Grad network aids future profs

Graduate students looking forward to careers in academics now have a resource at the University to support their teaching aspirations. The University's Graduate Student Teaching Resource Network, which held its first event last week, was formed in January as a central communications resource to enable students to "connect into any teaching resources [they] need," said Stephen Winick, the Network's director. To that end, the Network has set up a site on the World Wide Web, which now gets "up to 1,000 hits per week," according to Winick, a Folklore and Folklife doctoral student. This enables the user to connect to resources across the University as well as beyond campus, Winick said. He added that, unlike many training sessions, this is a "year-round" group. School of Arts and Sciences Graduate Dean Walter Licht added that the Network is a "complement" to what is often the focus of a student's teaching guidance -- the training provided by their individual graduate groups. Organizing additional seminars and classes is the next step in the Network's development. Last week, almost 40 students and others interested in teaching gathered at Van Pelt Library for a presentation on case study teaching by Wharton Communications Chairperson Larry Robbins, director of the Wharton Teacher development program. "Teaching experience is really something that counts when we go out to look for jobs in academia," said Winick, pointing out another advantage of the Network's resources. He added that this was "not true five years ago." According to Licht, universities previously concentrated on research and other factors. Winick, who acts as the Network's director for the year-and-a-half trial period, said he became interested in the idea of a central teaching resource for graduate students when he began to meet informally with graduate students about their own teaching. "It's amazing how much richer the experience is," Winick said of the results of their communal discussions. According to Vice Provost for Graduate Education Janice Madden, the Graduate Student Activities Council had lobbied for the Network for several years. She added that her office is now matching GSAC's funding. Madden said at the end of the trial period, the entire project will be evaluated.

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