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Beyond the R1 Program

The Beyond the R1 Teaching Fellows Program is a partnership between Academic Women in STEAM (A-WIS), Parkland College, and the Institute of Genomic Biology (IGB) Postdoctoral Association. The fellows program provides teaching experience, an opportunity to learn about careers at community colleges, and a space to exchange ideas with tenure-track faculty and lecturer mentors at Parkland College. This program allows fellows to refine their teaching and pedagogy skills through workshop participation, gain experience and collaboration with Parkland College faculty mentors, and apply their teaching skills by giving a guest lecture at Parkland College.  

Fellows accepted into the program are: 

  1. It is paired with a faculty mentor at Parkland College to shadow for a full teaching day. 

  1. Participate in a lunch workshop to learn about careers at community colleges and the unique needs of Parkland students. 

  1. Work with their Parkland faculty mentor to schedule guest lectures given by teaching fellows every Fall at Parkland College.  

  1. Participate in a training workshop facilitated by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning to prepare for a Fall guest lecture at Parkland College.  

  1. They will participate in a panel at the end of the year to share their experiences with the IGB and UIUC community. 

The program is open to postdocs, graduate students, and professionals from international and underserved backgrounds (including women, first-generation scholars, and non-binary persons). Teaching experience is optional and not mandatory for participation as the program seeks to provide experience to participants without teaching experience. 

Applications for the 2024 cycle can be found here.

This program is not a paid fellowship, although meals are provided. 

Any questions about the program may be addressed to Academic Women in STEAM (a-wis@illinois.edu) with “Teaching Fellows Program” in the subject line. Please allow one business day for the committee to respond to inquiries.