Osmer to chair CGS Career Pathways Commission

Patrick S. Osmer, vice provost of graduate studies and dean of the Graduate School at Ohio State is chairing a new commission to study and recommend ways to help graduate students move from their graduate degree programs and into careers. The Commission on Pathways through Graduate Schools and into Careers is sponsored by the Council of Graduate Schools and the Educational Testing Service.

The commission follows the report "The Path Forward: The Future of Graduate Education in the United States" (2010), which said that graduate education was essential for the United States to retain its competitive edge. And, many of the career options for Ph.D. and master's degree holders will be outside of the academy. 

"The commission is an important follow-on to The Path Forward report, and it dovetails nicely with the discussions the Graduate School has been having with all of Ohio State's graduate programs about the future of doctoral education, new developments in professionally oriented master's programs, and the need for us to examine how and for what outcomes we train doctoral students," said Osmer.

"It's clear that such career preparation is of interest to many people and constituents," Osmer said. Since the CGS/ETS announcement was made, Osmer has spoken with reporters from Nature, Science, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

"Because of the way the economy is evolving," Osmer said in the Chronicle article, "we have to develop some new approaches to meet the national needs. If we just stick to our traditional views, we are missing many opportunities."

The Graduate School blog chronicles the on-campus conversations about new developments in graduate education and provides access to additional resources, including access to the Graduate School's subscription to a new on-line alternative career resource, The Versatile Ph.D. 

Osmer is the current chair of the Council of Graduate Schools’ Board of Directors. The Council of Graduate Schools is an organization of over 500 institutions of higher education in the United States and Canada engaged in graduate education and research. Based in Washington, DC, CGS’s mission is to improve and advance graduate education through research, dissemination of best practices, and advocacy in the federal policy arena. Among U.S. institutions, CGS members award 93 percent of the doctoral degrees and 76 percent of master’s degrees.

Contact: Kathleen Wallace, assistant dean, or Susan Reeser, dean's assistant, at (614) 247-7413

 

Patrick S. Osmer became vice provost for graduate studies and dean of the Graduate School in 2006. A Distinguished Professor of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, he was chair of the astronomy department from 1993-2006.

Before coming to Ohio State, Osmer was a member of the scientific staff and deputy director of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Arizona. Prior to that, he was on the scientific staff of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in La Serena, Chile, where he served as director of the observatory and head of mission from 1981-1985. He earned a B.S. in astronomy with highest honors from the Case Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in astronomy from the California Institute of Technology.