Graduate Academy

Career Development for Graduate Students

The Graduate Academy, developed by the Office of Graduate Education & Life, is comprised of programs that help graduate and professional students complete their degrees, teach and research effectively, and plan for their careers. Our goal is to enhance graduate students’ experience at WVU by preparing them for academic and nonacademic positions to increase their competitiveness in the job market.

Graduate Academy programs focus on a core group of transferable skills that contribute to career success:

  • Communication Skills in Writing and Speaking
  • Teaching at the College Level
  • Leadership, Management, and Entrepreneurial Skills
  • Research and Scholarship
  • Career Exploration
Click here to view our Transferable Skills chart.

Professional Development Workshop Series: Spring 2013

Topics for the spring workshops include the following:

  • College teaching
  • Research
  • Scholarly writing
  • Public Speaking

For a full schedule, see Upcoming Events.

Graduate Academy Courses: Spring 2013

These courses for academic credit provide a comprehensive introduction to academic careers.

GRAD 593C Special Topic: Applying to NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

This 1-credit seminar in the second half of the spring semester is intended to help undergraduate seniors and first-year graduate students develop applications for the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

  • Instructor: Dr. Darran Cairns
  • CRN: 18252

GRAD 594 Seminar: Leadership Essentials

This 1-credit course will help graduate students develop fundamental leadership skills that contribute to career success in any field. The instructor, Robert Wickboldt, Jr., retired from the United States Navy as a Master Chief Petty Officer (E/9), following a 30+ year career that included assignments to ship and shore commands from the Far East to Eastern Europe. He was directly responsible for training and leadership qualification of senior enlisted personnel and junior officers.

  • Instructor: Robert Wickboldt, Jr.
  • CRN: 18193

GRAD 710 Scholarly Teaching

This pedagogy course provides teaching strategies drawn from current research on college education. Students will practice and apply these teaching skills in their own disciplines in order to become effective college instructors.

  • Instructor: Dr. Michelle Withers
  • CRN: 15123

GRAD 794A Seminar: 21st Century Teaching

This course will offer strategies for combining effective teaching with research. The course explores the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning to develop research that is based on teaching.

  • Instructor: Dr. Jessica Deshler
  • CRN: 17259

GRAD 694B Seminar: Preparing Future Faculty

This seminar helps graduate students chart their course into faculty careers by exploring types of faculty positions, current issues in higher education, and even careers outside of academia.

  • Instructor: Dr. Jenny Douglas
  • CRN: 16453

GRAD 685: Teaching Capstone

This is the capstone course for the Certificate in University Teaching and is intended to help students prepare teaching portfolios for university faculty positions.

  • Instructor: Dr. Jenny Douglas
  • CRN: 17118