ACADEMICTOWORKPLACE RECOMMENDATION REPORT

WINONA STATE UNIVERSITY 2013

An analysis of the transition from academia to the workplace culture and a recommendation to implement changes.

ABSTRACT
PURPOSE
This report is an analysis of the workplace culture, the transition from the academic setting to the workplace, and a recommendation to Winona State University to implement changes.

ACADEMICTOWORKPLACE RECOMMENDATION REPORT

In the winter of 2013, WSU assessed their writing-focused degree programs based upon their ability to prepare students for the workplace. The question being asked was: Are WSU graduates leaving the academic setting where they learned analytical thinking and writing skills, and entering the workplace properly prepared to be successful professionals? Expanding research methods to explore beyond mere textual sources, I set out to explore the transitional process and the workplace culture of a WSU employee in the Communications and Marketing office. The results of this researched concluded that professional writing and academic writing have very little in common. Additionally, the research revealed that college graduates who were pursuing a career with a writing element, were grossly disillusioned upon entering the workplace. The academic studies and academic writing drills had not prepared them for the expectations and environment of the workplace. After researching how significant the jump from academia to the workplace really is, I concluded that something needed to be done about it. Therefore, I strongly recommend that WSU implement a number of pedagogical teaching techniques, a mandatory technical writing course, and at least one mandatory internship before graduation. The exposure to an actual workplace culture will help ensure the students success and by proxy the universitys success. Throughout the recommendation reports sections, I provide additional details about my research methods, the problem, the conclusions drawn, and the recommendations I am making based upon my conclusions.

Corey Dressel Graduate Student Extraordinaire April 8, 2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract ____________________________________________________________________________ ii Executive Summary _______________________________________________________________ 1 Introduction _______________________________________________________________________ 2 Methods ____________________________________________________________________________ 3 Problem ____________________________________________________________________________ 4 Conclusion _________________________________________________________________________ 8 Recommendations ________________________________________________________________ 9 Contact Information ____________________________________________________________ 10

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
ACADEMICTOWORKPLACE RECOMMENDATION REPORT
Winona State University has a good reputation for being a college that offers its students a variety of degree programs as well as a dynamic and safe campus. Our faculty is comprised of respected scholars who are quick to help each student navigate through their degree program. We are proud to host a vast number of guest speakers including local and nationally renowned artists, musicians, authors, psychologists, anthropologists, and so many more. We are pleased to be considered a diverse campus with diverse opportunities for everyone. Yet, regardless of all these successes, our graduating students are finding it hard to integrate into the workplace.

THE PROBLEM
WSUs reputation is in-part hinged upon the career success of its graduates as measured by employment rates, retention, and job satisfaction. This being the case, the subsequent question follows: Are WSU graduates leaving the academic setting, where they learned analytical thinking and writing skills, and entering the workplace properly prepared to be successful professionals? Therefore, in the winter of 2013, it was determined that WSU needed to hire someone to assess their degree programs that lead to careers with writing components. The assessment also focused on the dissatisfaction expressed by graduates attempting to integrate from the academic setting to the workplace. Students graduating from WSU have certain expectations including: their degree would enable them to find a job in the career field their program trained them for; high marks in school would translate to high success rates in the workplace; and, their cognitive and analytical thinking skills, as well as their writing skills, would transfer to the demands of the workplace.

METHODS
The methods of research focused on studies that examined the transfer of knowledge from academia to the workplace and the experience of students as they entered the workplace setting, shifting from student to professional. I have used a number of textual sources to extract evidence that stands next to my own personal experience. In addition to my personal experiences and the textual sources, I have relied upon a number of other sources, including an extensive interview with Cristeen Custer who is the Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Winona State University and LinkedIns current job postings.

CONCLUSION
My research concluded that the workplace culture was not what students expected and the transition from their current academic setting to the workplace was extremely difficult. College graduates who were pursuing a career with a writing element, were grossly disillusioned upon entering the workplace. The academic studies and academic writing drills had not prepared them for the expectations and environment of the workplace. High marks in school course work did not translate into an ability to write in the workplace. And, quite often, due to a lack of experience, students had to settle for internships or positions less desirable to them.

