Summer Graduate Teaching Scholars (SGTS)

The Teaching + Learning Commons have various resources and tools for the scholars to participate in as they prepare and work through their summer course. The course preparation and support listed below is mandatory for each scholar. This includes the following: 

1. Participation and completion of Introduction to College Teaching, led by the Engaged Teaching Hub.
2. Participation and completion of the Course Design Studio for New Instructors-of-Record, led by the Engaged Teaching Hub.
3. At least one 60-minute consultation with members of the Engaged Teaching Hub before the Summer Session class begins.
4. Attend meetings with faculty mentor.
5. Attend reflection meetings, once per week during course.
6. Complete an end of summer teaching reflection.
7. Complete an evaluation of the program before the end of the summer.

1. Nominees need to Advance to Candidacy for the Ph.D/MFA degree by March 1, 2023.
2. Nominees should have TA experience, complete with TA evaluations, prior to the SGTS program.
3. Priority will be given to graduate students who will be Associates-In for the first time. Please visit the Academic Senate and the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) website for policy on appointing graduate students as Associates-In. 
4. The program is only available to current graduate students. Nominees should be registered full time for the Spring quarter prior to teaching Summer Session and/or intend to enroll full time in the succeeding Fall quarter.
5. Students who are scheduled to receive their degree prior to the Summer Session teaching appointment (Summer Session I – 7/3/23 and Summer Session II – 8/7/23) may not be selected because the teaching status would change from an Associate-In to a lecturer or another category. If you feel the nominee may graduate prior to the summer session appointment, please connect with the Division of Undergraduate Education to go over the dates. 
6. In order for scholars to be eligible for the SGTS program, scholars must enroll in and complete the Introduction to College Teaching course no later than winter quarter as well as the Course Design Studio workshop in the winter or spring quarters. Failure to complete the courses will mean that the student is no longer eligible to teach in the SGTS program.
7. Per University and GEPA financial support policy, students must be registered in a given quarter in order to receive financial support for that quarter. Students on an academic Leave of Absence are not eligible to receive financial support from the University.

1. Academic Senate policy allows graduate students to teach existing courses, but not courses offered for the first time. Please note the criteria for Associates-In to teach upper division courses. For suggestions on course selection, here is a link to the Summer Session Five-Year History Report. This report lists courses that have been offered during the summer session over the past five years, along with their enrollment history. The courses are organized by department.
2. Summer Session policy for approving a proposed course requires an enrollment history of a minimum of 15 students in summer session, or 45 students if the course was taught in fall, winter, or spring quarters within the past two years. If Summer Session projects that enrollment may be low, the department may consider offering another course that will meet enrollment limits.
   • Unfortunately, Summer Session courses may be cancelled and the appointment may be voided if the course does not meet the minimum enrollment of 15 by the low enrollment notification deadline (Summer Session I - 6/5/2023 and Summer Session II - 7/10/2023). Please propose courses carefully, choosing those with a historically successful track record. You can use the Summer Session Five-Year History Report to check summer enrollments for every class offered during the past 5 years. 
3. Departments should avoid having scholars teach courses where enrollments exceed 60 students. In these cases, larger courses may need to be split between two sections. Please contact the Division of Undergraduate Education if the course is projected to have high enrollments.

