All students in the DU/Iliff Joint PhD program are welcome to participate in the "Future Faculty in Religion" certificate program. This is a certificate of completion, meaning that it does not certify a particular level of achievement and is not included on the academic transcript, but rather it certifies that all the requirements listed below have been successfully completed. We have partnered with DU's Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL) to make this possible. The process for documenting progress toward the certificate is described below the requirements.

The purpose of the certificate is to provide additional teacher training and preparedness for a faculty position, over and above the required Pedagogy class. It may also aid students in the job search. From the Pedagogy class all students should have a teaching philosophy, syllabus for at least one course in religious studies, and a portfolio page. Students who complete only part of the certificate program will not receive a certificate but every workshop and course is useful for improving one's teaching. 

Application:

There is no application process for this certficate.  Once you have completed the requirements below, please submit the Checklist - JDP Future Faculty in Religion Certificate.docx to Dr. Turpin with a copy to Dr. Eaker.  If you have questions about the certificate or its components, please contact kturpin@iliff.edu .

You can see the monthly calendar of all OTL workshops, but be aware that not all are open to grad students. Please contact OTL about which events fulfill the below requirements. 

Resources: 

• OTL Resources page
• Collaborative Preparing Future Faculty Network (CU Boulder)
• DU has a subscription to the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD), which has some good resources on teaching, including a course on "Teaching in No Time: How to Prepare for a Stress-Free Semester".  Follow the instructions on this page to register and begin developing skills. If you find something you believe fulfills any of the certificate requirements, check with the JDP office to see if you can use it for that.
• OTL Canvas Course Click “Join course” to add the entire resource to your canvas account
• Helpful books:
  • How We Learn, Benedict Carey
  • First Day to Final Grade, Curzan and Darmour
  • The Professor is In, Karen Kelsky
  • American Grace, Robert Putnam

One of the Following: 

• Designing and Teaching for Impact in Online Courses, a self-paced, non-facilitated course from Indiana University. There is no "document" to show completion of the course, so you simply have to describe it as best you can on your portfolio certificate documentation page. -updated Sept. 15, 2021
• Teaching Foundations course. Note that it covers teaching strategies, assessment and inclusive practices as well as course design. Contact terri.johnson@du.edu to become enrolled. -updated Sept. 15, 2021
• Hybrid 3D Workshop, offered by OTL to learn to design, develop, and deliver a hybrid class. Virginia Pitts coordinates this and says it is a bit out of date in terms of software it mentions, but it still provides useful development of hybrid course teaching. It is self-paced and can be done as a group or individually. Contact otl@du.edu to schedule. -updated Sept. 15, 2021
• Building Online Learning Communities (Iliff Canvas Course; email support@iliff.edu). - updated Sept. 15, 2021

(5 total required)

• Required: Diversity and Inclusion workshop, OTL and Office of Diversity and Inclusion offer options to fulfill this.
• Required: Any workshop on Assessment OR any workshop on Academic Technology (such as Canvas or e-Portfolios workshops).
• Required: 3 Teaching Practices workshops/experiences chosen from the following opportunities: 
  •  Teaching workshops offered by OTL.  See here for the schedule of workshops.

Complete at least one of the following, noting that the first is a more expansive approach to development and the second has a singular focus on the job search:

1. RLGN 5750 Professional Development (multiple meetings, 0-credits) Normally offered fall quarter in even numbered years. 

This course taught by Miguel de la Torre provides the "nuts and bolts" on not only surviving, but also thriving within the academy. Assuming that the student's goal is an eventual tenure-track position, the course demystifies the PhD route so that the student, through a working knowledge of the academy, can better position her/himself to succeed. Besides providing professional development, the course attempts to raise the level of involvement of PhD candidates in the profession, from presenting papers to publishing articles. 

2. Professional Formation (in the process of being made an online on-demand DU Canvas course, 0-credits) 

This intensive session with JDP faculty will help students prepare for the job market, from researching a job posting to signing a contract. Taught by Katherine Turpin.

• Evaluating a job description
• Investigating offerings of department & researching institution
• Preparing an on-site lecture
• Preparing for interviews
• Preparing a dossier

Student's teaching will be evaluated, with feedback by an observer, using the JDP In-Class Observation Form.doc .

• The class to be observed can be a lecture and/or a discussion session led as a GTA, a special lecture offered in a class at DU or Iliff, the student's own class at Iliff, DU, or another area institution, an online class that the student is teaching, or an alternate venue for communicating with an audience about a religious studies or theological topic.
• The observer can be OTL staff (if available) or JDP faculty (such as the faculty you are assisting as a GTA, your mentor, dissertation advisor, etc.).
• Videos of student teaching may be used when the venue is off campus and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• You are encouraged to do this multiple times in order to get feedback as you improve your teaching and to demonstrate expertise in a variety of situations (online, hybrid, in person, discussion, presentation, combination)

When all other requirements are complete, the student sends an email to the JDP Assistant Director and Program Manager requesting an exit interview for the "Future Faculty in Religion" certificate. The email should include available times and a link to the portfolio page documenting progress on the certificate. 

The exit interview consists of a 30-minute conversation with the Assistant Director in which the student reflects on their experience, explaining what was learned from certificate activities and how it will be (or has been) applied.

1. Students are responsible for tracking their progress through the certificate on a "future faculty in religion certificate" tab, so add that tab to your portfolio page. List the 5 requirement categories above on your page. Note: all students receive a portfolio page upon admission to DU. Simply search for your name to find and begin developing it.

2. As you complete each workshop or task, record it under the appropriate category and attach the documentation. Documentation takes the following forms:

• OTL workshops require the student to write a one-paragraph summary of what you learned with the date and name of the workshop.
• Request completion certificate (or email) for anything that was guided by an instructor but does not have another form of documentation.
• The mentored/observed teaching should be documented by attaching the rubric/s filled out and signed by student and observer.

3. Verification occurs during the last requirement, the exit interview, after which the JDP Assistant Director will add your name to the JDP page that verifies all students who have completed the certificate. You should add the link to that page to your own page so that prospective employers can also see the verification.

4.  You may include that URL for external parties if you want them to see the contents of your certificate. You will also receive a physical certificate. 

Future Faculty in Religion Certificate.pdf