What does it take to be a professor? That’s the question I wanted to know as I sat down with Dr. Douglas Gaerte, chair of the Communication Department at Houghton College. As I transition into graduate school communication classes, the option of being a professor seems closer to a reality than it ever has before. I wanted to find out more.
Dr. Gaerte devoted a great chunk of time to meeting with me – nearly 45 minutes! – and talked me through all of the questions that I had. Because he’s been a professor for 26 years, he has a lot of insight to offer.
The first topic we discussed was how he became interested in being a professor and the path he took to achieve that goal. I learned that he was initially interested in law school, but didn’t like law school very much. An old professor of his suggested being a professor as a possibility for his career, and he’s never looked back. This was very similar to what I have experienced so far, which was quite encouraging!
We also discussed what he liked about being a professor (investing in the students) as well as both the growth of the Communication major at Houghton and what journals he reads (or tries to read) on a regular basis.
The final major point of discussion was about how the profession of being…well, a professor is changing. He agreed that the Internet was dramatically changing the profession. He also pointed to the fact that there may be less full-time positions for professors than a decade ago. Dr. Gaerte gave me some good insight into the areas of Communication which seemed to be expanding, however.
Even if I had gotten no useful information, I think this experience of an informational interview would have been very worth it for the networking connection alone. The fact that I gained a connection and got a great deal of useful information makes the experience doubly valuable.
I think I have a much better understanding of what it takes to be a professor now, and I’m grateful for the time that Dr. Gaerte took out of his day to devote to me.
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