COUNSELING, REHABILITATION, AND STUDENT DEVELOPMENT

New Certificate Program Helps Students Become Professors

Mike Hartley finds new confidence as an instructor

Mike Hartley , a doctoral candidate in Rehabilitation Counseling, knows he wants to be a college professor some day. A new Graduate Teaching Certificate Program administered through the Graduate College is offered by his department and will help him reach that goal.

“I think it’s a huge plus. It looks good on a resume, but, more importantly, it allows me to look at my own development,” Hartley said.

The program, the first of its kind at The University of Iowa, was approved in 2005 and is open to all doctoral students in the Department of Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Student Development.

The process of becoming certified includes completing 12 credit hours of graduate-level course work focused on collegiate teaching, teaching at least two semesters under two different professors, and compiling a portfolio with sample syllabi, statements of teaching philosophy, samples of assignments and student work, and reflective essays on critical issues in higher education teaching.

Hartley, who has served as a teaching assistant in three courses, said the Graduate Teaching Certificate Program has offered him a great opportunity to clarify who he is as a teacher and to document his growth in the classroom.

“It’s allowed me to articulate my teaching philosophy,” he said. “Through the process of compiling the portfolio, I am more aware of what I believe. I have a stronger understanding of who I am as a teacher.”

Professor Dennis R. Maki, director of the department, said that’s one of the goals of the new program.

“A majority of our students have the goal of becoming an academic. This certificate, which is noted on their transcript, will distinguish them from graduates of other universities,” Maki said. “These students will have the confidence and competence to be successful professors, in both teaching and research.”