The purpose of the Graduate College is to provide the means for continued intellectual growth through advanced and specialized education.  The ultimate aim is to develop leaders in the professions and research.  The following objectives have been adopted to add both breadth and depth to the academic and professional preparation received at the undergraduate level:

• To reinforce and extend students' academic and professional experience as a means of improving professional competence.
• To familiarize students with current and recent research in their fields, to acquaint them with the techniques of research, to enable them to interpret their own and current research, to derive significant implications there from, and to apply pertinent findings.
• To challenge students intellectually, to develop their power of independent thought, and to direct them toward the goal of greater effectiveness in both their personal and professional lives.

Characteristics of Graduate Study

Graduate study affords students of superior ability, ample opportunity to continue their intellectual growth and development.  It presupposes a broad background of knowledge, adequate preparation in the major and minor fields of study, and a command of the skills and techniques needed to carry on intensive research and investigation with a high degree of resourcefulness and self-direction.  Policies of the Graduate Council provide that graduate instruction differs from undergraduate instruction in at least the following respects:

• The graduate student is expected to assume greater responsibility and to exercise more initiative.
• More emphasis is placed on bibliography and on the use of library materials.
• More extensive reading is required.
• Seminar methods are employed more frequently, requiring more class participation by the student.