TYC Mid-Career Reset
OPTYCs, with the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Astronomical Society, presents a Mid-Career Reset Program designed specifically for Two-Year College Physics Faculty. Revitalize your energy, refresh your knowledge, and renovate your curriculum in this 14-month long cohort-based program.
You are invited to join our inaugural cohort for full-time, two-year college faculty teaching physics or astronomy! In this program, you will be guided through a series of learning and reflection activities, work with peers in affinity groups to develop a project plan, and have support during its implementation. As an experienced faculty member, your expertise and experience will be vital to broaden the knowledge and skills in our TYC physics and astronomy community.
The TYC Mid-Career Reset Program brings together past cornerstone programs. It uses the structure of the successful New Faculty Experience and New Faculty Development Series, incorporates training ideas from the Leadership Institute and the Creating Environments that Reach Every Student (CERES) Program, and adds elements of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and physics education research (PER).
This program includes both in-person and virtual components. Participant travel is mostly funded by a Venture Fund grant from the American Institute of Physics. Facilitators are providing their time and expertise pro bono.
The program is planned to run from May 2026 - July 2027, and is open to full-time educators at a two-year college teaching physics and/or astronomy in the USA. Note that this is a pilot project, and we will be surveying participants several times throughout and after the program to refine it for future iterations.
Please explore the tabs to learn more about this program.
Eligibility
The TYC Mid-Career Reset Program is open to full-time faculty at a two-year college in the USA teaching physics and/or astronomy classes. Applicants should be two-year college full-time faculty, and have at least eight (8) years of teaching experience in physics, astronomy, or physical science, although not necessarily at the same institution. Participants in past OPTYCs cohort programs are welcome to apply.
We plan to accept a maximum of 25 participants into this program.
Commitment
If accepted, participants are expected to fully participate in all aspects of the program. This includes virtual and in-person components. This includes: a virtual seminar series, an in-person Immersion Retreat, monthly virtual gatherings to advance projects, an in-person Commencement Conference.
The Mid-Career Reset Program is designed to provide each participant with flexibility to design and implement a project for positive change. The scope and context of the project will be determined by the participant, with feedback from peers. Projects may involve pedagogy, curriculum, research, administration, or leadership; whatever the topic or goal, the project should be sufficiently complex but manageable during a year-long commitment. Our working definition of a project is a goal where documentable progress can be made in a 14-month timeframe (that is, during the course of this program).
As experienced educators, participants are expected to provide feedback and share any insights with their peers. The Commencement Conference will be primarily facilitated by the cohort participants, based on their projects, through dissemination and training.
Costs
This program is financially supported by a grant from the American Institute of Physics. The budget includes travel reimbursement for participants and facilitators. Here are the budgeted amounts.
| |
Immersion Retreat (June 25-27, 2026) |
Commencement Conference (July 31 - Aug 1, 2027)
|
| Transportation |
$600 |
$600 |
| Lodging |
$300 (for 3 nights) |
$200 (for 2 nights) |
Application
The application will ask the following questions (long-answer questions have a 5000 character limit):
- Your name, email address, institution name and type, your role, and subjects you teach (the same questions for all OPTYCs registrations)
- How many years have you been teaching full-time at a two-year institution?
- Describe any other teaching experience you have had.
- Indicate you have previously participated in any of the following programs for two-year college faculty: Leadership Institute, CERES, New Faculty Experience, New Faculty Development Series.
- What aspects of the classroom/institution are you most interested in improving during this cohort experience?
- Please describe a classroom or campus project you are currently undertaking or are considering pursuing that would benefit from knowledge gained at this program.
- What skills, resources, or new knowledge would help you like to learn more about during the scope of this project?
- Your gender and race/ethnicity (for project evaluation purposes only and will not be shared outside of OPTYCs leadership and required grant reporting)
You will also need to agree to the applicant contract, and have your administrator agree to support you in this program by signing the administrator support document.
Apply Now
Applications close Mar. 15, 2026.
