Program Overview:

• Preparing the Professoriate is a program which gives faculty and doctoral students the opportunity to engage in a significant mentoring activity for an academic year. It is a central component of NC State's attempt to enrich and improve the way in which graduate students are trained at this university by providing students with a hands-on teaching opportunity under a distinguished faculty mentor who is recognized for his/her teaching skills. The program is open to doctoral students who plan careers as research/teaching scholars at colleges and universities. The program consists of an observation semester and a teaching or co-teaching semester.  In order to participate in the program, students must have completed 18 graduate credit hours in their major prior to the teaching semester, must be in good academic standing in their department, and must be at a point in their doctoral program where they have sufficient time to work with a Faculty Teaching Mentor. The program sponsors 7 workshops for participants throughout the academic year illuminating various aspects of college/university teaching. Participation in this program is a requirement for all NC State GAANN Fellows.  In addition, 10 doctoral students are selected for the program through a University-wide competition. Each of these students will receive a $2,000 stipend ($1,000 per semester). Chosen applicants who finish the program late due to an altered format in their observation/teaching semesters will be paid the second portion of the award after all requirements have been fulfilled.  International students may be accepted into the program but due to INS regulations will not receive the $2,000 stipend directly.  However, the stipend may be deposited into a departmental account for the student's utilization for program related expenses.  

• Preparing the Professoriate offers full-time, tenure-track faculty the opportunity to help prepare doctoral students for the entire range of activities which comprise an academic life, with a focus on the teaching component of professorial responsibilities. Participating faculty work with their graduate student Teaching Associates to develop individualized plans for a substantive teaching experience. The scope of this experience ranges from course preparation and planning to final course evaluation.

• A Professional Portfolio documenting the academic experience gained through research and teaching is developed during the mentorship program. This Portfolio may include such items as student evaluations of instruction, letters of recommendation which specifically address teaching, evidence of course planning and preparation, videotapes of teaching, and statements of teaching philosophy. Prospective Faculty Mentors and their Teaching Associates will also have the opportunity to participate in activities designed to enhance the academic climate for graduate education and develop this program more fully at NC State University.

• With the agreement of the faculty teaching mentor and the student's graduate advisor, a student may receive up to 3 hours course credit for the teaching semester of his or her participation in the Preparing the Professoriate program, under the course number designated for doctoral supervised teaching experience (885).The course prefix should be that of the faculty mentor's department, and the course will be S-U graded. Before granting course credit, the faculty mentor and student should agree on what additional assignments, if any, will be required in addition to the teaching portfolio. These might include an annotated bibliography of scholarship on teaching in the discipline, a research article on teaching, and/or other project(s).

• The PTP program is only open to PhD students.  If you are a master's degree student looking for a program to enhance your teaching experience, read about the CoAT program that is offered out of the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning.  Visit http://www.ncsu.edu/fctl

Examples of articles on teaching that have been produced as the result of Preparing the Professoriate include:

Application Guidelines:

• You must be a PhD student to participate in the program.

• The prospective Faculty Mentor and Teaching Associate should develop a plan for a significant teaching experience which encompasses two (2) semesters (preferably in the same academic year), including an observation semester and a teaching semester.

• You cannot teach a graduate level course.  It is university policy that you must be a member of the graduate faculty to teach at the graduate level.  You must therefore teach or co-teach at the undergraduate level.

• A brief overview of the mentoring plan should be written on the application form.

• Include curricula vitae for both the mentor and student.  The curricula vitae for mentors should be a maximum of two pages highlighting selected teaching activities.  

• The student must include a photocopy of his/her transcript in the application.

• Both the prospective Faculty Mentor and Teaching Associate should sign the application and submit it to Dr. Melissa Bostrom, Coordinator of Graduate Teaching Programs, The Graduate School, Box 7102, NCSU Campus.  Telephone:  515-2293.

• If you are a person with a disability and desire any assistive devices, services or other accommodations to participate in this program, please contact Dr. Melissa Bostrom in the Graduate School, at telephone: 515-2293, during business hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to discuss accommodations.

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