RECOMMENDATION
After researching how significant the jump from academia to the workplace really is, I concluded that something needed to be done about it. Therefore, I strongly recommend that WSU implement: 1) certain pedagogical teaching strategies in their classroom curriculum, 2) a mandatory technical writing course, and 3) a mandatory internship before graduation. The exposure to an actual workplace culture will help ensure students success and by proxy the universitys success. I also recommend that student advisors counsel their students to choose electives in the computer sciences department as any coursework and training in technical communications will give students an opportunity to learn the skills that ALL employers seem to be looking for. By integrating these measures, we can continue to uphold our strong reputation and ensure the success and satisfaction of our graduating students. This, in turn, will ensure that WSU will continue to provide the best and most applicable education necessary to create successful professionals.

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INTRODUCTION
ACADEMICTOWORKPLACE RECOMMENDATION REPORT
In the winter of 2013, an assessment of Winona State Universitys writing-focused degree programs was conducted. The assessments goal was to discover how prepared WSUs students would be able to merge into the workplace upon graduation. WSUs reputation is in-part hinged upon the career success of its graduates as measured by employment rates, retention, and job satisfaction. The research conducted revealed a grave disparity between the culture of academia and the culture of the workplace. For this reason, I am making recommendations to the university to implement a few changes within select degree programs that fall within select researched workplace cultures.

THE PROBLEM
The problem studied focused on the dissatisfaction expressed by graduates attempting to integrate from the academic setting to the workplace. Students have certain expectations that they would be able to graduate with a specific degree enabling them to find a job in the career field their degree trained them for. For this reason, there was a particular focus on studies that examined the transfer of knowledge from academia to the professional workplace and the experience of students as they entered the workplace setting, shifting from student to professional. A number of textual sources have been used to extract evidence as well as an intensive interview with Cristeen Custer who is the Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communications at WSU.

CONCLUSION
Research found the culture of the workplace to be nothing like students thought it would be and the transition from their current academic setting to the workplace was extremely difficult. College graduates were grossly disillusioned upon entering the workplace. Their academic studies and academic writing drills had not prepared them for the expectations and environment of the workplace. High marks in school course work did not translate into an ability to write in the workplace. And, quite often, due to a lack of experience, students had to settle for internships or positions less desirable to them.

RECOMMENDATION
After researching how significant the jump from academia to the workplace really is, I concluded that something needed to be done about it. Therefore, it is strongly recommend that universities implement: 1) certain pedagogical teaching strategies in their classroom curriculum, 2) a mandatory technical writing course, and 3) a mandatory internship before graduation. The exposure to an actual workplace culture will help ensure the students success and by proxy the universitys success. I also recommend that student advisors counsel their students, advising them to choose electives in the computer sciences department as any coursework and training in technical/electronic communications will give them an opportunity to learn the skills that ALL employers seem to be looking for. The following sections provide additional details about the research methods, specifics of the problem, conclusions drawn, and the recommendations I am making based upon my conclusions.

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METHODS
To better understand the extent to which the disparity between academic writing and workplace writing existed, I researched the issue. To do this, I used a number of textual sources to extract evidence that stands next to my own personal experience. My textual sources include: An analysis and summary of a study conducted on the transition experience that writers make when moving from the academic setting to the workplace. Moving Beyond the Academic Community: Transitional Stages in Professional Writing by Chris M. Anson & L. Lee Forsberg. An analysis of writing as a manufacturing process within the workplace setting . Writing for a Living: Literacy and the Knowledge Economy by Brandt. An analysis of the writing found in various workplace genres based upon activity theory, which claims that writing activities are determined by six factors including specific settings and motives. Building Context: Using Activity Theory to Teach About Genre in Multi-Major Professional Communication Courses by Donna Kain & Elizabeth Wardle.

In addition to my personal experiences and the textual sources, I have relied upon a number of other sources, which include: A one hour and 50 minute long interview with Cristeen Custer who is the Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Winona State University. Through this interview I was able to analyze her workplace culture through an assessment of: o her experience integrating into the workplace, o her current job and responsibilities, o the documents that are created in her workplace LinkedIns job postings. By assessing this social networks job postings I was able to discover a wide range of expectations and requirements in the workplace.

