CIRTL@Arizona

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Become a teacher-scholar with CIRTL@Arizona

The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning, known as CIRTL (pronounced sir-tuhl), is an international network of research institutions that prepares graduate students and postdocs for teaching positions in higher education.  

The CIRTL Network is committed to diversity and equity in teaching and bases all of its programming on three core values:

1. Learning-through-Diversity: Learning-through-diversity draws on the rich experiences and backgrounds of all students to enhance everyone's learning experience.
2. Teaching-as-Research (TAR): Teaching-as-research involves the deliberate and reflective use of research methods to explore classroom pedagogy and, ultimately, develop teaching practices that improve student learning.
3. Learning Communities: Learning communities bring people together in the spirit of shared learning, discovery, and new knowledge.

We look forward to getting to know you!

Kristin Winet and Lisa Elfring

CIRTL@Arizona Institutional Leads

Get Started

Joining the CIRTL community is easy! 

1. Complete the Qualtrics form.
2. After we get your registration form, we will email you with info on getting started on the CIRTL Brightspace site.
3. We will also add you to our local chapter newsletter for updates, reminders, and announcements.

You can also set up a 15-minute chat to sketch out your CIRTL plan or talk to us about your goals and how to get the most out of CIRTL.

Certification Levels and Pathways

Participants in our program are teacher-scholars dedicated to reflective, evidence-based teaching that embraces diversity and collaborative learning. Earn Associate, Practitioner, or Scholar recognition through progressive workshops, courses, classroom research, and published teaching work—with digital credentials and certificates for your portfolio. Postdocs can fast-track their development through our accelerated Pathway Program, which combines pedagogical training with co-teaching experiences to prepare you for the classroom in just one year.

Explore Levels and Pathways

Program Examples

One of the most unique aspects of our program is the fact that no two co-teaching partnerships look alike. Some of our fellows teach in large undergraduate courses; some teach in graduate-level seminars. Some redesign an entire module and take the lead; some prefer a more apprentice-type approach in which they listen & learn and then teach some lessons on their own. Each partnership is designed to benefit the postdoc’s individual teaching interests and draw on their existing strengths.

Explore Examples

Building Teaching Excellence

Since joining the network in 2020, over 100 graduate students and postdocs have earned certification, and over 50+ faculty have served as mentors. Members access all CIRTL programming, both network-wide and locally, with opportunities announced via the CIRTL list campaign.

Our team has developed faculty learning communities, created a teaching-as-research program, and expanded the Certificate of College Teaching electives. We became an NSF-funded Inclusive STEM Teaching Project facilitator, leading annual learning communities since 2022. Our innovative CIRTL Postdoc Pathways Program—the first on the network—enables postdocs to complete Associate and Practitioner certification in just one year.

CIRTL@Arizona is supported by the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, the Graduate Center, and Faculty Learning Communities program. Originally housed in Academic Affairs under Dr. Gail Burd (2020-2024), it's guided by a campus-wide, interdisciplinary Steering Committee.