Four exceptional candidates will be on campus beginning Friday, April 8, to interview for the new director of scholarly teaching position at the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT). They will present their vision for instructional support and faculty development in a series of open forums.
- Dr. Samantha Elliott – Friday, April 8, at 11 a.m. (Williams 314)
- Dr. Sarah Boesdorfer – Monday, April 11, at 9:30 a.m. (Williams 314)
- Dr. Jennifer Friberg – Wednesday, April 13, at 9:30 a.m. (Williams 314)
- Dr. Jessi Hill – Monday, April 18, at 9:30 a.m. (Turner 201)
Read the candidates’ CVs and find links for the Zoom session on the Provost Office’s website.
This is one of two new positions which will lead a reimagined Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology. Essentially, the traditional CTLT director position is being split in two, with both new offices gaining new responsibilities.
Scholarly teaching
The director of scholarly teaching will be responsible for leading professional development programming and services and will support instructors’ development of evidence-based teaching practices. In addition, they will serve as the Cross Endowed Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, allowing them to contribute to the national dialogue about teaching, learning, and assessment.
Online education
Candidates for the separate director of online education position interviewed in late March. This position will focus on support for quality online teaching and the development of online courses and entire online programs. The director will lead a newly created unit focusing on online education housed in CTLT.
An expanded focus
Overall, plans call for CTLT to be reorganized to better serve faculty and staff in a greater variety of ways.
“We are in the process of developing a comprehensive professional development center for the support of faculty,” says Dr. Yojanna Cuenca-Carlino, assistant vice president for faculty development, diversity, and learning. “When we really think about faculty or life in academia, it is not only about teaching. It also involves who you are as a person, your interactions with others, your leadership, and how you develop as a scholar. There are many things overlapping your teaching. So, that is what we are trying to create—a professional development hub that is going to provide the support in all those areas of academic life.”
The new CTLT will continue to offer the same types of support for instructors at Illinois State, including tenured faculty, full- and part-time non-tenure track faculty, and graduate teaching assistants. These include workshops on a variety of pedagogical and technological topics, course design and redesign projects, consultations, and support for the campus learning management system.
In addition, CTLT will partner with other campus units to act as a hub to help the University’s diverse faculty and staff find the support they need not only for teaching, but for scholarship and career advancement. CTLT has been working with colleagues to develop a new registration system for events and a redesigned website.
CTLT will continue to offer programs and services in line with Illinois State’s core values, including civic engagement and equity, diversity, and inclusion. It will also continue to offer campus-wide events such as New Faculty Orientation and the annual Teaching & Learning Symposium.
A new name
To reflect these changes, it’s expected that CTLT will adopt a new name, befitting its expanded mission. An announcement about that, as well as the hires for the key director positions, will come in late spring and early summer.
You can find out more about these plans and the ultimate goals for transforming the unit by listening to this recent episode of CTLT’s podcast, Let’s Talk Teaching, or by downloading a transcript of the episode.
