Ann E. Austin

Creating a Bridge to the Future: Preparing New Faculty to Face Changing Expectations in a Shifting Context

Faced with large numbers of retirements, higher education institutions must hire many new faculty members in the near future. Drawing on the body of research on graduate education and the early career faculty experience, this article argues that the current preparation of aspiring faculty does not fully match the demands they are likely to face in the near future. The article concludes with recommendations for improving the preparation of the next generation of faculty members.

Cognitive apprenticeship theory and its implications for doctoral education: a case example from a doctoral program in higher and adult education

This article argues that the theory of cognitive apprenticeship could inform those who teach and work with doctoral students in ways that enable them to provide students with more systematic preparation, more focused guidance and scaffolding, more explicit feedback, and enhanced preparation for participating in a collaborative way in communities of scholars. Using the author’s teaching experience with a first‐year doctoral seminar in a program in higher education, the article suggests five specific strategies for utilizing the theory of cognitive apprenticeship in practical and effective ways to strengthen the socialization of future scholars. Cet article défend la thèse selon laquelle la théorie du compagnonnage cognitif (cognitive apprenticeship) peut aider ceux qui enseignent et qui œuvrent auprès des doctorants de façon à fournir à ces derniers une préparation davantage systématique, un accompagnement davantage focalisé, une feed‐back plus explicite, ainsi qu’une meilleure préparation à la participation collaborative à une communauté d’universitaires. Se basant sur l’expérience d’enseignement de l’auteur dans le contexte d’un séminaire doctoral de première année, dans le cadre d’un programme portant sur l’enseignement supérieur, l’article présente cinq stratégies spécifiques à l’utilisation de la théorie du compagnonnage cognitif visant à renforcer la socialisation des universitaires de demain.

Making Tenure Viable: Listening to Early Career Faculty.

This article focuses specifically on the challenges and needs that early career faculty face. The authors draw on case study interviews to point out the problems that exist for younger faculty as they struggle to attain tenure and provide recommendations about how the system might be improved.

Understanding New Faculty Background, Aspirations, Challenges, and Growth

Early career faculty, defined as those within the first seven years of appointment to a faculty position or those who have not yet received tenure, contribute to the present and create the future of universities and colleges. This chapter contributes to deeper understanding of new faculty by addressing these issues: 1) the demographics of early career faculty; 2) the preparation they receive and the gaps in their graduate and postdoctoral backgrounds; 3) the abilities and skills early career faculty need to succeed in higher education; 4) the expectations early career faculty have for their careers and the challenges they experience in their new roles; 5) the strategies individual early career faculty and institutions can employ to enhance their professional growth; and 6) directions for future research

Preparing the Next Generation of Faculty

The long anticipated retirement of significant numbers of senior faculty members is occurring at a time when societal expectations of academic institutions are expanding. Parents, employers, and legislators are interested in the quality of teaching provided by colleges and universities. Learning outcomes are emphasized, including traditional subject matter expertise and skills as well as abilities to use technology effectively, integrate and apply knowledge, and solve openended problems. Legislators and community leaders call for greater attention by faculty members to apply knowledge to solve societal problems. These same constituencies expect university research to aid local and regional economic development. All of these expectations take place for the most part within tight financial constraints. Without doubt, the individuals replacing retiring faculty members must demonstrate a wider array of talents than their predecessors, as well as higher levels of productivity (Fairweather, 1996; Massy & Wilger, 1995). In this context, the experiences of new faculty (Boice, 1992; Sorcinelli & Austin, 1992; Rice, Sorcinelli, & Austin, 2000) are characterized by stress, pressure,

Toward Greater Understanding of Faculty Research Collaboration

This article, based on interviews with eighteen active collaborators in the field of higher education, provides two perspectives to enhance knowledge about the process and dynamics through which faculty collaborate to conduct research: (1) metaphors to describe faculty collaboration to conduct research; and (2) an emerging grounded theory, which is useful for understanding and analyzing faculty research collaboration. The article also suggests appropriate directions for further research on faculty collaboration.

Challenges and visions for higher education in a complex world: Commentary on Barnett and Barrie

‘Learning for an unknown future’, by Ronald Barnett (2004), published in HERD, 23(3), 247–260. ‘A research-based approach to generic graduate attributes policy’, by Simon C. Barrie (2004), publishe...

Reform Efforts in STEM Doctoral Education: Strengthening Preparation for Scholarly Careers

Complex societal problems, concerns about the quality of undergraduate education and the supply and talent of faculty who teach them, and questions about the quality of graduate students’ experiences as they pursue advanced degrees have motivated efforts to reform and strengthen doctoral education in STEM fields. This chapter examines these efforts to improve STEM doctoral education. The chapter begins with an exploration of the context in which STEM graduate education is situated and the recent events that have created a climate for reform. Second, it discusses particular issues toward which reform initiatives in STEM doctoral education have been directed. Third, the chapter reviews the kinds of reform efforts underway, highlights several specific examples of initiatives and programs, and presents the available evidence concerning the impact and outcomes of those efforts. The chapter concludes with an agenda for research and strategic action concerning reform in STEM doctoral education.

Supporting the Professor as Teacher: The Lilly Teaching Fellows Program.

Abstract: For more than a decade and a half, the Lilly Endowment’s Teaching Fellows Program for junior faculty has been widely recognized as a model faculty development program. Based on a qualitative study involving thirty universities, this article analyzes the effects of the fellowship experience on participants, argues that the program broadly socializes faculty to their roles and specifically enhances their teaching abilities, and suggests lessons for institutional leaders and faculty developers.

Advancing STEM Undergraduate Learning: Preparing the Nation's Future Faculty

Christine Pfund (cepfund@wisc.edu) is associate director of the Delta Program in Research, Teaching and Learning (Delta) and a researcher at the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research at UW-Madison. Robert Mathieu (mathieu@astro.wisc.edu) is a professor and chair of the Department of Astronomy and co-faculty director of Delta at UW-Madison; he is also PI of the CIRTL Network. Ann Austin (aaustin@msu.edu) is a professor in the higher, adult, and lifelong education program at Michigan State University and co-PI of the CIRTL Network. Mark Connolly (mrconnolly@wisc.edu) is a researcher with the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research at UWMadison. Brian Manske (bmanske@nicoletcollege.edu) and Katie Moore (kam579@eden.rutgers.edu) were both involved in Delta and the research shared in this article. Manske is now an adjunct professor of biology at Nicolet College, and Moore is a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Rutgers University.