PROGRAM GOVERNANCE

Advisory Committee:

The PFF program is governed by an advisory committee composed of faculty representatives from the participating departments, graduate student representatives from the participating departments, administrative representatives from the College of Arts & Sciences and the Office of Graduate Studies, and a representative from a partner institution.

Director:

The PFF director is a UNL faculty member selected by the advisory committee to oversee the operation of the program.

Project Coordinator:

The PFF project coordinator is a graduate assistant who assists the director in administering the program. Among other duties, the project coordinator oversees the operation of the on-campus seminar, maintains communication with the various PFF participants through email lists and the PFF web site, and coordinates activities between PFF fellows and partner institutions.

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

UNL Departments:

 In 1998-1999, four UNL departments have agreed to participate in the PFF program. These departments are Communication Studies, English, Mathematics and Statistics, and Sociology. Each department will assign up to five advanced doctoral students to participate in the program.

Partner Institutions:

In 1998-1999, seven partner institutions have agreed to participate in the PFF program. These colleges and universities are Chadron State College (Chadron, NE), Creighton University (Omaha, NE), Doane College (Crete, NE), Grambling State University (Grambling, LA), Metropolitan Community College (Omaha, NE), Nebraska Wesleyan University (Lincoln, NE), and the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The departments of Communication Studies, English, Mathematics, and Sociology at each partner institution will help mentor visiting PFF fellows.

Funding:

 PFF funding is provided by a combination of internal and external support. Internal support has come from the College of Arts & Sciences and the Office of Graduate Studies. External support has been obtained through grants from the National Communication Association and the Pew Charitable Trusts.

College of Arts & Sciences:

 The College of Arts & Sciences initiated the PFF project. The Arts & Sciences College Plan (Fall 1996) sets as goals for graduate education the effective preparation of "the future professoriate for careers in a broad range of post-secondary institutions," the enhancement of "GTA training as part of training future professors," and the encouragement of "faculty/graduate student mentor programs to enhance both teaching and research" (p. 2). As a consequence, the first four departments involved in the PFF program are disciplines in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Office of Graduate Studies:

The PFF project is part of the Office of Graduate Studies effort to enrich graduate education at UNL. Graduate Studies received and administers the Pew Charitable Trusts award to support PFF. Graduate Studies will award PFF Fellows a certificate upon their completion of the program.

 

PREPARING FUTURE FACULTY FELLOWS

Selection:

 PFF fellows are advanced doctoral students who are presently either graduate teaching or research assistants. The fellows are selected by procedures internal to each participating department. The number of mentors at partnership institutions limits the number of students who may participate.

Responsibilities:

 PFF fellows have four major responsibilities: (1) They must participate in three semester-long, on-campus seminars (held during the Fall, Spring, and Summer terms). (2) They must participate in a variety of activities at partner campuses. They will be assigned a partner campus in both the Fall and Spring semesters. They are expected to make two to six visits during the semester. They may also choose to visit one of our distance partners (Grambling State University and Chadron State College). (3) They must participate in program assessment activities. During the course of the year, PFF fellows will be asked to evaluate the seminar presentations and the mentoring activities. (4) Fellows are expected to return to the 1999-2000 seminar for at least one session to share their experiences with the new PFF class.

Back to PFF Overview | Back to PFF Home