Motivations and Barriers that Influence the Level of Participation in Future Faculty Professional Development Programs.

The Graduate Teaching Academy (GTA) of Texas A&M University is a voluntary professional development program for graduate students and others on a variety of topics related to college teaching and academic career preparation. Founded in 1998 by graduate students who attended the national Wakonse Conference on College Teaching, GTA is committed to developing excellent college teachers in all disciplines. The GTA Fellows Program is marketed primarily to new graduate students, but is open to everyone at Texas A&M University. Registrants may choose to attend any number of seminars/workshops or complete the GTA Fellows Certificate. Every year, hundreds of future faculty register to attend the weekly seminars offered by the GTA Fellows Program. However, only 15-20% of registrants complete the two-semester Fellows Certificate within the first year. A 28-item online survey was designed to identify:

• Initial motivations to participate in professional development programs

• Barriers to participating in professional development programs after registering

• Barriers to completing the two-semester certificate

• Avenues for improving professional development programs for graduate students

The survey was sent to individuals who had registered for the GTA Fellows Program within the past three years, but who had not completed the certificate as of May 2011. This assured that survey respondents would be those who had shown intrinsic interest in professional development and who had most likely experienced one or more barriers to completing the certificate program. Survey responses were also cross-referenced with program registration and attendance data to identify trends and ensure reliability of information. This poster will describe the initial results of this survey and share some insights that may assist other professional development programs for graduate students.