An introduction to the community of professors: The engineering education scholars workshop

It can be difficult for new faculty to get the information they need on issues such as teaching, advising, and setting up a research program. While some have excellent mentors, others have come to rely on trial and error or word of mouth. In 1996, the NSF Engineering Education Scholars Workshop began at Carnegie Mellon University to address the needs of new and future engineering faculty by: providing professional teaching development; offering guidance in supervising graduate students and conducting research; discussing likely engineering education and research challenges in the 21^st century; and providing intellectual and social support with colleagues. After three years, a significant amount of knowledge and experience has been gathered by the workshop co-chairs. This paper details the structure of the workshop and discusses the underlying principles and implementation to provide guidance for those planning similar workshops.