An Oklahoma State University degree is so much more than a piece of paper.
It’s more than the sum of its credit hours and more than a requisite line item on
a resumé. It’s a gateway to personal growth and a broader perspective. It represents
an investment in the future — academically, professionally and personally.
This fall, OSU launched the Ideal Graduate initiative as part of the We Are Land-Grant
strategic plan. Bringing a renewed focus on developing graduates with the skills and
competencies to make a positive impact in the workforce and their communities, the
Ideal Graduate initiative aims to improve graduates’ workforce readiness while cultivating
the next generation of servant-leaders to carry on the land-grant mission.
“OSU is committed to developing the core competencies of the Ideal OSU Graduate —
professional preparedness, engaged citizenship, ethical leadership and personal responsibility,”
OSU President Kayse Shrum said. “This will set our graduates up for success far beyond
their time on campus. An educational approach that focuses on character building,
as well as skill building and the pursuit of knowledge, will set them apart in a competitive
global economy, opening doors to exciting career opportunities while also setting
them apart in life as true servant-leaders, community builders and innovators.”
The OSU Portfolio allows students to track and manage the development of their Ideal
Graduate competencies and use meaningful reflection to make intentional, directed
decisions on areas of focus.
Employer-driven excellence
From the infancy of ideal graduate discussions, employer input was paramount to the
development and success of the program.
These discussions provided direct insight into workforce needs and how the Ideal Graduate
initiative could address them.
“Employers were involved from the very beginning,” said Kellie Ebert, director of
OSU Career Services. “Getting these industry leaders’ thoughts on what core values
they looked for in an employee and how we could develop our students in those areas
was extremely important. Also, we wanted to develop a way to present that development
to a potential employer in a way that made sense.”
Each industry has specific requirements and skills respective employees need to be
successful in those careers, but some skills and character traits transcend career
fields. During these industry meetings and discussions, themes emerged that would
drive the development of the core competencies of an ideal OSU graduate.
The four foundations
While the core competencies of professional preparedness, engaged citizenship, ethical
leadership and personal responsibility are rooted in the Cowboy culture, the direct,
intentional conversations with industry leaders and respected employers across the
state helped OSU leaders combine and synthesize those values into a singular goal:
the Ideal Graduate.
The four core competencies of an OSU Ideal Graduate:
1. Professional preparedness
While professional preparedness certainly includes the mastery of core skills for
a chosen career field, it also includes soft skills and intangibles that play a key
role in landing a job and building a fulfilling career.
OSU graduates should demonstrate career readiness through their knowledge and experience
in the pillars of professional preparedness: ability to work effectively as a team
member, aptitude to solve problems through critical thinking, proficiency in written
and verbal communication and demonstration of a diligent work ethic.
“We’re putting an effort into figuring out what classes we can inject into the curriculum
so that our students have practical skills and they’re ready to be successful in the
workplace,” said Andrew Urich, director of student development in the Eastin Center
for Career Readiness.
2. Engaged citizenship
As engaged citizens, graduates should take an active role in civic life by welcoming
and including global citizenship, respecting the value of dignity and healthy discourse,
exercising service to the community and maintaining respectful citizenship within
the digital sphere.
“Engaged citizenship means being thoughtful and intentional about how we use our resources,”
said Jennifer Jones, director of the Center for Developmental Disabilities. “What
we encourage and support outside of the classroom is as important or maybe more important
than what we do inside the classroom.
“It’s when we engage our students in opportunities outside of the classroom that we
really see the power of education come alive.”
3. Ethical leadership
Ethical leaders strive for the highest common good.
The foundation of ethical leadership is set in making decisions with integrity, exercising
empathy, embracing accountability and demonstrating moral courage.
“When we frame leadership not as a title or position but as how we use our influence,
it really sets us up for success,” said Joshua Taylor, director of the Hargis Leadership
Institute. “We are committed to developing student leaders who have a passion for
giving back and make sure that what they’re learning with their degree has an impact
on their community and makes the world a bit of a better place.”
4. Personal responsibility
The ideal graduate should exhibit tenacity, adaptability and persistence, demonstrate
financial literacy, commit to continuous learning and handle ambiguity with dexterity
and creativity.
“We exhibit our personal responsibility through our life experiences,” said Aleigha
Mariott, assistant vice president of campus life and student support. “At OSU, students
that are involved outside of the classroom can gain lifelong skills, such as problem-solving
and critical thinking. It’s about having self-advocacy, setting your goals and being
responsible for progressing in those goals and your future.”
Tools for growth
While the Ideal Graduate initiative focuses on empowering students with the skills
and character to succeed in their chosen path, it also includes a new tool to help
further distinguish OSU graduates from the pack: the OSU Portfolio.
This tool will allow students to better understand the impact of their experiences
while on campus and better connect them with future employers.
“This will set our graduates up for success far beyond their time on campus.”
— OSU President Kayse Shrum
The OSU Portfolio allows students to track and manage the development of their Ideal
Graduate competencies and use meaningful reflection to make intentional, directed
decisions on areas of focus. It will also enable students to frame their experiences
in ways that can positively impact interviews, applications and future professional
possibilities.
“The portfolio should provide an avenue for students to track their progress through
the Ideal Graduate initiative throughout their time at OSU,” said Dr. Sam Emerson,
associate professor of nutritional sciences and Ideal Graduate faculty fellow. “Our
hope is that as students input their curricular, co-curricular or extracurricular
activities manually, it will provide the opportunity to reflect on the impact those
events or assignments have far beyond the duration of the event or the student’s grades.”
Putting boots on the ground
As with most things in their infancy, there is much to be observed and learned during
the first semester of the Ideal Graduate initiative.
University leaders hope that as rollout continues and more students are made aware
of Ideal Graduate and the OSU Portfolio, adoption and engagement rates will continue
to climb.
One area of focus is identifying ways to implement the Ideal Graduate initiative in
coursework and help students become familiar with the nomenclature that surrounds
the program.
Dr. Howard Sanborn, political science department head, is focused on ways Ideal Graduate
can help build upon a robust foundation centered around engaged citizenship.
“Students are already tasked with taking courses in American government and other
related topics,” Sanborn said. “Our department’s faculty and staff are, instead, focused
on ways that we can enhance and further develop the idea of engaged citizenship through
courses, activities and partnerships across campus.”
The sentiment of reframing already established assets and using those as a foundation
upon which to build newer, more robust offerings that challenge students to embrace
the core competencies of Ideal Graduate is echoed by seemingly everyone surrounding
the initiative.
The possibilities are endless for inter-departmental and even inter-campus collaborations
geared toward helping students to engage and develop these skills, reinforcing classroom
learning and fostering new connections in the process.
“The OSU portfolio is more than just a means to track progress through a prescriptive
set of courses and activities,” Sanborn said. “It could be used to prompt meaningful
discussions amongst students from different classes with similar themes and help them
understand that the coursework does far more than just get them a grade in a classroom,
it prepares them to be better citizens of their communities, both on campus and beyond.”