1. Nomination Memo – The Department Chair/Program Director is required to provide the nomination memo. 
   • In the heading, please include:
     1. Addressed to Dean of the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs, and the Dean of the Division of Undergraduate Education
     2. From the Department Chair or Program Director
     3. List the proposed nominee name and PID, session and course
      In the body of the letter, please include the following:
     1. The reason for the appointment.
     2. List the qualifications of the nominee. Please indicate the student’s expertise, prior instructional experience, and/or training, etc.
     3. Please discuss the programmatic needs for the course, and give a justification for the department’s choice to hire a graduate student to teach this course.
     4. Please provide an explanation of ways in which offering this course in the summer would reduce pressure on course offerings during the academic year.
     5. Please discuss the likelihood the course will reach the projected enrollment (include previous student enrollment and any other considerations, such as increases in a major that requires the course).
     6. Describe how the student will be supported in this role, be sure to include the faculty designee who will provide mentorship to the proposed nominee.
     7. Explain any exceptional circumstances (not Advanced to Candidacy, low student teaching evals (<75%), etc.)
2. Faculty Mentor Form
   • Mentors must be Academic Senate members. Examples of mentors include committee chairs, faculty advisors, course instructors, etc.  
   • Faculty mentors must submit the Mentor Form. This form should be used to outline the aspects of the faculty mentor's plan. 
     • Please note that mentors will be supported by the Engaged Teaching Hub (here is a link to the Hub's Support for Educators) and will have an opportunity to attend a Zoom Check-In Session with the Commons staff to learn about the program developed for SGTS students and their role as a faculty mentor. Mentors are also invited to attend all or part of the Course Design Studio with their mentee (3-day workshop).
     • Mentors will be contacted by the Engaged Teaching Hub to go over the mentor form to ensure they have all the tools necessary to create their mentor plan, and to support the teaching scholar.
     • Mentors will also be invited to the yearly faculty mentor meeting hosted by the Engaged Teaching Hub.
3. Nominee's Current CV (or resume)
4. Nominee's Statement of Interest – Please limit the total pages to 1-2 if feasible. The following should be included in the teaching statement:
   • Express your desire to improve your teaching
   • Discuss your passion for teaching, and how it aligns with your career goals
   • Describe your knowledge of the subject matter through experience or research
   • Share any preliminary thoughts on organizing the course and interactions with your mentor

5. Nominee's Teaching Assistant or Teaching Evaluations– The evaluations are collected by the Division of Undergraduate Education. They are automatically pulled for each application that is submitted. If the candidate does not have CAPE evaluations, please connect with the Division of Undergraduate Education as other evaluations may be submitted in their place.
6. Departments should submit their SGTS classes and graduate students into the Instructional Scheduling Assistant (ISA) as part of their standard Summer Session course proposals.
   • Submit your course with the graduate student listed as the instructor into the ISA by November 15, 2022.

• The SGTS program definitely helped me become a better teacher faster.  The framework of thinking about course design through learning outcomes (LOs) was a real game changer for me, and all of the specific instructional skills and activity ideas were immensely helpful. I did not use all of them in the teaching I did immediately following the course, but that's because there were so many! I'm sure I'll continue to draw on them in the years to come.

• It isn't possible to be effusive enough about this program. I have no doubts that having success as an instructor of record will be a huge plus on my resume. This has also proven to be a great capstone for my overall teaching experience as a grad student. 

  SGTS has been a fundamental part of my experience at UCSD. I love my dissertation work, too. But this measures up to that in terms of value and growth.

• There's a first time for everything, including teaching at the college level. I see that many job postings for teaching positions now require college teaching experience (and being a TA doesn't cut it). This begs the question: how do you get any type of teaching experience at the college level if the jobs that offer this experience has a requirement for the job itself? Seems like a conundrum to me. 

  I know of very few other schools that offer a program like SGTS and I'm really grateful to have been part of this program. This program distinguishes UCSD from all of the R1 institutions for promoting teaching as a part of graduate education. Not only did I get experience teaching a college course, but I also got detailed feedback from my graduate teaching consultant and faculty mentor about my performance as instructor. I'm much more confident now when I apply for teaching positions after I graduate knowing that I have some experience under my belt.

• SGTS definitely helped me prepare to teach my first course as well as build my confidence to teach my own class. It was extremely valuable, and I don't think I would have completed the summer course unscathed without it.

  Most importantly it showed me that teaching isn't a gift, but a skill that can be honed.

• SGTS introduced me to the realities of the teaching market and to how teaching functions beyond delivering information or providing feedback. That it is a space to have theories and specific styles. It has been a huge asset and totally changed the way I approach my students and class planning.

• This is an extremely valuable program considering how academia actively de-emphasis teaching for research, especially for graduate students. Having a group of people that values teaching and trains you to be as prepared as possible for it is an essential part of becoming an academic, and should be prioritized even more in light of how undervalued GOOD teaching is. Even though some of the material felt like common sense at times, I would have been insanely overwhelmed without the structure provided by the program, as well as being connected to peers all going through this at the same time. Just going through this experience knowing that there's somebody there to help you and empathize with you was very comforting, even if you don't end up using a lot of the resources. Having the weekly conversations and an observation also made sure I was on track, otherwise I can easily see how a course can spiral out of control in the extremely tight summer scheduling. Having gone through this as a graduate student, I'm a lot more confident in my ability to do it as a career if it came to that.