Thank you for your interest in UCLA’s Collegium of University Teaching Fellows program. Please note that the TLC is suspending the program for the 2024-25 academic year; thus, we will not be accepting applications at this time. Questions from departments and students may be directed to cutf@teaching.ucla.edu.

Guidelines for Preparing a Seminar

The following guidelines are to assist qualified graduate students in the preparation and delivery of a successful seminar. The possibility of receiving General Education credit should make the Collegium of University Teaching Fellows seminars more attractive to a wide range of students, who will, in turn, bring a diversity of interests and backgrounds to each seminar. Please note that GE credit is not guaranteed, and is subject to the review and approval from the GE Governance Committee and the Undergraduate Council.

It is highly recommended that prospective fellows consult the General Education Submission Guidelines and guidance for the desired GE foundation area to assist with developing a syllabus. Candidates are encouraged to review the inclusive syllabus templates and participation rubric examples on this page, as well as the GE Frequently Asked Questions page. In addition, all CUTF teaching fellows must participate in a workshop during Fall quarter that helps them refine their syllabi to apply for GE credit.

• Seminar Content
  • Content of the course should be broad. This should be reflected in the breadth of the reading list.
  • Seminar content should be related to the graduate student’s dissertation research or advanced graduate work but should be accessible for lower division students. Finding the balance in this tension is one of the key tasks in designing your seminar.

• Seminar Audience
  • Seminars are intended for undergraduate students only and are specifically targeted to freshmen and sophomores.
  • The seminar is worth five units. Undergraduate students who enroll are expected to have 12 out-of-class hours per week in addition to the three class hours of student contact, i.e., the seminar.
  • Do not include any prior requirements for the seminar, e.g., “knowledge of a second language.”
  • Keep in mind this seminar may be their first introduction to your topic and that typical course workload for undergraduate students is less than that of graduate students.
  • Limit the seminar enrollment to about 16 students to ensure active participation by all members.

• Seminar Format
  • The seminar should provide an active learning format in which students can develop the ability to read critically and conceptually, and therefore to speak and write with discrimination.
  • Attendance may not be used as a class requirement. The CUTF Program recommends using class participation instead. Please note the difference between the attendance and participation and explain on the syllabus how a student would earn points for participation.
  • Limit lectures, guest lectures, field trips, and films to ensure that weekly discussions are at the heart of the seminar experience.
  • The seminar should require a substantial writing component, final project, or presentation. It is usually best to provide a scaffolded “draft and resubmit” experience so that students can learn how to respond to constructive feedback and can also experience the distance that usually has to be traveled between a draft and a final project, paper, creative work, or presentation.
  • Assign weekly core readings so that the seminar can focus on topics or documents that all students are prepared to discuss. Pose prompt questions from the readings to improve the quality of discussion. Assignment of formal presentations and critical arguments may also be a useful strategy for stimulating discussion.
  • The seminar should provide insights into research methodology in the field, as well as an introduction to the meaning and excitement of research. The best results are usually obtained when students are asked to define a topic for research early in the quarter and report on preliminary results by the fifth or sixth week.
• Seminar syllabi must include the following elements:
  • Course objectives or student learning outcomes
  • A 1-2 paragraph course description
  • A week-by-week breakdown for the 10 weeks, including proposed weekly lecture topics and, if applicable, field trips, labs or other experiential activities
  • A description of student assignments as well as a description of the nature of the assignment and its page length for writing assignments
  • A description of the grading policy and how each percentage component determines the student’s overall grade. If participation is a part of the grading rubric, please explain how participation will be graded.

If you have any questions regarding the development of your syllabus, please reach out to CUTF Program Coordinator, Kelly Strathmore, at cutf@teaching.ucla.edu.

Additional Resources for Prospective Applicants

EPIC Newsletter CUTF Feature

For additional information about the program please see this recent newsletter issue from the Excellence in Pedagogy and Innovative Classrooms (EPIC) program featuring interviews with the CUTF coordinator and former CUTF fellows.

Examples of Past Successful Syllabi

• Mobile Technologies: Participation and Surveillance
• Psychology 98Tb: Why We Remember and Why We Forget: Educational Applications of Memory Research
• WAC 98T: Site Specific Performance and the Politics of Place
• Women’s Studies 98T: Ethical Consumerism in the United States
• Comparative Responses to AIDS in Africa