The Center for Teaching & Learning currently offers two certificates and one credential in college teaching and future faculty development for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars on the CU Boulder campus. 

Certificate in College Teaching

The Certificate in College Teaching (CCT) helps graduate teachers develop a confident classroom presence, good interactional skills, and a firm foundation in college teaching. Graduate students must teach for two or more semesters to pursue this certificate. 

Future Faculty Development Certificate

The Future Faculty Development Certificate (FFD) offers participants the opportunity to pursue a project on teaching at the college level under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Participants are not required to teach to pursue this certificate.

Frequently Asked Questions

These certificates provide teaching-focused professional development opportunities to interested graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. The two certificates (Certificate in College Teaching or CCT, and Future Faculty Development certificate or FFD) appear on CU Boulder transcripts, while those who complete the Pursuing Excellence in College Teaching Credential can list the credential on a CV or resume. These programs develop graduate students and postdoctoral scholars’ teaching and classroom practices and provide opportunities for connections with other educators around campus. Many former CU Boulder affiliates also find the certificate or credential aids them in pursuing academic jobs.

The certification requirements vary for each certificate we offer, and there is individual variation for anyone pursuing a certificate or credential. See individual pages for more information about the Certificate in College Teaching, the Future Faculty Development Certificate, and the Pursuing Excellence in College Teaching Credential. We recommend starting the certificate or credential process early in your time at CU Boulder as learning to teach effectively is a developmental process, although it is possible to finish all requirements in a single academic year. Reach out to CTL@colorado.edu if you would like to discuss your circumstances individually. 

Log in to check your workshop attendance at gtpfeedback.colorado.edu, using your CU Boulder IdentiKey credentials. If it is your first time visiting the site, complete your profile as prompted. Please note that this site is updated manually, so it may take a week or more for the online system to reflect your attendance. You’re always welcome to email CTL@colorado.edu to check in, or if something online doesn’t look right. 

Track your discipline-specific hours on your own; you can download a tracking form for CCT discipline-specific hours, or one for FFD discipline-specific hours. 

When you attend a CTL workshop remotely, we record your attendance. There’s no need to sign in separately. In person, make sure you fill out the sign-in form and/or swipe your BuffOne card to record your attendance. 

To track discipline-specific hours or activities required for the certificate you're pursuing, download a tracking form. Find the CCT form here, and the FFD form here. Keep track of workshops you attend, and submit your form to the CTL when you have completed the required number of hours. 

Any workshop listed in the Events for Credit section of the CTL website will count toward the general teaching workshop/hours requirement for the certificates.

The CTL sometimes advertises non-CTL events offered through our campus partners; these workshops might also count toward certificate hours, though you will need to email Preston Cumming to check about specific offerings to confirm. 

Track CCT discipline-specific hours on this form; use this one for FFD hours. 

There is no specific deadline for submitting the final portfolio or reflection to earn a certificate or credential. However, we will be able to process it quickest if you submit during the academic year. Please note it may take a number of weeks for certificates to appear on your transcript, so plan ahead if you are graduating and want your certificate reflected on your transcript right away. 

Certificates will appear on your final transcript. If you have not yet finished your degree, your certificate will not appear until your degree is awarded, whether that is the semester you complete it or several years before you graduate. According to the Registrar's office, Office of the Registrar staff won't process the certificate for degree-seeking students until after their degrees have posted to their transcripts.

If you complete a certificate after you graduate, which is common, it will still appear on your transcript, but it may take up to six weeks to show. We encourage everyone who completes a certificate to speak about it in their cover letters, post it to their CV and discuss it in their teaching statements. Hiring committees will value this over the posting on your transcript.

Unfortunately, due to the impacts of COVID-19, the CTL is no longer sending out hard copies of certificates. However, you may receive a virtual copy of your certificate upon request.