who received fellowships of $25,000 from the university鈥檚 internal funding. Combined with health insurance benefits, the fellowships provide a total of $1 million annually.

Now in its fourth year, the institutional funding for Graduate and Research Affairs supplements external funding doctoral students receive.     In addition, an inaugural cohort of 50 masters鈥� students received $10,000 each in research scholarships, for a total of $500,000, which will cover their tuition in full.

Highly accomplished research scholars

鈥淭he awardees are very impressive in what they鈥檝e accomplished so far in their career,鈥� said Ed Balsdon, interim dean of graduate studies. 鈥淭hese students have excellent accomplishments, and they鈥檙e high achievers with very high GPAs harking back to their undergrad days.鈥�

His office received about 120 nominations for master鈥檚 students and about 75 nominations for Ph.D students, evaluated by a committee of faculty drawn from different colleges. A scoring rubric looks at student accomplishments and evidence of potential for a highly productive research career in their fields, based on the nomination recommendations submitted by faculty mentors.

The fellowships for joint doctoral program students represent 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 commitment to Ph.D training, Balsdon said. 

鈥満诹铣怨� is very committed to graduate research training. We rely a lot on external grants, our students do teach as teaching assistants, and we also have this institutional funding which shores up these programs,鈥� Balsdon said. 

鈥淥ne distinctive feature of our joint Ph.D programs is having students conduct research early in their careers, often from their undergrad days, even coming into the program with papers published as co-authors. Our philosophy is to get them involved in research as early as possible.鈥� 

The university's five-year strategic plan, "We Rise We Defy: Transcending Borders, Transforming Lives," emphasizes 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 commitment to becoming a doctoral university by developing infrastructure and resources that enable research activity to grow while continuing to support excellence in teaching.

Boon for timely completion

The funding also helps students graduate on time, said Temesgen Garoma, interim associate dean for graduate studies and research in the College of Engineering.

鈥淭he average time to degree for our doctoral students is about five years, but the duration of most grants is less than five years. This funding fills the gap and enables students to complete their degree on time,鈥� Garoma said. 鈥淭he master鈥檚 research scholarship that began this year has been a boon for our graduate students. Typically master鈥檚 students have jobs as teaching assistants or sometimes off campus. This fellowship will help them focus more on their research.鈥�

In engineering, the joint doctoral program has grown to 54 students in fall 2020 from 49 the previous year. 

Six doctoral students and nine masters鈥� students from the college were selected for fellowships this year.

鈥淭his funding is crucial for our master鈥檚 and doctoral students, especially as our enrollment has doubled in recent years,鈥� Garoma said. 鈥淭his will help us recruit and retain highly qualified students.鈥� 

Removes funding hurdles `

In the School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (SLHS) in the College of Health and Human Services, one of the biggest hurdles is securing funding for students in 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 joint doctoral program in language and communicative disorders with the University of California San Diego. 

While some faculty can support them through their grants, this is not always the case. The school needs to ascertain funding through five years which can be challenging, especially if the faculty mentors are early career and have limited grant funding themselves. This is where the 黑料吃瓜 graduate fellowships make a huge difference.

鈥淚鈥檝e turned away amazing candidates because I can鈥檛 guarantee five years of funding,鈥� said Tracy Love,  SLHS director. 鈥淥ur Ph.D. program is ranked 7th in the nation by the National Research Council. We serve such an important need because there is a shortage of clinically trained and aware faculty in speech, language, and hearing sciences. We only accept a maximum of five students a year and the UGF is an essential source of funding.鈥