A Resource Guide for Teaching Fellows
Welcome to Unit One
Unit One is an academic community for undergraduates that stresses educational innovation and interaction between all members of the community, both inside and outside the classroom. All Unit One instructors are designated as Unit One Teaching Fellows. These Fellows are expected to extend their teaching roles beyond the confines of their regular classroom settings in concert with the objectives of the Unit One program.
Unit One Teaching Fellows who "extend" themselves beyond their normal teaching expectations receive a $50 "thank you" honorarium for each semester during which they teach at Unit One. Honoraria are given as Gift Certificates to the Illini Union Book Store. Attending Unit One's introductory workshop is part of this expectation. Appendix E at the end of this handbook gives suggestions of the types of activities instructors can do with their students to qualify for the extra $50 honorarium. Funding for these activities is also available. All instructors have an automatic $100 "expense account" that they can spend without clearing the expenditure, but it is recommended that all activities be academically enriching and that this funding is not spent on amenities such as food. Spending more is by discussion/approval. At the end of the term, instructors will be asked whether, in fact, they qualify for this honorarium.
Teaching Fellows may also negotiate with the Unit One director to teach a Unit One Special Topic seminar for which Teaching Fellows receive an additional stipend (about $1,750) as part of their U of I salary and percent appointment.
The Unit One website, and paper brochure (also on website) present good descriptions of the program. In brief, Allen Hall is a coed residence hall housing about 650 students. Unit One students are primarily freshmen and sophomores (approx. 80%). They mirror the University's undergraduate enrollment patterns in terms of colleges and majors. Consequently, some class enrollments at Unit One are more likely to have a greater concentration of freshmen/sophomores than other sections of these courses.
We offer about 45 classes each semester at Unit One with a combined enrollment of about 1,000 students per semester. About half of these classes are taught both semesters, and the other half, only Spring or Fall. Some courses are discussion sections of large lectures, but many courses are "stand alone" sections. About half of our "regular" courses fulfill general education requirements, and the other half are "pure" electives. Unit One Special Topic seminars are constructed by instructors under the supervision of the Unit One director and with the approval of the instructors' departments.
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