MEMORANDUM

To: Potential PFF Faculty Mentors

From: Hugh Crumley, PhD, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, PFF Director
grad-pff@duke.edu, (919)660-5975

Dear Potential PFF Faculty Mentors,

This letter is provided only to ~30 advanced PhD candidates and postdoctoral fellows who have been
selected to participate in the annual Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) Fellows program in The Graduate
School at Duke University. The current list of PFF Fellows is posted online here.

What is PFF?
The PFF program is an annual program in which each PFF Fellow can freely choose a faculty mentor
from any of our PFF partner institutions: Durham Technical Community College, Elon University,
Guilford College, Meredith College, NC Central University or NC State University. The purpose of
PFF is to help Duke PFF Fellows learn broadly about faculty roles and responsibilities, academic
cultures, faculty governance, and the balance of teaching, research, and service or outreach. While
there is no guarantee of teaching opportunities for PFF Fellows and they are not funded to do so, we
hope each PFF Mentor will allow opportunities to teach a lecture, lab or more during the year,
especially since nearly all are completing Duke’s Certificate in College Teaching. As your department
has adjunct teaching opportunities, please share those with your PFF Advisory Board representative
who can contact us as appropriate. We greatly appreciate the time, experience, and enthusiasm that
you may share with the PFF Fellow and your mentee.

PFF Mentor Responsibilities

If you have been contacted by a PFF Fellow, we invite you to talk by phone or meet with the PFF
Fellow to determine if this is a good fit. We recommend that each PFF Fellow meet with the Mentor
to identify key learning goals. Also, we hope that Fellows will meet with their faculty mentors a few
times per month (plus or minus, as suits the Mentor and the Fellow) for a variety of activities that may
include teaching observation, attending faculty or department meetings (as Chairs permit), observing
you with student advising, participating in special events (lectures, undergraduate research days, faculty
development activities), offering occasional guest lectures or labs, and/or simply shadowing and
having meals to discuss academic career steps and the preparation of their materials. Some have held
mock interviews, while others have been guests at current faculty search processes. The formal PFF
mentoring relationship lasts August through May each year, and often lasts for years to come
informally as emerging colleagues in the field.
PFF Mentor Benefits
Each PFF Mentor is appointed as a Visiting Scholar to The Graduate School at Duke University for
~12 months, and is provided with a modest $500.00 honorarium in the Spring for this professional
mentoring and service. We also strive to provide a DukeCard with access to Duke Libraries as a
benefit. Finally, we will invite you to an annual dinner with all PFF Mentors, Fellows, alumni/ae guests,
and our Advisory Board. Many PFF Mentors have served for several years and often report personal
benefits of engaging in critical reflection and discussion as they prepare their own materials for
appointment, promotion, or tenure review. The PFF Fellows may invite you to attend special
functions at Duke with their discipline also. Most PFF faculty mentors have found this to be a
rewarding and reciprocal relationship.

PFF Advisory Board

We have a PFF Advisory Board of leaders from each institution as noted below who help to identify
faculty mentors, provide annual reviews of our PFF program, and plan and prepare a half-day site visit
to their respective institutions. The PFF Advisory Board members include:
 Durham Technical Community College: Kathy Zarilla, Science Chair & Instructor
 Elon University: Nancy Harris, Associate Dean, College of Arts & Sciences
 Guilford College: Michele Malotky, Associate Professor of Biology
 Meredith College: Julie Schrock, Professor or Education
 North Carolina Central University: Jaleh Rezaie, Associate Provost and Dean
 North Carolina State University: Peter Harries, Senior Associate Dean
They are also listed here.

We hope you will consider serving as a PFF Faculty Mentor. The heart of Duke’s PFF program has
been the one-on-one mentoring that you and other faculty colleagues have provided. Should you have
any questions, please feel free to contact us at any time at grad-pff@duke.edu, or contact your
Advisory Board representative. Thank you for considering participation as a Faculty Mentor.
PFF Fellow & Mentor Learning Goals
The primary goal of the PFF mentorship is to offer Fellows a comprehensive picture of the multiple roles
and responsibilities of faculty at partner campuses, while providing guidance to their professional
development. To accomplish this, we ask each Fellow and Mentor pair to discuss and identify the main
learning goals and the set of activities they plan to follow. While goals may evolve over time, it is helpful
to begin with a shared vision (ie, effective teaching methods, job search strategies, negotiating offers, etc).

Name of PFF Fellow Department

Name of PFF Mentor Department Institution First time as Mentor?

Learning Goals
The PFF Fellow has identified the following primary goals for the mentoring experience:

Potential Learning Activities

Shadow for a day Guest lecture or teach to obtain feedback
Attend classes taught and review together Discuss effective teaching strategies
Learn about undergrads, attend advising Attend campus group or committee meetings
Attend departmental meetings Discuss job search, hiring procedures, job talk
Attend Faculty Senate meetings Clarify criteria in making application
Meet with administrators, discuss governance Mock interview for tenure-track position
Discuss campus-specific issues Attend or present at conference with mentor
Review autobiography of Mentor Invite Mentor to Duke for events
Discuss ways to find balance in academia

PFF Fellow signature Date

PFF Mentor signature Date

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