First Semester – GR ST 585

Introductory Seminar: 2-credit course consisting of 15 two-hour panels and team workshops overviewing issues of faculty and student life including the hiring, promotion, and tenure processes and expectations at different institutions to identify fit in the academic landscape. Participants create/refine/polish vitae, cover letters, and research statements.

Second Semester – GR ST 586

Intermediate Seminar: 3-credit course that meets two times each week for 90 minutes. Sessions focus on topics such as teaching statements, course design, interviewing skills, and effective pedagogical strategies. Participants update their 585 job package with statements commonly requested by hiring committees (such as teaching or service statements), write a series of reflection journal responses, participate in learning teams, and develop course materials (e.g., syllabi, sample assignments, course activities, assessments, and evaluation rubrics) for a course they might teach as future faculty.

Third Semester – GR ST 587

Teaching Practicum: 1-3 credit, individually arranged, teaching experience. Participants complete a stand-alone teaching experience accompanied by appropriate mentoring. The teaching experience may be traditional or web-based, but must be at least the equivalent of a 1-credit university course. Additional requirements include: weekly meetings with fellow GR ST 587 classmates, observing a classmate’s teaching and having their teaching observed, and reflective writing assignments. Completed proposals for GR ST 587 must be submitted to the PFF program director for approval before the semester begins.

Fourth Semester – GR ST 588

Special Topics: 1-3 credit independent study providing academic professional development. Activities might include supervised reflective writing of a grant or journal article, extensive job shadowing at partner institutions, course or web development, participation in university or extension service responsibilities, etc. Additional requirements include: weekly meetings with the PFF director and other GR ST 588 participants, frequent submissions of progress on the project, and reflective writing assignments. Completed proposals for GR ST 588 must be submitted to the PFF program director for approval before the semester begins.

To participate in the PFF program, you must be in at least the second year of a master’s or Ph.D. program at Iowa State or hold a postdoctoral appointment. If North American English is not your native language, you must have taken the Oral English Certification Test (OECT) test before beginning the PFF program. Your application is eligible for acceptance without an OECT score if you report the date you intend to complete the OECT test, provided it is before you complete the first semester of PFF. If admitted, you must have at least OECT Level 2 scores, have passed OECT with Level 1 scores, or be enrolled in GR ST 5480x to continue in PFF’s second semester. Beyond the second semester, you must have have passed OECT or concurrent enrollment in GR ST 5480x to continue in the program. To ensure a test time, you should register for the OECT well before the PFF application deadline.

To apply to the PFF program, submit the following:

• Go to the PD@ISU website to complete the online PFF application. For a how-to-use PD@ISU tutorial, scroll to the bottom of this page.
• A current CV
• A letter of recommendation from an Iowa State University tenure-track faculty member

Applications are due by March 1 for the fall semester PFF enrollment.

If you have previously applied to PFF , please re-submit all materials for the new application cycle.

Download PFF Student Manual (PDF). 

PFF forms are available at and should be completed on the PD@ISU website.

Forms Required Every Semester

• Gr St 5850 Mentor-Mentee Agreement Form
• Gr St 5860 Mentor-Mentee Agreement Form
• Gr St 5870 Mentor-Mentee Agreement Form
• Gr St 5880 Mentor-Mentee Agreement Form

Participants Enrolled in GR ST 5860 

• Gr St 5860 Signup Form
• Gr St 5860 Teaching Component Form
• Gr St 5860 Teaching Observation Agreement Form

Participants Enrolled in GR ST 5870 and 5880 

• Gr St 5870 Signup Form
• Gr St 5870 Project Proposal Form
• Gr St 5870 Teaching Observation Agreement Form
• Gr St 5880 Signup Form
• Gr St 5880 Project Proposal Form
• PFF Letter of Recommendation Request Form

CIRTL offers a range of professional development programs on an ongoing basis, including but not limited to workshops, webcasts, and a teaching institute. Look for upcoming Cross-Network and local events for the opportunity to engage with experts across the CIRTL Network without the more intensive time commitment of a credit-bearing course.

See upcoming events here.

Participants in CIRTL events are eligible to earn recognition for completing professional development activities. CIRTL offers three progressively more involved levels of certification, which allow graduate students and post docs to customize their activities. Each certificate level has specific learning outcomes. 

Associate

Associate-level participants must attend at least five professional development events on teaching and learning and submit three short statements that demonstrate understanding of the CIRTL pillars (evidence-based teaching, learning through community, and learning through diversity).

Practitioner

Practitioner-level participants must complete associate-level requirements, complete a Teaching as a Research project in one of three tracks (evidence-based teaching, learning through community, or learning through diversity), and submit a two-page project report describing their findings.

Scholar

Scholar-level participants must complete practitioner-level requirements, and have added to community knowledge about teaching and learning by defending their findings from the TAR project to CIRTL learning-community peers. The significance of CIRTL Scholar Teaching-as-Research work is established through presentation and/or publication of the findings to all-university, regional, national, or international audiences.

Access CIRTL Certificate Application forms here.

CIRTL offers an online 5-week seminar focused on developing research mentoring skills. Participants work on personal mentoring philosophy and learn strategies for addressing concerns and challenges related to multidisciplinary research mentoring.

See information about this mentor training opportunity here.

GR ST 5400, Section A 

Low-Intermediate Spoken English: 3 Credits. The emphasis is on improvement in English pronunciation and fluency. 

GR ST 5400, Section B/C 

Intermediate Spoken English: 3 Credits. The emphasis is on the prosody of speech as well as on interactive oral communication.

GR ST 5400, Section D

Advanced Spoken English: 3 Credits. The emphasis is on presentation skills, developing explanations, leading discussions, and other language abilities essential in a teaching environment.

The OECT takes 20-25 minutes and consists of two sections: 

• Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) 
• TEACH mini-lecture. 

Both sections of the test are video/audio recorded.

Test takers must arrive at the check-in location one hour before their scheduled test time. For example, if the test appointment is at 10:40 am, the student is required to check in at 9:40 am to prepare for the TEACH part of OECT. 

Test takers must also bring the following documents:

• University ID card (or another photo ID such as a driver's license or passport)
• Most recent official English language score report (e.g., TOEFL, IELTS or PTE Academic) and a digital copy of it (first-time test takers only). If students do not have an official score report available, they may present a printout of their TOEFL scores reported on the ETS website at their check-in. 
• Students who have earned a bachelor's or higher degree in the U.S. do not need to present an English language score report, but they should send proof of their degree to lcompton@iastate.edu or present that at check-in on the test date. Proof of degree may include a copy of the diploma or a transcript with the earned degree and the student's name listed.