What Colleges and Universities Want in New Faculty
by Kathrynn A. Adams

How Do Preparing Future Faculty Programs Prepare Students for Faculty Roles?
Although universities are encouraged to design their own PFF programs based on their strengths and the interests of the faculty and students, several common activities help their graduate students to prepare for academic positions in different kinds of institutions.

All PFF programs include preparation for teaching, research, and service, the three aspects of a faculty member's role in most colleges and universities. They do this through courses with such titles as “College Teaching and The Academic Professional,” as well as through workshops and informal brown bag discussions.

PFF programs give graduate students direct personal experience at different types of institutions. For instance, a student may visit a liberal arts college, comprehensive university, or a community college and learn about their different missions, student bodies, and expectations for faculty.

Many PFF students are assigned a faculty mentor at a different type of institution to plan and teach a unit of a course and receive feedback and advice, to attend a department or faculty meeting, and to participate in a faculty development activity.
Often students are encouraged to prepare professional portfolios documenting achievements in teaching, research, and academic citizenship that are useful in the job search.

Typically students receive assistance preparing a resumé, writing an application letter, and doing mock interviewing.

Graduate students tend to be enthusiastic about these opportunities because they learn about the profession they seek to enter, they learn important skills in finding a job and are able to start a new position with greater competence and confidence.