Inclusive Teaching Credentials 

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Inclusive Excellence in Teaching Programming | Campus Champions | First Year Five | Inclusive Teaching Consultations

Inclusive Teaching Professional Development Credential for Units

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 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive Office, 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!
 
Exemplar 
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 (ryoho@gmu.edu) to schedule or to discuss customized programming and topics for your unit. 

Unit-Based Inclusive Teaching Programming for Graduate Students

We offer a professional development program for graduate students focused on inclusive teaching practices. In this program, we work with units directly to offer tailored and customizable inclusive teaching programming to their graduate students.

In this program, we create and share advertising materials, create and track registrations, offer the sessions on Zoom (for maximum accessibility and participation), track attendance, and issue certificates to those who complete the program. We also work with units to recognize their graduate students’ accomplishments in professional development focused on supporting all students’ learning at the university.

This unit-based inclusive teaching programming is often offered as a mini-course. This is a professional development opportunity offered by the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning. It is not a credit-earning academic course and will not show up on participants’ university transcript. As a professional development opportunity, upon successful completion of the course, finishers would list this on their CV in a “professional development” section. While the program is offered within specific units, units do not earn a credential through this program, but should list offering this program to their students in their annual reporting. The graduate student finishers receive the mini-course credential, including a digital certificate.

This credential offered by the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning represents a significant opportunity for graduate students to take their first steps in inclusive teaching training as they begin or continue their roles as teaching assistants or instructors of record. Further, this opportunity is offered at no cost to units and relieves the burden of finding and/or creating specific programming for graduate students, by connecting to experienced facilitators with evidence-based content.

Please contact our team (Dr. Rachel Yoho, ryoho@gmu.edu) to learn more about this opportunity for the graduate students in your academic unit!

Inclusive Teaching Professional Development Credential for Individuals

The Activating Inclusive Excellence at Mason (AIEM) program is a campus-wide professional learning program developed as a result of collaborations among the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning, the Office of Faculty Affairs, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office at George Mason University.

This program supports individuals through workshops and resources. The program also helps units meet the goals outlined in their Inclusive Excellence Plans and related to instructors’ participation in professional development programming. This program is designed to align specifically with both the institution’s strategic directions and institutional initiatives around broadly inclusive teaching and supporting all students.

AIEM – Teach is a credential that individual faculty can earn to demonstrate their commitment to the institution’s initiatives and goals around inclusive teaching and support learning and success for all students. The AIEM – Teach program is a faculty development curriculum that scaffolds learning experiences for new and continuing faculty and current or future teaching assistants and graduate student instructors of record across all disciplines and academic ranks. Through regularly offered workshops, AIEM – Teach provides opportunities for faculty to document their growth and achievements in inclusive teaching through credential earnings at several levels. 

Any participation should be applied directly to the Level of AIEM –Teach and will not double count towards another Level or program (e.g., Campus Champions). 

Level 1. Inclusive Teaching Essentials

This level is ideal for new and continuing faculty as well as graduate student instructors who want to learn about and be able to implement new strategies into their current and future courses.  To earn the AIEM Teach – Level 1 Credential, participants must complete the one required workshop and any three of the other workshops listed, then submit the AIEM – Teach Level 1 Credential Form. 

Currently offered workshops: 

      • Required: Fostering Engagement and Belonging with Inclusive Classroom Techniques 

Plus (any three of these) 

      • Preparing Your Course and Yourself for Difficult Classroom Discussions and Situations 

      • How to Handle Difficult Classroom Discussions and Situations in the Moment 

      • (Re-)Designing Syllabi for Inclusive Classrooms that Support Learners and Instructors 

      • Successfully (Re-)Designing and Proposing a Mason Core Course (for instructors submitting courses to Mason Core designations) 

Past participants of the Campus Champions, First Year Five, or other Stearns Center programming who attended these workshops for another credential or program are not eligible to double count attendance for the AIEM – Teach designation.   

Level 2. Inclusive Teaching Competencies

This level significantly advances participants’ inclusive teaching skills. AIEM – Teach Level 2 should be completed after Level 1. Workshops attended to earn the Level 1 credential may not double count or be repeated to earn the Level 2 credential.

To earn the AIEM – Teach Level 2 credential, participants complete three hours of workshops, submit the AIEM – Teach Level 2 reflection form, and submit a teaching artifact (i.e., annotated syllabus, assignment sheet, lesson plan, or personal development plan) noting development because of participation in this professional development.

Currently offered workshops:

      • Hands-on Syllabus Workshop: (Re-)Designing Syllabi for Inclusive Classrooms that Support Learners and Instructors 

      • Successfully (Re-)Designing and Proposing a Mason Core Course (for instructors submitting courses to Mason Core designations) 

      • Supporting Student Learning through Self-Awareness and Reflection to Navigate a Complex, Global Society 

      • Surviving to Thriving:  Incorporating Trauma-Informed Instructional Practices 

      • Flexibility, Fairness, and Post-Pandemic Students 

      • Helping Students Learn in Difficult Classroom Conversations and Situations 

      • Supporting First Generation College Students 

      • More opportunities to come! 

Past participants of the Campus Champions, First Year Five, or other Stearns Center programming who attended these workshops for another credential or program are not eligible to double count attendance for the AIEM – Teach designation.   

Level 3. Inclusive Teaching Proficiencies

Coming Soon! 

For information on upcoming workshops and registration information, see the Stearns Center Event Calendar.