UT Dallas > Mechanical Engineering > Graduate > Fall 2022 Graduate Teaching Fellows Program
Graduate. Department of Mechanical Engineering at UT Dallas.
UT Dallas > Mechanical Engineering > Graduate > Fall 2022 Graduate Teaching Fellows Program

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS – FALL 2022 GRADUATE TEACHING FELLOWS PROGRAM

Deadline for application: July 15, 2022

Intent and Objectives

The Endowed Teaching Fellows program is established within the Department of Mechanical Engineering to promote PhD students who have the potential and desire to pursue an academic career. Through the Graduate Teaching Fellows (GTF) program the Department will help such students acquire in-class teaching experience. Further, the goal of this program is to provide undergraduate instruction by highly trained personnel, such as the GTF. The program is a multi-semester program for each GTF.

Program stages and description

Semester A (Fall 2022)

  • The GTF will complete a training program (Graduate Teaching Certificate) through the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). Formal pedagogical training is critical to help the GTF contextualize and appreciate teaching as a scholarly activity.
  • Simultaneously, the GTF will complete a semester of shadowing a faculty mentor in a core undergraduate class within the GTF’s general area of expertise. This shadowing will allow the GTF to fulfill the requirements of CTL’s certificate.
  • The GTF will be the TA for the class, will perform usual TA duties, and will be compensated as a full TA, including a 20 hr./week stipend and tuition waiver. The GTF will have exclusive dedication to the as-signed course, i.e., will not cover two classes at 10 hr./week per class.
  • The faculty mentor will ensure the GTF delivers 3-4 live lectures to the class. These lectures can be the regular classes, special recitations, or exam reviews. Regardless, lecturing where the GTF is facing a live student audience is required. TA office hours do not qualify as the required GTF facetime.
  • At their discretion, the faculty mentor may involve/delegate to the GTF the design of new teaching material (homework, tests, slides, etc.). A guideline of no more than 20 % is suggested. The mentor should be cognizant that the emphasis of semester A is on preparing GTFs to face a live student audience, not on revamping a course’s curriculum.
  • The faculty mentor is expected to meet at least biweekly with the GTF to discuss and explain why and how they are teaching, and the scope and purpose of teaching material (homework, exams, class activities, etc.).
  • At the end of Semester A, the faculty mentor will make a recommendation based on the GTF’s performance, whether the GTF is eligible to continue the program in semester B.

Semester B

  • The GTF will complete a second semester in the same course, with the same faculty.
  • Semester B need not be the one immediately after Semester A, but no more than 1-semester gap should occur.
  • Clause 3 of Semester A will be in effect.
  • The GTF will lecture during the regular class meeting time. The GTF will lecture up to 12 times, and a minimum of 8 times. The faculty mentor will receive full course credit for this semester.
  • The faculty mentor will review the GTF’s lecture teaching materials before deployment in the class.

Subsequent Semesters

  • The GTF, based on this extensive training and mentoring, will be eligible to continue teaching the course as an instructor of record.
  • The GTF will also become eligible and is expected to apply for the ASME Graduate Teaching Fellowship. The GTF can request for this application to be submitted during Semester B, with approval of the department chair, in consultation with the faculty mentor.

Compensation

In addition to being a TA during semesters A and B, the GTF will receive:

  • $1,500 for Semester A
  • $5,000 for B Semester

If selected to teach a class, the GTF will receive $7,500 during that semester.

Eligibility and Requirements

  • The teaching faculty mentor should not be the same as the student’s research advisor.

The student applicant must also:

  • Must be a PhD student who has passed the PhD Qualifying Exam.
  • Must have been a TA in UTD for at least 10 hrs./wk.
  • Must be in academic good standing.
  • Must have filed a plan of study, including identifying the student’s supervisory committee.

Application

In one single pdf, include:

  • Letter of interest, including a statement of career plans.
  • CV.
  • A copy of the submitted plan of study and committee appointment forms.
  • A copy of UTD’s unofficial graduate transcript.
  • A nomination letter written by the student’s research advisor, addressing the applicants’ potential to be successful in academia, communication skills, approval, and endorsement to participate in the pro-gram.
  • A letter from the faculty mentor, indicating the willingness to mentor the student in semesters A and B.

Please email Prof. Rodrigo Bernal (bernal@utdallas.edu), copying Ms. Ashley Bradberry (Ashley.bradberry@utdallas.edu), if you have questions about eligibility or application materials. Waivers for certain requirements may be granted on a case-by-case basis.

Submit the pdf before 11:59pm, July 15th, 2021.

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