The CIRTL Alumni Network is a learning community for former PhD students and postdoctoral scholars who participated in teaching development programs at CIRTL Network universities. The Alumni Network provides a platform for additional interactions and continuing professional development around teaching and learning for CIRTL Associates, Practitioners and Scholars who have left the universities where they trained and have gone on in their careers. Alumni are all aware of CIRTL's three core ideas (the importance of Learning through Diversity, Teaching as Research, and Learning Communities), and are almost all in STEM and social science fields, but may come with many different experiences.
The CIRTL Alumni Network operates mainly though a Google Group at present, but other activities are possible. The June 2021 virtual conference is one of those. People who participated in CIRTL online programs or local programs can join the Alumni Network after they have completed at least one local or online CIRTL program, even if they have not graduated. However, some activities may be restricted to those who have completed their PhDs.
The CIRTL Alumni Network started in early 2019 as a project within an Improving Undergraduate STEM Education grant from NSF (Grant No. 1726625).
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As of October 2021, the Alumni Network had almost 450 members. A CIRTL Alumna/e is an individual who participated in CIRTL Teaching Development programs, mostly during their PhD programs or postdoctoral work. The graphs show two snapshots of the membership: by the member's position when joining, and by the CIRTL Network Institutions with the most alumni members.
