Center for Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship

Thomas More University aims to be an 鈥渋nstitution where teaching, learning and scholarship engage faculty, students, and community in mutually beneficial and respectful collaboration. Their interactions address community-identified needs, deepen students鈥� civic and academic learning, enhance community well-being, and enrich the scholarship of the institution.鈥�

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship (CTLS) is an investment in the most precious of our resources 鈥� our community of educators, both faculty and staff 鈥� and a commitment by the University to provide a context for each member of the community to engage in continuous development. 

VISION

At the Center for Teaching, Learning, & Scholarship, faculty and staff collaborate on fostering an engaged learning and teaching environment with a focus on integrating teaching, learning, service and research. The Center advances the University鈥檚 attention to continuous development, initiates and sustains partnerships that integrate curriculum and co-curriculum, and ensures an intellectually diverse and active learning, teaching, and scholarly environment. Thomas More is an institution where teaching, learning, service, and scholarship occur throughout, at every level, and this Center reflects that integrated approach. 

The Center functions as an engine for outstanding instruction and scholarship by faculty and staff, innovative pedagogical practices, and an engaged teaching, learning, and scholarly environment across campus. The Center also provides opportunities for faculty and staff to develop as educators, attentive to their own holistic growth in mind and body, heart and spirit in alignment with Thomas More鈥檚 mission as a Catholic Liberal Arts institution. 

  • Director of CTLS
  • Direct Reports to the聽Director聽of CTLS
    • Senior Instructional Designer & Instructional Designer (new position to be hired聽in 2024)
    • Academic Grants Officer (new position to be hired to support both individual faculty in gaining grants and the Provost鈥檚 Office on curricular and academic initiatives)
    • Administrative support 鈥� half-time
  • Advisory Council
    • Three faculty, one from each College
    • The聽Chair聽of Faculty Development
    • Director of the Core Curriculum and the First & Second-Year Experience (possible new configuration to聽integrate attention to these聽experiences)
    • A聽Service Learning聽Representative
    • Staff representative (PAS, registrar, IDL, Library, etc.)

 

Role:聽To advise the director of CTLS聽on activities and needs of the learning community to enhance teaching, learning, and scholarship at Thomas More

  1. Promote聽activities to聽enhance teaching,聽learning,聽service,聽and scholarship聽in alignment with Thomas More鈥檚 mission and identity as a Catholic Liberal Arts聽University;
  2. Organize聽new faculty聽and聽staff聽development workshops聽with a focus on the community as educators with a shared passion for student development and聽support;
  3. Design and conduct faculty聽and聽staff聽development workshops,聽training,聽and speakers聽focused聽on impactful聽pedagogical practices,聽inclusive teaching, equitable course design practices,service learning,聽and聽innovative聽instructional聽design;
  4. Provide聽regular聽adjunct orientation and development聽workshops;
  5. Coordinate with the Provost to offer workshops for聽department chairs聽on conducting class observations, completing annual reports, supporting faculty development,聽etc.;
  6. Develop policies and protocols to support student-faculty collaborative聽research;
  7. Support grant writing聽for curricular and programmatic initiatives as well as聽scholarly聽activities;
  8. Provide training聽to聽infuse聽technological, diversity, and global perspectives聽into the teaching,聽learning,聽and service聽experience;
  9. Collaborate with technology and the instructional design team to promote the use of Canvas for all modalities of learning
  10. Assist faculty聽and staff聽in developing聽academically sound,聽empirically-validated聽models promoting student learning聽by聽integrating聽critical reflection,聽assessment, and continuous聽improvement;
  11. Assist faculty聽and staff聽in establishing a聽strong record of scholarship聽in disciplinary fields as well as聽in聽pedagogical practices and co-curricular strategies, thus extending the University鈥檚 reach and reputation聽as a high-quality institution focused on teaching and聽scholarship;
  12. Identify聽outstanding research/publishing聽opportunities;
  13. Support faculty聽and staff聽in conducting research and disseminating their work, including聽presenting聽at聽national and regional聽academic聽conferences;
  14. Work with instructional Designers and the Library to promote use of OER in the聽classroom;
  15. Provide educational聽mini-grants聽to faculty聽and staff聽to聽explore and participate in national聽initiatives聽focused on teaching and scholarly聽engagement;
  16. Encourage experimentation and innovation in pedagogical practice聽throughout聽the聽Thomas More聽community;
  17. Equip the community to聽contribute to聽the聽鈥渟cholarship of teaching and learning.鈥�
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