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GRADUATE ECONOMICS PROGRAMS

The Graduate Economics Program was the first graduate program in the new college, providing masters’ and doctoral degrees in economics. “Graduate Economics was in good shape when the college was created and continues to be strong,” said Dr. Steve Allen, Poole College’s associate dean for the Jenkins Graduate School and professor of economics and management, innovation and entrepreneurship, and associate dean for research.

The Graduate Economics Program is delivered jointly by economics faculty in the Department of Economics in Poole College and the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ARE) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). “It made sense for the two economics departments to teach these graduate programs jointly, since both are very applied,” Allen said.

International Diversity

“Our Graduate Economics Program consistently receives around 200 applications for doctoral admission and around 100 for masters’ admission,” said Dr. Tamah Morant, teaching associate professor and program director since 2009.

The admission rate is about 64 percent for the doctoral program and 52 percent for the masters’, Morant said. The program draws applicants come from all over the world, with China and Turkey being most highly represented countries. “We also have applicants from India, Korea, Nigeria, Taiwan, Ghana, Iran, Israel, Mexico, Italy, Pakistan, Costa Rica and other countries,” she said.

The Grad Econ Program includes the Accelerated Bachelors/Master’s degree; the Master of Economics, a non-thesis coursework only degree that offers the Applied Economics and Policy Analysis Track and the PhD Preparatory Track; the Master of Sciences of Economics; and the Ph.D. in Economics.

Collaborative Research

The 50 graduate faculty in the two academic departments that support the Graduate Economics Program collaborate to deliver a curricululm that is balanced between theory and application, preparing its students for success in academia, research, government and private industry. The Center for Environmental and Resource Economic Policy in CALS further enhances this collaborative aim, bringing faculty from both ARE and Economics together with natural and social scientists throughout North Carolina to focus on the state’s and nation’s most pressing environmental policy issues. This collaboration has led to a number of research workshop series presented both at NC State and regionally. Graduate students are encouraged to attend and present at the seminars as well. These are:

  • Agricultural Economics
  • Industrial Organization/Applied Microeconomics
  • Triangle Resource and Environmental Economics
  • CEnREP Lunch Colloquia
  • Econometrics Workshops (including the Triangle Econometrics Workshops and NC State Workshops)
  • Macro/Money/International Workshops
  • Finance Workshops Series

Working with several assistant professors in economics, Morant also has organized a graduate student workshop series. “This series allows our students to present their research to their fellow students and faculty in its different stages. In contrast to our regular, field-specific workshops during which students are encouraged to share their research once it is completed, our Graduate Student Workshop gives students the opportunity to gain valuable feedback at the development stage,” she said.

The Graduate Economics Program offers the BB&T Graduate Fellowship, which provides dissertation support for a graduate student writing in the area of capitalism and free markets, and a Jenkins Dissertation Fellow. Robert Kane was named the 2012-2013 BB&T Study of Free Markets Dissertation Fellow; Barbara Chen was named the 2012-2013 Jenkins Dissertation Fellow. An annual Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Award also is presented by the Department of Resource Economics; the 2013 recipient is Dr. Jonathan Lee, for his dissertation titled, A Quasi-Experimental Approach to Estimating the Value of Reducing Risk (working under the direction of Dr. Laura O. Taylor). 

Enabling Effective Teaching

To help the doctoral candidates prepare for their teaching roles, Morant several years ago implemented a graduate teaching assistant (GTAs) training program. “This program is designed to help the GTAs prepare for their time in the classroom and to introduce them to process of learning how to teach effectively,” she said.

“Those who have participated report that the experience, especially the three-day summer workshop that is part of the program, has been extremely helpful in getting them ready for their first TA appointments here at NC State,” Morant said. “This training program provides a service not only to the graduate students, as it gives them a way to document their professional development in this important area, but also to our undergraduates who receive better instruction.”

One of the GTA participants, Sophia Kotsiri, is the Economics Graduate Program’s first recipient of the Graduate Teaching Award from the Agriculture and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) Teaching, Learning and Communication (TLC) section. She was notified of the honor in March 2013 and will be recognized at the TLC section business meeting. She also will give a presentation as part of its TLC Teaching Tips from Top Teachers Section at the association’s annual meeting in summer 2013.

GRAD ECON PROGRAM LEADERSHIP: Director, Dr. Tamah Morant; previous directors: Dr. David Flath and Dr. Jim Easley.

Return to SOTC 2013 Jenkins Graduate Programs