The Teaching International Students (TIS) micro-credential provides professional learning related to supporting multilingual international students within and beyond the classroom. Designed for instructors at all levels and instructional support staff, the course focuses on high-impact course design and instructional practices that leverage the linguistic and cultural assets international students bring to the U.S. classroom.

The TIS program is free and designed to be completed within one academic semester. This hybrid-style micro-credential will be offered each semester and include both asynchronous Canvas coursework and synchronous group meetings. We are currently accepting applications to participate in the Fall 2024 cohort. The cohort will run from September 9th thorugh December 12th. The meeting times are TBD and will be based on the availability of selected participants. Applications received on or before August 2, 2024 will be prioritized. For questions, concerns or needs regarding digital accessibility, email karen.crouch@colorado.edu.

Apply for the TIS micro-credential

To complete the TIS program, participants are expected to complete Canvas coursework, attend group meetings, and complete a final Capstone Project. Participants who complete the Teaching International Students program will earn a digital micro-credential badge issued via CU Boulder's micro-credential program. 

After completing this micro-credential, participants will be able to: 

  • Discuss emerging trends in the experiences of international students attending U.S. colleges and universities.
  • Explore best practices for creating inclusive learning environments and promoting international students' academic success.
  • Make personal commitments to improving the academic experiences of international students.

Who can apply: Instructors across all levels (e.g., lecturers, teaching professors, graduate teaching assistants*, etc.), and staff at CU Boulder. 

If you are a graduate student working towards the Certificate in College Teaching or the Future Faculty Development Certificate, TIS micro-credential badge will account for 5 CTL credits.

Reading Materials: Shapiro et al. 2023. Fostering International Student Success in Higher Education & other companion resources provided free of cost to all participants.

International students constitute a large portion of students currently enrolled in U.S. higher education. CU Boulder alone hosted 2123 international students in the spring of 2021. This micro-credential provides professors, graduate students, and teaching staff with knowledge and skills to offer international students an equitable academic experience. By publicly displaying the digital badge awarded upon successful completion of this program, faculty, graduate students, and teaching faculty will communicate their qualifications to support international student learning, which also signals the intent to promote an inclusive environment. The micro-credential program is grounded on concepts of inclusive pedagogy, universal design for learning, and intercultural competence as these apply to the international student experience. These content areas have been the focus of several initiatives across campus, which allows participants in this program to take advantage of resources already available to our campus community. This program aligns with one of the campus diversity and inclusion plan's (the IDEA Plan) action areas, which aims to "cultivate success for a diverse undergraduate and graduate student body with new financial resources and programming" (p. 9). Departments/primary units will be able to effectively measure international-student-focused professional development.

The TIS micro-credential was initially conceived as the Working with International Students micro-credential by Roberto Arruda, former Director of International Student Academic Success at the Office of Undergraduate Education.

In 2023, this micro-credential came under the ambit of the Center for Teaching & Learning and was completely re-designed and re-launched as the Teaching International Students Micro-credential in Spring 2024. The TIS micro-credential program was designed by a collaborative team of the following individuals and offices: