For any questions, please contact Dr. Lisa Brundage, Director of Teaching, Learning, and Technology, at lisa.brundage@mhc.cuny.edu.
Selection Process
The number of applicants for the Teaching and Learning Collaboratory Fellowship each year is very high, and the number of available positions is small. While the exact numbers vary from year to year, in recent years we have been able to offer positions to less than 10% of the applicants. To ensure the strongest possible TLC cohort and fairness of opportunity to all applicants, the Director of Teaching, Learning and Technology manages a rigorous and competitive selection process.
The application itself (submitted online) includes a general information form, a CV, a personal statement, a listing of previous teaching and fellowship experience, and relevant project examples. On that general information form, we ask applicants to identify any Macaulay campus where they would NOT be able to accept an assignment.
After the application deadline, the committee goes through all the applications to determine which candidates will be called in for an interview. The committee scores each application using a rubric which emphasizes teaching experience, experience with technologies that are most valuable in the seminars, and a sophisticated understanding of the role of technology in higher education. We also strive to achieve the maximum diversity (including diversity of academic disciplines) in the TLC cohort. The committee interviews the candidates with the strongest applications, and then ranks the candidates based on the interview, the needs of the college, and the application materials.
Even the candidates who were not at the very top of our list are still, in many cases, very strong. So after our final selection, we share the list of the strongest candidates with other CUNY campuses where there are similar opportunities available. Even though the number of Macaulay TLC positions is limited, similar positions are becoming increasingly common in CUNY units and programs, and it is not unusual for candidates who are not offered positions at Macaulay to be offered positions of various kinds elsewhere in CUNY. These other offers are not managed or determined by Macaulay, and candidates who do not wish to be offered other positions can elect not to be considered.
After the successful candidates have been identified, we confirm their eligibility with the Graduate Center’s Human Resources and Provost’s offices. TLCs are then offered an appointment letter. These appointment letters must be signed and returned promptly to Macaulay. Additional paperwork and an HR orientation at the GC may be required, depending on previous appointments held.
In May, there is an orientation meeting for all new TLCs, at which we discuss the schedule for the coming year, the requirements of the position, and what can be done over the summer to prepare for the beginning of the fall. There is another orientation meeting for all TLCs, just before the beginning of the fall semester.
All TLC appointments are for one year, renewable at the discretion of the Director of TLT and contingent on availability of funding.
Prospective TLC Fellow Information
Background Information
Founded in 2001 as the CUNY Honors College, Macaulay Honors College is dedicated to providing outstanding educational opportunities for academically gifted students from the five boroughs of New York City and beyond. Macaulay offers its students unique interdisciplinary seminars focused on New York City, access to instructional technology, dedicated mentors and advisors, internships, study abroad and community service opportunities, and a Cultural Passport that provides entree to the diverse cultural resources of New York City. Macaulay operates in consortium on eight CUNY campuses: Baruch College, Brooklyn College, City College, Hunter College, John Jay College, Lehman College, Queens College, and the College of Staten Island. Currently, Macaulay has close to 2,000 students enrolled on the eight campuses.
Since its founding, Macaulay has provided Instructional Technology Fellows (ITFs) to its seminars. When the ITF program started, the barriers to creating digital projects were high, and the fellows needed to spend significant amounts time working on technical troubleshooting, along with pedagogical practices. As technologies have evolved and become more ubiquitous, the horizons of the group have expanded alongside them, especially incorporating more pedagogical training. In the late 2010s, we discussed using a name that reflects the true breadth of work and expertise that this group does and has. We are transitioning from the ITF name to the Teaching and Learning Collaboratory (TLCs). TLCs still have major tasks related to instructional technology, and work with faculty on your technology-enhanced projects and sites, but the new name helps to demonstrate the wider array of professional development and teaching techniques that we explore and provide. While we are in a transitional period, you will probably hear the ITF name still being used alongside TLC.
