UMass Offices That Support Teaching

Office of Professional Development (Graduate School) 

OPD offers regular workshops for graduate students and postdocs to prepare them for success in the classroom. Their offerings on teaching include topics such as active learning strategies, classroom management, interpersonal communication with students, streamlining class preparation and grading, and course design. In addition to supporting those teaching right now, OPD also helps prepare graduate students and postdocs for careers as teachers and faculty in higher education.

CIRTL@UMass (Graduate School) 

The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) is a network of research universities with the shared goal of helping graduate students and postdocs strategically position themselves for careers in college and university teaching through a series of comprehensive online workshops and courses. The UMass CIRTL chapter also leads in-person workshops and learning communities on topics in evidence-based and inclusive teaching for the UMass campus, and offers opportunities for evidence-based teaching projects.

Instructional Technology 

The University provides support of your use of technology in the classroom: the Instructional Design, Engagement and Support group (IDEAS) and the Instructional Media Lab. 

Center for Teaching and Learning

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) organizes a variety of workshops and offers asynchronous resources on their website.

Library Support for Teachers

The Libraries are here to help you prepare for the semester; here is specific information on: 

For questions ranging from course reserves to ways to enhance students’ research skills, please contact your departmental liaison.

Writing Center Support for Teachers

The Writing Center can support you as you work with your students on writing! They can help you make decisions about how to make your writing instruction as smooth and productive as possible. You can request a consultation to talk about time management around grading, advice for working with multilingual writers, or how to organize peer feedback activities.

Office of Equity and Inclusion

OEI has prepared a toolkit about classroom climate.