Tusculum College alumni return to class to discuss careers

Psychology and Museum Studies students recently got first-hand information and advice from alumni who came “back to class” to share their professional experiences.

Noah Grunzweig ‘04 and Amy Willet ’04 shared their experiences with Dr. Melinda Dukes’ Psychology class in late January to talk about life after College for students with a bachelor degree in psychology.

Julia Jones ’08 shared her professional experiences as museum coordinator at the Farragut Folk Life Museum with a Museum Studies class in late February.

Grunzweig and Willett
Dr. Dukes has asked the two young alumni to return to talk with her class about their experiences in the professional world with a Tusculum College psychology degree. “The students have finished reading about why it is important to get a college degree and a chapter that gives an overview about psychology as a major,” said Dukes, associate vice president for academic affairs and professor of psychology.

“It is great for these students to see former students and hear about their career paths after graduation with a psychology degree,” said Dukes. The visitors also talked with students about varying career paths that are available after graduation, including those in areas of clinical, counseling, abnormal and educational psychology.

Grunzweig told the students that there are several things they can do while still in college that will make them more competitive in the post-graduation job market.

“Independent research is a great way to find something really you want to sink your teeth into and can be an amazing starting point in career development,” he said.

He added that internships are also very valuable, can result in job offers and are required elements of many graduate degree programs.

“Building communications skills is critical,” Grunzweig told the group. “You are all going to work with people in some way and need to be able to write and present and to get your ideas and point of view across.”

willettWillet talked to the students about the GRE – Graduate Record Examinations – that are required for admittance into graduate school.

“It is important that after graduation, you continue to establish your professional credentials,” Willet said. “Whatever path you take, either clinical, school or counseling, there are ways to define yourself and be more competitive in the job market.”

Both students pointed out the long-term importance of developing relationships with professors during the undergraduate years. Grunzweig said Dr. Dukes has written several letters on his behalf for job and graduate school recommendations based on the relationship they developed while he was a student at Tusculum College.

Jones
Jones spoke to the Museum Studies students about her position at the Farragut Folk Life Museum and the Jekyll Island Management Institute she attended in January.

Working at the Farragut Museum since last summer, Jones said she has had to use much of what she learned in each of her museum courses in her daily work. She advised them to pay particular attention to lessons about working with boards and other governing bodies. Her museum is governed by a board, whose members all have a personal connection to the museum, she said, which has proved an interesting experience.

Jones was one of two museum professionals from Tennessee to attend the Jekyll Island Institute, which provides an eight-day, total immersion management environment for museum professionals to learn more about general administration and operations.

In entering the museum profession, Jones said thought that others working in museums would share a background of education in museum studies, but has been surprised to find that is not the case. For example, at the Jekyll Island Institute, only about half of the participants had museum studies degrees, Jones said, while many had backgrounds in conservation or history.

The Institute covered museum basics, which was a help to those who did not have a museum studies degree, Jones said, but she found the sessions about leadership and protecting a collection from such things as water damage, the most beneficial. The Institute also provided an excellent opportunity to network, she continued, and encouraged the students to try to attend conferences or other museum association events to make contacts with others in the profession.

jones