Seven year plan for EDUS 702

1. Kyle Guzik
2/5/2017
Seven Year Career Plan
Timeline:
August 2016 Beginning of Art Education Ph.D. program
February 2017 Beginning of Seven Year Plan
May 2017 Summer Electives, EMT Certification
August 2017 Qualifying Exam
First Year Review form x 2
December 2017 Submit Concept Paper
January 2018 EDUS 890: Dissertation Seminar
EDUS 700: Externship (6-8 hrs/week)
May 2018 Prospectus Hearing
December 2018 Comprehensive Exam
Admission to Candidacy
May 2019 Dissertation Defense
Graduation
August 2019 Working in Richmond Public Schools (Year 1)
(*current first choice), Henrico, or
Chesterfield, or at a private or charter school as
an (art) teacher
Begin National Board Certification
May 2019 Complete National Board Certification
September 2020 Richmond Public Schools Year 2
Begin Applications (if available) for Adjunct
and/or Associate Professor Positions in the
Richmond Area:
1) VCU
2) John Tyler Community College
3) J Sargent Reynolds Community
College
4) John Tyler Community College
5) University of Richmond
Begin Applications (if available) for
1. Institute for Contemporary Art
2. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
September 2021 Richmond Public Schools Year 3
May 2022 Tenure (Richmond Public Schools)
Continue working as an art teacher (goal is 9-
12, gifted and talented
Continue applications to available positions
relevant to my education, skills, and experience
(primary goal is VCU)

2. Expand job search outside of Richmond Area:
1. Louisiana School for Math, Science
and the Arts
2. University of Chicago
3. University of Maine
4. University of Maine at Farmington
5. University of Maine at Machias
6. University of Southern Maine
7. Southern Maine Community College
8. Eastern Maine Community College
9. Bowdoin College
10. Maine College of Art
11. University of Virginia
12. Clemson University
13. College of William & Mary
14. UC Berkeley
15. Stanford University
16. University of Hawaii
17. University of Washington
18. University of Montreal
19. University of British Columbia
20. University of Auckland
September 2022 Richmond Public Schools Year 4
Or full time (ideally) public university
professor year 1
September 2023 Richmond Public Schools Year 5
Or professor year 1,2
September 2024 Richmond Public Schools Year 6
Begin exploring administrative certification to
have the option of becoming an assistant
principal, principal, superintendent, etc.
Begin exploring relevant work in city, state or
federal government
Continue academic job search
Or professor year 1,2,3

3. MissionStatement:
“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” – Henry Adams
"Permanencia, un acto de sacrificio," Motto of Base Esperanza (Argentina), Antarctica
My goal is to conduct research in art education, become an art educator, create art, and help
students to use, understand, and appreciate the natural world and art.
Career Plan Narrative:
In February 2024, I will be 38 years old (my birthday is in August). While I started my Ph.D. a
little later than I might have predicted ten years ago, my program has only existed for two years
so perhaps it is all for the best. Currently, I have about four years of teaching experience
including three years as a full time public school teacher. This seven year career plan presents an
optimistic view in which I have an extended period of good health and advance continuously
year after year.
My program plan is designed with the expectation of completion after three years. In years 1
(now) and 2 I plan and expect myself to continue with my graduate assistantship, which is part
time, 20 hours per week. I hope to obtain or be extended an assistantship for year 3. To expand
my academic experience I have begun taking Judo and a glass fabrication class. I hope to
continue taking electives in the art school, not necessarily for graduate credit, as possible for the
next 2 ½ years. My goal is to complete my qualifying exam, concept paper, prospectus hearing,
dissertation proposal, candidacy exam, and defense and graduate on May 2019 or August 2019 at
the latest.
This career plan is designed to give me the maximum number of options for potential work
possible as I know that all paths are not always open and are subject to changing circumstances.
If am prepared for multiple options I can increase the probability of finding a path with stability
and financial security. I also want to find work that fits my lifestyle and is dependent upon my
strengths so that I can continue making art and do not create unnecessary stress in my life by
trying to do work for which I am ill suited. There is work that is tangentially related to my
education and experience, such as in the for profit education industry, but this is what I am trying
to avoid. I know I won’t be happy with a 9-5 job selling textbooks and interactive whiteboards,
nor will I be able to meet sales quotas or other productivity goals. I also do not believe this type
of work offers adequate benefits or would allow me to contribute to society in a way I find
meaningful. That is why I want to focus on academic work in schools, universities, or possibly
museums.
I am not ideologically opposed to for profit work, when it fits my long term goals and is
practical. I have worked as a rater and scoring leader for ETS in the last 2 summers, which can
be flexibly scheduled around my summer classes. I hope to do this again this summer and earn
some extra money. I would also like to obtain EMT certification through a course that I expect
will be offered at VCU this summer as it was last year. I think this sort of certification would
make me more attractive to schools because it would show that I am well rounded and can deal

