Frequently Asked Questions about the Teaching Certificate Program

1. Can I participate in CFT workshops and events even if I don’t want to work toward the Teaching Certificate?
   
   Absolutely.  Our workshops, orientations, working groups, and conferences are designed to meet your teaching and professional developments needs.  You are welcome to participate in these offerings whether or not you are a participating in the Teaching Certificate program.

2. When I complete the Teaching Certificate program, will someone from the CFT write a letter of recommendation for me?  What documentation will the CFT provide as to my participation in the Teaching Certificate program?
   
   When you complete the Teaching Certificate program, the contents of your electronic portfolio will provide a flexible way to document and share your participation in the program.  You may choose to make your entire e-portfolio available online for academic job search committees or other interested parties, or you may choose to make only a portion of your e-portfolio available in this way.
   
   The CFT is not in a position to write you a letter of recommendation since we will not be evaluating the quality of your work in the Teaching Certificate program.  Instead, we certify that you have participated in the program in the ways listed in the program description.  The value of your work in the program and the lessons you have learned about your teaching through the program will hopefully be evident in the contents of your e-portfolio.  The CFT will, however, provide you with a letter describing the program, which you may use in your application materials to give context to your work in the program.

3. How long does the Teaching Certificate program take and when should I start?
   
   The program is designed to be completed over 3 or 4 semesters.  Each of the first two cycles of the program will likely take between 10 and 20 hours to complete.  The third cycle is more involved and will likely take between 20 and 40 hours to complete.  Since the program is self-paced, you have a high degree of control over how you spend your time in the program.
   
   You may start the program anytime you wish, but we generally recommend that you start it sooner rather than later.  Teaching Certificate activities are more likely to benefit you if integrated with other professional development activities (such as those offered by your home department).  The sooner you start planning your Teaching Certificate work, the more integrated this work can be with your other activities.
   
   Another factor to consider are the sorts of teaching opportunities you will have.  Your work on the Teaching Certificate is most effectively done while you are teaching.  Some departments require you to teach early in your graduate school career, while in others you don’t teach until your second or third year into the program.

4. How much does the Teaching Certificate program cost?
   
   The Teaching Certificate program is free to Vanderbilt graduate and professional students and post-doctoral fellows.

5. What if I don’t have any teaching opportunities in my department or program?
   
   The CFT is glad to help you brainstorm ideas for possible teaching opportunities.  Many Teaching Certificate participants have relatively limited teaching opportunities in their own departments and programs, yet have managed to find creative teaching opportunities.  Some participants have given guest lectures for their advisors or other faculty members when those faculty members were out of town.  Others have held test review sessions for courses they had taken or assisted with in the past.  Others have had to find teaching opportunities outside of Vanderbilt at area colleges and universities.
   
   Also, the CFT maintains a list of teaching opportunities in and near Vanderbilt. One of these opportunities may provide you with a venue for your Teaching Certificate-related teaching activities.

6. Does the Teaching Certificate program provide licensure to teach in elementary, middle, or high school settings?
   
   No, the CFT’s Teaching Certificate program is not a teacher licensure program.  Please see the Office of Teacher Licensure at the Peabody College of Education and Human Development for that.

7. If I start the Teaching Certificate program as a graduate student at Vanderbilt, can I complete the program after I graduate?
   
   Unfortunately, you cannot. The various programs and services the CFT offers are made available to those affiliated with Vanderbilt--graduate students, faculty, post-doctoral fellows, etc. Given the CFT resources, particularly our staff's time and energy, required by each participant in the Teaching Certificate program, we are not able to make the program available to those no longer affiliated with Vanderbilt.
   
   However, you're welcome to participate in the program as fully as you wish while you're still a graduate student at Vanderbilt. It is likely that you'll learn something about yourself as a teacher just by engaging in the first phases of the program.
   
   If you graduate from Vanderbilt but stay at Vanderbilt as a post-doc, then you're welcome to continue in the program since it's open to post-docs, anyway. If you graduate from Vanderbilt but stay at Vanderbilt in a faculty position, it may be possible for you to continue in the program. Please contact the CFT staff if you find yourself in this situation.

8. What is the difference between the Teaching Certificate program and the Future Faculty Preparation Program?
   
   The Teaching Certificate program and the Future Faculty Preparation Program (F2P2) are both voluntary, self-directed professional development programs open to all Vanderbilt graduate students, professional students, and post-doctoral fellows. The programs have two primary differences.
   
   One difference is that, while F2P2 includes a focus on teaching, that focus is part of a larger program designed to prepare participants for a wide range of faculty roles and responsibilities, including, but not limited to, ones related to teaching.  (The “world of the university” focus of F2P2 is designed to help participants understand how a university works and what roles—beyond teaching and research—faculty play in a university. The “career development’ focus of F2P2 is designed to help participants navigate the process of obtaining a faculty position.)  The Teaching Certificate program, in contrast, is more narrowly focused on issues of teaching and learning.
   
   The other primary difference is that participants who complete the Teaching Certificate program obtain a Teaching Certificate from the Center for Teaching and the Graduate School.  F2P2 is not currently a certificate-granting program, although it was one in the past.  If you’re interested in more information about this change, please continue reading.
   
   F2P2 was launched in 2001 by the Center for Teaching and the Graduate School.  The original program enabled participants to obtain an F2P2 Teaching Certificate by completing a variety of activities in three tracks: Teaching and Learning, Professional Development, and the World of the University.  In 2005, the Center for Teaching realized that the emphasis on professional development in the program fell beyond the scope of our mission, which focuses on teaching.  We decided to redirect our efforts towards what we know and do best: working with instructors on teaching development, enhancement, and reflection.
   
   To that end we developed the Teaching Certificate program described here.  We also decided that F2P2 would no longer result in a certificate of completion.  There is no formal enrollment in F2P2; rather, participants may use the framework and suggested activities presented on the program web page to recognize, organize, and address their professional development needs.
   
   While the CFT continues to offer professional development programs and services for graduate and professional students and post-docs, the focus in those offerings is on issues of teaching and learning.  For more general professional development opportunities, we encourage you to take advantage of the resources and suggested activities on the F2P2 web site as well as the wide variety of resources on the Vanderbilt campus concerned with the professional development of graduate and professional students and post-docs, particularly those offered by the Graduate Student Professional and Personal Development Collaborative.

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