| Vanderbilt University
Center for Teaching URL: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/Ctrteach/ctrteach.htm Vanderbilt University is a private, Research I with about 700 FTE faculty, 900 part-time faculty (most in the Medical School), 5500 undergraduates, and 4500 graduate and professional students. History and Administrative Location: The Center for Teaching was established by the College of Arts and Science in 1986 and is still located in and on the budget of A&S. However, as it has also served the other seven Vanderbilt colleges and professional schools for several years, it will soon be relocated under the Provost. Staffing: The Center employs three full-time staff members: a director (classified administrative/management, director/department chair), an assistant director (professional non-faculty, coordinator), and a secretary (office clerical). It also employs about 40 students each year on a part-time basis, including five graduate student Master Teaching Fellows (MTFs), who train and consult with TAs. The remaining, primarily undergraduate student workers help in the office and consult regularly with the International TAs. The director and assistant director are assigned semester-long lectureships when they wish to teach a course. Annual Budget: The Center is completely supported by hard monies, including a supplies-and-expense budget of $36,000 and an outside speaker budget (from the Chancellor) of $6,000. Missions and Activities: The Center has two major missions: 1) to stimulate the dialogue about teaching excellence and the methods that advance it, to include training faculty and TAs in the most effective teaching techniques; and 2) to help faculty and TAs collect, analyze, and use information about their teaching. To meet the first mission, the Center organizes and conducts the following: annual orientations for new faculty, TAs, and ITAs; faculty workshops (invitational and on request); two lecture series on teaching; an intensive two-week MTF training program; two days of TA training workshops conducted in five disciplinary clusters; and ITA training courses on teaching, language, and culture, with extensive use of audio recording, videotaping, and conversations with undergraduates. In addition, the Center maintains a sizable library, runs an internal listserv, and publishes a semester newsletter and a 200-page instructional handbook for faculty and TAs. To meet its second mission, the Center offers a variety of individual services: classroom videotapings, classroom observations, student small group analyses (small group instructional diagnoses), and close-ended mid-semester student evaluations, as well as private consultations on any teaching-related topic. |