The Faculty Institute helps faculty across disciplines nationwide redesign a course, launch a new one, or create professional development workshops for their campus community to promote the skills, dispositions, and confidence that civil discourse requires. Faculty support student learning outcomes centered on critical thinking and reflection, listening, dichotomous thinking, confidence, and skills in engaging across lines of difference and willingness to dissent.

Overview

The Inclusive Dialogue Facilitation Certificate recognizes faculty who have actively engaged in the CITL Discourse Series and demonstrated a commitment to creating more open, thoughtful, and supportive learning environments by fostering inclusive dialogue across campus. Offered through a collaborative partnership between the Office of the Provost, the Institute of Citizens & Scholars (C&S), and the Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning (CITL), this certificate program equips faculty to lead and support discourse that promotes belonging and equity in their classrooms, departments, and broader university communities. Through participation in workshops, reflective practice, and the creation of actionable resources, faculty will develop the skills and strategies needed to facilitate inclusive dialogue that strengthens campus culture.

Benefits of a Certificate

• Increase capacity, commitments, and comfort level to develop and teach courses that prepare students to engage in dialogue across differences.
• Assist students in developing the knowledge, dispositions, and skillsets for productive conversations
• Track commitment to submit for annual review

Certificate Requirements

To earn the certificate, participants must complete the following:

1. Self-Inventory

   Complete the self-inventory before the first session attendance, or as soon as possible thereafter.

   • Take the Self-Inventory.
   • Estimated Time: ~15 minutes

2. Workshop Attendance

   Attend all four sessions of the CITL-C&S Discourse Series.

   • At least two sessions must be attended in real time, including the March 6th session.
   • Up to two sessions may be completed via recordings.
   • Estimated Time: ~9 hours

3. Workshop Reflection Surveys

   Complete the end-of-session reflective survey .

   • Time is allocated during each session for reflection.
   • Estimated Time: ~15 minutes per session = 1 hour total

4. Reflective Journal: From Dialogue to Impact

   Translate learning from each session into a guided self-reflection towards actionable strategies.

   • Plans should outline steps for impact on the course, department, college, or campus level.
   • Submissions may be written, voice-recorded, visual, mind map, etc. Participants are encouraged to be creative.
   • Estimated Time: ~1 hours per session = 4 hours total

Instructions:

5. Final Deliverable: “Discourse in Action Showcase”

   Create a tangible contribution that supports inclusive discourse.

   • Format is flexible: video/audio interview, written reflection, teaching tool, mind map, visual, classroom strategy, etc. You are encouraged to be creative.
   • Deliverables will be shared with peers via a showcase or resource hub.
   • Disseminate student surveys, as applicable, to measure impact
   • Estimated Time: ~4 hours total

Summary Table of Time Commitments

UIUC & C&S Faculty Institute
Preparation and Pre-Reads

Aligned with the series’ goal of exploring how shared values and respectful disagreement can coexist within and beyond the classroom, we believe it is important to establish a shared foundation and common entry point. In preparation for our time together, we invite you to complete a self-inventory about your background and perspectives, and to review the resources provided below. Please note that while these articles are both insightful and thought-provoking, we do not necessarily endorse the views of their authors. Rather, our hope is that their ideas will prompt reflection and help launch us into meaningful work during our sessions.

There will not be a designated time to formally discuss these readings. However, we encourage you to engage with the materials and complete the self-inventory so that you arrive prepared- ready to contribute to the community, foster productive conversations, and collaborate across differences.

Preparation Materials

• Self-inventory: Faculty Institute: Self-Inventory
• “Talking Like a Democratic Citizen” (Elizabeth Matto, Rutgers University Press): In this chapter from To Keep the Republic (Rutgers University Press, 2024), Dr. Matto argues that productive political discourse is essential to democracy but is undermined today by toxic rhetoric, polarization, and public discomfort with disagreement. The chapter emphasizes balancing free expression and civility, noting that true civility requires openness, responsiveness, and engagement—not just politeness. Matto highlights the importance of skills like active listening, perspective-taking, and fact-checking, sharing best practices from classrooms and community initiatives that foster cross-partisan understanding.
• The Preamble with Condoleezza Rice (Citizens & Scholars): Raj Vinnakota, President of Citizens & Scholars, talks with Secretary Rice, now the Director of the Hoover Institution , about the role of education in today’s urgent political moment. She posits that higher education must prepare students for civic responsibility by teaching a complex, honest understanding of democratic institutions and history. She further notes that embracing diverse perspectives and discomfort in discourse is essential to developing dedicated, effective citizens.
• A Framework for Civil Discourse (Notre Dame/Institute for Social Concerns): Cristy Guleserian of Arizona State explores a framework grounded in the values of empathy, humility, and pluralism and calls for personal and institutional responsibility to model civil discourse. Drawing inspiration from the Prayer of St. Francis, Guleserian emphasizes courage of conviction balanced with care, compassion, and creating campus communities oriented toward respectful, productive dialogue.