Macaulay Honors College is scheduled to admit a class of approximately 500 University Scholars each fall. Each student receives a laptop computer (currently an Apple MacBook Air) as part of the Macaulay scholarship package. In order to help students and faculty take advantage of the full potential of technology for enhancing teaching and learning, and to promote active, student-centered learning environments, Macaulay expects to appoint a small number of new Teaching and Learning Collaboratory Fellows (TLCs). Each TLC will work in a small cluster, managed by a postdoc and supervised by the Director of Teaching, Learning, and Technology. Together, these clusters will support an array of Macaulay seminars devoted to the arts, people, and institutions of New York City. The fellowship involves close work with students, faculty, and TLC colleagues. A secondary element of the fellowship involves the integration of technological innovations and experiential learning at and through Macaulay central offices. TLCs also have an important role in developing pedagogy for the Macaulay curriculum, and shaping experiential learning events organized by Macaulay.
Doctoral students in all disciplines at the CUNY Graduate Center – including arts, humanities, and social and physical sciences – are welcome to apply for the fellowship. Applicants must be currently registered full-time doctoral students at the CUNY Graduate Center in good academic standing to apply, and if selected as TLCs, must be registered, in good academic standing, and should be at level II or III at the CUNY Graduate Center during the period of the fellowship. Applicants should be interested in integrating technology and pedagogy for the benefit of students and faculty, both inside and outside of the classroom. They should also be eager to participate with other Instructional Technology Fellows in a multidisciplinary environment that changes focus semester to semester.
We recommended (but do not require) that applicants have completed or be enrolled in the Graduate Center’s Certificate Program in Interactive Technology and Pedagogy. For more information on this program, contact Michael Mandiberg at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Compensation and Workload
TLCs are hired under the PSC-CUNY contract as Graduate Assistant A’s with 450 non-teaching hours and an annual salary of $36,267. Grad A work, combined with graduate study, is considered a full-time responsibility, those holding Grad A appointments are not allowed to take any other PSC-CUNY positions during the academic year. A waiver is typically granted by CUNY HR for a summer teaching assignment. Graduate Assistant appointments are limited to a total of 7 years combined for all titles, campuses, and whether or not they are continuously held. TLCs also receive (on loan for the period of their fellowships) the same laptop as Macaulay students and faculty.
The initial Grad A appointment is for one year, normally beginning on the first day of the fall semester through the following summer.* (Exact dates vary and will be specified upon appointment.) Determinations of TLC re-appointments are made on an annual basis, and depend on individual eligibility, job performance, Macaulay needs, and budget constraints. TLCs report to Dr. Lisa Brundage, Director of Teaching, Learning, and Technology at Macaulay Honors College, and also work closely with Dr. Joseph Ugoretz, Sr Associate Dean and Chief Academic Officer at Macaulay.
*Successful applicants are expected to participate in two TLC orientations, one late in the Spring semester and one in August, with dates TBA. In addition, TLCs are expected to participate in one or more days of new student orientations, technology training, and opening events for the seminars, usually just prior to the start of the Fall semester. Exact dates of these events will be specified in the appointment letter.
Job Description
Macaulay Teaching and Learning Collaboratory Fellows have the opportunity: to work closely with some of CUNY’s best faculty; to receive extensive training and experience in a highly marketable skill set; and to participate in a prestigious and innovative program that includes a technology-across-the-curriculum initiative.
TLCs will be expected to:
- Work in a team to support Macaulay seminars each semester
- Set up and maintain eportfolios for courses; train faculty and students to use eportfolios
- Develop a menu of on-demand workshops available for students and faculty; deliver workshops as needed
- Develop and implement project-based support as needed for Macaulay Seminars
- Hold regular support (office) hours weekly open to the Macaulay community
- Support and staff experiential learning events
- Work closely with faculty teaching the seminars to integrate technology and student-centered pedagogy into the curricula and assignments
- Support students’ work on seminar projects
- Attend, participate, and/or lead portions of some class sessions, as appropriate to each instructor’s seminar section
- Identify and suggest various forms of technology suitable to meet the goals of each seminar
Please direct any questions to Dr. Lisa Brundage, Director of Teaching, Learning, and Technology, lisa.brundage@mhc.cuny.edu
