Call for Nominations: iCons Teaching Fellowship

The UMass iCons Program invites nominations of UMass Amherst faculty for its iCons Teaching Fellowship.

The iCons teaching fellows are selected to teach one iCons course for two to three years and receive professional development funding for the duration of the fellowship. Faculty may be nominated for the iCons Teaching Fellowship by current iCons students, by their departmental head or chair, by colleagues or by self-nomination. Nominated instructors will be notified with additional information about the fellowship.

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Benefits to becoming an iCons teaching fellow:

• Join an inclusive and supportive community of students, faculty and staff
• Receive professional development funds ($2,000 in the second year with the opportunity for subsequent funding if the fellow teaches a third year)
• Gain access to training in inclusive pedagogy and student-driven instructional methods
• Bring your research- and problem-expertise into undergraduate education
• Compensation via course release or add-comp
• Work with diverse populations of highly motivated undergraduate students
• The opportunity to recruit outstanding undergraduate researchers into your research lab or group

Benefits to iCons fellows’ departments:

• Positions the fellow to provide instructional training to faculty in your department
• Positions your department to offer a greater diversity of experiential learning options
• Positions the department to win grants via broader-impacts activities enriched by research-based, experiential learning
• Flexible compensation (course release or add-comp) to meet the needs of your department

“Having the opportunity to be an instructor in iCons was transformative for my teaching and pedagogy. I learned how to release control to the students and follow their lead while guiding and facilitating a unique learning experience. I took the tools and techniques that I learned and brought them into my current teaching, increasing my innovation around teaching and leading to a more enjoyable teaching and learning experience,” said Lena Fletcher, senior lecturer in environmental conservation and former iCons instructor.

Visit https://icons.cns.umass.edu/icons_teaching_fellowship to nominate. Nominations are due by Tuesday, March 22. For questions on the iCons Teaching Fellowship, email icons@cns.umass.edu.

iCons’ mission is to produce a diverse generation of leaders in science, technology and business with the attitudes, knowledge, and skills needed to solve the inherently multi-faceted problems facing our world – problems like developing clean energy, curing disease, and responding to climate change. The 20-credit iCons certificate program consists of one course per year over three years plus an honors-level thesis or project. Building on the disciplinary strength of each student’s major, iCons projects at all levels involve collaborative student teams working on case studies, laboratory experiments, and research – all fostering cross-disciplinary communication and integrative problem-solving skills.