Mentoring Faculty and Future Faculty

Faculty members collaborate with colleagues in a variety of ways to improve teaching throughout their careers. Professional societies can promote colloquia on pedagogy, mentoring programs for new faculty, and formal preparation of future faculty members in the scholarship of teaching. Representative examples of mentoring programs supported by professional societies are described below.

The American Physiological Society is administering "Physiology Insights," an enhancement program for undergraduate faculty. A collaboration with the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society and the National Association of Biology Teachers, this program builds cooperative working relationships among biology faculty at two- and four-year colleges, physiology research faculty, and physiology teaching faculty. Teams gain expertise in research and pedagogy and develop new curricular materials. The project will culminate with the field testing and publication of these curricular materials.

The American Physiological Society offers "Explorations in Biomedicine," a summer research experience open to science faculty at Montana tribal colleges and schools. The educators are matched to research labs across the country for summer research experiences. The educators gain familiarity with the investigative process and are encouraged to translate that experience into their own courses and become part of a network of teachers and researchers for ongoing professional development.

The American Society for Cell Biology has published a booklet called How to Get a Job at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution. The booklet gives insights on career tracks in academia, the application and interviewing process, and negotiating the job offer.

The Undergraduate Faculty Fellowship Program, sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology, provides an opportunity for faculty to improve scientific and research capabilities in ways that will enhance and update the undergraduate microbiology courses and laboratories they teach. The program is open to faculty from underrepresented minority groups and to those who teach at institutions with enrollment predominantly from underserved groups. Fellowship recipients design and carry out an enrichment program, which will generally involve a sustained summer experience in a formal course or relationship with a host scientist at another institution or facility. Conversely, the Visiting Scientist Program sponsored by the society brings outstanding scientists to minority institutions in order to strengthen the research and teaching capabilities of their faculty. Distinguished scientists present a series of activities such as seminars, lectures, workshops, or informal group meetings with students and faculty.

The American Society for Microbiology offers Undergraduate Faculty Travel Grants to increase the participation of early career, undergraduate teaching faculty in its meetings. This program supports faculty who will be presenting an education talk or poster at either the general meeting or the Undergraduate Microbiology Education Conference. Regional Undergraduate Microbiology Education Conference Grants are awarded to provide seed money for conferences that are more likely to attract faculty whose limited travel budgets hamper their ability to attend national meetings. The society's Program for Unseen Microbiologists seeks to expand the pool of microbiology educators who work with national leaders in planning major programs to improve undergraduate microbiology for the twenty-first century. Through this program, the society welcomes input from faculty who teach introductory microbiology in institutions such as community colleges or who teach microbiology as well as courses more closely allied with their graduate training. Financial support is provided to participate in the society's activities in undergraduate education.

The Council on Undergraduate Research publishes How to Get Started in Research, a guide for new faculty and departmental administrators who are at primarily undergraduate institutions. The council also offers consulting services to science departments and divisions at primarily undergraduate institutions to help them prepare for external reviews. Consultants have thought deeply about undergraduate education, visited numerous institutions, provided review services, and debated various approaches to science curricula. They are committed to the idea that ongoing research programs in undergraduate science departments play critical roles in scientific education and in sustaining faculty expertise and currency.

Integral to its participation in the federally funded program, "Minority Access to Research Careers" (MARC) program, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology administers a "Visiting Scientist Program for Minority Students," whereby members of the federation's constituent societies visit minority institutions. During these visits, undergraduate students receive counseling and career advice, and faculty receive guidance in their curricular offerings and their research projects.

Each year at the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America, the Committee on Student Affairs sponsors a debate by graduate students on timely scientific and policy issues. In partnership with its 1998 co-host, the American Phytopathological Society, the 1998 topic is "Ethical Issues in Entomology and Plant Pathology." Topics for debate may include tenure, grading systems, and other issues that will affect future faculty.

The “Explorations in Biomedicine” program of the American Physiological Society enables science educators in Montana tribal colleges and secondary schools to improve their teaching of investigative science through collaborations with research scientists. Here, society member Dr. Margaret Sullivan (left) of the Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Missouri (Columbia, Mo.) works with Ms. Judy Tucker of Hardin High School (Hardin, Mont.) to develop inquiry-based approaches to science education.