Programs and Services
The programs and services listed below are the result of innovative collaborations among Brandeis faculty, staff, and students that align with the Brandeis University Learning Goals, Core Learning Goals, Core Values, and The Framework for the Future. We hope you see something below that excites you and in which you'd like to participate.
That being said, we're always excited to develop new programs and services to support you. If there's ever anything else you'd like to do, please don't hesitate to reach out and let us know!
How can we help?
Here at Brandeis, the Center for Teaching and Learning is dedicated to supporting instructors with their teaching and learning needs. We recognize that teaching can often be a difficult and lonely experience, and we welcome you to share your challenges with us. We hear you, we see you, and we are here to help. We are grateful for the important work you are doing.
If you are an instructor (including faculty members, lecturers, graduate student TAs, etc.), please fill out a CTL Help Request form to explain the issues and challenges you are facing, and we will reach out to you with help shortly!
New Faculty Orientation is a week-long program in August to welcome new faculty to Brandeis. It offers opportunities to meet colleagues, explore effective teaching strategies, and tour learning spaces.
In collaboration with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Education and Learning Initiatives (ODEI Education), the CTL is excited to offer a new, year-long DEI Faculty Fellowship program. The program is designed to support faculty interested in rethinking their courses and teaching strategies using an inclusive, student-centered framework.
This year-long DEI Faculty Fellowship will focus on supporting faculty to develop and implement inclusive teaching strategies and assignments in their courses. Each DEI Faculty Fellow will be able to develop their own projects and focus in an area of their interest.
The program is open to any full-time faculty members, teaching on a multi-year contract or tenured/tenure-track. Workshops and cohort meetings will be collaboratively co-led by the CTL and DDEI. Participating faculty will receive a $500 stipend thanks to generous funding by the Presidential Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Mini-Grant Fund.
In a Pedagogical Partnership, a faculty member chooses a student partner to work with them on a course they teach throughout the semester. The student partner sits in on their faculty member’s course and meets with them weekly to provide feedback from a student point of view. The CTL provides training and support for both the student partners and the participating faculty members throughout the semester.
This program is an opportunity to harness student feedback, collaboration, and partnership to meaningfully address some of the challenges we're experiencing in our classrooms and to think deeply about equitable and inclusive course design, explore new pedagogical approaches, or incorporate new course content.
Participating faculty will receive a $1,000 stipend for the semester and student partners will receive $1,250. If you are interested in working with a student partner, or if you have any questions about the program, please email ctl@brandeis.edu.
Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) are small groups of five to six faculty who meet every other week throughout the semester to discuss teaching and learning issues, inspire one another and make teaching a communal act (rather than a solitary one).
The program involves three components:
- 80-minute in-person meetings every two weeks;
- peer teaching observations; and
- short, selected readings.
FLCs are designed to foster supportive environments in which faculty can investigate, question, explore, and apply new classroom techniques and share new ideas about teaching and learning.
The program is open to any full-time faculty members, teaching on a multi-year contract or tenured/tenure-track. Participating faculty will receive a $600 stipend upon completion of the program.
If you are interested in participating in an FLC, or if you have any questions about the program, please email ctl@brandeis.edu.
The Justice League is an informal community of practice for Brandeis faculty who are committed to supporting one another as we cultivate equitable, inclusive, and accessible courses that inspire deep and meaningful learning for our students.
We meet 4-5 times per semester, visit each other's classes for inspiration, feedback, and support, and work on other project in support of fostering inclusive excellence on campus. Join us!
Faculty recipients of Provost's Teaching Improvement, Experimentation, and Research (TIER) Grants and other grants to support teaching share their wisdom, along with additional panel discussions, awards, and other events centering teaching and learning at the end of each school year.
Would you like a sounding board to discuss your syllabus?
Do you want to incorporate a type of new assignment or more active learning or inclusive teaching strategies into your course?
Do you want help training your TAs or help with developing an external educational grant?
Would you like to discuss your mid-semester or end-of-semester student feedback or how to deal with chatGPT?
Would you like someone to visit and observe your class and chat with them confidentially afterwards about it?
We're here for you! Please feel free to schedule a meeting with Marty via his Calendly link, fill out a CTL Help Request form, call us at 781-736-8322, or drop by our offices in the Farber Library (Faber 2 office).
- Provost's Teaching Improvement, Experimentation, and Research (TIER) Grants (previously known as Teaching Innovation Grants) are designed to encourage faculty to try new and/or enhanced ways to enrich their students' learning (see past awards).
- External Grants to Support Teaching may also be useful to explore.
The CTL offers the required pedagogical training for all first-time Teaching Assistants (TAs), Course Assistants (CAs), Instructional Assistants (IAs), and Teaching Fellows (TFs).
The CTL also offers seminars and workshops for graduate students, both of which count towards completing a Teaching Certificate.
Every semester, the CTL awards 10 TA Awards for Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring to recognize and celebrate the excellent work TAs do. (TAs can be nominated by both their faculty members and students.)
The CTL provides tips for leading discussion sections, office hours, board work, review sessions, etc.
We are also always thrilled to support graduate students in any way that we can, so please never hesitate to reach out!
Your students' feedback during the early part of the course can help you identify small course adjustments that will improve their learning and engagement. Brandeis' Midcourse Feedback webpage highlights further benefits and explains how to gather student comments anonymously through Moodle. This feedback will be shared with you alone and will not be used in any formal evaluation of your teaching effectiveness. We would be happy to help you review your students' feedback and help you consider how to responding to it. Please contact ctl@brandeis.edu for a confidential consultation.
Are you looking for an informal writing group to help you with a paper, book, grant application, etc., that you’re writing over the summer (5/23 through 8/1) ?
If so, please feel free to join us for an informal, weekly meeting Thursdays from 2-4pm in the Farber 2 Conference Room to meet with colleagues for feedback and support over tea and snacks.
CTL staff collaborate with Information Technology Services and Media and Technology Services, the Technology Help Desk and other campus colleagues to curate these resources.