The BCS Academic Team initiated a pilot program in which some postdocs can either teach their own courses over IAP, or can participate in teaching Undergraduate or Graduate level courses offered by the departmental faculty – this might mean teaching 1 or 2 lectures in a course, or leading recitation sections.
However, the decision about a postdoc’s eligibility to teach will be made on a case-by-case basis, and will factor in a number of issues, including permission from the PI, the postdoc’s visa status, the type of assistance needed by the course instructor, available budget, and Fellowship requirements about percent effort (for Postdoctoral Fellows).
For 2014 – 2015. Postdocs interested in this teaching opportunity should provide some feedback as to which AY15 courses (listed at http://bcs.mit.edu/academics/courseofferings.html#AY1415) they are interested in helping with. Please peruse the course listing for the Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 terms, and send your selection to Dr. Sonal Jhaveri (sonal@mit.edu<mailto:sonal@mit.edu>) by August 10, 2014– indicate the type of teaching (IAP course, 1-2 lectures in course 9 offerings, or leading recitation sections) they would like to participate in.
Find MIT teaching guidelines for postdocs here:
http://postdocs.mit.edu/career-development/teaching-mit
Independent Activity Period Classes (IAP)
To teach an IAP class postdocs should: a) get an initial approval for teaching from their supervisor, b) check in with their Human Resource Contact to determine if there are any fellowship or sponsored research constraints, and to discuss how to apply their effort; each fellowship is different: some require 100% effort on the research and no teaching, while other fellowships allow teaching, so your HR representative will be able to coordinate with the PI and fiscal folks accordingly to determine feasibility. Once these issues are resolved then the postdoc should contact Susan Lanza (sdl@mit.edu) who can help organize the class.
The Graduate Student Teaching Certificate Program
The Graduate Student Teaching Certificate Program is offered to MIT graduate students and postdoctoral associates who wish to develop their teaching skills. Make sure to check with your advisor if you are interested in being involved in this program.