University at Albany Future Faculty Preparation Program
Title of Program: Certificate in College Teaching
Introduction
This will be an internal certificate program (not one that is registered with the State Board of
Education). We chose to make it a certificate program because that will allow our graduates to
quickly convey their training to potential employers by saying that they fulfilled the
requirements of this program (many other schools offer similar certificate programs). We chose
to create courses with actual course numbers (instead of only holding workshops on the topic) so
that students’ engagement with the certificate program would appear on their transcript. Indeed,
even students who do not complete the entire certificate program but choose to enroll in one of
the courses will demonstrate to prospective employers at least that much interest in their
preparation as future faculty members. To enroll in the certificate program, a student must
already be enrolled in a terminal degree program (PhD, MFA, etc.) at the University at Albany.
This is the crucial feature that makes this an internal certificate, not a degree program. Although
this internal certificate would have a course of study, it is not a degree program in the usual
sense.
We anticipate that this program would complement existing departmental professionalization
programs that already give us some “best practices” on campus, while at the same time make it
possible for students in departments that do not have such programs to prepare for the role of
college or university faculty member. We are currently “piloting” the first course in the sequence
—UNI 600—and in this course, as in the other aspects of the planned certificate, we are working
closely with departmental faculty and have consulted with faculty in relevant disciplinary units.
We anticipate tapping into faculty expertise across campus for this “Preparing Future Faculty”
program—whether this will mean inviting faculty to address students within the context of the
formally-offered courses or encouraging them to share their expertise with students via the
ITLAL workshop mechanism (or both) will evolve as the program becomes established.
We understand that the Committee on Curriculum and Instruction of GAC will be addressing
only the course action forms for UNI 601 and UNI 602 (UNI 600 has already been approved by
GAC), since CC&I does not have the authority to approve the certificate itself. We also
understand that there are some members of CC&I who are not members of GAC and were not
present for the initial discussion of UNI 600. We hope that CC&I will discuss the course action
forms within the context of the larger program and make a positive recommendation to GAC, so
that GAC can take up the question of the certificate approval informed by the CC&I discussion.
Rationale
The rationale for this program comes from the national Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program
started in the early 1990s by the American Association of Colleges and Universities and the
Council of Graduate Schools (funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts). This program was designed
to fulfill a need to prepare graduate students for all aspects of their future roles as faculty
members. Traditionally, departments have focused on preparing students as researchers. While
this is still an important part of a graduate student’s training, these organizations found that this
was often inadequate to fully prepare students to succeed in their faculty careers. In the early
2000s, a number of reports assessing graduate student preparation were released. These studies
found that while most students were still not being prepared in the best practices of teaching and
were not aware of the sorts of responsibilities that are typical of faculty positions at different
institutions, students graduating from PFF programs were reporting much better experiences in
getting jobs and proceeding toward tenure.
In light of the information provided by these reports, the Dean of Graduate Studies, working in
conjunction with the Institute for Teaching, Learning and Academic Leadership, has proposed a
certificate program to prepare University at Albany that was modeled on the original PFF
program. The national PFF program shared three core features:
1. A “cluster” of institutions—collaborating institutions anchored by a doctoral-
degree granting institution.
2. The program is directed toward familiarizing graduate students with “the full
scope of faculty roles and responsibilities.”
3. Multiple mentors—each graduate student will have guidance “not only for their
research activities, but also for their teaching and service activities.”1
It is our intention to retain these parts of the program, but modified in a manner to best serve the
needs of UAlbany students with the resources available to us. In particular we intend to imbue
students with a solid understanding of the scholarship of teaching and learning.
1. Coursework
The coursework component is designed to give students a familiarity with important aspects of
teaching and learning, the profession, and to guide them in preparing the teaching portfolio.
The courses that make up the proposed certificate program carry variable credit—0-1 credit each.
Our thinking behind this variable credit is to allow students to work out, with their graduate
program directors, what makes the best sense. Some graduate programs might not want students
to accrue actual credit for this program, but would support the 0 credit model. Others might see
an advantage for students to accrue a slight amount of elective credit. We are also aware that, for
students who have been advanced to candidacy and are required to take only a one-credit “load”
899 course, the 0 credit model may work best for them. In any event, there are numerous
precedents for 0 credit courses; this becomes a mechanism, above all, to grant students some
kind of credit—even if 0 credit—if they achieve a Satisfactory in course performance.
a) UNI 600: Seminar in College Teaching. 0-1 hr, variable
The course would be required of all participants in the certificate and closed to non-participants.
This course provides an overview of the scholarship of teaching and learning and emphasizes the
skills and knowledge necessary to design and teach a course that effectively facilitates student
learning. Topics include: student learning styles, encouraging critical thinking, assessing student
1 PFF Program Brochure.
learning, effective use of technology, designing assignments, active learning & group work,
course design, efficient grading, how to run a lecture, and the use of writing in the classroom.
Topics:
Student Learning Styles
Encouraging Critical Thinking
Designing Assignments
Assessing Student Learning
Effective Use of Technology
Active Learning & Group Work
Course Design
Efficient Grading
How to Run a Lecture
The Use of Writing in the Classroom
Text:
Davis, Tools for Teaching
Handouts from Instructors, including
Bean, Engaging Ideas
Grasha, Teaching with Style
b) Proposed
UNI 601: Future Professoriate Seminar. 0-1 hr, variable
The course would be required of all participants and closed to participants Students will develop
a working knowledge of the American system of higher education, an understanding of what it
means to be a professional academic, and the processes common to tenure-track academic
positions.
