The Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning is delighted to announce the first-ever professional development credential for academic units!
This credential recognizes the substantial commitment that academic units are making to the skill development of their faculty and, by extension, the dedication to student learning and success. This credential is housed within the AIEM (Activating Inclusive Excellence at Mason) framework developed through the combined efforts of the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning, the Office of Access, Compliance, and Community, and the Office of Faculty Affairs and Development.
The AIEM – Teach Bronze Unit Award demonstrates the unit’s commitment to integrating inclusive teaching practices into the supported professional development of their instructors. The AIEM – Teach Silver Unit Award demonstrates the engagement of the Bronze level with a deeper commitment to faculty professional development support and student success.
Academic units can take advantage of the developed and customizable workshops through the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning, led by a skilled inclusive teaching faculty facilitator. This alleviates a significant burden on units to develop in-house programming and removes potential challenges with internal facilitators (or hiring expensive guest speakers). From the Stearns Center programming, units receive engaging faculty professional development training packaged neatly into structured timeframes and steeped in current research and best practices at no cost.
While we encourage units to continue their engagement over multiple years, this is a single-year recognition to help units further their commitment to inclusive teaching and acknowledge the time and effort invested in a single academic year. As such, units may earn, for example, the bronze recognition two years in a row. The awards are designated as, for example, the “2024-2025 AIEM – Teach Bronze Unit Award.” Only professional development programming focused on inclusive teaching offered through the Stearns Center can be applied to the unit programming requirement.
Physical certificates to display in administrative offices will be provided and digital content will be supplied to units to include on websites. Unit accomplishments will be highlighted in other potential venues, including the Stearns Center newsletter, website, the Celebration of Teaching Excellence, and similar communications.
For a unit to earn the AIEM – Teach pilot year (2024-2025) recognition designation levels (bronze or silver), the unit must meet or exceed the requirements in the horizontal row for that level.
| AIEM – Teach Recognition Level | Unit Program Completion Requirement (in AY23-24) | Campus Champions or First Year Five* | Unit Reporting |
| 2024-2025 Bronze | Two professional development sessions for the unit offered by the Stearns Center (with minimum 75% participation) | Minimum of one department member participation in First Year Five program or Campus Champions | Unit leadership completes and submits AIEM – Teach Bronze completion one-pager form, detailing participation and future planning for unit ongoing professional development and sustainability |
| 2024-2025 Silver | Three professional development sessions for the unit offered by the Stearns Center (with minimum 75% participation) | Minimum of one department member participation in First Year Five program or Campus Champions | Unit leadership completes and submits AIEM – Teach Silver completion one-pager form, detailing participation and future planning for unit ongoing professional development and sustainability |
| Gold | Coming Academic Year 2025-2026! | Coming Academic Year 2025-2026! | Coming Academic Year 2025-2026! |
| Exemplar | Coming Academic Year 2025-2026! | Coming Academic Year 2025-2026! | Coming Academic Year 2025-2026! |
- *Suitable alternative for units may be determined by the Stearns Center.
- Programming is centered on one-hour professional development sessions.
- These may include topics such as:
- Fostering Engagement and Belonging in the Classroom
- Syllabi to Support All Learners and Instructors
- A Hands-on Syllabus Workshop
- Difficult Conversations in the Classroom
- Preparing Yourself and Your Course
- Handling Situations in the Moment
- Supporting Student Learning
- Supporting Student Learning Through Self-Awareness and Reflection
- Trauma-Informed Instructional Practices
- Inclusive Teaching in the Context of AI Text Generators
- Supporting First Generation College Students
- And more!
- Please contact Dr. Rachel Yoho ([email protected]) to schedule or to discuss customized programming and topics for your unit.