Our Placement Record for PhD Graduates, 1999-2023
Between 1999-2023, approximately 98% of our graduate job seekers found jobs. Nearly 85% secured positions in higher education. Others pursued employment opportunities in industry or other types of professional work.
Total number of graduates: 231
- Tenure Stream Faculty: 110 (47.6%)
- Non-Tenure Stream Faculty: 58 (25.1%)
Contract and Long-term: 50 (Visiting Assistant Professor, Lecturer, NTT Professor)
Adjunct: 8 - Administrative: 28 (12.1%)
Job titles in this category include: Vice-Chancellor, Director of Writing Center, Executive Director of Liberal Arts, Director of Center for Teaching and Learning, Director of Distance Learning - Professional/Research/Industry: 31 (13.4%)
Job titles in this category include: Author, K-12 Teacher, Editor, Choreographer, Researcher, Friar, Instructional Designer - No information available: 4 (1.7%)
Students recently graduated from our program have obtained tenure track positions at the following institutions: Kansas State University, Truman State University (MO), Colorado State University, Cleveland State University, Holyoke Community College (MA), Bowling Green State University (OH), Western Illinois University, Fort Lewis College (CO), Auburn University (AL), Wheaton College (MA), James Madison University (VA), Montclair State (NJ), University of Montevallo, Alabama, Dartmouth College (NH), University of Central Florida, University of St. Thomas (MN), California State University, LA, Florida State University, Vanderbilt University, State University of New York at Albany, Knox College (IN), and Ohio State University.
How We Support Graduate Students
Our program is keenly aware that the job market for college and university teachers of English has been tight for over two decades. But we are equally aware that the larger context of higher education is in a period of profound transformation – and that new opportunities are arising for job applicants who prepare themselves creatively for the new environment.
We support and encourage professional preparation by:
- giving our graduate students opportunities to teach their own classes,
- mentoring them closely as they become better teachers, and
- offering professionalization workshops.
In addition, graduate students may take advantage of opportunities to use digital technologies to support their teaching, both in and outside of their classrooms.
Dissertation workshops are offered every year to help students through the transition from course work into the intense involvement with research and writing that the dissertation requires. Finally, we guide students through the challenging job search process, offering special workshops and providing practice interviews.