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Professional Development Hero
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Course date
July 22–26, 2024
Location
Budapest
Application deadline
The application deadline has passed. We are no longer accepting applications.
ECTS Credits
1.0
Course delivery
In-person
SUN Packages
Fee-Paying
Tuition Waiver
Partial Scholarship
Full Scholarship

In the context of new approaches to learning and teaching at universities (student-centered learning, inclusive and democratic classrooms, teaching with new technologies, etc.) there is a growing need for professional development for teaching faculty. New initiatives that emphasize teaching excellence have encouraged universities worldwide to look at possible ways to further develop the teaching skills of their faculty members. Universities - particularly those in Central and Eastern Europe and the Global South – often lack sufficient experts who can engage as higher education advisors or trainers in the areas of teaching and learning.  

Therefore, there is a growing need on one hand, to train faculty members on revising their own courses and teaching approaches, and, on the other hand, to help them become agents of change who can provide advice, training, coaching, and support to their peers.  

This course intends to help universities of the Open Society University Network and beyond conceptualize and design their own, in-house professional development and other initiatives that improve teaching and learning (across the disciplines) and bring the quality of their education to high international standards. It is designed for representatives of universities where educational development is an emerging area of practice and therefore there is a need for peers who could design, implement, and evaluate professional development initiatives in teaching and learning.  

The course intends to bring together two larger groups: university teachers and (current or future) agents of change in professional development activities (consisting of department or unit heads, and trainers (we plan to accept approximately 25 participants). 

We envisage that the course could be beneficial for: 

  • faculty members interested in improving and evaluating their own teaching and who are committed to promoting course and teaching innovation within their departments and universities 

  • university teachers, interested in becoming either advisors for peers in their subject areas and/or trainers/moderators of educational development programs or facilitators of change of teaching and learning practices at their institution 

  • leaders and staff members of projects, units, training and advisory centers, and committees within universities that promote excellence in teaching 

Each day of the course will consist of a morning session that discusses with all participants the most important issues, concepts, approaches, best practices, and guiding principles in a given aspect of teaching learning, and professional development.  

In the afternoons participants will be divided into groups, on one hand, to delve deeper into the topic of the day in a smaller group of peers and course facilitators, and on the other hand, to receive further guidance on how to design possible professional development activities, what training materials to use, what the challenges are. 

Target group

This course is intended for university teachers, leaders, and managers. We also invite applications from advanced graduate students who have adequate prior study or engagement experience on the subject and make a compelling case in their application/statement of interest.
Applications from those currently affiliated with institutions of the Open Society University Network are highly encouraged.

The course is designed for representatives of universities where educational development is an emerging area of practice and therefore there is a need for peers who could design, implement and evaluate professional development initiatives in teaching and learning. 

  • faculty members interested in improving and evaluating their own teaching and who are committed to promoting the course and teaching innovation within their departments and universities
  • university teachers, interested to become either advisors for peers in their subject areas and/or trainers/moderators of educational development programs or facilitators of change of teaching and learning practices at their institution
  • leaders and staff members of projects, units, training and advisory centers, and committees within universities that promote excellence in teaching

Language requirements

The language of instruction is English; thus, all applicants have to demonstrate a strong command of spoken and written English to be able to participate actively in discussions. Some of the shortlisted applicants may be contacted for a telephone interview.

This course will focus on the following discipline areas:

  • Higher Education
  • Teaching and Learning

"The course was a great overview of the most crucial questions in education, development, etc. All the lecturers were very enthusiastic and they brought their own expertise to the topics."

"One of the objectives of attending this summer course was to learn how academia works, how processors can be approached, and when and how change happens. Therefore, different stories (from the representatives of different universities) shed light on how academic tribes and territories are arranged at universities. It was essential to know how teaching and learning centers work in different departments and how they are supposed to work."

"The course allowed me to reaffirm my existing knowledge and expertise in the field - many aspects of the course were explained in a way that I had an "aha, this is good to know", and "I have been doing this right so far" feeling. At the same time, many ideas were newly rediscovered, and I was able to get new viewpoints on the conventional concepts." 

"The course was really inspiring. I came back home full of new ideas on how to improve different areas of my teaching, how to better reflect on it, and how to introduce writing microtasks for different purposes." 

"It helped me think about my upcoming assignments and their evaluations. I was able to scaffold more meaningful ones so as to respond to the new AI challenges." 

Please read the following directions carefully.
Below is the list of the documents you need to prepare or arrange for submission:

  1. Completed Online SUN Application Form (see notes below)
  2. Full Curriculum Vitae or Resume, including a List of Publications, if any
    Please upload your Curriculum vitae or resume, including a list of publications, if any.
  3. Statement of Purpose (max. 1,000 words)
    In the Statement of purpose, please describe how the course is relevant to your teaching, research, or professional work, and in what way you expect to benefit from it. Please list relevant courses, workshops or professional development training sessions in higher education you have taken previously during your studies.
    Please provide the name, contact email, and phone number of a person (a faculty member, job supervisor, etc.) who can be contacted by the course directors to attest to your abilities, qualifications, and academic/professional performance.
  4. Personal Statement on Financial Aid
    Those who are eligible and wish to apply for financial aid should specify their reasons in the “Personal statement on financial aid” section (Funding page of the application form). 

Optional Attachments:
You can upload further optional documents on the Qualifications page such as 
academic documents that you think may be relevant to support your application in the ‘Other Supporting Documents’ section. All documents should be merged into a single PDF file not exceeding the size 2 MB. No passwords and encryption are allowed.

Completed CEU Summer University Application Form

We strongly advise the use of Google Chrome to enable the full functionality of the form.

Notes:

  • You may apply to a maximum of two summer courses. In case of being admitted, you can only attend both if the two courses do not overlap in time.
  • If you applied to CEU before, please use your existing login and password to start a new application. If you do not remember your password from last year click on Forgotten Password. With technical problems, bugs, or errors related to the online application forms please contact the CEU IT Help Desk.
  • Right after login, please select the ”Summer University” radio button from the "Type of course" list, and leave all other fields empty.
  • All application materials must be submitted with the online application form(s). Materials sent by postal mail, electronic mail, or fax are not considered.
  • The maximum allowable file size for upload is 2MB per file and the acceptable file formats are PDF, JPG, and JPEG. Ensure all security features (e.g. passwords and encryption) are removed from the documents before uploading them.
  • Applications cannot be edited after submission. Please submit your application only when it is 100% final and complete.
  • Further user instructions for the online application are included in the form itself. Should you have questions regarding the application form, check the relevant Frequently Asked Questions.
  • Applications submitted after the deadline will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Inquiries

If you need help or more information during the application process, please feel free to contact the SUN staff via email.

Notification

The SUN Office will notify applicants about the selection results in April. Please check the 'Dates and deadlines' section on the relevant course websites for notification deadlines planned earlier or later. The final decision is not open to appeal.