2026-2027 CTE Student Partners

As part of the initiative, the CTE will compensate and train students to engage in various ways. Student partners will:

1. Serve in the new Deep Dialogue program, pairing with faculty on semester-long teaching and learning projects. The pair mutually agrees on the project, which could address priority topics such as academic integrity in the age of generative AI, increasing accessibility in the college classroom, aligning students' classroom experiences and career goals, etc. Partners will engage in ongoing cycles of observation, dialogue, and reflection, with student partners offering formative, non-evaluative feedback grounded in their lived experience, and faculty partners experimenting with and reflecting on pedagogical choices in a supported environment.
2. Consult with faculty and graduate student instructors across the University, offering one-on-one conversations about teaching and learning topics that enable instructors to hear directly from students when they have questions about their course design. This initiative will extend the reach of CTE’s current undergraduate consultants program.
3. Partner with the CTE team to advance CTE programming and organizational development efforts that serve the entire university, infusing students’ perspectives across core university-wide CTE work; this includes serving on advisory boards, consulting with instructors during the Course Design Institute, presenting student perspectives at Spark: Introduction to Teaching at UVA, and partnering with instructors to carry out scholarly projects related to teaching and learning.
4. Build community between instructors and students by co-facilitating cross-disciplinary learning communities, workshops, lunch-and-learns, etc. to share student perspectives on teaching and learning with faculty.
5. Contribute to scholarly presentations and publications on this work within and beyond UVA (e.g., UVA’s annual Innovations in Pedagogy Summit, the Virginia AI Symposium, the Professional and Organizational Development Network conference, etc).

Students and instructors involved in this initiative will engage in competence-building sessions focused on dispositions required for ethical partnership: trust, relational curiosity, intellectual humility, active listening, and a commitment to mutual inquiry. Sessions will also cultivate key skills in consultation as well as opportunities to engage in regular evidence gathering, reflection and feedback, to ensure mutual benefit and impact for students, staff, and faculty.

This work is grounded in principles of reciprocity, reflection, and shared responsibility. Students and faculty will bring their different standpoints and expertise into a shared process of inquiry and growth. Overall, the goal is to make partnership a mainstream practice by normalizing dialogue, co-creation, and imagination in teaching development work—opening space for students and instructors to collectively explore what teaching excellence can become.

Student partners will be compensated to engage in CTE activities as outlined below, up to a maximum of 5 hours per week (note: this maximum is based on your average engagement with CTE; for example, you might work with us 8 hours in one week but only 2 in another, depending on flow of activities. Keep also in mind UVA policy: you may not exceed an overall maximum of 20 per week across all your UVA employment engagements.) While we hope each Student Partner will be able to participate in most/all of the activities outlined below, this is not required; these roles as designed to be flexible and accommodate partners’ schedules, so each Student Partner will be able to complete their project hours by engaging across a variety of the below menu of activities as compatible with their availability.

Fall 2026: 

• Participate in 7 cohort meetings: specific dates and times will be agreed based on collective availability of selected partners and CTE facilitators - topics include:  
  • Introductions & Orientation
  • Partnership mindset and principles: Respect, Reciprocity, Shared responsibility
  • Hope and cultural change: envisioning futures and enacting possibilities
  • Leadership & Trust: capacity-building work
  • Scholarly methodologies and information gathering 
  • Dissemination: Presentations and publications opportunities
  • Deep Dialogue program planning for Spring 2027
• Meet regularly with assigned CTE team colleagues to partner on integration of student voice across CTE programs; meetings frequency, dates, and modalities of engagement will be mutually agreed based on needs and availability between the Student Partner and their CTE team partners
• In collaboration with CTE facilitators, shape priority areas for the Spring 2027 Deep Dialogue projects and help select Teacher Partners that will participate

Spring 2027: 

• Participate in day-long January retreat on Co-creation with Faculty Partners
• Advance Deep Dialogue projects working in close collaboration with assigned Faculty Partner; this will include cycles of classroom observation, dialogue, and reflection - specific meeting dates and feedback modalities will be mutually agreed based on class schedules and project specifics
• Participate in weekly Deep Dialogue cohort sessions offered by CTE facilitators to support the projects above (dates will be agreed based on collective availability)
• April 2027: Present at UVA’s annual Innovations in Pedagogy Summit
• May 2027: Offer consultations to faculty participants in CTE’s Course Design institute

Summer 2027:

• August 2027: present at CTE’s annual Spark: Introduction to Teaching at UVA 

Throughout the academic year: respond to invitations to contribute to additional CTE events; participate as possible based on availability.

CTE Student Partners will be compensated based on current student hourly rates.