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PROBLEMS
1. STUDENT VERSUS EMPLOYEE DISPARITY
The writing genres and responsibilities that await students once they enter the workplace are remarkably different than those they have had within their degree program. While the writing requirements in the academic setting support cognitive and creative thinking skills, they are not adequately preparing students to be successful in their career field. Based upon the descriptions of each cultures form(s) of writing and the correlating responsibilities, it is apparent why students struggle to understand writing forms and job responsibilities upon entering the workplace. Below academic and workplace genres, as well as academic and workplace responsibilities, are outlined: i. Academic writing genres: Kramer and Bernhardt describe the typical writing found in the academic setting as strict, almost puritanical functionalism, meant not for readers but for the teacher who will annotate the text (241). They continue to describe the pages of the academic essay as flat surfaces: long, double-spaced paragraphs punctuated only by the occasional half-inch or five-space indent; generously wide and symmetrical, one -inch margins all around; and a simply typed page number in the upper right corner of following pages (241). There is nothing active or dynamic about the academic paper as the text alone is supposed to contain all meaning and the page is supposed to remain static. Workplace writing genres: The typical writing that is required within the workplace has been described by Kramer and Bernhardt as designed, rhetorically active text (241). Workplace writing sees the page as design space, which propels us to think beyond the confines of the semantic and lexical constructions of words alone and toward the shape of text and our authorial control over its useful readability (242). Considerations for writing in a designed format contrast with considerations for writing in an academic format. Below is a list of considerations for writing in a designed format that are strictly not considered in the academic formate: a. Seeing the page as a grid, which enables the creator to organize the communicative elements with unity, balance, and proportion to aid readability and signal organization. b. Using active whitespace, which requires the creator to see both the positive (ink -filled) and negative (white) spaces and intentionally organize the document to use these spaces actively to aid readability and signal organization. c. Using text structures to guide the reader, which include incorporating and manipulating margins, justification, and indentation; tabs and columns; headers and footers; headings; and lists. d. Creating a typeset look through appropriate use of proportional fonts and spacing for aesthetic appeal and as a structural element, which includes controlling the line length, leading, and kerning; using various type faces e. Controlling the document through features such as style definitions, which enables the creator to add meaning without changing the font family. Some of the optional style definitions include bold, italic, caps, small caps, underlined, double-underlined, shadow, strikethrough, and hidden.

ii.

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iii.

PROBLEM, CONT.
Academic responsibility specifications: Students are writing to say something or to report their knowledge to their teacher. Generally, a students responsibilities are not complicated. Their assignment, specifications, research requirements and focus, are all provided for them by their teacher. They benefit from regular guidance throughout the writing process. Additionally, students are able to rely on a pre-established static form. Their responsibilities include: a. Writing assignments that are based upon prompts and requirements created by the teacher. b. Research that is guided by the specifications of the teacher.

iv.

Workplace responsibility specifications: Professionals are writing to do something or to persuade their audience with their knowledge. The responsibilities of a professional are multifaceted, without clear specifications or guidance. According to Cristeen Custer, her workplace responsibilities include: a. Write b. Conceptualize ideas c. Research topics d. Interview e. Record interviews in a studio for audio and video purposes f. Edit video g. Acquire photos as well as take photos

2. ISSUES WITH THE IMMERSION PROCESS INTO THE WORKPLACE

There is a gross disparity between the cultures of academia and the workplace. This disparity becomes an issue as students graduate and enter the workplace trained and expecting one thing, but faced with entirely different requirements and an entirely different environment. i. Cristeen Custer reported that her immersion into the workplace was incredibly stressful and it took roughly two years before she had figured out her role, understood the basic requirements, and felt confident that she would be capable of handling anything that should come up. She says she received very little guidance when she started work in her current position, In fact, my supervisor wasnt even on campus my first week on the job. She reports, Immersion was extremely stressful because of the learning processes, all the unknowns, the unestablished relationships, and the insecurities that come with all of these. Ms. Custer reported that she had to figure out what she needed to know and then teach herself how to do it. This included: a. Written forms of communications (i.e. WSUs Currents magazine, reports, white papers, proposals, etc.) b. Electronic forms of communications (i.e. WSUs homepage, the Presidents blog, video clips, etc.) c. Computer software programs d. Presentations with PowerPoint e. Strategies for handling, managing; and, responding to crisis (Dean of Business scandal, death of a student, etc.)

