1. Experiences in the Preparing Future Faculty Program, 2007-2008 Michael Kramer, D’Arcy Reynolds, Jason Lanter, Christina Brown, & Cecilia Shore Department of Psychology, Miami University, Oxford, OH Preparing Future Faculty is a joint initiative by American Association of Colleges and Universities and the Council of Graduate Schools to improve the preparation of graduate students for faculty roles. A key feature is forming partnerships with non-doctoral institutions, so that students learn about the ways in which faculty responsibilities are affected by institutional contexts, and increase doctoral students' awareness of diversity issues. Our program is funded by the American Psychological Association. What is the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) Program? Midwest Institute for Students and Teachers of Psychology (MISTOP) An important goal of the Preparing Future Faculty program is to help members learn how faculty responsibilities are affected by institutional context. A highlight has been the opportunity for our doctoral students to do “placements” and be mentored by our partner faculty at College of Mount St. Joseph, Northern Kentucky University, Earlham College, and Miami's regional campuses at Hamilton and Middletown. In order to reciprocate our partners for their investment in our grad students, in 2001 we started the Tri- State APA-PFF Symposium, which is primarily a professional development opportunity for partner undergraduates. They show their research posters and attend events about graduate school admissions and life. Opportunities are also presented for graduate students to learn about faculty roles and for doctoral and partner faculty to learn about topics of mutual interest. TRI-STATE SYMPOSIUM We led a panel discussion, titled, Perennial Interpersonal Problems with Introductory Psychology. Abstract Introductory courses often bring some relational issues into focus. How do we deal with students’ expectations about the course? How do we help students adjust their expectations of workload and grades to college levels? How do we balance approachability with authority, and deal with students’ expectations that, as psychologists, we can deal with their personal problems? How do we help students learn to discuss controversial issues with civility? In this session, we will present vignettes and advice from experts as starting points for discussion. At MISTOP we also met with representatives from DePaul University who are currently building a PFF program for their psychology department. Faculty and graduate students from DePaul University as well as faculty from potential partner campuses were in attendance. 2007-2008 SCHOLARS Michael Kramer “As an APA/PFF Scholar, I was able to engage in activities with our partner campuses that gave me tremendous incite into what faculty life is like at a smaller campus without a graduate program. I was able gain an understanding of the student populations by shadowing professors as they taught, as well as by having direct interactions with undergraduates. I was then able to follow-up with the professors in personal meetings to discuss their classes, their teaching styles, and their institutions. I was also able to gain new perspectives on faculty life during area and departmental faculty meetings. Additionally, I was able to discuss my own interests, and how they might fit into a smaller psychology department. I now feel much more prepared to enter the job market, both in terms of what different types of psychology departments are looking for, and in terms of where I will be able to thrive given my interests and goals as a psychologist seeking a job in academia.” D’Arcy Reynolds “The biggest benefit of participating in PFF at Miami has been to broaden my exposure to teaching at the undergraduate level. I have taught at the College of Mount St. Josephs for one semester (one class of introductory psychology) and Northern Kentucky University for three semesters (four classes of introductory psychology and one class of abnormal psychology). During this time, I've been mentored by the chair of the psychology department at Northern Kentucky University, Perilou Goddard, Ph.D. A primary learning experience has been teaching a more diverse population of students than is typically found at my home institution. At the same time, I have enjoyed the further socialization into my chosen profession. The most growth inducing experience has been trying to recalibrate my teaching approach by modifying the rules and structure in my class to reflect more of a caring approach to teaching.” Jason Lanter “The goal of my participation in PFF was to learn more about faculty’s non-teaching roles at a small university. I completed some teaching related opportunities (i.e., guest lectures, grading papers) but the primary focus was on seeing how the faculty members take on their service roles at Earlham College. The committee meetings I attended were helpful in showing me how faculty contributes in many ways to student life on campus, as well as the governance of the institution. PFF has been a wonderful learning experience for me; one that I feel was tremendously helpful in preparing me for my teaching career and gave me a “leg up” during my job search. In fact during one job interview, the Dean asked me specifically about PFF and was impressed by the amount of teaching professional development available in the program. I highly encourage any graduate student thinking about a teaching career to participate in PFF.” Christina Brown “The PFF program has been a terrific experience that I was able to tailor to best fit my teaching goals. My main involvement with a partner campus was assisting an online social psychology course at Northern Kentucky University. In addition to gaining experience with online courses, I was able to interact with students and faculty at a university similar to the type I hope to teach at in the future. The MISTOP conference was also very beneficial; the teaching tips presented in each session were immediately useful and the opportunity to present at a teaching conference was an enjoyable activity that I hope to do again in the future. All in all, the PFF program has been a great experience that was directly relevant to my professional goals, and I feel much more comfortable and prepared for my future as a faculty member than I was before I began the program.”