The report confirms the disparate nature of these programs. Members found that about half of all graduate and professional degree students are in programs administered by Rackham, and that coordination and communication among the units that manage these diverse programs needs to be strengthened. All programs share a challenge in finding a balance between broad and deep knowledge, and in guiding students between particular projects and multiple relevant fields of knowledge. The Working Group identified a need to both encourage experimentation in graduate and professional education, and to evaluate the effectiveness of border-crossing programs of advanced study. Faculty recognize that some of the most outstanding students pursue interdisciplinary training and research, tending to be highly creative, ambitious, and determined.
Much interdisciplinary training takes place within discipline-based programs.
Enrollment in interdisciplinary and dual degree programs in the aggregate are roughly stable, although there are shifts among such programs, and many have been added in recent years. Much interdisciplinary work is done in disciplinary departments, and the Working Group is persuaded that this kind of work has been on the increase during the past decade. Newer programs with fewer resources face problems in supporting students and organizing curriculum, while older, more stable and well-resourced programs have fewer difficulties. The latter are important initiatives for refashioning graduate and professional training as job markets are changing. Consider a wider coordinating role for Rackham in serving graduate and professional students interested in interdisciplinary work.