FAQs

Every year, a formal call for enrollment occurs in late summer to join in the fall and in late fall to join in the spring. Regardless of when you first enroll, the program must be kicked off by attending a new participant orientation session, to be held in August/September and January. Check out the How to Enroll page for the most current dates.

TPT is very flexible and can be completed at just about any stage of your academic career. The only real stipulation is that you are able to make time for the few mandatory requirements, e.g., attend the program orientation and TAGS workshop, participate in the c3Design online course design seminar, and attend one TPT-sponsored event per semester. Be sure to check out the How to Enroll for other requirements.

No. Completion of Tier 1 is a prerequisite for Tier 2.

Tomorrow’s Professor Today was designed to be as flexible as possible; thus, it is possible to complete the program in one year as long as Tier 1 is completed before Tier 2. Of course, this requires dedication on the part of the participant since the final year of graduate school is typically spent writing the dissertation and searching for a job, among other time-consuming activities. Please contact a program administrator for more information about successfully completing the program at an accelerated pace.

The academic lives of graduate students differ vastly from discipline to discipline. Realizing this, we anticipate individual’s progress through TPT will take on many forms. The proposed two-year timeline represents just one of myriad possibilities that allow participants to complete the program with a manageable time commitment. Taking longer than two years to complete the program is okay.

The only TPT requirement that is grandfathered in is TAGS (Teaching as a Graduate Student). All other program requirements must be completed while you are enrolled in the program. This is because a goal of the program is to have participants apply what they learn in workshops and other program components to their teaching as they make their way through the program. If you wish to ask for an exception to this policy, please contact the program administrator.

As mentioned above, TPT was designed to be as flexible as possible. The initial orientation meeting, TAGS, and the in-person meetings that accompany the c3Design online course design module are the only required face-to-face meetings. There are other requirements you must fulfill, but these can often be completed while off Grounds. Keep in mind, however, that one of the real benefits of the program comes from interacting with other participants. If you need to be off Grounds for a considerable amount of time, you may want to consider holding off on enrolling in the program until a year or semester when you are able to be present at UVA most of the time.

Tier 1 of TPT is designed as a broad introduction to teaching in higher education, so if you’re wondering whether an academic career is right for you, TPT can help you make your decision. The program also provides a glimpse into many other facets of traditional academic positions via its optional components, including administration, publishing, advising, etc. Consequently, it is the perfect program to help you decide whether such positions suit you.

Depending on the discipline, teaching responsibilities for graduate students can be limited to office hours or grading; in some cases, formal opportunities to teach are non-existent. We recognize this disciplinary difference, but also know that teaching is one of the primary—and most challenging—responsibilities new faculty face. Thus, TPT has a modest teaching requirement of 3 hours in Tier 1, and 5 hours in Tier 2. If no formal teaching opportunities exist in your department, you can fulfill the requirement in non-traditional ways.

Previous TPT participants who have not had formal teaching opportunities have fulfilled their teaching requirements in the following ways: guest lecturing or other forms of guest teaching; leading a discussion section or lab; conducting a workshop; and working in programs such as the UVA transition program, summer enrichment program, or summer language institute. It is important that your teaching experience involve designing and planning instruction at the college level. For this reason, experience in primary and secondary schools, or working as a grader, does not count toward the TPT teaching requirement.

We encourage you to utilize the materials on the program website to help you address your specific professional development needs. Unfortunately, you will not be able to take advantage of some of the components of TPT nor receive a certificate of completion.

Note: The vast majority of CTE workshops are open and free to the University community.

Unfortunately, no. When we began the TPT program, we anticipated requests for references and letters of recommendation and had to make a difficult decision about our policy on this. We decided that our standard practice would be not to write recommendation letters or serve as references for TPT participants. Our policy is not at all personal, and we wish you the best in your job search. Because the TPT program is so large, we had to determine a way to be fair to all the participants and to be realistic about our time and ability to give the kind of specific information about anyone that would make an excellent recommendation.

We’ve heard from enough recent job candidates to know that a recommendation, even a recommendation about teaching, carries more weight if it comes from someone in your field, particularly from someone who has worked with you and can speak to how you teach courses in your subject. That is a primary reason why the program includes program advisors. As someone who is aware of what you’ve been doing in the program, your program advisor would be a good person to ask to observe your teaching, to discuss it with, and to ask to please include information about your teaching in a recommendation or reference.

When you complete the program, we will provide you with a letter explaining the general premise of the program that you could include in any packet or give a job search committee to explain what you did as a participant.