University pledges career support for graduates


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USC’s Rossier School of Education, ranked No. 17 among graduate schools by U.S. News & World Report, announced Thursday that the school will grant professional support to any alumnus who reaches out.

Beginning on Thursday, the USC Rossier Commitment will provide any alumni with ongoing resources to help them excel in their professional career. Alumni can call the “rapid response team,” which includes a Rossier faculty member who will help create a plan for improvement and guide alumni to resources to help them achieve professional success.

“I am exceedingly proud of the USC Rossier Commitment to stand behind our graduates and their abilities to improve student learning,” Rossier Dean Karen Symms Gallagher told USC News. “I challenge other colleges and universities to join us and take responsibility for the quality of their graduates and America’s teachers. As the country focuses on effective teaching to improve student outcomes, we are doing our part to support our graduates in evolving their practice and being the most impactful teachers they can be.”

A program has been established to administer the USC Rossier Commitment, which includes a hotline and an email that students and alumni can use to contact the school. Gallagher is starting the rapid response team with nine staffers, three of whom are from the teachers education program. These staffers will conduct program diagnosis and plan development. The faculty could even visit the school site to assess graduates’ work. A roster of resources is also available for the graduates.

Gallagher estimated that about 25,000 graduates are eligible for the service, but she didn’t expect an initial flood of calls. Rossier operates a large online program, and about 2,000 students graduate from the school four times a year. Of this number, 1,800 are part of the online program.

Though a press release sent out by USC News referred to the new program as a “groundbreaking pledge,” some experts disagreed about how big the news truly was.

Rick Hess, political scientist and education analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, told USA Today that USC’s move was “less a game changer than an admirable and ambitious effort to provide much needed support to new teachers.”

The USC Rossier Commitment will enhance the efforts to evaluate and improve the school’s program, Gallagher said. The school is committed to providing graduates with research-based knowledge and skills to make a difference in the classroom by delivering academically rigorous programs that combine theory and practice.

 

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