The University of Michigan IRACDA Program: Training Future Professors of Engineering and Physiology

Abstract

Doctoral universities with moderate to high research activity comprise only ten percent of U.S. higher education institutions 1. Many STEM PhD graduates that find work as professors will be employed at R2, R3, and other primarily undergraduate institutions, where teaching plays a big role in determining their tenure. Unfortunately, many graduate and postdoctoral programs regard teaching as an optional task and do not provide explicit training. Programs that want to ensure their graduates will be successful on the job market must teach them how to teach.The Institutional Career and Academic Development Award (IRACDA) Program is an NIH‐funded training grant that “combines a traditional mentored postdoctoral research experience with an opportunity to develop academic skills, including teaching, through workshops and mentored teaching assignments at a partner institution” 2. There are currently 21 research‐intensive universities with a funded grant, partnered with 47 primarily undergraduate institutions “that have a historical mission and a demonstrated commitment to providing training, encouragement and assistance to students from groups underrepresented in the biomedical research enterprise of the nation” 2.The University of Michigan is a newer IRACDA program, with the first cohort starting in 2016. The two partner institutions are Wayne County Community College District and Henry Ford College, which both enroll a large proportion of part‐time and first‐generation students, as well as students from groups that are underrepresented in biomedical research. The general timeline of teaching training at UM starts with guest lecturing in a mentor’s class at the community college. Then, most postdocs serve as instructor of record at the community college. Postdoctoral scholars receive both peer feedback from teaching mentors and reviews from students. Scholars also participate in sessions run by UM’s Center for Research on Learning & Teaching, including a postdoctoral short course on teaching. An emerging unique feature of the Michigan IRACDA program is training in curriculum development and educational research and publication. Postdocs have implemented new laboratory exercises in classes at the community colleges, assessed student learning and opinions, and published their scholarship in educational journals. UM IRACDA postdocs also mentor students from the community colleges in their labs over the summer, giving the postdoctoral scholars experience in another aspect of teaching that is often overlooked by training programs – the ability to mentor – and fulfilling an additional goal of the IRACDA programs to “provide a resource to motivate the next generation of scientists” 2.IRACDA programs are very successful, with over 70% of their alumni going on to academic faculty careers 3. The UM IRACDA program represents an excellent model for training postdoctoral scholars to be successful faculty members by including explicit mentored training in research and teaching.Support or Funding InformationZ.T. & H.T. are funded by NIH K12‐GM111725.