Apply for Leadership in Course Design Short Course
Design Courses That Promote Student Success
This 5-week, fully online, asynchronous short course introduces evidence-based approaches to course design, including Backward Design and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Through guided activities and reflection, you will apply these frameworks directly to your own courses.
You will leave with a course design product – such as a redesigned course component or course plan – that can be immediately applied to your teaching. An optional module explores how the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) can support course improvement.
Who Should Participate?
This course is ideal for faculty who are:
- Designing a new course
- Revising an existing course
- Improving student learning through course design
- Seeking a practical, evidence-based approach to course design
- Interested in connecting with colleagues engaged in course improvement
What You Will Learn
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Apply course design frameworks within your disciplinary context
- Identify stakeholders involved in course design and redesign
- Align course learning outcomes, assessments, and learning activities
- Evaluate and select instructional materials that support student success
- Develop measures to evaluate the impact of course design changes.
Details
Eligibility: Faculty members (tenure-track, professional-track, and adjunct) who serve as instructors
of record at the Columbia campus, Palmetto College campuses, or the Schools of Medicine
are eligible to apply.
Format: Fully online and asynchronous
Duration: 5 weeks
Time Commitment: Approximately 4–6 hours per week
Participants who complete all course requirements will receive a certificate of completion.
Key Dates
Application Deadline: August 28, 2026
Course Dates: September 8 – October 12, 2026
Questions?
Contact Mitchell Dallas Herring at MDH11@mailbox.sc.edu or 803-777-2798.
Apply for Leadership in Course Design Short Course
About the Facilitator
Mitchell Dallas Herring is an Instructional Designer at the Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of South Carolina. He has previous experience as an English instructor, curriculum coordinator, and instructional designer in the South Carolina Technical College System (SCTCS). His interests include team-based professional development, holistic student support, gateway courses, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and assessment.
Herring holds a Doctor of Education in Educational Practice and Innovation: Curriculum Studies from the University of South Carolina, a Master of Arts in English: Composition and Pedagogy from the University of Maine, and a Bachelor of Arts in English: Creative Writing from Anderson University.