This Week for Graduate Students: Last Day to Apply for Fellowships!
Applications for the Lead Teaching Fellowship (LTF), the Teaching Assessment Fellowship (TAF), and the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) Fellowship, are now open through April 1.
Lead Teaching Fellowship
The LTF program is a professional development opportunity for doctoral and MFA students who are committed to promoting pedagogical practices and conversations among graduate students. LTFs participate in a series of meetings at the CTL, organize teaching-related workshops in their home departments, and act as liaisons between their peers and the CTL. This fellowship is available to doctoral students in all schools at Columbia University in years 2–7 in their program as of Fall 2024, as well as MFA students in the School of the Arts. We especially encourage candidates who are committed to drawing on diverse perspectives and experiences to apply.
Learn more and apply
“I really benefited from being an LTF. My confidence as a leader in my department and as a TA has grown so much.” – Chazelle Rhoden, Lead Teaching Fellow in Anthropology, 2020-2021
Teaching Assessment Fellowship
Teaching Assessment Fellows (TAFs) are Columbia University doctoral students who work closely with the Center for Teaching and Learning, faculty, and each other during the academic year to support and assess teaching initiatives. This fellowship is designed for graduate students who have particular interest in learning about methodologies and strategies for assessing course redesign efforts. They build these skills by helping to analyze the impact of teaching projects proposed by Columbia faculty and funded by the Office of the Provost.
Learn more and apply
CIRTL Fellowship
The CIRTL Fellows are Columbia doctoral students who serve as an instrumental link between the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) network and the Columbia community. CIRTL Fellows leverage CIRTL Network resources to support evidence-based, inclusive teaching and mentorship practices in Columbia’s STEM communities. This fellowship is designed for graduate students who are interested in developing resources and programming that will make STEM culture more inclusive of all learners. CIRTL fellows have the opportunity to serve in a leadership role on campus, and to participate in networking opportunities with STEM leaders across CIRTL’s 43 member institutions.
Learn more and apply
Note: Applications for the Teaching Observation Fellowship (TOF) will open in June.
Introduction to Advanced CTL Fellowships for Graduate Students
The CTL’s Graduate Student Programs and Services team invites doctoral students (and in some cases, MFA students at SOA) who have engaged extensively with CTL offerings, as well as current and past fellows, to join us for the second of two information sessions we are offering this semester to explore additional paid fellowship opportunities at the CTL.
This information session will focus on the following opportunities:
- Senior roles in the Lead Teaching Fellowship (LTF), Teaching Observation Fellowship (TOF), and Teaching Assessment Fellowship (TAF)
- The Teaching Consultant role
- Fellowships through partnering departments in GSAS, including the Fellowship in Academic Administration and the Office of Academic Diversity & Inclusion Fellowship focused on the Pedagogies of Race & Oppression Learning Community; as well as Student Assistant roles in SOLER
In this session, CTL staff will review all senior fellowship opportunities available to graduate students. They will then be joined by current and past fellows to share the expectations, development opportunities, and timelines for applying to each of the above opportunities. At the end of the session, participants will be invited to ask questions in an interactive Q&A.
Date: Friday, April 12
Time: 1:00–2:00pm
Location: 212 Butler Library
CTLgrads Journal Club
Are you interested in creating an inclusive educational climate for all STEM learners? Join us for the CTLgrads Journal Club. This informal discussion community is an opportunity to discuss resources and research on teaching and learning with fellow grad students and postdocs. Each session will help you consider how you can use findings in education research—in your field and beyond—to inform your own teaching practices.
This semester, the CTLgrads Journal Club is open to graduate students and postdocs across the CIRTL Network. Sessions are being facilitated by CIRTL Fellows and will run online via Zoom.
- Friday, April 12, 10:00–11:00am | Register
CTLgrads Journal Club sessions count towards completion of CTL’s Teaching Development Program (TDP) for graduate students.
Partner Event: Everyone Can Teach Climate
On April 3rd, Barnard College and the Columbia Climate School will participate in the Worldwide Climate and Justice Education Week.
The aim is to engage in an inclusive conversation on our campus around scaling up and improving teaching climate and justice. Our theme is “Everyone Can Teach Climate” to emphasize that teaching about climate and our planetary future touches every aspect of society and hence engages all disciplines, schools and operations. This community gathering will encourage all of us, whether a climate expert or just climate curious, to think about how to teach about it. Come learn how to “Make Climate A Class,” integrate climate into an existing course, use campus as a learning space, improve operations, create new course ideas and more.
Date: Wednesday, April 3
Time: 9:30am–1:30pm
Location: Barnard Hall, Room 418 – James Room
Everyone Can Teach Climate counts towards completion of the Application and Practice requirement in CTL’s Teaching Development Program (TDP) for graduate students.
Upcoming Lead Teaching Fellow Events
The 2023-24 Lead Teaching Fellows are running workshops and discussions in departments all around Columbia. These are generally advertised locally. Below are upcoming events that are open to participants beyond the LTFs home department.
Read more about the LTF program here, connect to an LTF in your department via the LTF directory, and discover more upcoming LTFs events on the LTF calendar.
LTF events count towards track completion in the Teaching Development Program.
Let’s Design Better Office Hours 💡
How to hold an effective office hour for your students? Are you tired of handling 20 students in the CS TA room or your Zoom waiting room? Do you directly tell them the answers or debug for them? How to make good use of time for everyone? Meet with other fellow (CS) TAs to learn their experiences and suggestions about how to hold an effective office hour!
This workshop is led by Lead Teaching Fellow Tao Long (Computer Science). The main focus will be on conducting CS-related office hours, covering topics such as supporting debugging sessions, answering general problem-set questions, and more. However, TAs from other departments or courses that involve coding or computing-related homework are also welcome to join!
Date: Monday, April 8
Time: 5:00pm–6:00pm
Location: CS lounge
Register: here
Empowering Every Student: Teaching for Different Learner Backgrounds
Have you ever been in the front of a classroom feeling torn between supporting a student really struggling to understand and ensuring that a top performer does not get bored? Whose needs did you choose to meet in that moment? Come to this workshop if you want these moments to shift from choosing between two students, to supporting the collective.
Teaching Assistants (TAs) often face the challenge of instructing classes in which students enter with varying levels of comprehension. This workshop provides TAs with practical strategies to effectively teach in classrooms with a range of comfort levels. Participants will learn how to create inclusive learning environments, gauge student understanding, and make course material accessible to different student needs. We’ll practice these methods with examples from your own classroom.
This workshop is led by Lead Teaching Fellow Sujoy Bhattacharyya (Sustainable Development) and is open to all graduate students, regardless of discipline. Discussion and examples will be geared primarily towards instructors in Sustainable Development and related fields (social sciences, statistics, ecology), but other departments are very welcome if they find these techniques relevant.
Date: Friday, April 12
Time: 11:00am–12:00pm
Location: International Affairs Building 1101
Register: email sb4439@columbia.edu