Graduate Teaching Fellow Program

To encourage and recognize exemplary activities in teaching and education by Ph.D. students, we offer the Graduate Teaching Fellow program as part of the Computer Science Ph.D. program. Students who successfully complete this program are rewarded with a letter that documents the teaching accomplishments of the student and explains the requirements that were satisfied to complete the Teaching Fellow program. The letter is written and signed by the Department Head. There is no special designation on the Ph.D. diploma itself.

Any CSD Ph.D. student in good standing is eligible to enter the Teaching Fellow program, and may remain as long as good standing is maintained. Participation in the Teaching Fellow program does not in any way reduce or replace any of the usual Ph.D. requirements. Progress through the Teaching Fellow program is monitored by a faculty member appointed for this purpose (henceforth referred to as the Teaching Fellow Monitor) and the DRC.

The following are the requirements for completion of the Graduate Teaching Fellow Program:

1. Completion of at least six teaching seminars at the University's Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence.

2. At least one semester-long teaching experience involving significant responsibility for course content, delivery, and management. This teaching experience may take the place of one semester of the normal teaching requirement, though in many cases it is expected that this experience will be carried out as an additional semester of teaching.
   1. For course content, the Teaching Fellow should be personally involved (typically jointly with a Lecturer or Professor) in the creation of a significant number of the course topics and materials, including elements such as the syllabus, lecture notes, homework assignments, projects, and exams. Any materials written by the Teaching Fellow may be submitted to the Monitor for review.

   2. For course delivery, the Teaching Fellow should give a significant number of lectures/recitations in the course. At least two of the lectures/recitations must be observed and reviewed by the Center for Teaching.

   3. For course management, the Teaching Fellow should be involved in a significant number of management activities, e.g., organizing and directing of other teaching assistants and graders, calculating mid-semester or final grades, and arranging for special classroom or laboratory facilities. If the Teaching Fellow is acting as a teaching assistant to an instructor, the instructor will be asked to comment on the management activities of the Teaching Fellow, for review by the Monitor.

   Any teaching experience, if it is to be used to satisfy this requirement, must be approved in advance by the DRC.

3. Submission and review, by the Teaching Fellow Monitor, of a ``tangible contribution'' to education. Typically, this material would include course notes, syllabi, exam, homeworks, and course-related software. Other possibilities include outcomes from participation in curriculum and course design efforts.

Opportunities for significant teaching responsibility may be hard to find, so we encourage students to seek help from the Associate Department Head, the Teaching Fellow Monitor, and the DRC. We also strongly encourage faculty to consider co-teaching arrangements with prospective Teaching Fellows. The Director of Graduate Programs has a separate document that contains a detailed rationale for having the Teaching Fellows program.