Teaching Assistants' Training Program

Description

While tenure-track professorships may be the ultimate career goal for a large portion of graduate students, an increasingly precarious and competitive academic job market means that many individuals will pursue other types of work. “Alternative academic” (alt-ac) has been used to describe careers outside of traditional tenure-track faculty positions, but still within the university/academe (e.g., educational or curriculum developers, learning strategists, student life professionals, etc.). Alt-ac job hunters will enter the market with important skills and experience acquired through their work as graduate teaching assistants and course instructors. However, conveying the value and transferability of this work history may prove intimidating, difficult, or confusing. In this roundtable discussion, a panel of individuals working in alt-ac positions will share their insights and experiences to help graduate students identify, hone, and communicate the transferable skills and experiences they have gained through their teaching.