Survey finds graduate students satisfied on average
Academics: Department of preventative medicine lone program to receive above average marks in latest study
By NATAUE VERDUGO
Contributing Writer
The Annenberg School for Communication, the School of Policy, Planning and Development and the neuroscience program received average ratings when asked if they would recommend the program in a national survey of doctorate programs.
The English and the molecular biology departments received below-average ratings in the same category.
Only one department of the six surveyed from USC rated above average. The department of preventive medicine’s doctoral programs rated
above average in four of the nine areas and average in the remaining five.
The program at the Keck School of Medicine had the highest overall score for compliance with recommended practices, officials said.
The National Doctoral Program Survey, which asked graduate students to evaluate their program's educational practices, received a total of 32,532 responses, including 27,757 from current doctoral students.
Those who responded ranked more tlun 1 WO departments of universities throughout the country when the survey was available online from March 30 to Aug. 15 last year.
Nearly 50 questions on the survey
covered nine different areas relevant to doctoral education: information for prospective students, preparation for a broad range of careers, teacher’s assistant preparation, professional development, career guidance and placement services, time it fakes to • earn a degree, mentoring, program climate and overall satisfaction.
There were six possible answers on the survey: strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree, don’t know and not applicable. Following each question was a free -vsponse box that allowed students tt> ! iborate on their answers.
"The English department performs worse than other English programs," said Adam P. Fagan, chair of the National Doctoral Program Survey and a doctoral student at
Harvard University.
"It is especially weak in information for prospective students, TA preparation, professional development career guidance, controlling time to degree, departmental climate and overall satisfaction," he said.
The National Association of Graduate-Professional Students has not been the only organization to recognize the merit of the preventive medicine department
“Three external reviews from well-known and well-established programs at other universities reviewed our department's programs and determined that our graduate programs were rated as outstanding," said Dr. Leslie Bernstein, professor of preven->• .....d • me aiul :i,n; jsmk
dean of Faculty Affairs.
“The only shortcoming they perceived was that we did not advertise our graduate programs sufficiently," she said.
According to the survey, the department of preventive medicine rated highest in areas dealing with guidance of students.
Jennifer B. Unger, of the Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research at USC and a former graduate student in preventive medicine, commented (in ‘lie unique characteristic^ of 'h
“As a graduate i>f program ■ ‘ a current I .'St t'ac i *■; i y ni*. received the benefit' of the pr firsthand," Unger said. Students t\i Cuii\ L’rdUUtiu. irom out i »».i> ^ with extensive researc h nd tcv him
Explaining work. Liz Kennedy, director of Trademarks and Licensing, speaks to students as Andrew Compton, Student Senate director of Student Advocacy, moderates the panel during a Town Hall discussion in GroundZero Coffeehouse Monday night.
Monitoring process debated
“ We didn’t do this in a vacuum” —♦— PHIL CHIARAMONTE associate vice president Auxiliary Services on how USC opted to join the Fair Labor Association and drafted its first licensing agreement
Policy: Student organizers and administrators discuss manufacturing plants of USC clothing at Town Hall
By STEVEN JONES
SUfT Writer
Top officials defended USCs factory monitoring organization as students called for further action during a Town Hall meeting at GroundZero Coffeehouse Monday night
USC now belongs to the Fair Labor Association and administrators argue that it is the most inclusive of all monitoring bodies. But members of the Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation are pushing for the uni-
versity to join the Workers’ Rights Consortium.
The university joined the FLA because it included human rights groups and manufacturing companies in its licensing agreements. Its inclusiveness was one of its most attractive qualities, said Liz Kennedy, director of Trademarks and Licensing Services.
Every part of the monitoring process has included discussion, said Phil Chiaramonte, associate vice president of Auxiliary Services.
“We didn’t do this in a vacuum,” he said, explaining that students from SCALE contributed ideas when the first licensing agreement was drafted in 1998.
James Nussbaumer and Chrysta Wilson represented SCALE and argued that the WRC places workers’
rights as its first priority. They noted that the FLA can choose which of its factories will be monitored, as well as selecting the monitors.
Kennedy argued that the WRC was at a specialized end of the monitoring organization continuum. The fact that it works specifically for universities wras an important factor in the university’s decision.
“Schools that join the WRC are not compelled to implement a code of conduct with their licensees," she said.
The FLA requires all of its factories to conform to their regulations regarding humane worker treatmenL Administrators Kennedy and Chiaramonte’s appearance before the open student gathering was an unprecedented occurrence. Until now, l see Debate, page 111
Scope of learning by serving widening
Community: Joint Educational Project expands offerings to students to serve in surrounding neighborhood through classes
By MAXINE PERKINS
Contributing Writer
". ,1 student cun take ati issue they arc studying in their text hook likt poverty, und go into t he urlxin area und see poor housing'
♦
DICK CONE
Joint Educational Project, one of the oldest programs of its kind in the country, is extending its community outreach to include additional study areas.
“Once our community service got in the Time (’College of the Year 2000’) article, and they said how great it Was, there is no doubt that (participation) has really increased,” said Dick Cone, executive director of JF.P. “More people are acknowledging the connection between in-class learning and community service.”
Ninety percent of students who partic ipate in JEP are in courses dealing with social problems, Cone said.
"Service learning is different from just community service that makes you feel good,” he said. “It makes service a learning project where a student can take an issue they are studying in their textbook, like poverty, and go into the urban area and see poor housing.”
The' more students are involved in service learning, the more they understand the issues they learn about in class. Cone added.
“If you are studying child psychology, students should work with kids and see if the theories in their textbooks match up," he said.
Several new programs were implemented this semester. USC’s Language Academy, an intensive English program for non-natives, has included volunteer service as a requirement of its speaking class.
I see Service, page 11
executive
director
JEP
Trojans struggle early at home, but hold off Gauchos, 73-62, for their second win of the basketball season /16
Student newspaper of the University of Southern California
TUESDAY
♦
November 27, 2001
Of interest...
Editorial Columnist Parnaz Taheri denounces legislation to ban some student visas / 4
News Digest	2	Calendar	2
Opinions	4	Lifestyle	7
The Buzz	7	Classifieds	12
Crossword	13	Sports	16
vol. CXIJV. no. 59 www.clailytrojan.cqm
Edgin
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