Rackham Graduate School - University of Michigan

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A L U M N I P R O F I L E S4Two roads diverged in a woodand I–Itook the one less traveled by.When Wayne Pattersontalks about a broaderpalette of possibilitiesfor people withPhDs, he need onlypoint to his own.While a graduate student, he“imported” an inner-city math educationprogram from California toMichigan and later helped establishit nationally. He returned tohis native Canada for a time,became assistant to the DeputyPrime Minister, and eventuallyserved four years as Vice Presidentof the national Liberal Party. Backin the states, he launched the computerscience program at theUniversity of New Orleans,became the school’s Associate ViceChancellor for Research, thenmoved on to the University ofCharleston, South Carolina as VicePresident of Research and Dean ofthe Graduate School.He has just returned to theUniversity of Charleston, SouthCarolina, from a leave duringwhich he served as the Dean inResidence at the Council ofGraduate Schools in Washington,D.C., conducting a national studyon graduate certificate programsand exhorting all and sundry toconsider more options.“I can serve this world by bringingone set of talents to differentfields,” he says. “I wouldn’t be satisfieddevoting an entire career tojust math, or just politics. The purposeof a PhD is not just to producefaculty for Research I institutions,doing the same things theirfaculty advisors did before them.The earlier that graduate studentscan see other ways to use theirdegrees, the healthier graduateeducation will be.”His intention was to become acollege mathematics professorwhen he enrolled in the Universityof Michigan Math Department’sdoctoral program in the 1960s, andthat was typical of such students atthe time. Higher education inNorth America was mushrooming,and the demand for traditionallytrained academics was high.As part of the U-M program, hewas sent to a different research– Robert Frostinstitution each summer. On one ofthose jaunts, to Berkeley, he metthe founder of Project SEED, aprogram that put college facultyand graduate students into innercityclassrooms to teach advancedalgebra and calculus to fifth andsixth graders. Patterson becameconsumed by the project, devoting“The earlier thatgraduate students cansee other ways to usetheir degrees, thehealthier graduateeducation will be.”40 or more hours a week to itwhile doing his thesis research intopology, although he still finishedhis PhD earlier than most of hisclassmates. “Although my ProjectSEED activities were not universallysupported by the powers thatbe in the U-M Math Department,
Photo by Jane Hamblinmy thesis advisor, Frank Raymond,and my other committee membersalways expressed confidence in mycommitment as a research mathematician.”He then devoted 10 years full-timeto Project SEED before his return toCanada and subsequent careers. Hecontinues to volunteer for the program,whose long-term results havebeen stunning.“Between 30 and 40 studies of ithave been done over the years,” hesays. “One was in the Dallas schooldistrict, and I don’t know of anyother study like this in education.They did a statistical analysis of studentswho were in Project SEED infourth, fifth and sixth grades, comparedto a matched control group,and followed them through 12thgrade. A minimum of six years later,there were still statistically significantdifferences in math achievement,fewer dropouts, better retention,more students taking collegeprep mathematics and so on. They’vebeen following up Project SEED studentsfor 10 years now, and theresults hold up.”Patterson’s current work couldprove comparably dramatic in itsown way, albeit at the other end ofthe educational continuum. He’s justfinished a book, based on surveydata from 200 schools, on policiesand procedures for graduatecertificate programs, just oneof the many alternatives to traditionalgraduate degree programsthat have materialized inthe last decade or so.“Certificate programs generallyare shorter-term, nondegreeprograms, offered atvarious levels by professional,undergraduate, continuing educationand graduate schools,”Patterson explains. “We’ve tended touse the term graduate certificate tomean that the content of the curriculumis part of the approved graduatecurriculum of the university. Let’ssay you have a number of courses inthe master’s of public administrationprogram on geographic informationsystems. You might define a set offour or five courses as ‘geographicinformation systems’ and reofferthem as a certificate in that area.”Patterson vividly recalls the dayswhen a master’s degree itself wasgenerally regarded as a sort of consolationprize for doctoral candidateswho, for one reason or another, fellby the wayside.But, he says, “In the last 20 years,the number of students doing whatwe would call professional master’sdegrees has just exploded. We awardeight times as many master’s degreesnationally as we do doctorates. Manymore schools have a specific curriculumdesigned for the master’s. Therequirement to write a thesis for amaster’s has virtually disappeared,and that’s an indication of a moreprofessional than research orientationto that degree. This whole move tocertificates and other forms of postbaccalaureateeducation continues atrend that really started with the professionalmaster’s degree.”“Post-baccalaureate education” isthe phrase of choice at the Councilof Graduate Schools. “It certainlyincludes our traditional models formaster’s and doctoral education,” hesays, “but it also brings in all theeducational needs a person mighthave once they’re beyond the firstdegree level. A remarkable numberof two-year institutions are involvedin post-baccalaureate education, aswell as something like 1,400 corporateuniversities. The face of postgraduateeducation is really changinga great deal.”The reality is a given. Theresponse is not. “I guess the questionis whether it’s something the graduateschools in the country wish toendorse, participate in, ignore, fight,or take a leadership role in,” saysPatterson. “There are a lot of differentways of looking at it. But I talkto more and more deans who see tryingto provide alternative forms andformats for education beyond thebachelor’s degree as a necessarycomponent of what we do.”The other side of the coin is thatstudents choosing the traditionalroute need not limit themselves tothe traditional choices.“I think it’s important for peoplegoing into graduate school to recognizethat the people who come outwith PhDs can do many differenttypes of things,” Patterson says.“There are options in public service,in government, in corporations.There is something about the disciplineof having to do unique andoriginal research that prepares you toproblem-solve in many differentareas, and that’s the real value of thePhD process.” ■5
Page 1 and 2: RACKHAMAlumni Magazine Fall 1999U N
Page 3 and 4: From the DeanWelcome to the inaugur
Page 5: Thanks to the Iliad and theOdyssey,
Page 9 and 10: The institute he co-directed bothmo
Page 11 and 12: “Our ultimate goal is to replace
Page 13 and 14: molecular techniques to my behavior
Page 15 and 16: But perhaps her true art, or callin

Rackham Graduate School - University of Michigan

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