Course offerings

View the summer 2008 PFF program course schedule [PDF]
View the fall 2008 PFF program course schedule [PDF]

Preparing Future Faculty courses introduce graduate students to the roles and responsibilities of higher education, address teaching and learning issues in the college classroom and provide supervised internship opportunities. Courses are open to all degree-seeking graduate students and full-time students can register for the courses at no additional charge as long as their total semester enrollment does not exceed 15 hours.

Nondegree-seeking graduate students may only enroll in PFF classes with permission of the program director and the class instructor.

GRAD 601 and 602 typically are offered in the fall semester of each year and GRAD 604 and 605 in the spring semester. Students may register for GRAD 606 in fall, spring or summer semesters. For scheduling details, students should refer to the VCU Schedule of Classes or the PFF program course offerings [PDF].

The PFF Program core courses are structured in such a way that each course builds on the previous course. Please note that the core courses do have prerequisites indicating that you take the courses in numerical order (601, 602, 604, 605, 606).
Students must complete all core courses (GRAD 601, 602, 604, 605) prior to submitting their proposal for GRAD 606. Should you have questions regarding the core sequence or have a special request, e-mail the office at pffprogram@vcu.edu.

Click on the following courses for a complete description and samples of recent course syllabi:

GRAD 601 The Academic Profession

• Sample course syllabus [Word document]

GRAD 602 College Teaching and Learning

GRAD 604 Issues in Contempory Pedagogy

GRAD 605 Specialty Seminar for the Disciplines

Sample course syllabi:

• Applied Physical Sciences [Word document] 
• Applied Social Sciences [Word document] 
• Art and Communication [Word document] 
• Health Sciences [Word document] 
• Business and Management Sciences [Word document]

GRAD 606 Internship/Externship in Professional Teaching

• GRAD 606 information sheet [PDF]

GRAD 691 Special Topics

PFF course evaluation

Evaluation is an important component of our program, as we continually strive to tailor the program to the needs and desires of our graduate student participants. As such, every student taking a PFF course is encouraged to complete the course evaluation with information specific to her/his personal experience in the course and with the program. Course evaluations are sent directly to students at the completion of the course from the PFF Program office.

Preparing Future Faculty Program
Virginia Commonwealth University
Graduate School
1001 Grove Avenue
P.O. Box 843051
Richmond, Virginia 23284-3051
E-mail: pffprogram@vcu.edu