Preparing Future Faculty and Family Professionals

The Department of Family Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, developed a Preparing Future Faculty and Family Professionals program to enrich the graduate education and professional development of its doctoral students. This article describes key elements of the program, including informing students about the responsibilities of faculty positions at diverse institutions, fostering faculty-student mentoring relationships, visiting partner colleges/universities, examining requirements of nonacademic family science careers, and preparing students for the job search. Student and faculty evaluations of the program are summarized, and recommendations are made for graduate educators in family science.