The Center for Teaching Excellence supports graduate students through the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) and the Partners in Inquiry (Pi) programs.

Preparing Future Faculty. PFF is a national program established by the Council of Graduate Schools, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Pew Charitable Trust, and the National Science Foundation. PFF at USC is administered through a partnership between the CTE and the Graduate School. It is designed to help graduate students, those who want to teach at the college level, in their professional development.

Pi and GK-12 Fellows. Our graduate teaching fellows programs promote inquiry as an instructional approach through partnerships between graduate students and grade 3-8 teachers. Fellows partner with teachers to develop their own teaching and communication skills, to foster science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content gain among teachers, and to enrich K-12 students' learning of STEM concepts and applications. Graduate students in STEM content areas are encouraged to apply as Fellows each year.

Communities of Practice. A Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of 8-16 graduate students who have a common interest or challenge and who collaborate over an extended period to share ideas, find solutions, and build innovations. Typically, a CoP will meet for one hour several times a semester.

Need help Writing a Thesis/Dissertation? We are organizing a Community of Practice. To learn more and join, click here.

For more information, please contact Ruth Patterson at (803)777-7577 or ruthp@gwm.sc.edu.