Transformative Graduate Education at Virginia Tech

Transformative Graduate Education (TGE) is an
university-wide Graduate School initiative
developed by dean Karen P. DePauw that draws upon Virginia Tech's strengths in graduate
education and its expertise in new and original technology. The TGE program was designed to foster a significant change in the preparation of graduate students as the next generation of scientists, educators, scholars, engineers,
artists, career professionals and global citizens.
It 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 Graduate Life Center provides the space and place for many of the opportunities available through TGE.

Knowledge, scholarly inquiry, leadership and social responsibility are the cornerstones of the TGE initiative.  Programs, including graduate coursework are offered in each of the four cornerstones and emphasize utilization of technology, a commitment to excellence through diversity and inclusivity, encouragement of interdisciplinarity, and promotion of a global perspective.  The value-added programs and courses available through TGE compliment the academic discipline-based degree programs and foster the building of shared academic community.

Desired Outcomes for TGE Participants:

• Acquire strong knowledge & understanding in academic discipline
• Conduct research and scholarly inquiry
• Work successfully in interdisciplinary & multidisciplinary settings
• Use innovative technologies in research and scholarship, teaching/learning & outreach
• Apply scholarship to real-world settings and contemporary societal contexts
• Assume role and responsibilities of faculty and career professionals
• Work successfully in diverse and global communities
• Utilize critical thinking and problem “defining” skills
• Develop leadership skills
• Utilize collaborative and team approach
• Understand and adhere to ethical standards and professional practices

Via TGE, graduate students may examine their roles and responsibilities as future faculty and future professionals, and 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 contemporary 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, biodiversity, and the complexities of the society in which they will live and work.

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.  The following courses are offered annually:

• GRAD 5004  GTA Workshop (1)
• GRAD 5104  Preparing the Future Professoriate (3)
• GRAD 5114  Contemporary Pedagogy (3)
• GRAD 5124  Library Research Skills
• GRAD 51xx  Interdisciplinary Research in Science & Engineering (3)
• GRAD 51xx  Leadership & Team Development (3)
• GRAD 5204  Citizen Scholar Seminar (3)
• GRAD 53xx  Preparing Future Career Professional (3)
• GRAD 53xx  Future Industrial Professional in Science & Engineering (3)   
• GRAD 5954  Study Abroad - PFP: Global Perspectives (3)

Student Experience
Enrollment in TGE courses and participation in TGE related programs continues to increase; over 1000 graduate students have participated 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.