Inclusive Education Scholars Certificate Program
registration
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The Inclusive Education Scholars Certificate Program supports instructors in developing evidence-based, inclusive teaching practices through self-paced learning, facilitated discussions, and a cross-disciplinary learning community.
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Build inclusive teaching skills, connect with instructors across campus, and create learning environments where every student can thrive.
Register Now: Join the Fall 2026 Cohort!
Meet Our Past Inclusive Education Scholars!
What Is the IESCP?
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Created by CATE and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Engagement, the Inclusive Education Scholars Certificate Program (IESCP) is a semester-long professional development opportunity open to anyone who teaches at UIC.
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Through the program, instructors become more cognizant and empathetic of the lived experiences of students, increase their awareness of student barriers to learning and their sense of belonging, and discover inclusive teaching strategies to implement in their own learning environments.
What your peers say:
Inclusion in the classroom is not just about content, but about intentionality in every aspect of teaching–from how we design assignments to how we respond in moments of discomfort… This program reminded me that inclusive teaching is a continuous process of learning and unlearning.
What Will I Learn?
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This program is designed to help you see your students and teaching context through a new lens and develop inclusive and equity-minded teaching practices. Together, we will explore:
- The Student Experience: Understand the unique lived experiences and hidden barriers faced by different student groups at UIC.
- Identity & Self-Awareness: Explore how our own backgrounds, social identities, and unexamined assumptions shape classroom dynamics.
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- The Power of Mindset: Learn how fostering a growth mindset and a strong sense of belonging directly improves student outcomes.
- Historical Context: Examine how structural factors have shaped higher education, and discover how to actively counter those inequities in your daily work.
What your peers say:
I appreciated exploring these topics with faculty from various colleges and departments. I especially liked learning about different strategies and how I could incorporate them into my courses for my students.
How Does It Work?
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The program is designed to fit your schedule, combining flexible, asynchronous independent learning with collaborative synchronous sessions held over Zoom.
To earn your certificate, over the course of a semester, you will:
- Complete 4 Online Modules: Asynchronous, self-paced modules on Canvas covering topics such as growth mindset, sense of belonging, exclusion and inclusion in higher education, and social identities in the classroom.
- Participate in 5 Learning Community Sessions: Facilitated, interdisciplinary discussions (held via Zoom) to dive deeper into ideas, build a supportive network, and share real-world classroom strategies.
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- Attend 3 CATE Teaching Workshops: Interactive sessions of your choice—taken during the program or the following semester—where you will discover, practice, and plan new instructional strategies. Workshops are offered on Zoom.
Certificates are issued at the end of the semester in which your final workshop is completed.
How Will This Benefit Me as an Instructor?
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Instructors have a lot on their plates. Between research, service, and daily teaching demands, professional development can feel hard to squeeze in. But at CATE, we believe instructor well-being and student success go hand-in-hand.
By joining, you will gain practical tools to:
- Build strong student trust, confidence, and buy-in.
- Comfortably facilitate inclusive, complex classroom discussions.
- Rethink language in your rubrics, syllabi, and feedback to students to encourage student growth.
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Institutional Recognition
Your hard work deserves to be celebrated. Upon completion, you will receive an official certificate jointly signed by the Vice Chancellor for Engagement and the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. This certificate serves as formal recognition by the University that you have invested in yourself, in your academic unit, and the UIC community more broadly.
What your peers say:
I found the community especially valuable, because participants shared from different personal experiences and viewpoints… [giving] me a stronger foundation for approaching inclusive education with greater awareness and care.
Join a Cohort
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The program runs every fall and spring semester, and anyone who teaches at UIC is welcome to participate. This includes:
- Tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenure-track full-time and part-time faculty (including adjuncts).
- Graduate teaching assistants (TAs).
- Postdocs and academic staff with teaching responsibilities.
Register for the Course & Learning Community
Learning communities take place on Zoom, are interdisciplinary and highly collaborative, and are limited to 20 participants per group to keep conversations meaningful.
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In Fall 2026, we are supporting two cohorts, one for faculty and staff and one for graduate students and postdocs.
- Faculty/Staff LC: Thursdays from 2:00 – 3:30 pm
- Meets on: 9/10, 9/24, 10/15, 11/5, and 12/3
- Grad Student/Postdoc LC: Wednesdays from 3:00 – 4:30 pm
- Meets on: 9/9, 9/23, 10/14, 11/4, and 12/2
Sign up by August 21, 2026 to join a fall learning community. If you register after the learning communities fill, you will be placed on a waiting list and notified if space becomes available.
Inclusivity & Accessibility Information
UIC is committed to full inclusion and participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of university life. CATE’s online events are delivered through Zoom and may include breakout rooms and group discussion. CATE’s in-person events typically involve a combination of presentation and discussion-based activities. We welcome ASL interpreters, note-takers, and accompanying assistants to all CATE events. If you have questions about access, such as parking or building layouts, or wish to request accommodations for our programming, such as real-time captioning (CART), ASL services, or obtaining event materials in alternative formats, please contact teaching@uic.edu for more information from CATE staff.
Acknowledgements
The development and implementation of the Inclusive Education Scholars Certificate Program is the result of a collaboration between the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Engagement and the Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence.
Special thanks to the Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for funding this program.