4. with unexpected difficult situations. I recently obtained a five year renewable teacher license in
Virginia in pK-12 art and biology and will apply to add on my master’s degree to get a gifted
endorsement. I hope that this combination of licensure and an A.B. in Visual Art, M.A.Ed. in
Gifted Education, and Ph.D. in Art Education, as well as my three years as a public school
teacher (in math and biology at a middle school and high school) will make me an appealing
candidate for a job as a secondary art teacher. I am currently a substitute in Richmond Public
Schools and while I only sub a few days a month I hope this will be a useful experience that will
help me become familiar with RPS and find a job. I know from experience that I need to find the
right specialization as a teacher, for example if I tried to become a middle school science at an
alternative school for students with behavioral disabilities (a position that I might technically be
qualified for and for which there is some demand), I won’t be able to adequately meet their needs
and my career will not advance. That is why I am trying to become a highly qualified teacher for
talented art students. These jobs are rare so I am trying to build the best possible entry level
resume.
After I complete my Ph.D., I would like to obtain National Board Licensure. I would like to
complete this during my first year as an art teacher. The certification process is being revised but
it involves building a portfolio and documenting my planning and instruction, which is not
dissimilar from the alternative teacher certification program, Teach Baton Rouge, through which
I obtained initial licensure in Louisiana. This certification would give me a license to teach
anywhere in the United States, dramatically expanding my geographic flexibility. I have lived in
Baton Rouge, Natchitoches, Chicago, Williamsburg, and Richmond, and while I enjoy
occasional travel, I strongly dislike the moving process so I want to “get it right” with any
subsequent moves. I picked Richmond carefully due to its proximity to rivers, parks, a vibrant
art scene, and also the VCU Department of Art Education, among other factors, so I am pleased
to be here and plan to stay for as long as I continue to find the region enjoyable and can obtain
meaningful work.
I have listed for myself some universities I have considered or tried to get into previously. I
know that university professor jobs are extremely competitive so if I want to pursue that track I
may need to be geographically flexible. Another way to look at it is that academic choices
involve geography. Once I complete the Ph.D. I would probably be qualified to apply for a
faculty job at my high school, LSMSA in Natchitoches, LA. It is an isolated place but I was
happy there so it is worth considering. My alma mater, University of Chicago, doesn’t have an
art education program, but Chicago is a nice and complex place, although a bit cold and dark, but
maybe I could find something there if I put my mind to it. In addition to VCU, which is where I
would like to stay, I am interested in other colleges and universities in Richmond and in the
universities in nearby regions such as Williamsburg, Charlottesville, Norfolk and D.C. The
College of William & Mary has a certain charm, although I’m not sure what place I could find
there. However for the three to five years after graduating I would like to teach secondary art in
Henrico, Chesterfield or RPS if I can handle it and obtain tenure.
If I do need to move far away I am most interested in relocating to Maine as I have been there
before and found it very peaceful. Politically, I might feel at home on the West Coast and had
been interested in moving there in the past. Canada and New Zealand might be the safest
Anglophone countries to escape to if the United States continues to degenerate, global warming

5. continues unchecked, or worse. I can understand a little French but I am not going to be able to
work at an academic level or be socially useful in another language within the next seven years.
Another possibility would be to find work at a museum like VMFA. I watch with interest the
progress on the ICA construction and it will be finished hopefully around the time I graduate, so
perhaps they will be hiring.
If I find I am not capable of conducting research in art education over the long term another
option for a career change with a better salary would be in administration. Perhaps five to seven
years from now I could obtain principal certification with the goal of becoming an assistant
principal and then a principal or superintendent, or I could work in administration at the city,
state, or federal level. I am interested in political activity in the general sense, but that would
have to be during my mid to late career, and honestly money and power are not my priorities. I
also dislike the metrics that are used to evaluate administrators so I would have to give up a lot
for a somewhat higher salary. Whatever I do, I want to ensure that I have time to occasionally
go away from civilization and look at nature, and also time to make art. Retirement is not part of
my career plan and I hope to be professionally active for the rest of my life. I am very curious to
see how the next three years go because by the end I will have a better understanding of my
ability to conduct research and this will help me make long term decisions. Placing a work of art
in a museum would also be an achievement that could endure for some time although perhaps
less so than the positive influence I could have on potentially thousands of students over the
course of my career. This will all require good health, continuous learning, planning,
persistence, and, of course, luck.