EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A “FOR-CREDIT” COURSE IN ACADEMIC CAREER PREPARATION

The University of Tennessee (UT) offered a 3-credit course in Academic Career Preparation in 2008, 2011 and 2014. The course has proven popular with graduate students as measured by enrollment and end-of-course evaluations. This is the first attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of the course in helping students compete for tenure-line positions. A total of 48 graduate students and 1 post-doc have taken the course with 23 in Geology programs, 11 in Civil and Environmental Engineering, 4 in an interdisciplinary energy program, and the rest in Microbiology, Anthropology, Geography, Psychology or Agriculture. A survey of all former students from the program is planned, but this abstract is based on data from the Geology students and post-doc. For these 23 individuals, 7 are now in tenure-line positions, 1 is a full-time lecturer, 5 are in research or post-doctoral positions, 3 are working on their PhD’s and 7 left UT without completing a PhD (5 of these completed MS degrees). In addition, 4 PhD students who graduated from 2008 to 2010, but didn’t take the careers course, are in tenure line positions. In the 7 years (2001 to 2007) prior to offering the academic careers course, a total of 20 students received Geology PhD’s at UT and 7 of these started tenure-line positions, although 2 left prior to a tenure decision. The raw data suggests that the course hasn’t had a large impact on the rate at which geology graduates are obtaining tenure-line positions, but this may change as those students who’ve taken the course complete their degrees or post-doctoral positions. However, an important part of the course is the information that it provides students on the nature and rigor of an academic career. At the end of each course, several students have told the instructor they are not interested in an academic career and typically have gone on to success in other employment sectors. As well, students who took the course and obtained a tenure line position may be better prepared for early career challenges. The planned survey of former students may provide more insight as to the overall success of the course.