CIRTL @ UNC Chapel Hill - Graduate School Professional Development

Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning

Are you a graduate student or postdoctoral scholar thinking about a career in higher education?

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a member of a network of research universities committed to preparing outstanding future faculty with the ultimate goal of improving undergraduate education across all disciplines at UNC Chapel Hill, inclusive of the arts, humanities, social sciences, education, STEM, etc. Our membership in this network enables graduate students and postdocs to take advantage of career development courses and workshops offered locally & online by other network member institutions, build your teaching portfolio and gain a competitive edge for the academic job market through evidence-based teaching approaches and engagement with teaching-related learning communities.

All CIRTL programs and activities are based on the following core values:

Teaching-through-Diversity. Capitalizes on experiences, backgrounds, and skills to promote equal success for all learners.
Learning Communities. Bring participants together for collaborative discovery and learning to achieve specific goals.
Teaching as Research (TAR). Involves the deliberate, systematic, and reflective use of research methods to develop and implement effective teaching and learning practices.

Benefits to Participants:

Enhance academic, communication, & research skills (Feldon et al Science 333:2011, Shortlidge & Eddy, PLoS ONE 2018)
Engage in training and mentoring to become effective educators
Gain competitive advantage in career searches
Earn nationally recognized credentials
Expand leadership skills and build relationships with peers and future colleagues
Acknowledgement of levels of accomplishment on transcript (graduate students)

Getting Started:

Register as a participant for CIRTL@UNC Chapel Hill
Sign-up and create a CIRTL Network Account
Participate in CIRTL related offerings locally and through national cross-network events
Record participation in CIRTL@UNC Chapel Hill Sakai site for levels of accomplishment (access granted after registration above).

Levels of Accomplishment/Learning Outcomes

Associate
Complete the following requirements
Pedagogical workshops 5 stand-alone workshops or a workshop series on how to teach at the college level (local or online or via CIRTL network)-or- Departmental pedagogical training course -or- MOOC: Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching -or- MOOC: Advancing Learning Through Evidence-Based STEM Teaching 1 Diversity training – GreenZone, SafeZone, Carolina Firsts Advocate training, Diversity in STEM conference, THINKposium, diversity sessions at a national conference, etc Participation in a learning community (MOOC learning community, education research journal club, weekly meetings with all course TA’s, brown bag lunch meetings in your department discussing pedagogical topics, fellowship group meetings focused on course development) Write and submit a teaching statement
Evidence of Completion to Obtain Associate Level
Documentation of completion of requirements above in Sakai Submission of revised Teaching Philosophy Statement. Submission of completed reflections Anticipated timeline for completion: 1 semester

Practitioner
Complete the following requirements
Completion of Associate’s level requirements (engagement with a TAR course or TAR cohort meetings can be concurrent with completion of requirements at Associate’s level) Teaching experience (guest lecture series, instructor of record for 1 course) 2 diversity-related workshops/trainings offered on-campus, at conferences, or via CIRTL network Completion of a TAR project in one of three tracks (evidence-based teaching, learning through community, or learning through diversity) Submission of a TAR project plan Submission of a TAR written report after implementation (optional) Completion of TAR course or TAR related trainings will significantly support successful completion of a TAR project Participate and/or facilitate/lead a learning community -or- serve on the CIRTL at UNC Chapel Hill Advisory Group Revise and submit teaching statement
Evidence of Completion to Obtain Practitioner Level
Documentation of completion of requirements above in Sakai Submission of revised Teaching Philosophy Statement. Submission of completed reflections Anticipated timeline for completion: 2 semesters

Scholar

Complete the following requirements

Documentation of completion of requirements above in Sakai
Presented and/or published the results of rigorous, significant, well-developed Teaching-as-Research and/or education research efforts to national or international audiences of their peers (peer-reviewed projects presented at national conferences and publishing in journals). This level represents a high level of engagement in the pillars of CIRTL through their application and defense of work
Update Teaching Statement

Graduate students and postdoctoral scholars affiliated with other teaching-related UNC Chapel Hill programs can also fulfill many of these requirements concurrently. Please see links below for equivalencies:

Certificate in College Science Teaching (CCST)

Future Faculty Fellowship Program (FFFP)

Preparing International Teaching Assistants Program (PITAP)

Seeding Postdoctoral Innovators in Research and Education (SPIRE)