Mission

The mission of the Center for Teaching and Learning is to facilitate a variety of activities designed to continually improve the productivity of the faculty in accomplishing the three missions of the University: teaching, research/ scholarship, and service and to enhance teacher effectiveness to improve student learning.

Goals

• To equip faculty in the use of new pedagogies and evolving technologies that support the mission of the Center;
• To establish campus-wide learning communities that incorporate effective teaching strategies emphasizing critical thinking, improved communication, and interdisciplinary learning; and
• To engage faculty, regularly and systematically, in dialogue that promotes collegiality and in programs designed to assist them to effectively accomplish the mission of the University.

Objectives

The initial and catalytic funds for the CETL (Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning) were acquired from a grant from the Bush-Hewlett Foundation for $450,000 over three years. While the CETL focuses on undergraduate and graduate education, the thrust of the Bush-Hewlett grant is specifically undergraduate education. The objectives of this initiative are:

• To establish and staff the CAU Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning ;
• To establish and maintain a Resource Center to centralize materials (literature, multimedia, conference announcements, etc.) related to faculty development;
• To design a training program to equip faculty in the use of new pedagogies and evolving technologies that will allow for incorporation of critical thinking and communicating across the curriculum;
• To implement a series of workshop/training activities for various communities of core faculty;
• To develop a systematic procedure for awarding incentives, such as stipends, mini and travel grants, etc., to support faculty in their support of efforts to enhance student learning across the curriculum in critical thinking and communication; and to equip the faculty in the use of new pedagoies and evolving technologies;
• To develop programs that advance peer-to-peer acknowledgement; and
• To promote the importance of critical thinking and communicating across the curriculum using cutting edge methodologies and technologies.