Enrich Your Experience
Preparing Future Faculty and Scholars Program
The Preparing Future Faculty and Scholars (PFx) program helps graduate students and postdocs explore careers in and outside of academia, build career readiness confidence, consider the value and future of higher education, and critically engage with an interdisciplinary group of peers and mentors through seminars, workshops, events and other opportunities.
PFx enabled me to think critically about my values, interests and skills so that I could confidently explore and pursue the jobs that best align with them.
Mark Huerta, Engineering Education Systems and Design
PFx Lunch and Learn Webinars
The Preparing Future Faculty and Scholars (PFx) Lunch and Learn webinars helps graduate students and postdocs explore careers in and outside of academia, and build career readiness confidence. Attendance is free, but registration is required to obtain the Zoom link for each session.
Past PFx Lunch and Learn sessions
Crafting your Career Plan
Speaker: Amanda Athey, Dr. Daphne Jones
Recorded on August 30, 2024
Writing Teaching Statements for Academic Positions
Speaker: Dr. Keith Hjelmstad, Dr. Elenore Long
Recorded on September 13, 2024
Discussing Diversity Statements for Academic Positions
Speaker: Dr. Jackie Martinez, Dr. Rod Roscoe
No Recording Available. To access the presentation, along with additional helpful information for crafting your diversity statement:
Writing Research Statements
Speaker: Dr. Jennifer Bekki, Dr. Hanna Breetz
Recorded on October 11, 2024
Writing Cover Letters for Academic Positions
Speaker: Dr. Patricia Rankin, Dr. Bradley Ryner
Recorded on October 25, 2024
Pitching Your Research to Diverse Academic Audiences
Speaker: Dr. Peter Goggin
Recorded on November 11, 2024
Reviewing Offer Letters and Negotiating
Speaker: Dr. Patricia Friedrich
Recorded on November 22, 2024
PFx Seminars
Fall 2024 Seminar: Preparing Future Faculty and Scholars (PFx)
The Fall 2024 PFx Preparing Future Faculty and Scholars course will be focused entirely on the search and application for a faculty-track career. Students enrolled in this 1-credit hour course will have a broad overview of the academic landscape, a realistic look at realities and expectations of a faculty career in higher education and focused time to develop and refine your academic job packet.
We looked at the structure of the University in ways that were not typical of graduate students. In this, I gained an understanding of high-level university issues.
Sean Moxley-Kelly, English, Writing, Rhetoric and Literacies
Seminars
The seminars will meet every Friday with alternating formats:
- Bi-weekly via zoom from 12 - 1 p.m. students will attend Lunch and Learns with diverse speakers, such as university administrators and faculty on topics related to the understanding of the academic landscape and preparation of job packet materials.
- Bi-weekly students will meet in person on the Tempe campus from 11:15-1:10 for applied experiences with peers, including providing feedback and workshopping the job packet materials.
Examples of topics include: Structure and Organization of Academia; Writing Teaching Statements; Pitching your Research; Essentials of the Faculty Search and Application Process.
Eligibility
The PFx seminar is open to ASU MFA and doctoral students who have completed their coursework or to ASU postdoctoral fellows. Due to the career-focus of the course, it is not intended for students still completing course requirements or completing non-terminal degrees.
Assignments
You are expected to attend all PFx seminars, engage with online speakers and in-class discussions and complete all assignments with graduate quality work.
Examples of assignments may include:
- Conduct self-paced personal assessments and reflections on the alignment of values, skills and interests, academic institution types, and career goals
- Develop and workshop draft teaching statement
- Develop and workshop draft cover letter
- Seek feedback from faculty in your discipline on your job packet
How to Enroll
Register in GRD 791 (class number 76123)
The PFx seminar is open to ASU MFA and doctoral students who have completed their coursework and to ASU postdoctoral scholars. Due to the career-focus of the course it is not intended for students still completing course requirements or completing non-terminal degrees.
Most students will find the demands of the seminars to be reasonable with a moderate amount of time spent on assignments. Activities completed through PFx help to prepare students for successful career pathways.
Students who have completed the PFx seminars have reported that participation provided them with an edge in applying for and securing competitive positions, as well as giving them a better understanding of the demands of their chosen career paths.
It depends on the academic unit. Students should check with their program advisor and graduate program coordinator to see if the PFx seminars can count as credit toward their Program of Study (POS). Most units do not allow PFx to count toward the degree at this time.
Although teaching is covered in the PFx seminar, it is only one part of the syllabus. There are many other professional development opportunities at ASU to improve teaching, including CIRTL certificates.
Absolutely! Even in the final year, the PFx seminar and webinars are still extremely helpful for students to better understand the expectations and realities of their future career possibilities as they prepare for that transition.