Purpose Concerning trends in graduate education, such as high attrition and underdeveloped skills, drive toward a new doctoral education approach. This paper aims to describe and propose a transformative doctoral education model (TDEM), incorporating elements that potentially address these challenges and expand the current practice. The model envisions discipline-specific knowledge coupled with a broader interdisciplinary perspective and addresses the transferable skills necessary to successfully navigate an ever-changing workforce and global landscape. The overarching goal of TDEM is to transform the doctoral student into a multi-dimensional and adaptive scholar, so the students of today can effectively and meaningfully solve the problems of tomorrow. Design/methodology/approach The foundation of TDEM is transformative learning theory, supporting the notion learner transformation occurs throughout the doctoral educational experience. Findings Current global doctoral education models and literature were reviewed. These findings informed the new TDEM. Practical implications Designed as a customizable framework for learner-centered doctoral education, TDEM promotes a mentor network on and off-campus, interdisciplinarity and agile career scope preparedness. Social implications Within the TDEM framework, doctoral students develop valuable knowledge and transferable skills. These developments increase doctoral student career adaptability and preparedness, as well as enables graduates to appropriately respond to global and societal complex problems. Originality/value This proposed doctoral education framework was formulated through a review of the literature and experiences with curricular design and pedagogical practices at a research-intensive university’s teaching and learning center. TDEM answers the call to develop frameworks that address issues in doctoral education and present a flexible and more personalized training. TDEM encourages doctoral student transformation into adaptive, forward-thinking scholars and thriving in an ever-changing workforce.

Physical activity is related to overall well-being among college students. For many college students, on-campus recreational facilities are the primary environment for physical activity to occur. Social cognitive theory highlights the relationship between individual factors, the environment, and behavior. This study aimed to assess the relationship of individual-level factors, including self-efficacy, exercise behaviors, and social physique anxiety, as well as students’ reported comfort in the recreational environment, with use of campus facilities. To test these relationships, the researchers surveyed 189 undergraduate students and conducted descriptive and linear regression analyses. Results suggest students’ comfort in their recreational environment is critical to their use of facilities, and, in turn, their engagement in physical activity. Suggestions for future research and practice, particularly concerning recreational facility use, are included in the discussion.

Recognizing materials development was advancing slower than technological needs, the 2011 the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) advocated interdisciplinary approaches employing an informatics framework in materials discovery and development. In response, an interdisciplinary graduate program, funded by the National Science Foundation, was designed at the intersection of materials science, materials informatics, and engineering design, aiming to equip the next generation of scientists and engineers with Material Data Science. Based on the 4- year implementation experience, this report demonstrates how intellectual communities bridge students interdisciplinary learning processes and support a transition from disciplinary grounding to interdisciplinary learning and research. We hope this training model can benefit other interdisciplinary graduate programs, and produce a more productive and interdisciplinary materials workforce.

Organizational change is a complex and critical issue in higher education today. Changes experienced across institutional systems have both short-term and long-term impact, making this phenomenon ripe for educational leadership research. Many universities and colleges have applied Kotter’s ( 1995 ) eight-step change model prescriptively to implement academic initiatives, curriculum revisions, and strategic vision. However, Kotter’s ( 1995 ) model has not previously explored ad hoc changes over time and has not been used to study a college live mascot program. Although a decreasing campus tradition, college live mascots have a relationship and impact on a student’s experience and college identification, as well as university engagement with alumni and the public. Therefore, understanding how change is identified and experienced by campus stakeholders of a college live mascot program describe the various complexities and issues that initiate a climate for institutional change. To explain the evolution of a college live mascot program, oral histories across twenty years of campus stakeholders, including student trainers, campus administrators, and external consultants were analyzed using Kotter’s ( 1995 ) model. The findings of this study affirmed that the steps associated with Kotter’s ( 1995 ) change model, with a specific focus on the first three steps, are relevant for ad hoc changes, and offer implications for higher education change.

No abstract