Graduate School Launches New Certificate in College Teaching
Beginning this fall, the Graduate School is offering a new Certificate in College Teaching (CCT) and an expanded range of courses in teaching at the college level. Graduate students planning to go on to a faculty career in higher education will very likely be expected to teach, and the CCT program both prepares them to do this and formally documents this professional development to make graduates more competitive when applying for positions. This program not only promotes development as a teacher, but also facilitates more efficient use of time in the balance among research, teaching and other responsibilities.
The CCT program is for Duke Ph.D. students enrolled in any department and, upon completion, will be noted on their Duke University transcript. The program has three requirements. First, participants should successfully complete two courses in college teaching. This can include any combination of Graduate School or discipline specific pedagogy courses offered by a department or program. Second, participants should have formal experience teaching a group of students over the course of a term in a classroom or lab setting and participate in teaching observations. Finally, each participant should create an online teaching portfolio. Applications will be taken every semester for the CCT program; you should apply in or just before a semester in which you’ll be teaching.
Although this new program only launched a few weeks ago, there are already 60 Ph.D. students enrolled representing a very wide range of departments.
As part of this expanded programming on college teaching, the Graduate School is also offering a greater range of courses in college teaching beginning this year; all courses are applicable to CCT requirements. These courses can be taken any time and in any sequence, either before or after enrolling in the CCT program. See the sidebar for links to the course descriptions.
For more information about the new CCT program or courses on college teaching, contact: Dr. Hugh Crumley, Director, Certificate in College Teaching, Duke University Graduate School (crumley@duke.edu).
Contributed by Hugh Crumley, Director, Certificate in College Teaching.