Teaching Fellows
The USCA Teaching Fellows program offers unique, coordinated, and collaborative opportunities for our Fellows to become teacher leaders. Fellows will participate in various professional development activities, including seminars, workshops, conferences, action research, service-learning, and leadership training.
As teacher leaders, Teaching Fellows at USCA are expected to actively pursue and hold leadership positions both on and off campus. All Fellows will complete the Leadership USCA Certificate program, which offers structured on-campus and community-based leadership opportunities. Four Teaching Fellows – Kelsey Spurlin (2020), Reachel Weatherford (2021), Makayla Adams (2025), and McKenzie Guest (2025) – have received the Robert E. Alexander Leadership Award, the highest leadership recognition at USCA.
Fellows engage in classroom observation and teaching at the start of their freshman year. They participate in clinical experiences across diverse schools in Aiken County. These experiences help develop essential classroom management skills, build professional confidence, and foster an understanding of student diversity. Fellows collaborate closely with their cooperating teachers and professors to model effective instructional strategies, while also promoting reflective practice and continuous improvement.
Working in diverse educational settings and with a variety of students prepares our Fellows to effectively teach and support learners from a broad spectrum of cultural, linguistic, socioeconomic, and learning backgrounds. Exposure to diverse classrooms helps cultivate cultural competence, empathy, and inclusive teaching strategies that recognize and appreciate individual differences. By engaging with and reflecting on diversity during their training, Fellows are better equipped to meet the needs of every student and foster a classroom culture that promotes equity, understanding, and academic success for all.
The Program Director advises all Teaching Fellows at least twice each academic year. During advising sessions, the Program Director assists Fellows with academic planning and helps them secure service and/or leadership placements. In addition to support provided by the Campus Director, each Freshmen is assigned a sophomore or junior Teaching Fellow mentor. This Fellow-to-Fellow mentorship enables freshmen to establish an immediate connection to the Teaching Fellows program specifically and to USCA more broadly.
For more information about the USCA Teaching Fellows Program, please contact Dr. Tim Lintner at [email protected] or (803) 641-3564 or check us out on Instagram or Facebook.