Chronicle of Higher Education (2004/2005). (Almanac Issue, Volume LL, Number 1 ed.). Marion, Ohio: Chronicle of Higher Education. [5]. Johnson. R. (2007).
TRADITIONAL PRACITCES FOR NON-TRADITIONAL DOCTORAL STUDENTS: CREATIVE WAYS FOR ADVANTAGES IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT D. Bessette1, K. Brown-Jackson1,S. L. Burton1, M. Dawson2, S. Lu1 1National
Graduate School of Quality Management (UNITED STATES) 2Alabama A&M (UNITED STATES) Abstract
It is not a common fact that most non-traditional doctoral students will not get their academic job of their dreams, its more of a common fear. This fear relates to how the current non-traditional doctoral student is viewed compared to the traditional student in ways that give the university or college advantages upon employment. For years, non-traditional doctoral students have tried ways of preparing themselves in ways to give them an advantage over traditional doctoral students. In these attempts, some have made the conversion successful and some have not. Based on the results of the highest impacting factors that attest this process, some basic practices have been announced to help reassure these students. With the overgrowing community of non-traditional students increasing every year, there is a dire need for these soon to be graduates in the higher educational workplace. The difference that these non-traditional student shave compared to traditional graduates is that they have the ability to create a new avenue for professional practices, new relations and establish valuable connections to better the ways of what makes them stand out. These practices are to be used in several different academic needs such that these doctoral students can provide ideas, plans, and processes for US colleges and universities. This paper serves as a supplementary item that will assist non-traditional doctoral students in their academic career endeavors and pursuits. The significance of this paper will assist many doctoral students in ways to creatively match themselves up to doctoral students of traditional universities and colleges. With this, the process that these doctoral students take will be applicable marketing the needs that fit into the nature and value of the higher education department.
1
NON-TRADITIONAL DOCTORAL STUDENT
1.1
Distance education
Distance education and exploding technological progressions are reforming the way instructors, administrators, and students conduct educational actions and use technologies (Burton, et al, 2013). Distance learning has dramatically increased in higher education over the past two decades. Administrators and faculty are currently seeking out ways increase this type of learning for professional and fundamental purposes. To help strengthen this type of education, research that is based on the outcomes of this education must be reached. Leading this plan, research has also concluded on other types of non-traditional learning.
Resting in the center of these changes and this socially charged global environment is the request from learners to be taught using tools in which they are most comfortable (Bessette, & Burton, 2013). Learners grow best when they are using the tools they know best based that these methods are preferred for almost all educational perspectives. This process enhances the learning spectrum for non-traditional learners with the fact that they learn from a new type of classroom. These classrooms are then filled with numerous professionals from various backgrounds that know and understand specific concepts pertaining to education. These professionals just have the ability to deliver this type of information in a different way than normally distributed. The end result is learners who gain and empowering themselves with information that is from different areas but with positive concepts. These learners then can compete in the same job market as those who completed the process traditionally.
1.2
Blended learning programs
Blended programs have a different outlook and different perspective of this process based on their learning styles and values. Chandra & Fisher noted that blended learning is deemed an adaptable variation of education (2009). Learner methods vary as non-traditional doctoral students have new choices on how they are able to gain information. Blended learning is not a new method to this industry but is used as molding block for new processes in educational career development. According to Schein (1999), by restricting their viewpoint on traditional systems thinking approaches, leaders may limit the effective use of an assortment of potential and useful strategic change mechanisms. To help limit these changes, leaders who create methods that assist these programs need to understand the values that these programs have. A process that assists career development from the new effective approaches can provide steps along the way. These steps include methods that previous non-traditional doctoral students took or have taken in the past.
2
BENCHMARKING PRACTICES
Benchmarking an industry can be the best way to successfully deviate the best practice methods that need to be taken in order to solve a business process. With higher education and career development being a main target for non-traditional doctoral graduates, specific processes need to examined in order to help successfully transition graduates towards acadmic positions. With this. “…there are a number of business practices that can be benchmarked (Spendolini, 1992). The basis of the benchmarking study is to help empower the university to use specific metrics which work in the academic setting. Faculty development and administrative personnel are the professionals who need to see the return on investment for the specific outcome of any nontraditional program. Ultimately it is up to the student to pursue and take charge in new endeavors in higher education. The career development process that portrays this is evolved based on the needs of each aspect of the career. This helps to show how non-traditional doctoral students can use practices, which traditional students use to gain advantages in higher education.
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CAREER DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES
3.1
Publishing
Many successful industries use practices that are vital to the success of the business. Traditional professional elites had monopolized the marks of distinction confessional practices by universities
(Larson, 2007, p17). The establishment and process of publishing has created many scholars of both the doctoral and post-doctoral level. Traditional methods of publishing in journals and proceedings have evolved to the technological age. Non-traditional doctoral students are being guided to use these new ways of publishing based that they provide merit of their degree. These students are doing this based that they can encounter fewer problems in the digital ways of retrieving information. These students also have faster access than most traditional students do in terms of finding scholarly work online.
3.2
Reviewing and editing
With academic publishing comes reviewing and editing. Reviewing and editing can be looked at as a basic strategic analysis approach. A key component of strategic analysis is the engagement in strategic systems thinking (Johnson, 2007). These processes are enhances to provide feedback to not only the future reader but also the author at hand. Editing is a process that helps to enhance the author with concepts of values that were not mentioned previously. A main reason why students should partake in studies based with this concept is the fact that scholars all review work.
3.3
Joining organizations & associations
Along with students begin able to solo author and co-write articles for publishing, joining an association is also a way that students can information about a specific industry or practice. The “specialization of function and the creation of special bodies of practical or theoretical knowledge are a function to the accumulation of resources” (Larson, 2007, p1). Academic associations are being valued as bodies of information that can be used for assistance of employment. Nontraditional programs in higher education need to push and urge students to join and maintain a good status in these associations. Providing examples from real world experiences is the best way that students can handle and gain concepts about a specific industry from an association. Due to rapidly changing technology in both the workplace and instructional venues, organizations are challenged to find new and useful tools for adapting to these advances in both content and processes of work (Mancuso, 2010). While the joining of associations and organizations become vital to the positions in higher education, non-traditional doctoral students need to fully understand the importance of the workplace that they are beginning to enter. Without fully understanding the complicity of this field and the merit of the association, academic reputations could decline. Negative reinforcement from outsides tools could create conflicts of interest with career development tactics. The importance behind the overall degree is based on many factors that lead to connections and networks for these non-traditional doctors.
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Overview and Conclusion
The use and value of the digital age of technology is among all universities worldwide. With the digital age empowering doctoral students of all status, technology assists with all processes. The career development tools listed in this paper are based the weight towards higher education positions. All programs in higher need to be benchmarked based that this will provide optimum results for new developments and tasks for doctoral students. The end result of benchmarking will show that the practices listed are used and will be used for non-traditional students in career development processes. The weight of each tool for academic positions varies as each university uses different metrics for their personal scale. The overview of this paper is to provide an outline for non-traditional doctoral students in the empowerment of technology and use of online and blended learning. Holding academic status by showing merit in various ways is how doctoral students empower new knowledge in the academic department.
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Future study
With adult learners, ages 22 and older (Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac, 2005), comprising 55% of the students enrolled on college campuses today many institutions of higher education have developed or modified continuing education programs to meet the needs of these non-traditional students. The future of higher education is being carved day by day with the emerging of technology and virtual information. Doctoral students who are in blended programs will have access to more vital academic information and be able to replicate this information with ease, due to the high visibility use of digital information.
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Spendolini, M. (1992). Benchmarking Book. New York: Amazon.
