CIRTL’s cross-Network programming leverages expertise and capacity across our entire network to provide relevant, contemporary teaching development for future faculty across our member institutions. All cross-Network programming aligns with CIRTL’s mission and learning goals. Most programming is online with synchronous sessions in Zoom. We are developing a growing collection of asynchronous, self-paced courses. And most summers, member institution Johns Hopkins University hosts an in-person teaching institute with seats reserved for CIRTL participants.
Every term, CIRTL Central recruits new instructors to teach core programs – developed uniquely for CIRTL – and to propose new courses, workshops, events, institutes, and self-paced courses. Often, proposals build off of things that faculty and staff have taught before on their local campuses, or off of their pedagogical area of expertise. Dates for future proposal periods are on our Cross-Network Proposal Timeline page.
Cross-Network instructors receive support from our cross-Network programming committee and CIRTL staff before, during, and after programming. That experience often becomes de facto professional development for faculty and staff who have local teaching responsibilities, local CIRTL responsibilities, or both. Teaching this programming also helps member institutions earn the in-kind contributions that all members are expected to contribute to our Network.
Anyone who wants to run programming for the cross-Network must submit a proposal for the program they’d like to run, propose a schedule, plan out online sessions, determine grading and completion criteria (for courses), run online synchronous sessions, provide feedback and final grades to students (again, for courses), distribute student evaluations at the end of the semester, and submit a formal reflection to the CNOG. See cross-Network policy for detailed instructor qualifications.
The CNOG reviews proposals, provides feedback based on past evaluation and assessment materials from similar programming, and then reviews evaluation and assessment materials after the semester is over. Those materials help inform the next round of proposal reviews.
CIRTL staff work with proposers during the proposal process, confirm logistics (mainly setting a schedules) after the CNOG approves proposals, promote programming through different communications platforms, manage registration and enrollment for courses and workshops, help with initial lesson planning, sit in on all online sessions as needed to provide technical support, and develop evaluation and assessment materials for all programming.
Local leaders must be aware of any proposals submitted from their institutions, and at the end of the semester instructors, facilitators, hosts, and organizers are expected to talk through their evaluations and reflection materials with their leaders as well.
Students are responsible for registering to attend courses, events, workshops, and institutes. They are responsible for telling instructors if they are taking a course for a grade. They are responsible for doing all required work and attending online sessions regardless of whether they receive credit for it or not.
Regardless of what you propose, your programming will need to align with CIRTL’s learning goals, which guide our approach to preparing future faculty. Although we expect most programming to touch on many outcomes at least tangentially, we encourage proposers to focus their courses, workshops, events, and institutes around the specific learning outcomes that you will address intentionally and thoroughly.
Using the Cross-Network Programming Proposal Form, submit a proposal that describes your activity, how you plan to structure it, which of the CIRTL learning outcomes it addresses, and how you’ll assess student learning. Be prepared to explain how your teaching will model good pedagogy that supports diverse learners in alignment with specific and measurable learning goals. The first page of the proposal form includes links to view sample proposals, to help you better understand how to fill out the form itself.
We are glad to informally talk with you at any time during this process. If you would like to test an idea, get a sense of what is needed, or solicit help in thinking through a possible contribution, please contact us. It can be useful, but is not required, to pass an idea past us before submitting a proposal to make sure we are building towards a good match. Contact Kate Diamond (kdiamond3@wisc.edu) with questions.
Deadlines for cross-Network proposals are listed below.
| Term | Proposals Due (for In-Kind Contributions) |
|---|---|
| Summer 2025 Programming | March 10, 2025 |
| Fall 2025 Programming | June 9, 2025 |
| Spring 2026 Programming | October 13, 2025 |
| Summer 2026 Programming | March 9, 2026 |
| Fall 2026 Programming | June 15, 2026 |
CNOG Review
Once proposals are submitted, CIRTL’s Cross-Network Operations Group (CNOG) reviews them. As part of its review, the CNOG looks at past evaluation data from previous cross-Network iterations of your proposed programming, or evaluation data from similar past programs. Leaning on that past experience, the CNOG provides recommendations for instructors to consider when it approves proposals. Typically, proposals are declined if they are not aligned with our mission and/or learning goals.
Scheduling
Once the CNOG approves your proposal, CIRTL Central will work with you to confirm the schedule for your course, event, workshop, or institute. Please note that any schedule submitted as part of the proposal process should be considered tentative.
