The Graduate School at Michigan State University (MSU) and the MSU FAST (Future Academic Scholars in Teaching) and Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) Steering Committee are sponsoring a teaching and learning professional development opportunity for graduate students—the FAST Fellowship Program. The primary goals of the FAST Fellowship Program are to provide opportunities for doctoral graduate students to have mentored teaching experiences; develop, implement, and evaluate a teaching-as-research project; and gain familiarity with materials on teaching and assessment techniques.
Former FAST Fellows describe the value of their peer-mentoring experiences as part of their professional development
Summary:
The focus of many existing professional development programs is preparing future faculty to implement effective teaching practices. However, peer mentoring is not widely adopted in graduate professional development even though incorporating this approach can better facilitate the transition from graduate student to faculty member. The Future Academic Scholars in Teaching (FAST) program at Michigan State University is a high-engagement teaching professional development program for STEM PhD students that has established a formal peer mentoring role into the programmatic framework. Our goal was to reflect on our experience as peer mentors in the FAST program (2011-2017) and use interview data from mentees to evaluate the benefits of peer mentoring in graduate student professional development.
Salk et al 2019; in Fine Focus 5:16-21 (https://openjournals.bsu.edu/finefocus/article/view/2079)
The FAST Program is for doctoral students with interests in teaching, learning, and assessment in higher education who are enrolled in programs associated with the Colleges of Natural Science, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Engineering, Social Science, Human Medicine, Nursing, Osteopathic Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine. This program was developed in response to the national need to prepare future faculty for the changing teaching and learning needs and expectations in sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. FAST also complements the efforts of the CIRTL Network (historically an NSF-funded project involving MSU and 45 other research-intensive universities).
Students selected for this academic-year long program will:
- Participate in weekly meetings with alternating large group (steering committee and fellowship recipients) and journal club meetings (only fellowship recipients), and approximately 2 or 3 workshops with outside speakers. These meetings are typically held late afternoons-early evenings on an agreed upon day;
- Complete pre- and post-program surveys; and
- Propose, conduct, and evaluate a focused teaching intervention/assessment teaching-as-research project based on challenges students may face while learning in a fellow’s discipline (see examples of teaching-as-research projects and publications).
Completing this project will take additional time outside of regular meetings. Assistance with projects is provided by a mentor, selected by each fellow, and MSU FAST/CIRTL Steering Committee Members. Fellows are encouraged and supported to disseminate project results on websites, at conferences, and/or in peer-reviewed journals. Travel to conferences to present FAST projects will be provided by the Graduate School. Each fellow will receive a $5,000 fellowship to help support project expenses and/or to disseminate project findings. Fellows are also highly encouraged to participate in online CIRTL Seminars, Courses, and MOOCs.
To apply, applicants should submit the following and meet the requirements below:
- Applicants should be enrolled full-time in a program leading to a doctoral degree, be in good academic standing, making progress on their degrees, and be on campus for the entire 2025-2026 academic year
- Complete the FAST Application Form
- Submit a current C.V. (a maximum of 2-pages)
- Submit a brief essay (~500 words) that describes: (1) your career goals as related to the FAST Program, (2) why you are interested in FAST, (3) describe one or two questions you have about challenges students may face while learning in your discipline that could be developed into a FAST project, (4) how you anticipate that participation in the FAST Fellowship Program will enhance your professional development, and (5) what contributions will you make to the FAST Fellow community.
Awards will be made to individuals who, in the judgment of the review panel, have demonstrated academic achievement, are committed to a career involving teaching, have not participated in a teaching fellowship program at MSU, and show potential of future achievement as scholars and educators.
Applications must be received by March 21, 2025 at 5:00p.m. Announcements of fellowship recipients for the 2025-2026 academic year will be made by April 18, 2025. For questions regarding the program, please contact Dr. Rique Campa, 517-432-7340 or campa@msu.edu.