Since 2022, the Yehuda Elkana Center offers courses specifically for faculty as part of a teaching certificate program (independent of the doctoral student certificate program). These courses are particularly beneficial to colleagues within their first few years of joining CEU, although they are open to colleagues of any rank or tenure. The only requirement for participation is to be a CEU employee who already holds a doctoral degree, e.g., faculty, postdoctoral fellows, researchers. (For simplicity, all will be referred to here as “faculty.”)
Faculty are welcome to attend individual courses, sessions within the courses, or complete the entire Certificate in Teaching for University Faculty.
Please contact elkanacenter@ceu.edu for registration.
Certificate in Teaching for University Faculty
The Certificate in Teaching for University Faculty is designed as a two-year, structured, faculty-driven, and collaborative experience to support faculty in their early years of teaching at CEU. It can be shortened to one year or extended to three, depending on an individual's experience and circumstances. The Certificate combines small seminars and workshops with guided application in your own, disciplinary-specific teaching. As of summer 2024, it consists of 4 US credits (8 ECTS), plus the submission of a teaching portfolio. (Previously, it was 4-6 US credits (8-12 ECTS)). It focuses on peer exchange among colleagues and reflections on the intersection of theory and practice.
The Certificate unfolds in three stages.
Foundational Stage. (Year 1 fall and winter for most participants)
Teaching in Higher Education for University Faculty, Part I – 1 credit (seminar meets every other week in fall term). Topics focus on student-centered course design and assessment.
Teaching in Higher Education for University Faculty, Part II – 1 credit (seminar meets every other week in winter term). Topics focus on advanced techniques for facilitating classroom learning (beyond lecturing and discussions), and an introduction to supervising student research and theses.
Exploratory (Self-Directed) Stage. (Year 2 fall & winter for most participants)
In this stage, faculty work on deepening and further developing an aspect of their teaching they identify as a priority. Participants can elect one of 3 options:
Stage 2, Option 1: Discipline-Specific Pedagogies and the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning – (Fall through Spring) This yearlong sequence (2 credits) combines group reflections with other participants, individualized mentoring, and self study. Faculty design, research, and if possible, carry out their own teaching-related research.
Stage 2, Option 2: Rather than enrolling in Discipline-Specific Pedagogies, participants may register in advanced, elective courses (also open to CEU doctoral students).
Stage 2, Option 3: Alternatively, with the consent of the program director, participants may transfer credits from prior teaching development courses, summer courses, or external courses on teaching development.
Consolidation Stage 3. (Year 2 spring for most participants)
In this final stage, faculty develop, revise, and submit a comprehensive teaching portfolio. The portfolio consists of syllabi, a teaching philosophy statement, a teaching diversity statement, a teaching observation and associated materials from the lesson/session plan, and a sample assessment. (It is not required to submit student course evaluations as part of the Certificate.) To assist participants in preparing these materials, they should either attend short workshops on the teaching philosophy statement and arrange individual feedback with Center faculty or enroll in the online course, Creating a Teaching Portfolio for University Faculty.