For Graduate Students

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) supports the professional development of Columbia graduate students across the University with current or future teaching responsibilities. The CTL also offers an array of support to graduate students to help them reflect on, improve, and measure their teaching at Columbia.

Offerings for Graduate Students

Graduate students participating in the CTL’s programs and services develop a sense of pedagogical agency, interdisciplinary exchange, and peer-driven inquiry that helps prepare them for the future in a variety of academic and professional settings. They also develop instructional practices that are learner-centered and inclusive.

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Teaching Development Pathways

There are a number of ways graduate student instructors can engage with the CTL’s programs, services, and other professional development opportunities. Benefits of participation include engagement with a community of supportive peers, personal development and guidance, and opportunities for monetary support. Whether it’s your first time teaching or you are preparing for the job market, you can browse the CTL’s various pathways for graduate students.

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Student Spotlights

Partnering with the CTL can make an impact in the classroom, the digital realm, and the entire world. Discover how other graduate instructors are making a difference.

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Fellowships and Opportunities

Columbia doctoral students can apply for paid fellowship opportunities at the CTL that provide them with sustained professional development experience. Columbia doctoral students can also apply for other paid professional development opportunities, in which they are trained and supported by CTL to offer teaching support services to peers.

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Contacts for Graduate Students

CTL staff provide teaching support for graduate instructors in a variety of ways. 

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What Our CTL Graduate Instructors are Saying

Don’t just take it from us, let our fans do the talking!

“The STEM Education Research Journal Club has been a wonderful opportunity to get graduate students discussing and demystifying educational research. It’s helpful to read the research behind the statistics mentioned in teaching workshops, become conversant educational research, and learn from my peers. We’ve built a community over the semester and I’ve heard from several other graduate students that they would like to participate in the future.”
Franziska Landes

PhD student in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, CTL CIRTL Fellow

“Running a Learning Community was one of the more empowering aspects of the Senior Lead Teaching Fellowship. We got the chance to combine our real-world classroom experience with research into some of the latest pedagogical strategies—many I didn’t know of, but now plan on applying in my future teaching, too. In this sense it was really an experience of growth—digging deep into a new area of pedagogy, but also learning how to become an educator about education. Going forward, I now feel confident that I can speak to colleagues outside of my department and beyond about innovative pedagogies that can transform their classroom.”
Evan Jewell

PhD student in Classical Studies, CTL Senior Lead Teaching Fellow

“As a graduate student and instructor at Columbia, I found in the CTL a truly supportive and committed community that enabled me to enhance my teaching performance and polish my profile and skills for the job market. CTL workshops provided me with the space to rehearse, practice, and develop my pedagogical strategies while also nurturing and strengthening my vision of the role of teachers and their outreach in our society. The CTL community provided me with the skills needed to embrace the job market and land a tenure track position in my field.”
Mariana-Cecilia Velázquez

PhD student in Latin American and Iberian Cultures, CTL Lead Teaching Fellow

Contact the GSPS Team

Don’t Be Shy. If we didn’t answer all of your questions, feel free to drop us a line anytime.