Ok so! I& #39;ve been thinking about what it means to be invited to be an alt-ac speaker on a college campus.

Inviting someone with a phd who& #39;s not a professor to speak with grad students is one of the easiest ways that departments can respond to the job market.

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I love being an alt-ac speaker and honestly wish I could do it more. I feel so passionately about graduate education and I want to make it better for people. But!

But I always end up feeling like I& #39;ve failed.
When giving & #39;alt-ac& #39; talks, I often feel like I& #39;m the only thing standing between students and despair.

This is because inviting alt-ac speakers is often the *only* action departments are taking.

As if an hour with someone who thrived in the transition is enough.
It& #39;s hard to be authentic when speaking about alt-ac, because the pressure to project hope is so strong.

And it can be frustrating to do this work as a favor for faculty who have the job you once wanted, and who are complicit in perpetuating a broken system.
So I made this questionnaire to use when invited to speak about alt-ac.

These are questions that all faculty involved in grad student professionalization should be able to answer. And they point to where I would like to see faculty creating change in their own departments.
1. What careers do your graduates end up in?

2. What percentage of your students would like to be a tenure track faculty member?

3. How has your department responded to changes in academic hiring post-2008?

4. How much money do your graduate students make? Are they unionized?
Since 2008:

Has your department redesigned its curriculum to focus on alt-ac?

Has your department created new job market training resources?

Has your department changed how students area advised?
Since 2008:

Has your department changed admission criteria to accept students with alt-ac career goals?

Has your department implemented internships or training programs?

Is your department hiring faculty with more diverse professional backgrounds?
What else would y& #39;all ask? What else do you want to see?
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