The University of Nevada, Reno’s Graduate School has been selected as one of only ten institutions nationwide to join Creating Learning Environments for Advancing Researchers (CLEAR), a major multi-institutional study led by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and funded by the National Science Foundation’s Innovations in Graduate Education (NSF-IGE) program.

This highly competitive subaward recognizes the Graduate School’s growing leadership in strengthening doctoral education and fostering research environments where all students can thrive. Colleges and universities from across the country were invited to submit proposals earlier this year, and the University was selected from a large and diverse pool of applicants. The Graduate School submitted a strong proposal, having recruited 15 doctoral programs to participate, and offering innovative solutions to maximize student and faculty participation. The University will be joined by City University of New York, Colorado State University, Stony Brook University, Texas A & M University, University of Arizona, University of Denver, University of Mississippi, University of Missouri-Columbia and University of New Hampshire.

Previous research from the University of California, Berkeley has shown a strong correlation between student success and program environments where expectations and rules are clear and consistently applied. The CLEAR study will build on this work by collecting data from the ten awardees, to examine how structure in doctoral programs impacts student outcomes across a broader range of institutions and program types. According to Chevelle Newsome, president of CGS, the goal is to provide the evidence needed for NSF to invest resources in the most high-impact program practices that support degree completion and STEM career readiness and success.

The study is aligned with the Graduate School’s goal of ensuring that all graduate students receive the information and support they need to progress through their degree programs as smoothly and successfully as possible. They can then move on to the next stage of their lives and careers, having fully enjoyed their time at the University and knowing that they are well prepared for whatever comes next.

The team that wrote the successful proposal and will form the core of the research team includes Markus Kemmelmeier, Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for graduate education; Loren Pietsch, director of postdoctoral affairs, graduate recruitment and diversity initiatives; Kara Cleveland, EdD, director of Graduate School operations; and Catherine High, Ph.D. student in social psychology. Participating doctoral programs and their graduate program directors include:

• Atmospheric Science (Xiaoliang Wang, Ph.D., director)
• Biochemistry (Monika Gulia-Nuss, Ph.D., director)
• Cell and Molecular Biology (Subhash Verma, Ph.D., director)
• Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology (Robert Renden, Ph.D., director)
• Chemical Physics (Sergey Varganov, Ph.D., director)
• Chemistry (Matthew Tucker, Ph.D., director)
• Civil and Environmental Engineering (Gokhan Pekcan, Ph.D., director)
• Computer Science and Engineering (Emily Hand, Ph.D., director)
• Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology (Jenny Ouyang, Ph.D., director)
• Economics (Michael Taylor, Ph.D., director)
• Electrical Engineering (Yantao Shen, Ph.D., director)
• Geological Sciences (Jamie Kirkpatrick, Ph.D., director)
• Hydrologic Sciences (Alexandra Lutz, Ph.D., director)
• Neuroscience (Fang Jiang, Ph.D., and Jennifer Hoy, Ph.D., directors)
• Physics (Yafis Barlis, Ph.D., director)

The Graduate School thanks all these programs, their students and faculty, for participating in this important national effort to strengthen graduate education.