Including Graduate Students When Interviewing New Professors
When I was a graduate student, on three different opportunities, I attended meetings with individuals applying for teaching positions within my department. When a department within a college hires a new professor, it is important to see how potential hires will interact and contribute to the different groups that exist. Department heads, professors, and graduate students all interact heavily in day to day college life. For graduate students to have their opinions about potential professors who will teach them heard is an awesome thing for departments to do.
My college campus in the fall
Most graduate students love school. If they are like me they love being on campus and want their education to be rewarding and happy.
Why Graduate Students Should Interview Potential New Professors
Graduate students are older individuals who are seeking to be professionals in their field. Graduate students have a lot invested in having good professors to act as mentors to prepare them for having a job using the education they've learned. Graduate students work as teaching assistants, research assistants, participate in scholarly discussions, write thesis/dissertations, and more activities along side their professors. It is important for colleges to hire new teachers who will fit the needs of their students and contribute positively to the environment of a department.
Some Graduate Students Have Been Around A While
I got my masters degree at the same school I got my bachelors degrees. I practically lived in the Sociology building for 6 years of my life. As a graduate student I knew exactly what the department was strong in and what areas a new professor was needed for. I remember getting to do group interviews with my fellow graduate students with three individuals who were seeking an open position after a professor retired.
During the meetings the interviewees told us graduate students all about themselves, their work, research interests, and what education/resources they could provide students. The interviewee in turn got to hear from us students and we could tell them what we thought about the department and how their skills could make the place better.
It was a relaxed meeting and I think for the interviewees to talk with actual students was one of the easier parts of the interview process. By the time we met the interviewees, the upper level professors had weeded out all other candidates and would use our feedback in helping them pick one from a final group of three.
After the meeting was over we wrote our thoughts down on cards. No identifying information was on the cards to keep our views and opinions anonymous. Overall, it was an interesting process and I appreciated my views being valued when hiring a new professor.
The Sociology department building where I spent 90% of my time during grad school
I had an office in the middle of all the professors offices. They'd drop by and say hi and chat with me and my fellow office mates.
Graduate Students Have A Lot Riding On Their Professors
A graduate education is expensive. To go all the way to doctoral level school costs a lot of money. As a graduate student, you don't want your money and time wasted by professors who don't do a good job. I remember feeling that way when working on my doctorate. The head of our department retired and was temporarily replaced by a professor who was lazy!
The first year of school, he basically let the department fall apart. We graduate students had no mentoring, no departmental unity, and struggled to enjoy our experiences. Thankfully, when interviewing new department heads, the graduate students were allowed to interview the candidates for the job.
Our acting head interviewed horribly! He basically said he'd continue to take a "laissez-faire" approach to being department head. This meant he would be lazy and let the department run itself which is a horrible plan. He wouldn't enforce new structures or programs. Under him the department would fail at it's goals and wouldn't grow or be worth graduate students time or money.
Unanimously, we graduate students supported his competition who in one year ended up growing the program and making it a great place to be a student. She helped set up mentoring between faculty and students, started weekly graduate student meetings, and over a 4 year period brought the department up in rank so that it is seen as a more prestigious program to be accepted into.
The classroom where I taught my own classes as a graduate instructor
Mentoring is the best teaching tool for someone training to be a teacher.
Conclusion
Being a graduate student means investing a majority of your time and money into an education. By including graduate students in interview processes for new professors being hired, departments are helping themselves to succeed by talking to those who are serious about learning. Graduate students have useful opinions and because they are mentored by professors, it can help to see how new hires will contribute to student needs and wants.
photo credit: all photos are my own.
I always love your posts, you share a bit of your life and your opinion on subjects.
I am an opinionated little bunny. ;) Thanks for always visiting and commenting! I appreciate it.
Its difficult being a grad student regardless of the field, and its a shame when the faculty doesn't take them into account when making major decisions. Glad to see the grad student opinion is valued at your university.
That is true. This took place at 2 different schools. I was surprised being part of the process. I appreciated it greatly. It also lets grad students see what it's like to get hired by a university.
Nice post @marxrab I really like your writing 😊
Such an interesting article. Your advice is so valuable for future students and it is so important to have passionate and dedicated mentors especially after all your hard work and study to achieve all you have so far. I hope your efforts are very well rewarded and you are fulfilled in your chosen profession @marxrab
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it. Having good mentors is the best part of college because you get a better education that way.
My pleasure @marxrab And I absolutely agree with you there. Keep up the good work.
Education is a great profession
Where there are many difficulties
To be a teacher you must be a leader
The du crunch is high
And to love this profession
In order to create them
Very true. You must be a leader to teach. Bad teachers are bad mentors. Its good to listen to students when they say they want good teachers.
I never really thought about the internal mechanics of a college level department. It's much more interwoven than I would have suspected. Having input from the very folks that are most affected seems like a no-brainer. The process obviously proved it's worth in replacing a non-productive person with a go-getter.
Thanks for the peek inside a world the rest of us don't get to see.
Thanks for the great comment. I often forget that people outside of college don't know about the inner workings. When I do I realize how important some things could be to those seeking higher degrees and jobs in a university. This post was fun to write and share some little known insider experiences.
Grad students should be involved in the process. They should have a say in the direction of the department .
They should. They are the ones paying for the education and effected by bad teachers. Their opinions matter.
If nothing else, grad students need to weed out the profs that would otherwise force them to spend $100 on the latest version of the text they've written... ;)
😄😇😄
I completely agree and think this is an excellent idea. Unfortunately it is very rarely done and at many institutions all that seems to count is the value of your grants and publications.
Very true. Often publish or perish mentality overshadows the need to teach and have good teachers. Grad students experience so much within a department as students. They have a lot of information regarding what new professors are needed.
Very informative post very very thanks for sharing....