Thoughts on Preparing Future Faculty Certificate Program

[sanfram]

So I'm just beginning work for my MA in English Research, and I'm considering doing a certificate program in addition to my degree--the Preparing Future Faculty program. Any thoughts on how helpful this may be, if at all, in strengthening my applications to PhD programs down the road? I'll have professors from different disciplines along the way, but it will be geared (somewhat) towards my specific field.

I'm fairly certain I want to pursue a PhD at some point, but the certificate program also seems like a good addition to my resume in case I end up applying for jobs at community colleges in between degree programs (or as a career choice).

I'm a fully funded GTA as well, but I want to take full advantage of the opportunities before me. I guess I'm wondering if my time and energy might be better spent on my degree program--producing better work, trying to present more and get published more, instead of putting in all that extra time for the certificate.

Your insight would be much appreciated, thank you!

Edited August 20, 2011 by sanfram

[runonsentence]

I started the certificate in the first year of my MA, also thinking it could strengthen my applications. I'm still not sure how much it helped, but it doesn't hurt to try it out. You could always start the certificate and then not completely finish it, if you decide your time would be better spent elsewhere. (I didn't end up finishing it before the end of my MA, for instance.)

I talked up my participation as evidence that I am really serious about my pedagogy and want to have cross-disciplinary discussions about it as well. Some of the opportunities have been more useful than others. For instance, if yours is the same as ours, the job search seminar gets rave reviews and the mentoring opportunity is great. It's also been nice to network outside my department (both with students and our CET&L).

The teaching effectiveness seminar I took (not sure, again, if this is universal to PFF??), on the other hand, was only marginally helpful. While it was nice to take a second look at my teaching philosophy statement before PhD apps and get some other perspectives and talk more about course design (something we didn't really cover in teaching practicum in my department), I quickly realized that I wasn't the ideal audience for the class, having taught 3 quarters of comp with full instruction responsibility, received both theoretical and practical pedagogy courses in my department, and knowing that I wanted to teach in my future career. Most of the others in the room had never taught a course, or only had grading duties, and half the room was sort of there to figure out whether they wanted to teach at all (or go into industry). Techniques like backwards design and scaffolding (which I'd thought intuitive, since comp instructors are already forced to think in an outcomes-based way) were either a revelation to or resisted by much of the class, at first.

I'm not sure whether my experience is typical of what you can expect at your own university, and I'm not even sure I'd dissuade you from doing it anyway. But I thought I'd let you know that my experience has been a bit uneven, and that if your program has good teaching support for GTAs already, there's a good chance you're going to get the same (or better) teaching-training within your program.

Edited August 20, 2011 by runonsentence

[sanfram]

Thank you both!

I will probably go ahead and at least start the certificate program to see what's up. It can't hurt to see what opportunities come arise from it. Plus, I probably am a good audience for it, considering I haven't taught before and this will be my first semester grading/guest lecturing/etc. As Mac said, I can always discontinue participation in the program if I decide it's best.

Thanks again!