Preparing Future Faculty
Rationale for having a PFF program
"The PFF program is a great idea, which benefits both students and schools. Students can build accurate expectations about faculty positions and learn the relevant teaching and research skills as early as possible. Schools can have better prepared candidates available. ISU might not be able to hire its own graduates, but it can certainly improve its position by providing good future faculty."
- Master's student in the College of Business, ISU
"I sometimes wish that I had had an opportunity to attend "professor school" before my own baptism by fire, so to speak. The students can be about as merciless and unforgiving as an opera crowd. They’ve seen Jay Leno; now they want to know what you can do. I think the PFF program is an excellent way to bridge this gap and give hopeful future faculty the skills and advance preparation they need to make the right beginnings."
- Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, ISU
Higher education authorities agree on some areas that graduate education needs to address:
- Doctoral education focuses heavily on research, yet many graduates obtain academic positions at institutions where research is not the main focus.
- Graduate students continue to request increased mentoring.
- New Ph.D. faculty hires are generally unprepared for the demands of an academic career.
- Significant teaching experience is a determining factor in the hiring of many new faculty.
- Departments need additional tools for recruiting outstanding graduate students.
