Title

Trans-Pacific doctoral success – A collaborative cohort model

Authors

Helen Partridge, University of Southern Queensland
Christine Bruce, Queensland University of Technology
Sandra Hirsh, San Jose State UniversityFollow
Ken Haycock, Ken Haycock and AssociatesFollow
Sylvia Edwards, Queensland University of Technology
Cheryl Stenstrom, San Jose State UniversityFollow
Susan Gasson, Queensland University of Technology

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2016

Publication Title

Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Quality in Postgraduate Research (QPR) Conference

First Page

125

Last Page

131

Keywords

distance education, cohort-based program, part-time students, multi-national partnerships, higher degree research education

Disciplines

Higher Education | International and Comparative Education | Library and Information Science | Online and Distance Education

Abstract

The San Jose Gateway PhD program is a doctoral partnership between the School of Information at San Jose State University (SJSU) in the USA, and the Information Systems School at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia. Because of Californian legislation, SJSU has not been able to offer PhD degrees. The Gateway Program therefore provides a research pathway for SJSU’s coursework students. It also helps the School to grow the research capacity of academic staff. For QUT, the Program provides the opportunity to advance research agendas and to build strong international connections and partnerships. The Program began in 2008. It is a distance-delivered cohort-based scheme with new students commencing in August of each year. All students are enrolled as part-time students in QUT’s Doctor of Philosophy. Each student is assigned supervisors from both universities. In addition to individual and group supervisory meetings, all students and supervisors meet in a virtual meeting space once a month. The online monthly meetings are supplemented by two residential events each year: (i) a one week face to face residential in August at San Jose State University, and (ii) an online residential in March. This paper will critically reflect upon this unique Program, which has led to high quality research outcomes, rapid completions, and noteworthy graduate employments. Critical consideration of the challenges and future proofing of the approach will also be explored.

Comments

This is a Refereed Paper that was presented at the 12th Biennial Quality in Postgraduate Research Conference (QPR), Adelaide, South Australia, April 20-22, 2016.

The full conference proceedings are available at this link.

Recommended Citation

Helen Partridge, Christine Bruce, Sandra Hirsh, Ken Haycock, Sylvia Edwards, Cheryl Stenstrom, and Susan Gasson. "Trans-Pacific doctoral success – A collaborative cohort model" Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Quality in Postgraduate Research (QPR) Conference (2016): 125-131.