The Poorvu Center at Yale University Teaching Center is a development organization that develops CTLs. Founded in 2014, Podvu integrates teacher development, educational technology, digital learning, and many teaching-related services in high-performance organizations. When I learned about Poilvu looking for a new deputy director in the teaching development and planning team, I knew I wanted to learn more. Julie McGurk, director of teaching development and program at Yale University, generously agreed to answer my questions about the role.
If you are recruiting the intersection of learning, technology and organizational change, Please extend your hand.
Q: What is the task behind this university position? How does it help align with the university’s strategic priorities?
one: There is no task per se, but given the advancements in data science, machine learning and quantitative approaches across disciplines, the Poorvu Center is looking for people from the quantitative field. We understand the unique challenges of teaching students quantitative literacy skills, including social and emotional history of quantitative fields that students bring into the classroom.
Yale University emphasizes strict teaching and requires students to quickly and deeply study discipline skills, which inspired us to build teams in the field of discipline. This structure allows us to have conversations in the language and culture of the field and in the way students experience the subject. This also allows us to establish deeper relationships with faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows in related fields at Yale University, as people from the humanities or social sciences often work with team members focused on these disciplines.
Although such searches will require expertise in the quantitative field, our ideal candidates will also have a good understanding of teaching in other fields to introduce practices that may be less common but useful in the quantitative field. We promote interdisciplinary discussions of many pedagogical methods in our daily work.
Q: Where is this role in the university structure? How will the person in this role interact with other troops and leaders on campus?
one: The Poorvu Teaching Center is under the office of the Provost, under the leadership of the Vice Provost of the Academic Program and the Executive Director of the Poilvu Center Jenny Frederick. Our team works with lecturers and future lecturers across the university (including 13 professional schools) to focus on providing effective teaching practices at Yale University, as well as the development of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and others who are often ready to teach elsewhere. We work closely with other teams at the Podvu Center, who support undergraduate study and writing, graduate writing, educational technology, program assessment and online teaching. We also work closely with departments, schools and other offices across various campuses, such as student accessibility services, Yale Health Resources, the Center for Language Studies, Yale Library and Collections, among others.
Q: What will success look like in a year? Three years? Exceed?
one: The first year’s success was primarily about getting to know Yale, the Slum Center and our team and building fundamental connections around these various groups. Three years of success looks like a deeper connection across the university, especially in the field of quantitative and a strong portfolio of work in terms of programmes, services and programs. Over three years, I hope that those in this position will contribute to the strategic vision and leadership of the ghetto center and team in a way that aligns with their career goals.
Q: Will people in this position be prepared?
Those in this position will be fully prepared to hold leadership positions in teaching centers and other university groups that promote professional development or cultural change.
