We will be a premier choice for the most promising graduate students and empower success in their chosen careers by providing outstanding faculty, the best educational programs, extraordinary research opportunities, effective mentoring and a vibrant graduate community.
Every graduate program at Rice should develop and pursue a strategy to increase its visibility and reputation, offer competitive stipends, increase selectivity in admissions and contribute to the development of scholars and leaders who will make a substantial impact on the world. We must also selectively invest in those graduate programs that can achieve international preeminence, with a goal of having significantly more programs in the very top echelon. We should make strategic choices in creating new graduate programs, especially those that leverage interdisciplinary strengths. To compete effectively for the best doctoral candidates, we must provide research opportunities to work with world-class faculty, state-of-the-art facilities, outstanding mentoring, and teaching opportunities that develop pedagogical expertise and ability. We should also expand educational opportunities provided by excellent professional master’s and non-degree certificate programs. We must invest in programs and facilities that build community among our graduate students and assure them a meaningful experience as a vital part of the Rice community.