UW Tacoma COIL Fellows Program

The UW Tacoma COIL Fellows program is a collaboration between the Offices of Global Affairs and Digital Learning to transform global learning opportunities on our campus by linking our university courses with courses in different countries using various real-time and asynchronous technologies.

UW faculty interested in embedding COIL into their courses are invited to join an annual cohort of COIL Fellows. Fellows participate in community of practice meetings to deepen learning and facilitate the sharing of ideas, resources and strategies, and submit written documentation of their partnership. Participants are awarded a stipend for course development and implementation. The program is conducted entirely online and facilitated by a tri-campus team of global office staff, instructional designers, and previous COIL Fellows.

Find out which UW Tacoma faculty have participated in the program and in which countries their collaborators are located.

Program Elements

  • $1,200 stipend to develop and implement this international pedagogy
  • Community of practice meetings and 1:1 consultations
  • Asynchronous assignments
  • Mentoring from current or former UW COIL Fellows

Program Team

The COIL community of practice is facilitated by a team from Bothell, Tacoma, and Seattle, including:

  • Vanessa de Veritch Woodside, Interim Executive Director, Office of Global Affairs, UW Tacoma;
  • Chris Lott, Learning Designer, Office of Digital Learning, UW Tacoma;
  • Todd Conaway, Instructional Designer, Learning and Teaching Collaborative, UW Bothell;
  • Natalia Dyba, Director of Global Initiatives, UW Bothell;
  • Muindi F Muindi, Senior Program Manager, Office of Global Affairs, UW Seattle.

2024-25 COIL Fellows: Apply by November 15, 2023!

Apply to Become a 2024-2025 COIL Fellow

What is COIL?

Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) – also known as international virtual exchange, is a pedagogical approach that fosters global exchange and understanding through online learning environments. Started at The State University of New York and now in practice at hundreds of universities around the world, COIL connects learners across time and space, without leaving their home campus.

"I really appreciate the well-planned workshops! The materials are really informative and thought-provoking; the workshop time was used effectively and we engaged in meaningful conversations with our fellows."

We invite UW Tacoma faculty to incorporate the COIL pedagogy into their courses - whether in conversations, assignments, themes, or work collaborations. Students typically complete shared assignments and projects, with faculty members from each country co-teaching and managing coursework.

Fellows can expect support in developing their course content, finding an international partner, and exploring appropriate technology tools. Perspectives and tips from previous COIL Fellows are integrated into asynchronous materials in Canvas and some community of practice meetings.

Who Should Apply

Faculty of all ranks and from all schools, who teach at the UW full-time and are interested in developing a course collaboration with an international partner during 2024 and/or 2025. No prior experience or international connections are required.

Information Sessions

Attend an upcoming Zoom information session to hear from program facilitators and previous Fellows:

  • Monday, Oct 23, noon-1:30pm | Register
  • Friday, Oct 27, 2:00-3:15pm  | Register
  • Friday, Nov 3, 11am-12:15pm  | Register

Expectations

Fellows are expected to actively participate in seven COIL Fellows community of practice workshops (online), set up at least one 1:1 consultation, and complete several asynchronous assignments during Winter and Spring Quarter of the first year to deepen their understanding of COIL pedagogy, begin applying it to their own course, and cross-pollinate ideas with others. By the end of Winter Quarter, Fellows will also begin working with their international partner to plan out their COIL module. Additional community meetings (one or two per quarter) will continue during the second year to allow a space for sharing progress and troubleshooting challenges.

Please note that your ideas for a COIL class can be very preliminary. The Fellows Program is designed to help you develop this course and to assist you in identifying international partners if need be.

COIL Fellows Information Sessions

Info sessions are being scheduled for mid-October and early November.

Deadline and Application Materials

All applications are due November 15, 2023. The application is completed online via Qualtrics and includes the following components:

  1. About the applicant: Name(s), faculty appointment/ title, department/ school, campus, e-mail, link to online CV.
  2. About the proposed course: Working course/project title, UW course number, and quarter when the course would be implemented.
  3. Short response addressing:
    • Description of (desired) international partner: country or region of the world, area of focus, level of students. Include a brief history of any contact or discussions to date with potential partner(s), if applicable. It is not necessary to have identified a partner at the time of application.
    • The applicants’ interests and goals for developing a COIL experience, including the impact of COIL modules on student learning and engagement.
    • Anticipated challenges and benefits in project development and implementation.
    • Any prior experience with COIL (optional)
  4. An endorsement from the Dean or Division Chair showing support for the applicant and the proposed COIL-enhanced course as a long-term curricular offering must accompany each application. The endorsement, which is completed via a separate Qualtrics form, aims to
    • Confirm that the applicant is set to teach the proposed course or approved to be developing a new course.
    • Confirm that the applicant (as opposed to another instructor) is expected/ very likely to teach the proposed course more than once. State any conditions for subsequent iterations of the course.
    • Name any additional support that the school/ unit is providing or willing to provide to ensure successful implementation and continuation of the COIL project.

Selection

Proposals will be evaluated by a committee of UW faculty and staff based on the following criteria:

  • Commitment to internationalizing the classroom and strengthening ties with international partners.
  • Clear articulation of how COIL activities will deepen student engagement and lead to improved learning outcomes, especially the development of global perspectives around course content.
  • Interest in developing own intercultural competence to foster understanding and create equitable partnerships.
  • Persuasive evidence that the course will be successfully implemented within the expected timeframe.
  • Preference will be given to applicants who intend to implement their COIL modules at least twice.

Applicants will be notified of their selection by the end of Autumn Quarter.

Questions and additional information

Please contact us:

Previous COIL Fellows

See more about previous COIL Fellows and their partner institutions.

Acknowledgments

The UW Tacoma COIL Fellows Program has benefitted from the many resources available on the SUNY COIL Center website as well as mentoring and resources from the UW Bothell Campus COIL project. 

At the University of Washington, COIL began at UW Bothell, with UW Tacoma signing on in year two as co-PI of a generous grant from the Jackson School. During that two-year grant, UW Tacoma saw five of our faculty become COIL Fellows.