AMS-MAA Project

Preparing Future Faculty in Mathematics

Request for Proposals

TO: Chairs of doctorate-granting Mathematics Departments
FROM: Samuel M. Rankin, III, Director, AMS Washington Office

The American Mathematical Society (AMS) and The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) are participating in a project that addresses the doctoral preparation of future faculty in science and mathematics. The project, Shaping the Preparation of Future Science and Mathematics Faculty, is a collaborative effort between the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). In this project the two higher education organizations will coordinate the work of the AMS and MAA with four other professional societies in an effort to improve the quality of undergraduate education in mathematics and the sciences through the inclusion in the preparation of graduate students some knowledge of the aims of the professoriate. The project brings universities and colleges into partnerships to offer preparation more closely aligned with the missions of undergraduate colleges and the characteristics of their students.

To this end, the project is expected to:

1. Increase faculty roles in helping graduate students gain knowledge about the professoriate as it pertains to a broad range of academic institutions.

2. Develop model programs for the preparation of graduate students for faculty roles and responsibilities and assess their effectiveness.

3. Disseminate within the disciplines alternative models and promising practices for reshaping doctoral education for the future professoriate.

The AMS-MAA project will award grants to four doctorate-granting departments of mathematics who can serve as models of promising practices. We will use NSF funds to award US$10,000 annually for the academic years 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 to each pilot department, for the creation of model PFF programs. Each department is expected to provide matching funds equivalent to the NSF funds received. Each selected department will receive some additional support for travel to planning or evaluation meetings for the project.

It is expected that a proposal will include a number of partner institutions (forming a cluster), such as two-year colleges, four-year colleges/universities, institutions with a large number of minority students, etc. Faculty at these partner institutions might serve as mentors and resource persons for graduate students interested in extended teaching experiences. These faculty might also serve as steering committee members for the cluster.

Other types of partnerships are possible. For example, a department that already has a PFF program in place might consider partnering with another doctoral institution to expand the PFF concept and promote cooperative programs with other institutions in the region.

This project builds on and extends the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program led by AAC&U and CGS since 1993, with support from the PEW Charitable Trusts. There are a number of activities that graduate departments have used to initiate successful PFF programs, including enhanced graduate teaching assistant training, the use of faculty mentors, and seminars on teaching taught by colleges of education. Documentation on existing PFF programs at such institutions as Cornell University and Syracuse University is available upon request to Monica Foulkes, mxf@ams.org.

Regardless of how you design your program, we expect that each participating department will:

1. Create a cluster of partner departments, including those in such institutions as liberal arts colleges, community colleges, comprehensive colleges and universities, and appoint a cluster steering committee to plan and oversee the collaboration.
2. Provide students with an intensive, hands-on experience to learn about faculty life at a range of types of institutions and about the faculty role in shared institutional governance.
3. Collaborate with current PFF departments in their discipline and utilize their experiences with PFF activities in their programs, incorporating such activities as assigning faculty mentors for teaching and preparing guidelines for the training of such mentors; offering a course on the teaching of the department's field; providing a sequence of supervised teaching experiences that build on earlier experience; offering a seminar on faculty professional issues.
4. Expose students to new and emerging pedagogies and course enhancements, such as project-oriented courses, cooperative work, computers in the classroom, modeling, simulation, PC-based laboratories, and Web-enhanced courses.

Please do not hesitate to send your questions to any of the following:

AMS STAFF CONTACTS:
Samuel M. Rankin, III, smr@ams.org
Monica Foulkes mxf@ams.org

AMS-MAA COMMITTEE ON THE PFF PROJECT:
Send email to mxf@ams.org for forwarding to:
Tom Rishel, Cornell University (CHAIR)
Mort Brown, Univ of Michigan
Amy Cohen Corwin, Rutgers Univ
Stephen Fisher, Northwestern Univ
Jack Graver, Syracuse Univ
Roger Wiegand, Univ of Nebraska-Lincoln

Proposals are due by March 15, 1999 (see proposal guidelines below). The successful departments will be notified by April 15, 1999.

