The Preparing Future Faculty Program PFF

1
The Preparing Future Faculty Program (PFF)

• A summary of its national evaluation conducted by
  West Ed, by Myles Boylan

2
Outline of Discussion

• What is PFF?
• Is it unique?
• The case for -- potential impact of PFF
• Its funding history
• Its impact - basic data about number of various
  participants
• Its impact as measured by survey data from 4
  categories of respondents (graduate faculty,
  graduate students, partner institution faculty,
  graduate deans)
• Synthesis and final observations

3
PFF Defined

• Overarching PFF goals are to acculturate doctoral
  students to a broader range of faculty careers
  better prepare them for teaching and service.
  largely successful
• A secondary PFF objective is to capture the
  interest of more graduate faculty in engaging
  issues of teaching effectiveness, scholarship,
  and student learning. largely unsuccessful

4
PFF Defined (2)

• A standard PFF organizational unit
  1 doctoral univ. 2-17 institutional partners
  more dedicated to undergraduate teaching.
• AACU, CGS, and in 11 disciplinary societies
  coordinate these units.
• A local PFF director and select faculty
  administrators provide services to participating
  graduate students.
• Unit disciplines range from 1 to many.

5
PFF Defined Activities

• Seminars on faculty careers effective teaching
• Mentoring graduate students for teaching
  service
• Visits/ internships at partner institutions
• Career guidance job search assistance
• --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
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• Student participation - selective in some units
• - typically voluntary (rarely
  widespread)
• Certificates are awarded by some units

6
PFF intersects other activities and initiatives

• PFF inspired by efforts to improve TAs
• Many PFF units located in TL Centers
• But PFF is more than TA training It seeks to
  acculturate students to a broader view.
• - It also covers advising, mentoring, service
• PFF is served by Re-envisioning the Ph.D. and
  overlaps with
• The Responsive Ph.D.
• The Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate
• (ASU, Howard, Duke, IU, CO are in all 3)

7
The Case for Broadening Grad Ed (PFF)

• NAGPS survey (32K responses) found students want
  broad curricula for more career choice good
  information about careers.
• Many in graduate faculty unfamiliar with faculty
  life in other types of institutions.
• Culture dominated by research focus
• Excess inventory of research postdocs with few
  fading teaching and service skills

8
PFF Funding History

• Began in 1994 with a Pew grant tto AACU CGS
  (about 50 given to 17 universities)
• Pew provided Phase 2 funds in 1996 to 15
  universities (10 also supported in Phase 1)
• NSF grant in 1999 thru AACU CGS to 5
  disciplinary associations to 19 departments
• APS grant in 2000 through 6 new disciplinary
  associations to 25 departments
• Total of 7.8 million awarded 2.8m to depts.

9
PFF Impact Numbers Supported

• 44 unique doctoral universities (28 of recent
  Ph.D.s, but many fields are not in PFF)
• Other PFF institutions have started w/o external
  funding
• 339 unique cluster institutions
• 11 disciplinary societies in Phases 3 4
• 4,000 students have participated fully
• Only a fraction of eligible students have chosen
  to be in PFF

10
According to 175 Grad Faculty Respondents, PFF
developed better skills of PFF
Participants (vs. Non-PFF Peers) Once New Faculty
Five Point Scale (5 High, 3 Moderate, 1
Low)

• 88 of Graduate faculty say PFF has improved
  quality.
• 67 believe it has improved faculty mentoring.
• 63 believe it has changed the culture in their
  dept.
• 48 believe it has changed the culture in their
  institution.
• - (no difference single discipline vs. hybrid
  PFF units)

11
Incentives for graduate faculty participation

• PFF grants disallowed direct salary support, but
• 73 of the faculty indicated that their efforts
  on behalf of PFF are valued and rewarded.
• More detailed evidence from discussions and case
  studies indicate that faculty were not
  financially rewarded.
• Further, PFF work typically counts as service,
  not scholarship.
• PFF graduate faculty relatively scarce in most
  units (e.g. 4 respondents per unit)

12
How important were PFF activities to 963
responding PFF graduate students?
On career options, faculty roles, differences
in institution types, and job
search. Through teaching experience
guidance, and by developing broader
credentials.
13
Opinions of PFF graduate students

• Most Valued Specific Activities
• experienced gained teaching courses (80)
• teaching mentoring (67)
• projects at partner instns // courses seminars
• 71 // 67 of current PFF grad students
• 67 // 61 of those now in faculty jobs
• 60 // 61 of others now employed
• Least Valued Activities
• informal meetings 50 of academics 40 if out
• Interactions with graduate students from other
  departments 48 of students, 41 of employed

14
Perspectives of PFF graduate students

• Did PFF help get your post-PhD. Job?
• Yes 63 of new ten-track faculty (N 195)
• Yes 42 of new non-TT faculty (N 113)
• Yes 21 of those in non-faculty jobs (N 140)
• Recommend to peers?
• 73 said yes unconditionally
• 25 said yes only for students planning
  academic careers
• PFF had larger effect on completion (12) than on
  increasing time-to-degree (only 9)

15
31 responding grad deans on PFF Impact

• 75 thought Phases 1 and 2 had changed graduate
  education - mostly moderately.
• 50 thought Phases 3 and 4 had changed graduate
  education.
• -- 30 thought Phase 4 had a dramatic impact.
• They think that their graduate faculty are
• very interested in changing grad ed (only 9)
• only somewhat interested in changing (69)
• not interested in changing (16)

16
Synthesis and Conclusions

• PFF has been surprisingly successful (given
  funding) for graduate students on faculty career
  paths students, faculty, and deans.
• It has been moderately successful in changing
  culture of graduate education in participating
  departments and universities faculty deans.
• It has not been able to achieve participation by
  a critical mass of faculty deans, data, even
  though initial resistance to it has faded.
• It has been partly institutionalized in many of
  the 44 universities and completely so in a few
  case studies, survey responses.

17
Synthesis and Conclusions (2)

• Inter-departmental PFF activities tend to be less
  valued by students than those focused in their
  discipline.
• Inter-institutional activities are very useful.
• Seminars and courses are very useful.
• Specific teaching focus is prized by most.
• Hybrid PFF model embracing depts. the graduate
  dean is most effective most likely to become
  institutionalized.