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Preparing the Future STEM Faculty: Poster Abstracts |
| University of Massachusetts - Amherst |
| The Preparing Future Faculty Component of the UMass Amherst Chemistry Graduate Program |
Since the summer of 2000, the UMass Chemistry graduate program has included a preparing future faculty (PFF) component based on the national model developed over the period 1993-1997 by the various graduate schools who pioneered the program at the invitation of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS). The creation of our program resulted from a submission of a proposal to the American Chemical Society (ACS) in response to a call for proposals in 1999. ACS, along with several other science disciplinary groups, had received NSF funding to stimulate interest in PFF within the STEM disciplines. In common with the PFF model, we have a number of partner institutions allied with our program, whose chemistry faculty acts as a resource. In our case, faculty from Smith, Amherst, Hampshire, and Mount Holyoke Colleges, and Greenfield and Holyoke Community Colleges act as mentors. Our program includes numerous activities related to the development of a teaching philosophy, several activities related to the development of research ideas and a few activities related to the service component of a faculty position. Participants attend workshops, take classes, interview visiting faculty, work partner faculty, teach in the classroom (as well as in the laboratory), mentor undergraduates and near peers. About 20 students, at various stages of their graduate careers, are currently involved; about 5 students have graduated and several are currently employed in faculty positions. A more detailed view of our program will be provided, together with an evaluative commentary by a senior graduate student participant.
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