(88f) Incorporating Soft Skills Into Graduate Seminar Series

Graduate programs in various institutions are developed to advance the technical competency of the graduate students. Many schools have the seminar series as a mandatory course for all the graduate students. This seminar is primary used as a method of advancing their technical competencies. They are introduced to cutting edge research topics by inviting faculty members from their own institution, other institutions or industrial personnel. Chemical Engineering discipline has expanded to include diverse and broad range of research topics. and many research topics could address only a portion of the students. Further, conducting seminars for the entire duration of the semester may be cost prohibitive, leading to reduction in number of seminars. Interestingly, there are very few seminars that introduce graduate students to non-technical content that could be paramount to their future success. For example, basics of grant writing, the importance of maintaining a laboratory notebook, writing a technical report, ethical behavior, chemical safety demonstrations or academic integrity are not addressed.

In this regard, we have incorporated few topics into the seminar series for last three semesters at Oklahoma State University (OSU). Most of the speakers are from different departments within the University. Each seminar also included a critique (homework) submission to get the feedback on their like and dislike about the presentations. These responses have been very positive and encouraging. Summary of the survey (administered after two semesters) results indicate that graduate students at OSU prefer seven to eight technical seminars and four to five seminars addressing soft skills. Student survey indicated the possibility of many other topics such as time management, technical writing, financial management and interpersonal management. In summary, the seminar series can be used as a possibility of incorporating some of the soft skills into the graduate program.