| Abstract | Graduate students are traditionally poorly trained in several key skills essential for success in future faculty positions. Most notably, graduate students rarely gain experience in managing large budgets, directing personnel, project management, and interacting with administrators. At Arizona State University, graduate students have developed an outreach program, Graduate Partners in Science Education, that develops mentoring relationships between biology graduate students and under-privileged junior high school students. This program is run entirely by graduate students with no faculty oversight and as such, the graduate student who serves as Program Director receives exceptional experiences that prepare him or her in non-traditional components of graduate education. It is a paid position that encompasses the same compensation of a typical teaching assistantship, but responsibilities include recruitment of graduate students, training and organization of graduate student participants, budgetary responsibilities, coordination with community partners (e.g., Phoenix Zoo, Phoenix Parks and Recreation, and the host school and district), and interaction with administrators at a university-wide level. There were thirteen graduate student participants in 2007-2008, all of which needed training, updated program materials, and instruction on a weekly basis. The program's budget was $96,350, and it is the director's responsibility to secure funds and track the flow of monies to make sure the program stays within budget. The director also routinely interacts with the Director of the School of Life Sciences, the Divisional Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Associate Vice Provost of the Graduate College. All of these experiences provide skills useful in a future faculty position, including budget management, generating funding requests, personnel coordination, coordination with outside entities, and goal-oriented interaction at multiple administrative levels within the university. |
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