Join the Inclusive Education Scholars Certificate Program
INSTRUCTIONAL INNOVATIONS
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Learn about the lived experiences and contextual barriers faced by different student groups, leverage the benefits of diverse classrooms in becoming more culturally-responsive in your teaching, and adapt inclusive and equity-minded teaching practices.
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What is it?
The Inclusive Education Scholars Certificate Program (IESCP) is an exciting new professional learning program, which was co-developed by the Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence (CATE) and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Engagement (ODEE) with financial support from the UIC Provost and NSF (DUE Award No. 2122652 and DUE Award No. 2111446).
What is the goal of the program?
The goal of this program is to help all UIC instructors support student success and well-being by acquiring the pedagogical knowledge and teaching skills needed to create a positive classroom climate and strengthen the educational experience for all UIC students.
What will participants learn?
The program will enable instructors to learn about the lived experiences and contextual barriers faced by different student groups, leverage the benefits of diverse classrooms in becoming more culturally-responsive in their teaching, and adapt inclusive and equity-minded teaching practices. The IESCP is designed to help instructors become more self-aware of their own social identities and that of their students as well as the impact of implicit bias and microaggressions on the learning environment. Program participants will examine how systemic racism has shaped higher education, including the resulting barriers to equitable access and opportunity in U.S. colleges and universities. Participants will explore the importance of mindset and sense of belonging in student success. Learning activities will engage instructors in facilitated discussions to help in contextualizing this information within their own courses or disciplines and enable them to adopt teaching practices that transform their classrooms in ways that value diversity, foster inclusion, and close equity gaps.
What do program participates do?
The IESCP is comprised of a combination of eLearning modules, learning communities, and workshops as follows:
- An asynchronous online course comprised of 4 modules on inclusive teaching;
- A five-session, face-to-face learning community where instructors come together real-time for facilitated discussions, which will dive deeper into the substance of the online modules, explore ways to apply inclusive teaching concepts to particular course and disciplinary contexts, and create opportunities to meet colleagues and build community with other UIC educators committed to supporting equity and inclusion in the classroom, and;
- A total of 3 CATE workshops on inclusive teaching, completed anytime before or after the online course and learning community, where participants learn about, practice, and plan to integrate instructional strategies into their own courses.
How will instructors be recognized and rewarded for certificate completion?
The IESCP culminates in the achievement of an Inclusive Education Scholars Certificate jointly signed by the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Engagement and the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. Certificate completion is recognized as a core service tied to the institutional policy that incentivizes and rewards UIC instructors for their participation in activities that demonstrate their commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion at UIC.
Who is eligible to participate?
Any instructor of record who teaches at UIC is eligible to register and complete the certificate program. This includes TT, NTT, full-time and part-time instructors (including adjuncts), and academic staff.
How do instructors register?
Please visit the IESCP webpage to learn more about the program and to access the registration link, which is updated each semester.
Questions? Contact CATE at teaching@uic.edu.