DEPARTMENT PROCESS FOR SUBMITTING DOCTORAL CAREER SKILLS COURSE

Marquette University is committed to preparing our students to become exemplary leaders in their chosen academic and professional fields by preparing them for careers in which they find purpose and value by engaging in Ignatian pedagogical reflection and practice. The purpose of the career skills requirement is to ensure all doctoral students have the opportunity to reflect on their desired career and to acquire essential career-related skills needed for them to pursue their chosen path.

Students enrolled in Ph.D. programs in Fall 2024 and beyond at Marquette must complete three career skills requirements. Requirements are satisfied by one or more of approved courses, workshops, or practical experiences in each category, as approved by the Graduate School. Completion of each skill will be noted on the student’s transcript. (See CAREER SKILLS REQUIREMENT FOR DOCTORAL STUDENTS)

Career Skills requirements: 

  1. Career Discernment: Students will be able to identify and prepare for career pathways that are consistent with their values.
  2. Communication: Students will be able to communicate their ideas and scholarship effectively to audiences beyond those in their discipline.
  3. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Students will understand the importance of and how issues of diversity, equity and inclusivity are relevant to their career pathways.

Approval Guidelines for Career Skills Offerings

Students can meet the requirements for each of the career skills in one of two ways

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Graduate School offerings

The Graduate School offers courses, workshops or practical experience associated with each skill. In the case of a formal course, that formal course number will be utilized. In the case of a workshop or practical experience, that activity will be tracked under a preexisting 0-credit course number associated with each target skill (GRAD 8097-Career Discernment, GRAD 8098-Communication, & GRAD 8099-Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). Any student completing one of the activities offered and approved by the Graduate School will meet the relevant career skill requirement associated with that activity.

Departmental offerings

Departments have the flexibility to develop courses, workshops, or experiences that meet the career requirements for each of the three skills. Activities developed by the department must be approved by the dean of the Graduate School, or designee, as having met the objectives underlying each of the career skills. Campus units seeking to have a course, workshop or practical experience approved for a career skills-designated area should become familiar with the objectives the specific career skill is intended to achieve. The Career Skills Approval Form must be completed to have a course, workshop or experience approved by the Graduate School in order to fulfill the specified career skills requirement. This form asks the submitting unit to note the targeted career skill, describe the offering, how the offering meets the intended objective, and how achievement of the objectives will be assessed. If the department requests that a formal course, or part of a formal course be approved, that formal course number will be utilized. In the case of a workshop or practical experience specific to the Department, such activity will be tracked under a pre-existing 0-credit course number specific to each program, and (DEPT 8097, 8098, or 8099) associated with each target skill (8097-Career Discernment, 8098-Communication, 8099-Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). Template syllabi are available for GRAD 8097, 8098, and 8099. The listed instructor will be responsible for assigning a grade for all students who have enrolled in the course.

 

Courses, workshops, or practical experiences that have been approved for a particular career skill will be listed in the Graduate Bulletin in each PhD program in the “Requirements” tab.

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Career Discernment: GRAD/DEPT 8097

Objectives: 

  • Understand realities of academic job market for your discipline, creating space for career imagination and understand potential career paths.
  • Exploration of, and defining student’s own identity/experiences/values/strengths/gifts and how the career pathway fits with those values.
  • Students will learn to identify and attain the skills and experiences necessary to obtain the career pathway they desire.

Communication Skill: GRAD/DEPT 8098

Objectives:

  • Demonstrate the ability to communicate (e.g., research, expertise, experiences) effectively and ethically with disciplinary, cross-disciplinary, and nonacademic audiences.
  • Demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively and ethically within various contexts, formats, and media.
  • Demonstrate the ability effectively deliver a presentation and facilitate discussion.

Understanding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: GRAD/DEPT 8099

Objectives:

  • Students will be aware of and able to identify how explicit and implicit bias impacts work life and will understand possible strategies to address this bias.
  • Students will be able to articulate the value of universal design principles and their ethical application to their area of study.
  • Students will be able to work and interact effectively with persons from diverse backgrounds with varied values, ideas, and opinions.

 

Process for Submitting Departmental Career Skills Offerings

Students will be able to complete career skills course requirements through central offerings provided by the Graduate School or by departmental offerings approved by the Graduate School. Approval requests for departmental careers skill courses, workshops, or activities will follow the timeline below.

Current courses:

  • Submit Career Skills Approval Form and syllabus/description to the Graduate School by October 15; departments enter approved modifications in Courseleaf following Office of the Registrar curriculum calendar.

New courses, workshops, practical experiences:

  • Submit Career Skills Approval Form and syllabus/description to the Graduate School by March 1.
    • If approved, the department will use shell course (DEPT 8097, 8098, or 8099) for the following academic year; then enter and build new course using the Office of the Registrar curriculum building schedule for the subsequent year.

Process for Tracking Career Skills Completion

Traditional Courses: Successful completion of all career skills core requirements met through coursework will be tracked and automatically imported into the students record through the CheckMarq grading system.

Workshops and Experiences: Workshops and experiences will only count toward the completion of curricular requirements if they have been approved by the Graduate School via the Career Skills Approval Form. Successful completion of workshops and experiences will be entered into the system and tracked as follows:

  • When all or part of a workshop or experience is approved, it will be assigned a relevant course number 8097-Career Discernment, 8098-Communication, 8099-DEI).  
  • Centralized Offerings: The Graduate School will offer versions of these courses for any activity available to all students (GRAD 8097, GRAD 8098, GRAD 8099). Should a student want to attend an approved workshop or experience run by the Graduate School, they should sign up for the specific course offering associated with the career skill they are trying to achieve during the semester in which they will complete the activity. The Graduate School will document (and retain proof of) successful completion of the workshop/experience. The Graduate School will then assign the grade for the specific course (SNC/UNC).
  • Department-Based Offerings: When a workshop or experience is specific to a department, the approved workshop/experience will be assigned a relevant course number specific to that department (e.g., BIOL 8097, BIOL 8098, BIOL 8099). Should a student want to use the department specific workshop or experience to count for their core career skill, they should sign up for that specific course. Successful completion of an approved department-specific workshop or experience will need to be documented (and proof retained) by the listed instructor (usually the DGS) of the student’s program using the Career Skills Completion Verification Form.  A grade for the specific course will be assigned by the department as SNC/UNC.

Students sign up for the relevant courses for the semester in which they do the experience. However, it is likely that some students will need to complete a late-add form and add the class for the semester in which they will complete the approved activity. As students enroll in and are awarded grades for their approved skills, the academic advising system will automatically track completion.