Employment success and satisfaction among graduates of Tennessee Technological University's Master of Science program in fisheries management

Journal of Instructional Psychology, June, 2004 by Peter L. Kranz, Richard A. Steele, Nick L. Lund, S. Bradford Cook

These graduate fisheries biologists also reported that their strong educational background was helpful in their performance of duties and maintaining their positions. One student indicated that the "matrix of classes, research, group interaction, writing, and public communication has been helpful in my career." Another concurred, stating that, "All of the basic techniques of fisheries management were covered in my coursework. I have used and continue to use these basic techniques in my daily work assignments."

One recurring theme in almost every survey returned was that the specific training and experience at TTU had prepared the graduates for identical skill requirements encountered on the job. One summarized, saying "The techniques we use (at work) were adequately covered." Another was glad that he had been given the leeway to choose his own field of research and study while at TTU: "'My Master's work was on tailwater trout fisheries, and that is what I am working on in my job." Several commented that their background made them more capable than the average fisheries agency biologist to successfully complete typical workplace requirements. One respondent summed this up with the following comment:

   I have a wider range of field work than
   most other staff, making it easier to understand
   a wider range of proposed study
   plans. Because of my expansive field
   work. I have a greater insight through
   which to objectively investigate alternative
   study methods that could meet the
   intended study objective.

Suggestions to further develop/refine the TTU fisheries program

For the most part, graduates were pleased with their coursework. Some courses in particular were identified as having been especially helpful. Some of those beneficial courses specifically named included statistics, Arc View, GIS, and biometrics (all mentioned numerous times), Fisheries Management, Environmental Fisheries Management, Reservoir Fisheries Management, Advanced Fisheries Management, Management of Wetland Wildlife, Fish and Wildlife Biometrics, Invertebrate Zoology, Fish Culture, and "the graduate level civil engineering courses dealing with reservoir issues."

New fisheries management coursework recommended

As with any advanced technical field, new developments and newly required areas of expertise are always being added, particularly in a field requiring extensive compliance with changing state and federal guidelines. As one graduate stated, graduate programs must "Remain adaptive and responsive to market needs for fisheries professionals." One such need, just recently becoming a hot topic in the Southeast, is what is known as 'fish passage,' which is the migratory spawning patterns of many types of fish, including salmon (sockeye, steelhead, soho, chinook, etc.) trout, whitefish, char, and grayling. Fisheries biologists now understand that such movements are not issues only in the Northwestern states and Alaska. One respondent suggested the following:

   Fish passage issues should be discussed
   in greater detail. Fish passage issues
   have largely been ignored outside the
   Northwest and Northeast regions. Passage
   issues are becoming a hot topic in
   the Southeast (especially in NC, SC,
   and GA) and should be included in the
   curriculum.