More doctoral students graduating at Waikato University

April 27, 2011

Waikato University has had a 30% increase in the number of higher degree completions.

In May 2010, 18 students graduated either in person or in absentia with a PhD and this year there are 33. Students are graduating ceremonies in Tauranga and Hamilton in late April and early May.

“It’s been a collective effort but certainly our recruitment, retention and completion strategies are working,” says Professor Giselle Byrnes, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Postgraduate) at the University of Waikato.

“The Post Graduate Studies Office has held a large number of very successful workshops for doctoral candidates and we’ve also been holding supervisors’ conversations in partnership with the Teaching Development Unit.”

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Topics have included Co-publishing with Postgraduate Research Students, Supervising Maori Doctoral Candidates, and Best Practice Feedback on Student Draft Writing.

The profile of the postgraduate community has been boosted on campus through a variety of events and activities including Postgraduate Research Month in October which includes the popular ‘Th3sis in Three’ competition.

The latter is held as part of Postgraduate Research Month and is part of an Australasian competition which sees students on both sides of the Tasman delivering their entire thesis to an audience in just three minutes. It showcases the cream of the university’s emerging researchers and offers a first prize of $5000 towards research funding.

All activities are designed to build awareness of postgraduate research and develop a strong postgraduate culture on campus, as well as to recognise the important place of postgraduate research and supervision in the University’s work and its contribution to its communities.

“As well as these initiatives doctoral graduates now have the option of having an exit survey after completion so we can continue to improve our work,” says Professor Byrnes.

More than 40 percent of Waikato University’s doctoral students are international students and this proportion has increased significantly in the past few years. Meanwhile, the proportion of academic staff qualified to supervise doctoral students has increased by 16%.

ENDS