University of Alabama Graduate School celebrates 100 years
Students celebrate the 100th anniversary of the University of Alabama Graduate School, formed in response to a surge in participation in existing graduate programs following World War I. (contributed)
The University of Alabama Graduate School is celebrating 100 years since it created a home for advanced education opportunities, which were growing rapidly at the Capstone following World War I.
Although the Graduate School and Graduate Council were established in 1924, the University of Alabama (UA) offered graduate degrees since its inception in 1831. UA awarded its first master’s degree in 1835, only three years after awarding the first bachelor’s degree.
“Graduate education has always been inseparable from the university’s mission of teaching, research and service,” said Susan Carvalho, UA Graduate School dean. “But after World War I, UA experienced a surge of growth in student population, buildings and graduate education, resulting in the establishment of the Graduate School in 1924.”
Graduate enrollments have continued to grow in recent years, alongside the growth in research and UA’s relatively new Research-1 status.
“When President (Stuart) Bell came to UA in 2015, he charged the campus to grow both the research and graduate missions of the university, hand in hand,” Carvalho said. “Research growth has allowed for the creation of more funded positions for campus-based graduate students. Concurrently, the improvements in the Office of Teaching Innovation and Digital Education have fostered a lot of growth in online graduate programs.
“So together we are achieving those ambitious goals, with graduate and professional students now comprising 15% of the student population. We have a goal of getting to at least 20% as the research mission continues to expand.”
The Graduate School offers more than 150 master’s, doctoral, specialist and certificate programs, embracing the humanities, sciences, education and multiple professional areas.
“In honor of the centennial, it’s been enlightening to go back and read historical documents,” Carvalho said. “One of the requirements for a master’s degree in 1839 was to ‘exhibit evidence of being qualified to add something to the general weal, the sum of human happiness.’ I think that’s a great aspiration for all of us – faculty, staff and students.”
This story originally appeared on the University of Alabama’s website.
