Engineering faculty positions at the bio-interface have seen a tremendous growth over the past decade. This trend is likely to continue, given that NIH investments in this area are massive, the field is fast moving and many aspects have captured the student imagination (e.g. Tissue engineering was named the no. 1 job of the future by TIME magazine). At the same time, current faculty in engineering either have limited exposure to the bio- arena or have limited experience in generating faculty members from their students, a large fraction of students are from different cultures (both national and academic). Navigating the faculty hiring and devlopment process is a challenge that is made extraordinarily difficult by a lack of knowledge and focused training for this career. Hence, Prof. Bhargava contributed first to a campus-wide workshop to develop future faculty. Now, he has developed a semester-long course to help advanced graduate students and post-doctoral fellows prepare for future role as faculty. While a preparing future faculty effort existed last decade, much of the world has changed. Society, economy, technology, students, science, available grants and the role of faculty in a university have all changed. Hence, this new course is being developed. While it is based on experiences from previous such efforts, the content is dynamic and focused at the Bio-Engineering interface.

The goal of this course is to introduce students to faculty career paths, to enable them to effectively compete for the same and to be prepared for success when they become faculty. The course will provide an overview of university structures, opportunities as faculty in higher education, common expectations today, a dose of reality in the job function and marketplace and the guidance and resources for students to prepare for the same. It will help students develop their vision of being a faculty member by helping them prepare a professional portfolio that helps secure a faculty position and forms the basis for a strong career. The course would consist of lectures and practice exercises. There would be a strong peer evaluation and group discussion component.

The Preparing Future Faculty course was developed as part of Prof. Bhargava’s appointment as a Fellow of the Teaching Academy.