Additional Resources
The How to Attend CIRTL Programming page describes how students can register for our courses and how CIRTL processes enrollment.
The CIRTL Central Support page confirms what is required of instructors and the various ways in which CIRTL staff support cross-Network courses throughout the semester. CIRTL Central typically manages the registration process for all cross-Network programming except in-person teaching institutes. CIRTL staff begin each course, workshop, and event with a brief introduction to CIRTL; beyond that, CIRTL staff can attend additional online sessions to provide technical support as needed.
Visit the Evaluation page to learn about CIRTL’s evaluation requirements for all cross-Network programming.
If you’re a new instructor, we strongly recommend that you review materials from previous courses to see what works, what doesn’t, and what you could apply to your own course. Look at the CIRTL Instructor Materials and contact Robin Greenler at robin.greenler@wisc.edu with any questions.
CIRTL offers a range of online courses designed for graduate students and postdocs interested in teaching development, and in alignment with CIRTL’s learning goals. Courses typically provide either a broad overview of foundational teaching and learning topics, or a deep dive on focused topics – like assessment, universal design for learning, or change leadership.
Instructors interested in teaching a core course should contact Kate Diamond at kdiamond3@wisc.edu to receive access to course materials from previous semesters, including syllabi, slides and session plans, assignments, and evaluation feedback.
Instructors interested in proposing their own course can view the “Submitting a Proposal” tab of this page for proposal guidance. Instructors can propose either a full course – with 12+ contact hours – or a short course, with at least 4-8 contact hours. Instructors can determine their exact class size. Typically, classes are capped between 20 and 50 students. The CNOG – the committee that reviews course proposals – will look for alignment between class size, learning goals, instructional approaches, and course content.
Event series are open to the public and run on a drop-in basis. Events within a given series revolve around a single theme related to teaching and learning, or academic professional development. Event sessions are synchronous, take place in Zoom, and can be recorded.
All events should be designed to be interactive, inclusive, and promote student engagement, discussion and feedback. They can be led by a single individual, several people or a panel. Participants may drop in on as many or as few sessions as they desire, and all sessions are open to the public.
As an event organizer, it is your responsibility to recruit and schedule speakers, to determine series themes and specific topics, and to either moderate or designate a moderator for every event in your series.
Every year, CIRTL institutions host a variety of in-person institutes where grad students and postdocs can attend multi-day, intensive sessions aimed at improving their teaching. Graduate students and postdocs from across the CIRTL Network are invited to attend these institutes, and institute hosts reserve a certain number of spots specifically so that CIRTL members can attend. Institutes typically take place in the summer, but that isn’t a requirement.
In-person institutes must serve at least 10 CIRTL participants and participants from at least three member institutions, including the host institution. Because institutes take place locally, institute hosts are required to manage their own registration process. Hosts are also responsible for advertising their institute to ensure that they meet this participation requirement (CIRTL Central can provide some outreach assistance).
Institute organizers are expected to provide a level of hospitality to participants traveling to attend, including providing hotel recommendations; hosts may also want to provide directions from the nearest airport. If meals are not provided, organizers are strongly encouraged to provide a brief list of nearby restaurants. Institute hosts can refer to webpages from previous in-person Network meetings for ideas.
CIRTL’s workshops give graduate students and postdocs an opportunity to get an introduction to a teaching and learning topic of interest, and to develop a specific material, or set of materials, to help advance their career development.
Instructors interested in teaching CIRTL’s core workshop on teaching philosophy statements the workshop should contact Kate Diamond at kdiamond3@wisc.edu to receive access to materials from previous semesters, including slides and session plans, assignments, and evaluation feedback.
Instructors interested in proposing their own workshop can view the “Submitting a Proposal” tab of this page for proposal guidance. Workshops should be designed around the development of a concrete skill or product. Workshops are generally 2-4 hours in length, have one or two sessions, involve pre-session and/or post-session work, and focus on development of a specific concrete outcome.
CIRTL provides self-paced short courses for graduate students and postdocs looking for teaching development opportunities on their own schedule. These short courses offer an introductory look at a specific topic and teaching and learning over the course of several text-, video-, or audio-based modules.
Instructors interested in proposing a new self-paced short course can view the “Submitting a Proposal” tab of this page for proposal guidance. Self-paced short courses should have clear engagement expectations for participants and a final assignment that reflects participants’ independent learning.
Self-paced short courses are limited to participants at member institutions or alumni of local CIRTL programs. They are the only cross-Network programming type not open to the general public.