Concepts Guiding a Model Preparing Future
Faculty (PFF) Program

1. Graduate student experiences should include increasingly independent and varied teaching responsibilities, opportunities for growth as a researcher, and chances to serve the department, campus, and community.
2. Teaching, research, and service experiences should be scheduled to help students progress from simple to complex responsibilities as they advance toward the degree.
3. Graduate students should learn about the academic profession and have direct experience with diverse kinds of institutions that may become their professional homes.
4. Graduate programs should include formal systems for mentoring in teaching and other aspects of professional development.
5. The graduate experience should equip future faculty for the changes taking place in teaching and learning so that they are prepared for the classes and classrooms of tomorrow.
6. PFF experiences should not be add-ons but should be thoughtfully integrated into academic programs and sequences of degree requirements.
7. PFF programs should build upon and go beyond Teaching Assistant orientation and development programs.

Each pilot department will include the following criteria as a minimum for participation

1. Alignment with PFF concepts (above).
2. Commitment from counterpart departments in a variety of partner institutions. Level and type of members of clusters are geographically feasible and represent a diverse group of institutions.
3. Evidence of enrolling and graduating traditionally under-represented graduate student populations and plans to continue doing so.
4. Significant numbers of graduate students will be able to participate.
5. Plans for sustainability after funding period.
6. Adequate means of evaluating success of the project.
7. Willingness and ability to disseminate outcomes of the project to AMS and MAA and other departments.
8. Feasibility of the project design.
9. Creativity and originality of proposed activities appear appropriate for fulfilling goals of the project, and are developmentally appropriate for graduate students involved.
10. Willingness to participate in assessment activities.
11. Willingness to match their awards with institutional dollars.
12. Institutions must have a history of students graduating and going on to teach in four-year and two-year colleges.
13. Participating institutions must have more than one individual in the collaborative with a record of accomplishments that indicate the project will be a success. Institutions must also have sufficient numbers of faculty involved in plans for effective mentoring of graduate students during the project and subsequent to it. Training/preparation should be specified.
14. The proposal includes initial ideas for items to be included in reports to be made at the conclusion of each year's activities.

Grant Proposal Specifications

Deadline
Proposals must be received by March 15, 1999. Send to:
ATTN: Monica Foulkes
American Mathematical Society
1527 Eighteenth St NW
Washington, DC 20036

tel: 202-588-1100, fax: 202-588-1853, email: mxf@ams.org

Full consideration cannot be guaranteed for proposals received incomplete, or after the deadline.

Proposal
Proposals should include the following:

1. Cover sheet provided.

2. Cover letter, which should provide a one-page description of the purpose and rationale for your approach to your PFF proposal. The letter should also highlight any unique aspects of your design.

3. Proposal Narrative. Do not exceed three pages. Refer to minimum criteria list above. Include goals of the program, rationale for the approach selected, proposed activities, timeline, number of students and faculty members involved, means of evaluating the success of the program, plans to sustain the program after initial funding period, plans to disseminate what is learned to the mathematical community, and initial ideas about items to be included in reports on the project to AMS-MAA.

4. Budget proposal, and up to two-page budget explanation. Participating departments must adhere to current NSF grant conditions and guidelines in their use of grant funds. NSF funds may be used for a variety of programmatic activities, such as student and faculty travel to partner institutions, student travel to professional meetings, room rentals, modest administrative costs, and printing of newsletters in which students report on lessons learned and other activities. NSF funds may not be used for graduate student fellowships, faculty raises, or indirect costs to participating institutions or departments. Include commitment of matching funds, which should be at least as great as the total amount requested. Amount requested: US$10,000 maximum for each of the academic years 1999-2000, 2000-2001. NSF funds will be administered by Samuel M. Rankin, III, Director, AMS Washington Office, to whom all questions regarding grant awards and reimbursement procedures, and requests for copies of the original proposal to NSF by CGS and AAC&U, should be addressed: email: smr@ams.org, tel: 202-588-1100, fax: 202-588-1853.

5. Appendices
a. Letters of commitment of matching funds from appropriate administrators.
b. Letters of support and agreement to participate from each department in the cluster.
c. Two-page biography of Project Coordinator, and others playing significant roles.