Most graduate students have come to UCR ready to dive head-first into research and other scholarly pursuits. Yet, many of us find ourselves treading water in the deep end of the teaching pool. Such a challenge inspires brave graduate students to take their pedagogical skills and training to the next level. The University Teaching Certificate (UTC) program offers graduate students another opportunity to develop their instructional practices, acquire greater knowledge of equitable and diverse teaching styles, and learn the nuts and bolts of curriculum development.

Over the 2020-2021 academic year, 37 UCR graduate students navigated through the UTC program during an unprecedented and challenging year. All of them performed admirably, but every one of them endured the troubles and challenges that accompany learning—and this is a good thing.

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Here are some real testimonials from some of this year’s UTC program participants highlighting the benefits of preparing materials and feeling more confident on the job market, discussing equitable and accessible teaching practices, and building a community of continued learners:

Job Market Materials

“The UTC Program gave me an opportunity to discuss and experiment with tested teaching methods in a communal space of instructors, which is hard to find. And I have not only interrogated my teaching methods to match the realities of how our students learn, but I've also gained fluency with respect to discussing my teaching philosophy, which is so critical to our success on the academic job market.” – Cherie Hamilton, Comparative Literature and Languages

“Through this program, not only have I had the opportunity to start drafting many documents that will be useful on the job market next year, but I have also gained new tools for making my classroom more accessible -- especially in this pandemic. I'm grateful for my experiences learning about different platforms and resources from other students in the course, and I'm also grateful for learning how to build a community of learners in my classroom in a more general sense. The tools are robust in both an in-person classroom and an online classroom. Thanks, UTC!” – Anonymous 

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“I LOVED this program! The format was an excellent combination of a seminar-style course with weekly presentations from professional speakers. One of my favorite elements is that I learned how to draft my own personal teaching philosophy, which would not have been possible without first defining that philosophy throughout this program.” – Jenna Merenstein, Psychology  

“The UTC program was not just very helpful in compiling a portfolio containing a syllabus, teaching statement, among other documents, but also helped me develop a large number of strategies and evidence-based practices specifically for teaching college students.” – Anonymous

“I really loved the UTC program. This is my third teaching/pedagogy focused class I've taken (one in my home department and one in my Master's program).  I enjoyed this program particularly because it was focused on topics that were useful for real-life classrooms and not simply TAing.  I also appreciated the usefulness of the deliverables - a syllabus, a teaching statement, and some reflections. These will continue to be useful as I apply for teaching positions.” – Elizabeth Bogumil, Sociology

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Discussing Equitable and Accessible Teaching Practices

“The UTC program has helped me vastly improve my teaching. I learned many strategies to engage students that I could immediately apply to the class I was TAing. It was awesome to see in real time how students benefitted from and enjoyed the techniques I learned from the UTC program.” – Alison Mills, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

“UTC is great! Having come in with prior teaching experience, the UTC program helped define what it means to be a great teacher. The program offers insightful and updated practices for educators invaluable for today's multifaceted learning environments, be it online or face-to-face. For those seeking to teach in post-secondary education, UTC provides excellent training, and I'm glad that I was part of this year's cohort!” – Bob Bozonelos, Music

“I learned a lot about teaching! Not only gaining essential knowledge about pedagogy but also practicing a lot on practical teaching skills. It is also such a great time to get involved in the group discussion every week, a lot of fun and learn!” – Haiyang Wang, Chemical Engineering

Community of Continued Learners

“I think what I loved most about the program was hearing about the insights and experiences from my fellow graduate students. The readings were excellent and extremely relevant to me, but learning from my peers - with their differing departments, fields, personalities, and preferences on how to approach things - was what really made this program so successful for me. Highly recommend it!” – Anonymous

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“Being provided with the time and space to discuss pedagogy and learn from my peers who came from various disciplines was an incredible opportunity. Gathering information about best teaching practices and receiving guidance to create materials required as part of a teaching portfolio for job applications was an invaluable experience. I would highly recommend this program to anyone who has a passion for teaching at the college level!” – Monica Beals, Psychology

“I highly recommend this program to those who want to pursue a teaching-focused position. By participating in the program, I become more confident in my teaching and motivated to make changes in my class. Also, I met amazing fellow graduate students in the program. I learned a lot from them.” – Anonymous

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“The UTC program taught me to fully embrace the array of skill set that teaching pedagogy can offer through in-person, virtual, or a hybrid classroom. More importantly, this opportunity gave me the chance to learn the challenges, best practices, and meaningful ways of engaging our students from the insights and sharing of other amazing TA's in my cohort, distinguished professors, outstanding undergraduate students, and various resource speakers that we had throughout the quarter. As a Filipino dance educator, it was a humbling and fruitful experience to learn from the best of what UCR's UTC program can offer.” – Jemuel Jr. Garcia, Dance

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As you can see, those who choose to accept the quest of the UTC program come out the other side inspired, galvanized, and fortified in their teaching abilities! Should you choose to follow in their footsteps by applying for the Fall 2021 – Winter 2022 UTC program, you too can join the company of UCR’s best and brightest instructors. The deadline to apply for this application cycle is Monday, May 17th at 9am. See the application at this website: https://tadp.ucr.edu/utc-application.

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