Yale Center for Teaching and Learning

Programs and Funding Opportunities

The Poorvu Center strives to support faculty teaching excellence, reflection, and the use of the educational literature and equitable teaching practices through funding opportunities and program offerings. Throughout our programming, we emphasize interdisciplinary discussion among faculty. Faculty engage with us in a variety of ways, including individual workshops and discussions, longer-term teaching communities, and an intensive summer institute for designing or redesigning a course. We also provide programs specific to a department or school upon request and in consultation with the partnering group. Please email faculty.teaching@yale.edu for more information or to request a customized program.

We particularly encourage new faculty to explore our resources as they learn about Yale’s teaching culture, design courses, and meet faculty across the university. The Faculty Teaching Academy provides a $3000 professional development fund for Yale College instructors who begin the program within their first three years at Yale and complete the program requirements within two years.

We invite suggestions or feedback by email (faculty.teaching@yale.edu). FAS instructors seeking professional development outside the scope of the Poorvu Center can consider opportunities through Scholars as Leaders; Scholars as Learners (SAL2).

Drop-in workshops and discussions are held throughout the semester. Current series include: Teaching and Learning Discussions, Technology-Enhanced Academics Talks, Teaching Flexibly and Accessibly, Faculty in Conversation: Antiracist Pedagogy, and Educational Technology Workshops.
We offer several opportunities for faculty to engage in community with others as they explore their teaching. These include semester-long learning communities with other instructors, and Pedagogical Partners, a unique program that pairs faculty with undergraduate partners to reflect on and refine teaching practices throughout the semester.
Course (Re)Design helps instructors examine principles of how people learn, identify assessment strategies to strengthen student learning, and refine components of classes that can be made more equitable.
The Poorvu Center welcomes new faculty of all ranks to the vibrant community of teachers and scholars at Yale. This page serves as an introduction to resources related to teaching policies and guidelines, best practices for teaching, and our Faculty Teaching Academy, a program designed for faculty who are new to teaching at Yale.
The Poorvu Center Faculty Fellows Program is a yearlong opportunity for a small group of faculty from across the disciplines to share and discuss their teaching and learning experiences with other instructors at Yale.
The Poorvu Center offers a number of funding opportunities to help faculty advance teaching ideas. The Instructional Enhancement Fund awards small pots of money to make near-term instructional changes to individual courses. Rosenkranz Awards and Belonging at Yale Grants support larger projects.
The Poorvu Center organizes an annual opportunity for faculty to open their courses to other faculty at Yale, enabling all instructors to experience the innovative teaching practices happening across the University.