Co-sponsored by the Graduate School’s Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement and the Future Faculty and Academic Careers office with support from the National Science Foundation’s Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) AGEP, the NextGen Professors Program is a professional development program designed to diversify the professoriate. The program positions Cornell graduate students and postdocs, particularly those who identify with historically underrepresented groups (e.g., first-generation students, students of color, students with disabilities) or “demonstrate[d] a commitment to advancing diversity, inclusion, access, and equity,” to succeed in faculty careers across disciplines. Through a cohort-based learning community, the program helps participants learn to navigate academia, develop research and teaching skills, and compose individualized, development plans through monthly cohort meetings, faculty mentoring sessions, and access to the university’s Future Professors Institute. The NextGen Professors Program is cited in the CIRTL AGEP Toolkit as an exemplar working to improve the climate of doctoral education and the professoriate.
