Teaching with AI Certificate
This four-week online certificate program challenges instructors to explore the impact of AI on students’ future careers to consider how AI should, or should not, be integrated into course design and assessments. Through weekly hands-on exercises and peer discussions, participants evaluate UCSB-approved AI tools in terms of their practical capabilities and limitations. Instructors identify critical human and AI-enabled skills specific to their discipline, define the values guiding their AI policies and develop communication plans that establish transparency and trust with their students.
Inclusive and Equitable Education Book Club
Every winter quarter we host a book club that meets in small groups to reflect, discuss questions, and brainstorm practical applications of what we learn. Each group is a community of practice that builds on trust and mutual respect as we discuss inclusivity and equity in higher education. The books are chosen to explore these ideas as well as guide participants towards meaningful actions and practices in their teaching and mentoring approach. For access to past books and more information, contact Nate Emery (nemery@ucsb.edu).
Past books include:
2026 - Inclusive Pedagogy in Practice
2025 - Grading for Growth
2024 - From Equity Talk to Equity Walk
2023 - Inclusive Teaching
"Reviewing and improving our own teaching should be an iterative and dynamic process, but oftentimes our courses remain static because we don't know where to begin. This program is collaborative and thought-provoking, and is exactly the kind of motivation I needed to start that process!" - Faculty/Staff '23
“I have always enjoyed the book club meetings. The choice of book has not mattered as much as Nate's passion and colleagues' commitment to discussions. I get lots indirectly from hearing what colleagues from different departments are teaching and how they are fielding issues with pedagogy. Most important is that the discussion evolves each year as students and their needs evolve.” - Faculty/Staff ‘26
"Inclusivity and belonging is better and easier discussed together! This reading group program was a great way for me to think critically about building inclusivity and belonging in my course, and I could get insight from the broader UCSB community who shared their experiences with inclusivity techniques." - Faculty/Staff '23
“It's a wonderful time to spend socially, productively, and inspiring-ly with colleagues I would otherwise not know. It enriches my UCSB experience by allowing me to see my students through the lens of an instructor from a totally different discipline.” - Faculty/Staff ‘26
UC Professional Development Modules for Teaching Excellence
The UC Professional Development Modules for Teaching Excellence are asynchronous courses and faculty development resources that train UC faculty, lecturers, and graduate students in principles and practices for teaching and learning that are based on the UC’s values and mission. There are five modules, each with their own 5-10 day asynchronous institute and certificate of completion.
- Alternative Grading Practices
- Creating Inclusive Classrooms for LGBTQ+ Students
- Building Learning Connections Across Cultures
- Teaching and Learning and the Intersections
- Teaching with Access in Mind
Reimagine Instruction for the Student Experience (RISE) Institute
CITRAL periodically hosts a 5-week cohort-based summer institute focused on reflection and course design. Learning in the 21st century is taking place across modalities and incorporates an array of different technologies. In Reimagining Instruction for the Student Experience (RISE), an online summer institute, faculty re-envision learning in their courses through collaborative study and dialogue with peers. Initially offered to support instructors in adapting to emergency remote teaching, more than 200 faculty from across the university have participated in RISE since 2020. The four-week institute models effective instruction for online, hybrid, and in-person courses. Learning in asynchronous modules and synchronous interactions, RISE participants work in structured cohorts to transform their teaching by placing students at the center of their instruction. Each iteration of the RISE Institute focuses on a different theme.
Past themes:
- 2025 - Designing for Meaningful Learning
- 2023 - Reimagining Roles and Relationships
- 2020 - Reimagining the Student Experience
Departmental Workshops/Facilitated Discussions
- Curriculum planning and assessment
- Asset-based approaches to course design
- Teaching evaluation for merit/promotion
- Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER)
Email citral@ucsb.edu to request a departmental workshop or facilitated discussion.
Please contact us with Program Feedback or Requests
Email citral@ucsb.edu