Graduate Program in Animal and Food Sciences Exit Survey at Degree Completion Description As we in ANFS strive to increase the quality of our Graduate program, we want to identify areas of strength as well as areas that are in need of improvement. We have appreciated your contribution to the success of our Graduate program and thank you for taking the time to help us gain insight into what is working and what are the current and upcoming needs for increasing the strength and competitiveness of our program. Section I: Effectiveness of Graduate Course Work A. Required Course Work For each of the degree programs, there were a number of mandatory courses required for each student. We endeavor to determine how effective these mandatory courses meet the needs of our Graduate program. Please circle a number 1 5, where 1 is strongly agree, 2 is agree, 3 is do not agree or disagree, 4 is do not agree, and 5 is strongly disagree. NA is did not apply to my degree program. 1. Biochemistry I (CHEM 641) was essential to my educational development as a graduate student. 2. Biochemistry II (CHEM 642) was essential to my educational development as a graduate student. 3. A Graduate-level Statistics class (FREC 608, FREC 806, etc.) was essential to my educational development as a graduate student. 4. Graduate Seminar (ANFS 865) class was essential to my educational development as a graduate student. 5. Suggested mandatory courses If there was one or two courses that you feel was a greater benefit to your development and that you think should be implemented as a required course, please list this course (Name and number) 1
B. ANFS Graduate Courses For each of the graduate-level courses offered in ANFS, please rate each course according to its importance to your development as a graduate student. Please make a check under the most relevant column where 1 is very helpful to your development and 5 was not helpful at all. Check NA (does not apply) for courses you did not take. Course # Course Title ANFS 609 Food Processing ANFS 609 Food Processing Lab ANFS 611 Food Science Capstone ANFS 611 Food Science Capstone Lab ANFS 628 Food Chemistry ANFS 628 Food Chemistry Lab ANFS 633 Poultry Pathology ANFS 635 Animal Virology ANFS 636 Immunology of Domestic Animals ANFS 637 Avian Immunology ANFS 639 Food Microbiology ANFS 639 Food Microbiology Lab ANFS 643 Food Engineering Technology ANFS 643 Food Engineering Technology Lab ANFS 644 Bioinformatics ANFS 649 Food Biotechnology ANFS 649 Food Biotechnology Lab ANFS 666 Ruminant Nutrition ANFS 666 Dairy Production and Lactational Physiology ANFS 667 Innovative Food Processing and Preservation Technologies ANFS 667 Introduction to Systems Biology ANFS 670 Principles of Molecular Genetics ANFS 671 Paradigms in Cell Signaling ANFS 865 Graduate Seminar 2
C. Courses Outside of ANFS Please list any courses outside of ANFS (i.e., BISC, CHEM, PLSC, etc.) that you found particularly helpful and why this course was helpful. This will help us to make recommendations to incoming Graduate Students. Section II Training, Presentations and Personal Growth The University offers programs directed to graduate students to enrich their experience, as well as provide some important training. Also, please indicate what programs you took advantage of (International travel, pre-doctoral fellowship, etc.). Please check off which of these were the most useful to you (1 being most useful, 5 being a waste of time). Please check NA if you did not attend or apply. Program Annual Safety Training Biosafety Training Radiation Safety Training Blood-borne pathogens Training Other safety Training: Grant writing workshop Dissertation Boot-camp Professional Ethics training International Travel Grant Pre-doctoral Fellowship Grant Thesis/Dissertation Competition Local Meeting Regional Meeting National Meeting International Meeting Were you encouraged to participate in these trainings? 3
Were there additional trainings that you felt should be offered? Personal Growth Please rate how participation in the graduate program affected your personal growth with 1 being very positively and 5 being very negatively. NA denotes that this aspect was either not affected or that the aspect did not apply to your program. Activity or Growth Area Self confidence Ability to communicate effectively, orally Ability to communicate effectively, written Ability to speak in public forum Ability to present research publicly Ability to think critically Ability to evaluate data critically Ability to read and understand scientific literature Marketability in the Job Place Ability to secure position in Industry Ability to secure position in Academia Ability to secure postdoctoral position Ability to secure position at other Institution of Higher Learning (i.e., Ph.D. program) Ability to secure position at U of Delaware of Higher Learning (i.e., Ph.D. program) Were there any additional growth areas not covered in the list above? Were there any areas that negatively impacted your personal growth? 4
Section III Progress Towards Degree Please rate your overall satisfaction with the progress towards your degree. We understand that each graduate degree is different and research projects present unique challenges, but we d like some feedback regarding your overall satisfaction with the process associated with our graduate program. For each area below: 1 very satisfied, 2 somewhat satisfied, 3 neither satisfied or dissatisfied, 4 somewhat dissatisfied, 5 very dissatisfied, NA did not apply to my program. Overall Satisfaction Admission Initial Committee Meeting Proposal Defense Qualifying Exam Overall Coursework Adviser Leadership Independence Departmental Process Stipend TA responsibilities Adviser Expectations Defense Thesis Instructions Dissertation Instructions Personal Academic Development NA or RNS* GPA from Bachelor s Degree GPA from Prior MS Program GPA from MS Program (UD) GPA from PhD Program (UD) Years to Degree Completion (UD) * - NA = Does not apply, RNS = Rather not say 5
Section IV. Work Environment and Demographic Data The University of Delaware strives to educate students in a workplace that is free from any type of harassment (i.e., sexual, racial, ethnicity, sexual preference, etc.). The following questions deal with the workplace and relate to these issues. For each question, 1 strongly agree, 2 agree, 3 neither agree or disagree, 4 disagree, 5 strongly disagree. UD provided a workplace free from: 1 2 3 4 5 Negative comments about my race or country of origin Sexual harassment* from my co-workers Sexual harassment* from my supervisor or adviser Negative comments about my sexual preference My adviser provided an environment of: Respect for the rights of others Respect for the race and ethnicity of others Equal treatment of individuals * Sexual harassment is defined by University Policy: http://www.udel.edu/eli/p4l/harassment.pdf Demographic Information (Circle appropriate response, or fill in blank, as required) 1. I am a: Male Female Prefer not to say 2. I would describe my race as: White (non-hispanic) African-American Hispanic Asian (Japan/China/Southeast Asia) Indian/Pakistani Middle Eastern Mixed Other: Prefer not to say 3. Age and time to degree completion: When I started the progam, I was years of age. When I finished the program, I was years of age. I prefer not to answer this question. 6