PROBLEM, CONT.

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ii.

Anson & Fosberg conducted a study that revealed the vast disparity between the academic setting that was purportedly preparing students for a career in their chosen field and the actual culture of the workplace that proved to be remarkably askew from students college environment and training. Anson and Fosberg found that the students in their study went through a period of disorientation as their expectations of the workplace proved to be far from the reality they found themselves in. The students tended to believe that if they were receiving high marks in college for their writing, they would be successful writers in the workplace. Conversely, their academic success as writers did not correlate into workplace success. Anson and Fosberg found that there were certain aspects of the student subjects experience in the academic setting that left the students feeling unprepared for the workplace. These disparities include: a. The workplace has a lack of guidance and feedbackversusthe nearly constant parental role of their college professors. b. The workplace forms of communication have multiple audiences (all interoffice employees, the general public, etc.)versusthe singular audience of their college papers (their professors). c. The workplace has intensified pressures because of the real world componentversus the academic setting, which is always just practice. d. The workplace has absolute deadlines, which means that there can be dire consequences if they are not metversusthe deadlines of college classes, which merely effect a small fraction of a students overall grade. e. The workplace qualifies good writing based upon different criteria than college criteria. f. The workplace has different forms of writing, which include reports, forms, proposals, websites, and memosversusthe standard academic paper, which strictly adheres to universal properties. g. The workplace requires a lot of collaboration with most written forms of communication versusthe academic setting that focusses on individual writing.

3. OVERALL CULTURAL DISPARITY

The activities that a student is involved in differ from the activities of a professional. This is due to the overall cultural disparity between the academic and workplace settings. According to Kain and Wardle, activities are informed by the specific settings and motives of people involved in them (120). Therefore, as Kain and Wardle elaborate, the communication practices of workplace professionals occur in contexts that are more dynamic, fluid, and collaborative than the contexts of classrooms where objectives and activities are primarily scripted by instructors and enacted by students in response (113). Activity Theory offers a way to look at the factors and the relationships between the factors that comprise the culture wherein activities of both settings take place. The six areas of activity theory provide a tool by which the disparity between cultures is clearly revealed. I will be doing this by looking at myself, a typical student, and Cristeen Custer, a typical professional. See figure 1.1:

PROBLEM, CONT.

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Figure 1.1: Activity Theory

Subject
WSU Professional: Cristeen Custer, Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communications

Subject
WSU Student: Corey Dressel, graduate student in MA literature and language program

Object (Motives & Outcome)

Communicate information and promote the university.

Object (Motives & Outcome)

Communicate knowledge to pass given course work and graduate.

Tools
Specific workplace jargon as well as a simple and friendly jargon for the general public; erratic arrangements of time, space/length, and participants of the writing process; various genres that change with the needs and demands of the community where they are created; generally, simple sentences are used in all genres; and, computer software programs that allow for computation, word documents, graphing, graphics, electronic communication.

Tools
Formulated to the standards of the academic setting, which insists upon a high-brow vocabulary, sophisticated language use and sentence structures, complex thoughts that weave research with our personal opinions (without using first person narration), and lengthy written pieces. However, as this course is intended to familiarize us with the forms of writing found in the workplace, we have had to produce technically written documents that are similar to a variety of workplace documents.

Rules
University of Minnesota mandated regulations on ethical behavior and communication; national and state legal rules on ethical behavior in communication and marketing; copyright material in interoffice communication and communication and marketing intended for the general public; copy and pasted material that is regularly reused.

Rules
The rules and regulations of the academic setting, such as avoiding plagiarism, obey the specific policies within the syllabus, adhere to deadlines, carefully observe the requirements of each assignment, and ultimately, we are assessed an academically determined grade based on the quality of our work.

