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Centers & Institutes

  • Center for Teaching and Learning

    As a Worcester State University faculty member, you can rely on the Center for Teaching and Learning for support and ideas to improve the interconnected teaching-learning process. We foster teaching excellence rooted in scholarship and service within Worcester State’s specific disciplines and across our collaborative interdisciplinary faculty community.

    We facilitate lifelong learning in higher education teaching through innovative, creative, and theory-based practices. We also celebrate teaching excellence among our faculty with the annual Alden Excellence in Teaching Award. This award is bestowed upon two faculty members each year who are nominated by students, colleagues, or alumni.

    Our conference room and library are outfitted for coffee breaks and active meetings/ discussions—we encourage you to drop in or reserve the room whenever you have the need. We bring faculty members together and support teaching and learning at Worcester State with informal gatherings, workshops, talk and book series, and other events throughout the academic year.

    Every year the Center for Teaching and Learning organizes a one-day Winter Institute and a two-day Summer Institute. The institutes are established to provide opportunities for faculty to collaborate, network, and exchange teaching and learning ideas.

  • Conference Room
    The center has a "smart" conference space for 10-12 people with computers, outlets, projector, and whiteboard that can be scheduled for meetings or workshops. This is also where you’ll find the director’s office and a graduate assistant work area.  
    The Library for Teaching and Learning

    The center’s library is your source for books, videos, and articles related to teaching and learning. You can access the collection at LibraryThing, and it also is cataloged and searchable in the WSU Library catalog. For best results, input a keyword and limit your search in the right-hand sidebar under "Location" to "CTL Faculty Library."

    As a faculty member, you are welcome to borrow books from the center’s library. We invite non-faculty to use our materials while visiting the library. Print copies of the Chronicle of Higher Education also are available to read in the center, and we have several examples of completed tenure binders to serve as a resource during your tenure and promotion process.

    Workshop Series and Brown Bag Lunches
    Our workshop series focus on a specific topic over a series of gatherings. Brown bag lunches are more informal in nature and allow you to gather regularly with others to discuss issues around a specific topic.
    Institutes
    We offer two multi-day faculty development institutes annually. The Winter Institute takes place during the winter intersession, and the Summer Institute happens the week after commencement. Recent themes include "Integrative Learning," "Learning-Centered Teaching," "LASC: Liberal Arts and Sciences Curriculum," "Community Building in the Classroom, on Campus, and Beyond," and “Ways of Knowing: Promoting a Culture of Inclusion.”
    Coffees at the Center
    Coffees at the Center are regular informal times when you can stop in, have some coffee, and meet colleagues from other departments to talk about teaching and learning.
    Faculty Learning Communities
    Faculty learning communities are cross-disciplinary groups of faculty members who meet for a year at a time to study specific topics in teaching and learning. Each group follows an active, collaborative curriculum focused on enhancing the experience of both students and instructors. Groups also engage in frequent activities that stimulate learning, development, and scholarship related to teaching and learning while promoting community.
    Mentoring Program
    If you are a new faculty member, we encourage you to explore our faculty mentoring program. We are happy to help you find and connect with a faculty mentor, and we offer occasional programs for mentoring pairs. 
    Consultation Services
    As needed, you can take advantage of the individual consultation services we offer. These services are confidential and focus on issues or skills you identify as areas of interest. 
    Educational Technology and Equipment
    We offer devices for loan that you can use to assist in pedagogy, including digital cameras, podcasting equipment, and iPads. Devices are available by reservation.
    Advisory Board

    We have an advisory board comprised of faculty members, who serve 3-year terms. The current board members are:

    Daron Barnard (STEM Director)
    Don Bullens (MSCA Union President)
    Tom Conroy (Urban Studies)
    Amanda Cornine (Nursing)
    May Delaney (Criminal Justice)
    Charlie Fox (LASC Program Area Chair)
    Maria Fung (Math)
    Jennifer Hood-DeGrenier (Biology)
    Joanne Gallagher (First Year Seminar Program Area Director)
    Aleel Grennan (Biology)
    Hye-Sun Kim (Criminal Justice)
    Susanna Meyer (Communication Sciences and Disorders)
    Shruti Nagpal (Computer Science)
    Christina Santana (English)
    Emily Soltano (CTL Director)
    Colleen Sullivan (Psychology)
    Henry Theriault (Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs)
    Brian Xu (Chemistry)