Feb 26, 2014

UNI faculty focused on improvement

When the hallmark of your university is personalized education taught by professors and not teaching assistants, it's important to have professors dedicated to continuous improvement. With that in mind, UNI recently opened a new Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) to help our community of teacher-scholars learn new skills, explore innovative ways of teaching and improve their effectiveness.

"Having come to UNI from a small liberal arts college, I was very pleased to find a large state university that places a great deal of emphasis on teaching. CETL is a key element in improving our teaching capabilities and in turn students' success." - Craig VanSandt, associate professor, management, David W. Wilson Chair in Business Ethics

Since August, more than 450 faculty, staff and students have taken part in workshops, reading groups and presentations sponsored by CETL on topics ranging from assessing and improving students' critical thinking skills to flipping the classroom. Other sessions focused on designing effective writing assignments, using improvisation techniques to improve teaching and creating a teaching portfolio.

"I have been very pleased with the number and variety of offerings at the newly opened CETL. No matter how long you have been teaching--and this marks my 30th year--you can always use new ideas and fresh inspiration. The CETL is now a place we can count on for providing these on a regular basis." - Catherine A.F. MacGillivray, Ph.D. associate professor, languages & literatures & director, Women's & Gender Studies Program

CETL director Susan Hill is thrilled with the initial response to the center and says plans are underway to develop summer writing groups and a summer technology camp. "Faculty at UNI care about student learning and want to be as effective in the classroom as they can be. Participation in CETL events shows that UNI faculty are dedicated to improving both their teaching and their students' learning."

News & Events

UNI's third annual Dance Marathon will take place from noon to midnight, Saturday, March 1, in the Maucker Union. Dance Marathon is a nationwide movement involving college and high school students. Each school raises money for the Children's Miracle Network Hospital in their community - the group at UNI hopes to raise $125,000.