Center for Teaching Excellence

OVERVIEW

Helping Teachers Thrive

Established in 1990, CTE offers a wealth of resources for faculty in all academic disciplines, with the ultimate goal of producing exceptional educational experiences for UVA students. A proven and valuable resource for faculty, the center’s influence continues to grow. Half of UVA’s faculty have participated in the center’s programs and 80 percent of new faculty have used its services.

• More than 500 faculty members have participated in CTE’s signature program, the Course Design Institute. This intensive seminar provides instructors with the opportunity to create rich, active classes to support meaningful student learning—the kind that change the way students think, act, or feel.
• The Ignite program provides faculty new to UVA with the knowledge, skills, and supportive community they need to develop into exceptional teachers.
• The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning program is designed to guide instructors through the systematic study of teaching and learning to create classroom-focused research projects that can enhance teaching for themselves and others.
• Teaching and Learning in the Arts and Humanities is a faculty community of inquiry and practice that explores the unique characteristics and significance of the arts and humanities.
• Each year, CTE hosts the annual UVA Innovations in Pedagogy Summit, which explores collaborative visions for deep, transformative teaching and learning for students, faculty, and staff from across UVA and beyond.

The Time Is Now

At Thomas Jefferson’s University, spreading knowledge, educating future leaders, and helping students learn “to follow truth” is part of our core mission. The center’s aim is nothing short of revolutionizing teaching and learning from being solely knowledge-based to a more expansive view:  life-transforming education that provides students with identity, agency, and purpose.

Thanks to CTE, we are poised to become national leaders in fostering student learning and effective teaching through creative, innovative, and research-driven approaches, assessments, and technologies. It is more critical than ever for UVA to invest in its faculty and to support their commitment to student engagement and an authentic learning experience.

A gift to the Center for Teaching Excellence demonstrates the importance of the center to UVA, allowing it to continue evidence-based and innovative approaches to instruction, creating leading-edge programs for teaching excellence. To learn more, visit cte.virginia.edu.