Transformative Graduate Education - Virginia Tech Graduate School

Transformative Graduate Education (TGE) is a
university-wide initiative developed by graduate dean Karen P. DePauw and facilitated through the Graduate School. TGE provides the philosophical underpinnings for transforming graduate education through the development and implementation of programs and opportunities for graduate students that complement and challenge disciplinary academic education. The initiative is designed to foster significant change in the preparation of graduate students as the next generation of scientists, educators, scholars, engineers, artists, and career professionals in an evolving global context.

TGE is a signature program that provides opportunities for doctoral and master's students to explore the connections between their roles and responsibilities as faculty members and professional practitioners, their pedagogical approaches and construction of teaching and learning paradigms, their development of scholarship-in-practice as citizen-scholars, and their enhanced understanding of ethical pursuits. The innovative Graduate Life Center provides the space and place for many of the opportunities available through TGE and enables the building of a strong and diverse graduate community.

Knowledge, scholarly inquiry, leadership and social responsibility are the cornerstones of the TGE initiative. Numerous opportunities are provided in each of the four cornerstone areas and emphasize use of innovative technology, a commitment to excellence through diversity and inclusivity, active civic engagement, and support for interdisciplinary research and education. The value-added programs and courses available through TGE complement the academic- discipline-based degree programs and foster the building of shared academic community.

Coursework
Transformative Graduate Education maintains exemplary teaching and learning environments in each aspect of the program. Faculty who teach these courses model these principles as they engage students in understanding the importance of the cornerstones upon which the curriculum is built. Graduate courses are offered annually in the following areas:

Graduate Education Development Institute
TGE integrates a critically engaged understanding and use of technology throughout the process. The teaching/learning and technology initiative is a collaborative effort of the Graduate School and Learning Technologies, which houses the Graduate Education Development Institute (GEDI), directed by Shelli B. Fowler. While many universities offer some professional development training or workshops, none provides all of the components of TGE, and none offers such opportunities as part of an integrated whole, making Tech’s program unique in the nation.

The TGE program attempts to address these issues by broadening the educational experience of Virginia Tech graduate students. Our graduate students have the opportunity to examine their roles and responsibilities as future faculty and future professionals, and to change how they view and define themselves, their departments, their institutions, their work in the corporate sector, government agencies, their professional fields, and/or their own companies. Expanding the professional development opportunities for today’s graduate students has the potential to affect change in how our future faculty will mentor, teach, and involve undergraduates in understanding local, national, and global cultural diversity, and the complexities of the society in which they will live and work.

Preparing the Future Professoriate
Graduate students can earn the Future Professoriate graduate certificate and can be recognized as a Citizen Scholar or elected as a member of the graduate honorary society, Alpha Epsilon Lambda (AEL). Leadership opportunities as GLC Resident Fellows and Graduate Ambassadors and through graduate student organizations are also available.

Future Professoriate Graduate Certificate
In order to qualify for the Future Professoriate graduate certificate, students must successfully complete GRAD 5104 Preparing the Future Professoriate and GRAD 5114 Contemporary Pedagogy. These courses satisfy 6 of the 9 credits required for the certificate. The following courses can be taken to satisfy the additional 3 credits: GRAD 5004 GTA workshop, GRAD 5954 Study Abroad Future Professoriate Global Perspectives, GRAD 5204 Citizen Scholar Seminar, and individually approved Special Study, Independent Study or Internship graduate courses. Selected graduate courses taught by departments (e.g., Engineering Education, School of Education, Sociology, Human Development) may also be used. Please contact Dean Karen P. DePauw regarding the additional courses used to satisfy requirements for the graduate certificate. If interested, please submit the Graduate Certificate form to enroll in the certificate program. When all requirements have been satisfied, please submit the application for degree form that authorized the issuing of the diploma and the posting of the graduate certificate on your official transcript.

Student Experience
Enrollment in TGE courses and participation in TGE related programs continues to increase: over 1000 graduate students participate annually in one or more of the TGE programs. Several departments recommend that their GTAs take PFP and GEDI, and earn the graduate certificate; others have identified PFP as a cognate area. Perhaps most significant in defining the effectiveness of TGE are the graduate students themselves, who credit the TGE courses with strengthening their skills and broadening their professional perspectives. TGE brings together students in interdisciplinary settings, fosters dialogue across different departments and disciplines, and empowers graduate students to envision and implement change.