The Innovation for Teaching Effectiveness (INNOVATE) certificate program supports faculty in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS) and Social Work disciplines as they adopt and refine evidence-based teaching approaches that challenge students, foster their persistence, and cultivate their development as 21st century professionals and engaged citizens. These approaches, informed by the extensive body of research on learning, help faculty provide all students with deliberate practice in the skills and habits of mind necessary for learning, inquiry, creativity, and research. This program is open to all instructional faculty—tenured/tenure-track, lecturers, and adjuncts—who teach courses in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences or the School of Social Work and is funded by the College, School, and the FDC.
Requirements | Applying | Completers
INNOVATE Certificate Program Requirements
- Attendance at a minimum of 8 programs during the first year and 4 programs during the second year, including a kickoff. Programs may be chosen from designated FDC sessions, the MLLI teaching circle, or other campus pedagogy discussion events (with approval). No more than 4 such programs outside of those offered through the FDC (e.g., teaching circles; other pedagogy discussions) may count for the certificate.
- Participation in the first year in the FDC’s CATALyst program for gathering course midterm feedback from students.
- Participation in the second year in a class observation cycle to gather feedback on your teaching from FDC staff.
- Completion of a survey provided by the FDC at the beginning and end of the program that fosters participants’ reflection on the effect of the program on their teaching choices.
- Help with facilitation of sessions at the second-year retreat or other FDC programming during the second year, if feasible.
- Completion of a teaching improvement project developed throughout the two-year program. Such a project could be a course redesign, the integration of active learning approaches to existing courses, the introduction of project-based learning to courses, the development of sample modules for other faculty on effective use of technology in the classroom, etc.
- Completion of a non-evaluative peer observation sometime during the two-year program.
The Faculty Development Center will track participants’ progress toward the INNOVATE Certificate requirements and send progress updates at the end of each semester. Participants may also choose to use the INNOVATE Certificate Program Requirement Checklist to track their progress and for more detailed information about the program requirements.
Faculty who complete the INNOVATE Certificate program will receive a letter copied to the department chair and Dean documenting their accomplishment for purposes of promotion or tenure.
Applying to the INNOVATE Certificate Program
A new cohort of faculty begin the INNOVATE Certificate each fall. The call for applications for the INNOVATE Certificate is sent out to the FDC email list each August. Please contact the FDC at fdc@umbc.edu if you are interested in pursuing the INNOVATE Certificate and would like to be notified when the application is open.
Faculty who have Completed the INNOVATE Certificate
May 2024
Margie Burns (ENGL)
Jennifer Kelly (ECON)
Crista Lenk (EDHS)
Peggy Re (VART)
Kyung-Eun Yoon (MLLI)
May 2023
Alan Butsch (EHS)
Ann Sofie Clemmensen (DANC)
Maria Gomez Rubio (MLLI)
Angela Katenkamp Shiplet (PSYC)
Brian Van Wyck (HIST)
May 2022
Elissa Abod (PSYC)
Kyle Bates (EHS)
Kathy Glyshaw (PSYC)
Sarah Jewett (SAPH)
Andrea Kalfoglou (SAPH)
Nkiru Nnawulezi (PSYC)
Gary Rozanc (VART)
Eric Stokan (POLI)
Mirjam Voerkelius (HIST)
May 2021
Haniyeh Barahouie Pasandi (MLLI)
Aditya Desai (ENGL)
Katherine Lashley Fischer (ENGL)
Brigid Starkey (POLI/GLST)
May 2020
Kristen Anchor (MCS)
Earl Brooks (ENGL)
Nandita Dasgupta (ECON)
Erin Durham (LIB)
Elaine MacDougall (ENGL/ASC)
Maria Manni (MLLI)
Jennifer Mata-McMahon (EDUC)
Laura Rose (PSYC)
Christelle Viauroux (ECON)
May 2019
Suzanne Braunschweig (GES)
Kate Drabinski (GWST)
Tomoko Hoogenboom (MLLI)
Nancy Kusmaul (SOWK)
Renée Lambert-Brétière (MLLI)
Thania Muñoz Davaslioglu (MLLI)
Michael Nance (PHIL)
Corrie Parks (VART)
Timothy Phin (ANCS)
John Schumacher (SAHAP)
Nianshen Song (HIST)
Takashi Yamashita (SAHAP)
May 2018
Diane Alonso (PSYC)
Elisabeth Arévalo-Guerrero (MLLI)
Samir El Omari (MLLI)
Loren Henderson (SAHAP)
Milvia Hernandez (MLLI)
Erin Hogan (MLLI)
Brian Kaufman (MUSIC)
Donald Snyder (MCS)
Christopher Tong (MLLI)