Preparing Future Faculty at UNL
For a decade, the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program has cultivated a new vision of how to prepare doctoral students to become members of a college or university faculty. This new vision identifies teaching, research, and service as the three expectations for faculty at most institutions of higher learning and asserts that doctoral students planning to pursue an academic career should begin learning about each of these elements of the academic profession prior to earning the degree. This new vision holds that students should gain experience with faculty roles in both their home institutions and institutions not usually involved in doctoral education, e.g., liberal arts and community colleges and master's institutions.
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The UNL PFF program provides doctoral students with opportunities to observe and experience faculty responsibilities at a variety of academic institutions with varying missions, diverse student bodies, and different expectations for faculty. |
Program Objectives Core PFF Concepts |
The PFF Program is part of the effort of the Office of Graduate Studies to enrich graduate education at UNL.
An essential element of a successful PFF program is the individual mentoring student participants receive from faculty members — both at UNL and at partner institutions. Many PFF students find the mentorship experience to be the most helpful and rewarding aspect of the program, and often they maintain lasting professional relationships with their PFF mentors.
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PFF fellows are advanced doctoral students selected by each participating department. The first part of the program is a five-week, on-campus summer seminar. The second part takes place over the fall semester, as students make two to four visits to a partner campus and participate in various mentoring activities. Fellows may opt for a spring mentoring activity at a second campus. |
Faculty mentors who choose to participate in the PFF program will be paired with a participating fellow. After an initial consultation in the fall, fellows and their mentors construct an individual program of activities designed to develop teaching competence, knowledge of the academic profession, and an understanding of the partner institution's academic culture. |
Benefits of Participating in PFF How to Apply to Become a Fellow Suggested Mentoring Activities PFF Annual Schedule |
For more information on any aspect of the PFF program, contact Dr. Laurie Bellows in the Office of Graduate Studies:
E-mail:
Phone: 402-472-9764
On Campus: 1100 Seaton Hall
