Section 1

Information for Program Advisors

About Tomorrow's Professor Today
Tomorrow's Professor Today (TPT) is a professional development program for graduate and postdoctoral students designed to facilitate the transition from student to academic professional. The program focuses on improving preparedness in three key areas - teaching, other professional development activities, and adjustment to a university career. Activities to support this endeavor include attending workshops, observing and interviewing faculty/administrators, preparing teaching documents, attending conferences, presenting research, and mentoring fellow participants. Participants will gain enhanced teaching abilities and credentials, be introduced to many of the responsibilities faced by university faculty and administrators, attain a more comprehensive understanding of how the various components (i.e., research, teaching, service) of their graduate or postgraduate experience relate to one another now and in their future careers, and be better prepared for the challenges they will face in their future careers at a university. Participants who complete the program are awarded a certificate and a letter certifying their successful completion of the program to add to their job application materials.

How You Can Help
As a program advisor, you have the opportunity to meet with a program participant and help him or her define and meet professional development goals. Moreover, you'll offer valuable advice, encouragement, and guidance for a graduate student or postdoc on the road toward professional independence, in many of the following ways:

• inform the participant of professional development activities available within and outside the University (e.g., opportunities to present research at a national or regional conference, mock interviews or job talks from faculty candidates, and so on)
  
• provide advice about the different kinds of academic careers your graduate school colleagues or former students found and what each might entail
  
• share personal insights about teaching, research, and life at the University
  
• help the participant identify U.Va. faculty and administrators to observe and interview
  
• oversee the participant's progress during the program and certify completion of the program

The Time Commitment
As with many mentor-protégé relationships, the time commitment will vary depending on the interests and needs of the two parties, but should not require a considerable amount time. At a minimum, advisors will meet face-to-face with their protégés approximately twice a semester to discuss their progress, look through completed program materials and help them plan for the future, sign-off on the participant's completed TPT Dossier, and, finally, attend the end-of-program celebration.

How You Benefit
While helping a participant prepare for his/her future career, you benefit in the following ways:

• become part of a larger learning community
  
• increase personal and professional satisfaction
  
• renew enthusiasm for your teaching, research or administrative work
  
• build a professional relationship with a future colleague
  
• shape the future of the profession

Additional Information
If you would like additional information about TPT, please visit http://trc.virginia.edu/Programs/TPT/, email trc-tpt@virginia.edu, or call 434-982-2815.