The Teaching International Students (TIS) micro-credential program, offered through the Center for Teaching & Learning in collaboration with International Student Academic Success – Office of Undergraduate Education, prepares faculty, graduate students, and teaching staff to provide better academic experiences for international students in the United States. Participants will gain an understanding of the unique experiences of international students and their needs, as well as explore how to apply this knowledge to course and assignment design, teaching and mentoring practices, and fostering success inside and outside the classroom. This program addresses intercultural communication, inclusive pedagogy, and international education coursework. In addition, program participants will engage with workshops on supporting international students and inclusive pedagogy, and a capstone project.
The TIS program is designed to be completed over one academic year. Participants must be teaching during the term of the program to fulfill all requirements (as instructor of record or as a TA).
After completing this micro-credential, participants will be able to:
Participants successfully completing the Teaching International Students program will receive a digital micro-credential badge issued via CU Boulder's micro-credential program.
Program Components
Alignment with CU Boulder's IDEA Plan
International students constitute a large portion of students currently enrolled in U.S. higher education. CU Boulder alone hosted 2123 international students in the spring of 2021. This micro-credential provides professors, graduate students, and teaching staff with knowledge and skills to offer international students an equitable academic experience. By publicly displaying the digital badge awarded upon successful completion of this program, faculty, graduate students, and teaching faculty will communicate their qualifications to support international student learning, which also signals the intent to promote an inclusive environment. The micro-credential program is grounded on concepts of inclusive pedagogy, universal design for learning, and intercultural competence as these apply to the international student experience. These content areas have been the focus of several initiatives across campus, which allows participants in this program to take advantage of resources already available to our campus community. This program aligns with one of the campus diversity and inclusion plan's (the IDEA Plan) action areas, which aims to "cultivate success for a diverse undergraduate and graduate student body with new financial resources and programming" (p. 9). Departments/primary units will be able to effectively measure international-student-focused professional development.