iCons Teaching Fellowship

Benefits to You Becoming an iCons Teaching Fellow:

• You join an inclusive and supportive community of students, faculty, and staff
• You receive professional development funds ($2,000 in the second year with the opportunity for subsequent funding if the fellow teaches a third year)
• You gain access to training in inclusive pedagogy and student-driven instructional methods
• You can bring your research- and problem-expertise into undergraduate education
• You are compensated via course release or add-comp
• You can work with a diverse populations of highly motivated undergraduate students
• You have the opportunity to recruit outstanding undergraduate researchers into your research lab or group

Benefits to Your Department from Becoming an iCons Teaching Fellow:

• Positions the Fellow to provide instructional training to faculty in your department
• Positions your department to offer a greater diversity of experiential learning options
• Positions the department to win grants via broader-impacts activities enriched by research-based, experiential learning
• Flexible compensation (course release or add-comp) to meet the needs of your department

The iCons Teaching Fellows are selected to teach one iCons course for 2-3 years and receive professional development funding for the duration of the fellowship. Faculty may be nominated for the iCons Teaching Fellowship by current iCons students, by their departmental head or chair, by colleagues, or by self-nomination.

• Nominate a Potential iCons Teaching Fellow

"Having the opportunity to be an instructor in iCons was transformative for my teaching and pedagogy. I learned how to release control to the students and follow their lead while guiding and facilitating a unique learning experience. I took the tools and techniques that I learned and brought them into my current teaching, increasing my innovation around teaching and leading to a more enjoyable teaching and learning experience."
- Lena Fletcher, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Conservation and former iCons 1 instructor

iCons Program: The iCons program’s mission is to produce a diverse generation of leaders in science, technology, and business with the attitudes, knowledge, and skills needed to solve the inherently multi-faceted problems facing our world – problems like developing clean energy, curing disease, and responding to climate change. The 20-credit iCons certificate program consists of one course per year over three years plus an honors-level thesis or project. Building on the disciplinary strength of each student’s major, iCons projects at all levels involve collaborative student teams working on case studies, laboratory experiments, and research – all fostering cross-disciplinary communication and integrative problem-solving skills. The program trains students from 30+ majors in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at UMass, and has recently started accepting students from the Isenberg School of Management to work along with STEM students.

Pioneering Curriculum and Pedagogy: The iCons curriculum focuses on real-world problems identified by the students as important and relevant. In that way, the curriculum remains fresh and engaging for students and faculty alike. The iCons pedagogy – the “special sauce” of iCons – involves student-driven inquiry wherever that leads, building leadership skills in our students. To accomplish this, we trade the "sage on the stage" approach for the "guide on the side" style of instruction. All iCons instructors participate in training on student-driven learning, autonomy-supportive classroom management, and inclusive teaching methods.

Faculty who join the iCons community bring higher education to a new level by:

• Diversifying instruction in iCons
• Bringing new research expertise into iCons
• Bringing expertise on new real-world problems into iCons
• Bringing new ideas and best practices on student learning and engagement

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact iCons at icons@cns.umass.edu.