Press Release

CONTACT: Ric Weibl
(202) 387-3760
E-mail: weibl@aacu.org

PFF Awarded New Grant for Social Sciences and Humanities Program

Washington, DC—November 7, 1999—The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) have received a private gift of $1,635,000 to support a new program, Shaping the Preparation of Future Social Science and Humanities Faculty, that addresses the doctoral preparation of future faculty in the social sciences and the humanities. CGS and AAC&U will direct the highly collaborative project by coordinating the work of six social science and humanities disciplinary associations (American Historical Association, American Political Science Association, American Psychological Association, American Sociological Association, National Communication Association and National Council of Teachers of English) collaborating with the initiative.

The initiative builds on and extends the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program that CGS and AAC&U have lead since 1993 with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts and the National Science Foundation. The new program brings research universitiesCthe "producers" of Ph.Ds.Cand colleges and universitiesCthe "consumers" who hire Ph.Ds.Cinto partnership. The partners will offer faculty preparation that highlights the broad mission of undergraduate education and the diverse needs and characteristics of students entering the academy. Doctoral degree-granting departments from institutions ranging from community colleges to comprehensive universities will form partnerships with similar academic departments that have created departmental clusters as learning laboratories to train graduate students in the broad range of faculty responsibilities. Each professional society will select at least four doctoral degree-granting departments to receive grants. Over a two-year period, the departments will create innovative faculty preparation programs based on Preparing Future Faculty concepts. Throughout the implementation of the new programs, the societies and higher education organizations will disseminate their findings to their constituencies and promote new thinking about the professional development of future faculty.

To obtain free brochures about the Preparing Future Faculty Program and this new project, visit the PFF web site (www.preparing-faculty.org)