Yale Center for Teaching and Learning

New to Teaching at Yale

Welcome! We’re excited for you to begin teaching at Yale. The Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning is here to support you and your students as you make this transition. As part of a world-class research institution, we provide training, consultations, and resources designed to make teaching and learning more public and collaborative, so that every Yale instructor experiences the satisfaction that results from teaching well, and every student develops the critical reflection that marks deep and independent learning.

The Poorvu Center is here to support all instructors at Yale in their pedagogy. Faculty can request classroom observations or consultations about teaching and use the many faculty teaching resources available on the Poorvu Center website. The Poorvu Center also offers a variety of programming and funding opportunities to enrich teaching and support innovative strategies. New instructors may particularly benefit from our Course (Re)Design Institute, a three-day institute which provides structured course design work time, starting from teaching and learning goals.

All new ladder and instructional faculty who regularly teach Yale College undergraduates are eligible to participate in the Poorvu Center’s Faculty Teaching Academy to support their professional growth as teachers. Eligibility includes instructors whose primary appointment is in a professional school and who teach Yale College undergraduates.

 

Additionally, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences invites FAS instructors to engage in the Scholars as Leaders; Scholars as Learners (SAL2). The SAL2 mission is to support FAS faculty members in their continuing growth as scholars, leaders, and university citizens, enabling them to excel in their work at Yale. The FAS Dean’s office has curated this useful resource for instructors new to teaching at Yale, which includes links about living in the New Haven area, faculty governance, and more. 

 

In the following pages, you will find important teaching resources for new faculty. Please reach out to the Poorvu Center with any questions via askpoorvucenter@yale.edu or request a consultation.

 

Yale Teaching Policies, Practices, and Culture

This section provides an overview of Yale teaching policies and practices, as well as information about Yale's residential college system.

Course Enrollment Process

This section explains Yale College’s course enrollment process, which consists of a registration period during the semester prior to the term in which students will be taking the courses selected and an add/drop period during the first week of the semester. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) and some professional schools follow a similar process.