Procedure for Submission

All materials should be submitted through our Qualtrics form.

• First, you (the graduate student applicant) will initiate the application, which includes:

  1. The submission of a PDF gathering the course materials and application – see “Part II: Application materials from the faculty member and you”

  2. The submission of the names and contact information for both letter writers and individuals who must approve the course (graduate student applicant’s adviser, the DUS of the department hosting the course, and the DGS of the graduate student applicant’s department) – see “Part II: Application materials from the faculty member and you”

• Upon submission of your application, each of the above individuals will recieve an automatic prompt to submit further materials. You will receive notification when each of these components has been submitted. 

A selection committee comprised of former AT faculty and Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning staff will review all applications and notify applicants by mid-March 2023. Please contact the Poorvu Center (askpoorvucenter@yale.edu) if you have questions about the program.

Application Materials and Requirements

Part I: Approval from the department(s) and letters of support

Please note that the deadline for all materials is February 1^st. That means you should plan to be in contact with the individuals supporting your application as early as possible in the process. The required approval and letters of support are as follows: 

• Approval from your dissertation adviser – check box indicating the status of approval

• Approval from the DUS in the department which will host the course (often, but not always, the department with which you are affiliated) – check box indicating the status of approval

• A brief letter of support (no more than 300 words) from the DGS.

  1. The DGS should describe the course’s role within the departmental curriculum (in particular, the potential for enrollment and gaps that the course fills within current offerings)

  2. The DGS should confirm that you, the graduate student, are in good academic standing.

  3. The DGS should describe the faculty member’s experience as a mentor and instructor.

  4. If the DGS is in a position to recommend you, the graduate student, that should come in the form of a separate letter of support (in addition to their 300-word approval), described below.

• Two letters of support which describe your preparation for teaching

  1. These letters can come from individuals outside the department and/or institution.

  2. Your DGS can be one of your recommenders, but their letter of support for you must be in addition to the 300 words they write in approval of the proposed course.

Directors of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies may nominate as many courses as they choose.

Part II: Application materials from the faculty member and you:

Each application must include the following information in four sections. The selection committee will take these materials into careful consideration. Please note that, starting in 2023, the application materials should include a provisional syllabus.

Section 1: Information about the faculty member

• Name

• Department and title

• Years at Yale University

• Recent courses taught

• A brief statement explaining why they would like to teach with this particular graduate student

• A brief statement describing a history of effective mentoring of teaching fellows (include course titles when listing course numbers, e.g., MCDB 300, “Biochemistry”)

Section 2: Information about you, the graduate student

• Name

• Department

• Current year of study and candidacy status (please note if you will be advancing to candidacy in the year the course will be taught)

• Will you be serving as an Associate in Teaching as part of your teaching requirement? (Yes/No)

• Previous teaching experience if applicable. Please include course titles when listing course numbers, e.g., MCDB 300, Biochemistry.

• A brief statement explaining why you wish to teach in the AT program.

• (Optional): In addition to the letters of support (see above), you may wish to provide additional evidence of effective teaching and commitment to teaching. This might include recent classroom observations, online course evaluations (no more than 2 sets), and end-of-semester self-evaluations.

Section 3: Information about the course

• Title, department(s), and course number(s) [if possible]

• Semester of proposed course: Fall/Spring/Either

• Host department (where the course will be listed)

• Provisional syllabus that includes:

  1. A course description 

  2. Format and structure

  3. Goals and/or objectives

  4. Assessment plan (both major projects/exams and weekly assignments [for example, problem sets or reading responses]) 

  5. Outline of course structure 

  6. This needn’t be an exhaustive list of readings or detailed weekly assignments, but it should offer a sense of the scope of the course and its conceptual trajectory.

• A description of the course’s potential impact on Yale College. Examples of potential impact might include:

  1. consideration of student engagement or interest, such as filling a curricular gap

  2. contribution of diverse voices, representation, and/or perspective

  3. employment of equitable and/or research-based pedagogical approaches and teaching methods

  4. evidence that the course is interdisciplinary in nature and/or promotes interdepartmental collaboration

  5. a description of the proposed course including format and structure (lecture, seminar, other), goals, learning objectives, plans for assessments, and desired enrollment. If the proposed course is an existing course, provide a preliminary description of how the course will be redesigned. If the proposed course is new, provide a brief description, including overall course rationale, scope, and audience.

• A rationale for why the course is particularly suited to be taught as part of the AT program, with attention to:

  1. the specific course design;

  2. the delivery elements in which you, the graduate student, will be involved,

  3. the value that both co-instructors bring to the course;

  4. evidence of commitment to co-teaching throughout the semester (particularly, consideration of how collaboration and mentoring will take place in the classroom and in regular planning meetings). 

Section 4: A jointly developed statement of how the proposed experience in the AT program will enhance your development as a teacher and scholar while in graduate school

Questions to consider might include: 

1. How will the faculty member conceive of the program as an opportunity to mentor you as part of your professionalization in the Ph.D. program? 

2. How do you see your participation in the program as part of a broader professional trajectory? How might the experience help you refine and concretize your values as an instructor?