Preparing Future Faculty Research Articles

Transforming Graduate Education: A New Vision of the Professoriate

A new program, Preparing Future Faculty (PFF), was developed by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Council of Graduate Schools, and the Pew Charitable Trusts. An important goal of the national program is to provide graduate students with practical teaching and advising experiences at neighboring undergraduate schools. Colloquia on critical issues in higher education complemented the practicum and brought together the different experiences of the graduate students pursuing degrees in History, English, Political Science, Math, Physics, and Chemistry. This program serves as a vehicle to promote understanding of the methods required to balance and integrate the demands of teaching, research, and service. PFF marks the beginning of a crucial new vision of the professoriate. This paper gives detailed discussions on program implementation at the Northwestern Cluster including PFF activities, strategies for building bridges across departments and institutions, personal experiences of two PFF fellows, and the tangible and intangible benefits of the PFF enterprise.