Community
The needs and demands of the university environment shapes her activities by require perpetual information feeds, direction, and entertainment. The administration needs dictate the types of communication necessary and the specific language that will be needed. In addition, the constant drive to increase enrolment requires that communication acts to promote campus and student activities. The community is multi-fold including the interoffice community, the students, staff, and faculty of the WSU campus; the local community; and, the greater community, which spreads across the nation.

Community
First, the academic community shapes our activities by limiting our time together and our opportunity to learn into a five month period of time, restricting our classroom time together to 3 hours a week and our access to our instructor, and maintaining the rules by which our created works must adhere (as previously outlined). In addition to the above, the academic setting offers us a community of peers, who are not coworkers, but are in the same boat that we are in. Our peers come to our classroom with a vast array of knowledge and interests that shape our class discussions and guide our peer review workshops.

Division of Labor
The majority of activities within this office are collaborative.

Division of Labor
Individual.

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CONCLUSIONS
1.1 STUDENT VERSUS EMPLOYEE DISPARITY
The writing genres and responsibilities that await students once they enter the workplace are remarkably different than those they have had within their degree program. While the writing requirements in the academic setting support cognitive and creative thinking skills, they are not adequately preparing students to be successful in their career field. Based upon the descriptions of each cultures form(s) of writing and the correlating responsibilities, it is apparent why students struggle to understand writing forms and job responsibilities upon entering the workplace.

2.1 ISSUES WITH THE IMMERSION PROCESS INTO THE WORKPLACE

There is a gross disparity between the cultures of the academic setting versus the culture of the workplace. This disparity becomes an issue as students graduate and enter the workplace trained and expecting one thing, but faced with entirely different requirements and an entirely different environment.

3.1 OVERALL CULTURAL DISPARITY

The activities that a student is involved in differ from the activities of a professional. This is due to the overall cultural disparity between the academic and workplace settings. According to Kain and Wardle, activities are informed by the specific settings and motives of people involved in them (120). Therefore, as Kain and Wardle elaborate, the communication practices of workplace professionals occur in contexts that are more dynamic, fluid, and collaborative than the contexts of classrooms where objectives and activities are primarily scripted by instructors and enacted by students in response (113).

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RECOMMENDATIONS
RECOMMENDATION TO IMPLEMENT CHANGES WITHIN UNIVERSITY DEGREE PROGRAMS
In every effort to facilitate a smooth immersion into the workplace, I recommend that the university focus on the degree programs that have a writing component and integrate the following procedures: 1. Provide opportunities for extensive practice: Repeated activities have been proven to aid in the transfer of knowledge from one situation to another. 2. Explicitly abstract principles: Explicit abstractions from actual real world situations and other similar situations along with the exploration of the connections between seemingly disparate contexts, aid in the transfer of knowledge and the practice in transferring knowledge. 3. Promote mindfulness: Promote activities and learning situations that maintain a students state of alertness to their activities and their surroundings. This state of mindfulness aids in the transfer of knowledge from one situation to another. 4. Encourage self-reflection: Regular self-reflection encourages the ability to transfer knowledge. 5. Use metaphors and analogies: The use of metaphors and analogies help to bridge and connect knowledge. Other than the implementation of the above recommendations within the course work of various classes within the degree programs, I would recommend that the university implement the following: 1. Make the Technical Writing course a requirement within all degree programs that include some element of writing. 2. Make it mandatory that all students have at least one internship experience (semester long duration) before they graduate, such as is done in the education department. In addition to the implemented course and internship as recommended above, I would suggest that university personnel, including faculty student advisors and all other advising staff, recommend to their students that they should enter the workplace with an open mind, a willingness to learn, and an understanding that the workplace is a constantly changing environment. Because employers are more interested in a candidate who is capable of learning while having experience that proves that they are tech savvy, I would recommend that all students are encouraged to: 1. Create a personal/portfolio website 2. Join social networks like LinkedIn 3. Create a blog

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CONTACT INFORMATION
Please contact me should you have any questions, concerns, comments, or if you would like to discuss this report further.

COREY DRESSEL, WSU GRADUATE STUDENT

Contact Information
Corey Dressel 828 Saddlewood Court Tel 608-385-8248 Fax 608-612-0300 Cdressel10@winona.edu http://coreydressel.com

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