CATE Community Offerings
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Are you interested in connecting with fellow instructors over shared interests or teaching contexts? We have a number of offerings, in a combination of formats, in-person, hybrid, and asynchronous, that are focused on building community among instructors. This fall we’re launching two new community-based offerings: Co-working with CATE and New Faculty Teaching Network and we’re continuing to offer our: Large Course Community of Practice and an Online Teaching and Learning Teams Channel.
Read on to learn more about this fall’s CATE community offerings:
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Co-working with CATE
As instructors, your days can be taken up by e-mails, meetings, and other tasks. Designing a new lesson, lab, or assessment, or writing up your teaching and learning research projects can often get pushed to the side of your desk. Whether you need to create next week’s lectures, draft a journal article, or catch up on grading, this is a space for protected and uninterrupted focus time alongside a supportive community of instructors.
Join us on most Fridays between 10 am – 12 pm and bring a project that is at the top of your priority list. We will start each session with a quick check-in to share our goals for the session, followed by dedicated blocks of work time and breaks. Join us either in-person at the Teaching Excellence Building and fuel up on coffee, tea, and snacks or online on Zoom to work alongside us virtually.
Sessions will start on Friday, September 11, 2026 and end on Friday, December 4, 2026.
There will be no sessions on Friday, November 20 and Friday, November 27 due to the Thanksgiving Holiday.
If you have any questions, please contact Crystal Tse at tsecryst@uic.edu.
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New Faculty Teaching Network
Starting a faculty position means balancing new courses, new students, new technologies, and new expectations: all while building a successful research and service agenda. The New Faculty Teaching Network provides practical, year-long support to help new faculty develop effective, sustainable teaching practices at UIC.
Hosted by the Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence (CATE), the Network extends the support provided through New Faculty Orientation by offering opportunities to learn, connect, and reflect throughout the academic year.
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Large Course Community of Practice
Whether you’re an experienced large course instructor or new to this format, find a supportive space to talk candidly with colleagues who understand the complexities of teaching at scale.
This informal, discussion-based group brings together instructors who regularly teach large courses to share teaching strategies, reflect on common struggles, celebrate successes, and learn from one another. Whether you’re a seasoned large-course instructor or newly navigating this course format, you’ll find support, practical ideas, and a space to talk candidly with colleagues who understand the complexities of teaching at scale. Monthly meeting topics will be participant-driven and facilitated by CATE staff.
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Online Teaching and Learning MicrosoftTeams Channel
The Online Teaching and Learning Microsoft Teams channel is a space where UIC faculty and staff can exchange resources, seek answers, and provide mutual encouragement around online teaching. The goal of this space, moderated by CATE staff, is to support our academic community in delivering high-quality synchronous, asynchronous, hybrid, and distributed online learning experiences for UIC’s undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.