Topics:
Transitioning From Student to
Professional
Understanding Institution Types
The Academic Job Market
What Successful New Faculty Know
Understanding the Tenure Process
Balancing Faculty Commitments:
Research, Teaching and Service
Movements in Institutional Change to
Improve Learning
Department and Institutional Assessment
Texts:
DeNeef and Goodwin, The Academic’s Handbook
Schoenfeld & Magnan, Mentor in a Manual: Climbing the Academic Ladder to Tenure
Handouts from instructors, including:
Bok, Our Underperforming Colleges
Lang, Life on the Tenure Track
Toth, Ms. Mentor’s Impeccable Advice for Women in Academia (Toth)
Wulff, Austin, Paths to the Professoriate (Wulff, Austin)
c) Proposed
UNI 602: Becoming a Reflective Teacher: The Teaching Portfolio, 0-1 hr,
variable
The course would be required of all participants and closed to participants. Students will
develop a familiarity with the scholarship and techniques to help them develop as reflective
teachers. Students will learn how to construct a teaching portfolio that can be used as part of a
job search and as the foundation of a professional portfolio.
Topics:
The Teaching Portfolio and Teaching
Statement as Formative and Summative
Document
Peer Evaluation Training
Designing Courses for Significant Learning
Teaching Materials—Activities and
Assignments
Coaching Students as Learners
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Teaching Evaluations
From Teaching Portfolio to Tenure File
Texts:
Seldin, The Teaching Portfolio
Handouts from instructors, including:
2. Workshops
Attendance at eight hours of workshops on teaching, learning or the profession will be required
for successful completion of the certificate. This requirement can be fulfilled by such events as
ITLAL workshops, Office of Graduate Student Diversity Brown Bag lunch series, departmental
seminars or workshops on teaching, the SKILL (Sharing Knowledge, Insights and Lessons
Learned) conference, the Professional and Organizational Developers (POD) conference, the
Lilly conferences, etc. (Events such as dissertation defenses, non-teaching related discipline-
specific colloquia will not count toward this requirement.) Students will be expected to fill out a
reflection form for their certificate file for each event they attend in order to fulfill this
requirement. Workshops attended prior to admission to program will not count toward
requirement. No more than three hours of workshops should come from the same topic area.
3. Formal Mentoring
The surveys of PFF graduates routinely note that one of the most useful aspects of PFF programs
is the interaction with faculty members at partner institutions. As part of the certificate program,
we will pair students with mentors, ideally at other institutions, who will help to teach them what
faculty life is like, how to prepare their job search materials and to give them feedback on their
teaching. These people can mentor students about teaching, the profession or both. The mentor
allows student to shadow him or her—exposing the student to life balancing teaching, research
and service. As the program develops, we will provide guidance to the mentor pairs to
encourage fruitful exchange.
Some nearby colleges we hope to develop mentor relationships with include:
Saint Rose
Siena
Skidmore
Union
RPI (First-year Studies
program)
Maria College
Empire State College
(online only)
Excelsior
HVCC
SCCC
ACC
Bennington Coll. (VT)
Green Mountain College (VT)
Bard College
Hartwick College
Simon’s Rock (MA, Jr-BA)
Smith College (MA)
Castleton State (VT)
Middlebury College (VT)
Southern VT College
4. Evaluation of Teaching
For completion of the certificate, the student will need to have a formal review of their teaching,
e.g. videotape consultation by ITLAL or in-person observation by mentor or departmental
representative. For students in programs in which they do not have an opportunity to have
primary responsibility for teaching a course, alternate means of fulfilling this requirement will be
arranged. One option might be guest teaching in another’s course (possibly their mentor’s
course). Partnering with local institutions to provide teaching opportunities as adjunct faculty
could also provide fruitful professional experience.
5. Service
Since one of the aspects of faculty life that new faculty members struggle with is learning to
balance research, teaching and service duties, we believe that learning this balance early will be
helpful. We will require that students participate in some sort of service to their department or
the university as part of their certificate requirements. Students will be required to complete a
minimum of ten hours’ commitment to serving their department, other graduate students, or the
university. Examples of acceptable service include: help in the preparation of, or with
presentations within the SKILL Conference, Graduate Student Orientation, or a similar program
within their department (Departmental Graduate Student Conference, Departmental colloquial
series, being a student representative on a search committee, etc.). Other service obligations will
be considered on a case-by-case basis.
6. Teaching Portfolio
In addition to successfully taking the course on the teaching portfolio (in which a draft of the
portfolio will be completed), students will need to have their portfolio approved by a committee
consisting of ITLAL representatives and qualified teaching faculty (ideally their teaching mentor
will participate in this process). This will count as the capstone experience of the program.
Conclusion of the Program
At the conclusion of the program, students will receive an internal document attesting to their
successful completion of the requirements for the certificate. The description of the program and
its requirements will appear on the ITLAL/Graduate Studies web sites. The primary evidence for
successful completion of the program will be the transcript notations for successful completion
of UNI 600, UNI 601, and UNI 602 (teaching portfolio).
