Preparing future faculty programs take many different shapes, but there is a configuration of principles that animate them. Perhaps the most generic is that graduate students should enter the academic profession as competent professionals who have already begun a process of growth as scholars, as teachers, and as members of an academic community. This marks a significant departure from the usual approach of focusing nearly exclusively on research. Graduate students who aspire to faculty positions should be regarded as "colleagues-in-training" and have opportunities to see the full spectrum of faculty roles. Below are five more specific principles.
1. PFF programs depend on high quality training for undergraduate teaching and for the other roles and responsibilities of faculty. To this end, the graduate experience should include:
a) increasingly independent and varied teaching responsibilities
b) opportunities to grow and develop as a scholar
c) opportunities to serve the department and campus
d) strategies for finding academic employment
2. Apprentice teaching, research, and service experiences should be planned so that they are appropriate to the student's stage of development and progress toward the degree. These experiences should be thoughtfully integrated into the academic program and sequence of degree requirements.
3. The graduate program should include a formalized system of mentoring in teaching and other aspects of professional development. This should be as integral to the degree as the supervision of the dissertation.
4. An important attribute of PFF is to give graduate students information about and direct experience with the diverse kinds of institutions that may become their professional homes.
5. Since the graduate experience should prepare future faculty for the classrooms and campuses of tomorrow, they should learn about the role of technology in the delivery of instruction and the needs of diverse student populations and institutional missions.
