Dr. Joyce Weinsheimer, director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), often wondered how to build stronger partnerships between the colleges and the Center. “It’s easy for us to come up with ideas and push them out, but how might we connect with the colleges more readily on ideas they have that are important to them?”

Georgia Tech’s Provost Teaching & Learning Fellows program was developed to “create a hub-and-spoke model that connects the expertise of evidence-based teaching and learning professionals in the CTL with the expertise of disciplinary faculty in each college/school.” By doing so, the CTL aims to create a partnership where teams of faculty within each college are working to strengthen teaching and learning through special initiatives designed by the faculty themselves.

The program is a joint effort of Provost Rafael L. Bras and the Center for Teaching and Learning. Over the course of the two-year program, the fellows meet monthly as a large group to discuss pedagogy and best practices. In addition, they keep each other informed about the progress of their college-level initiatives. Each college-based group also meets monthly with a representative from the CTL who works with them throughout their two-year term.

Depending on the size of the college, each has from two to five fellows. In some cases, the fellows from a college work as a team on a project. For example, fellows from the College of Sciences are working together to explore peer evaluation of teaching—what is currently being done, and how to develop a more robust process that could ultimately inform tenure and promotion documentation.

In the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, one fellow is piloting a development program for graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) in economics—and she will eventually explore how to expand the model to GTAs in other units. Another fellow in the same college is working on mentorship initiatives for post docs, new faculty, and junior and/or short-term faculty.

The fellowship comes with funding that can be used at the discretion of the faculty fellow and their Chair (for example, for summer salary or release time); a portion of the funds is to be used to attend at least one teaching and learning conference in the fellow’s discipline.

The fellowship will conclude with poster presentations at Georgia Tech’s Celebrating Teaching Day in the spring. Faculty will share their efforts with colleagues and administrators throughout the campus, inspiring others to adapt their ideas. The CTL website will also include information about the initiatives and their impact.

Learn more about Georgia Tech’s Provost Teaching & Learning Fellows program and see the names of the current cohort at their website, or by contacting Dr. Joyce Weinsheimer, Director.