www.unh.edu/teaching-excellence/

Mission Statement

The teaching/learning process, embodied in the creation, transmission, and application of knowledge, is the keystone of our university. It represents the University of New Hampshire’s central mission.

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning strives to promote the highest quality of student learning by providing full-time faculty, part-time faculty, and teaching graduate students with the resources they need to implement in their classrooms the best practices in college teaching. The Center’s staff consults with individual teachers; offers workshops and courses on effective teaching; collaborates with other campus units interested in program development and review; assists individuals and academic units interested in designing and implementing student learning outcomes assessment initiatives; and conducts and disseminates research on the teaching/learning process.

General Information

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning offers a rich collection of resources, information, and expertise to support the university's mission of enhancing student learning through the continual improvement of teaching. Our goal is to assist faculty, individually and collectively, in changing teaching practices to enhance student learning. The Center is involved in many campus-wide, program, and departmental efforts to assess student learning outcomes.
The Center also collaborates with the UNH Graduate School in offering graduate academic courses in college teaching. Our courses are available to UNH doctoral students, UNH faculty, and faculty and graduate students from other institutions.

Services for Faculty

CETL offers a variety of services to all faculty and teaching graduate students. We:
• offer a variety of courses on teaching and learning through the UNH Summer Program on College Teaching.
• coordinate and manage the UNH online certificate in college teaching.
• offer a series of half-day January Workshops on topics related to college teaching.
• offer periodic Talk about Teaching luncheons on topics of interest to faculty.
• disseminate a quarterly teaching excellence newsletter.
• conduct research on effective college teaching.
• work with faculty to design, implement, and evaluate pedagogical interventions based upon cognitive principles (With funding from the Davis Educational Foundation).
• conduct mid-course assessments for individual faculty.
• consult with individual faculty about all aspects of their teaching and course design.
• work with doctoral students as they prepare teaching portfolios.
• work collaboratively with other units on campus on a variety of teaching, learning, and assessment issues—e.g., UNH Writing Program, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, Honors Program, UNH colleges, academic departments, Center for Academic Resources.
• assist academic departments and programs, colleges, university-wide programs, and individual faculty and teaching graduate students in any matters related to using formative assessment information to improve teaching and student learning.
• plan, coordinate, and host the annual Brierley luncheon and presentation on college teaching.