Leaders in the academic and business communities have recently challenged colleges and universities to embrace change in order to ensure the viability of the higher education enterprise. Rather than settle for the status quo and witness a probable decline in sustainability, most argue that it is time to create new models and new methods of training for the future professoriate, who will become the faculty and academic leaders of tomorrow.

This course has been developed as an integral part of the Virginia Tech Graduate School’s  Transformative Graduate Education (TGE) initiative. This is one of the required courses for the Future Professoriate Graduate Certificate.

The purpose of the course is to provide graduate students with an understanding and contextual knowledge of the professoriate and issues facing higher education. These topics include faculty roles and responsibilities, changing demographics and nature of the students/learners, impact of technology upon higher education, diversity and inclusiveness, paradigm shifts in the academy, ethical issues and professional standards, global perspectives on higher education, and external forces influencing the college/university.

No textbook exists for this course. Instead, readings are selected from a range of academic and popular literatures. Participants will find assorted PDFs, URLs, and other materials organized by topic at our course’s Scholar site. Blogging and other activities provide space for deeper analysis of course themes and specific topics. It is critical that you not only read the material, engage during class sessions, and blog actively (and often), but also dig into the reading, to fully explore how concepts conflict, connect, etc.

Upon successful completion of the course, students will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• Higher education and colleges/universities in the United States
• Technology and its impact upon higher education
• Changing roles and responsibilities of faculty
• Paradigm shifts and trends in colleges/universities
• Changing nature of students/learners in higher education
• Ethics and scholarly integrity, professionalism
• Global perspectives of higher education

The course is led by Vice President and Dean of Graduate Education Karen DePauw. Michael Stewart is the teaching assistant.