Center offers help for profs who need it

It can be a professor's worst nightmare. But now, there is help for professors who find themselves berated by criticisms about their courses and insults about their teaching style. The School of Arts and Sciences' Teaching Center offers free-of-charge advice and services to faculty members, in hopes of keeping the conversation about education going and helping professors improve their teaching. "It's not a teaching center in the sense of a building with administrators and desks," College Dean Matthew Santirocco said. "It's rather a center we have pulled together from existing resources to help teachers." Developed by the Committee on Undergraduate Education's subcommittee on teaching evaluation and improvement, the center provides a variety of services from a mentoring program to a videotaping service. The mentoring program pairs faculty members who have won either the University's Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching or the SAS Ira Abrams Memorial Award with professors who want advice, Santirocco said. Mentors can help professors do a variety of things, from designing a syllabus to writing exams and improving presentation skills. Associate History Professor Jack Reece, who agreed to serve as a mentor, said the advantages of the program are obvious. "It gives inexperienced teachers the benefit of hearing from teachers who have been around here for awhile," he said. Biology Professor Ingrid Waldron agreed. "We don't know yet how many people will call up their fellow faculty members for helpful hints," she said. "But, at least there are people that they can turn to in case they have any questions or want to discuss any issues about teaching." Teachers who have trouble pinpointing problems can take advantage of the videotaping service which allows them to view a tape of their performance in the classroom. "Obviously, if a professor is having a problem, videotaping and having a mentor can be very helpful," Santirocco said. "But, it's for all teachers, because even great teachers can improve." For this reason, Santirocco created an SAS teaching manual, distributed to all departments and new faculty members, which offers tips on running a good class and grading. During orientation for new faculty members, Santirocco also began a program devoted to teacher training. And programs for Teaching Assistants will continue throughout the year to keep the discussions on teaching alive. Art History Professor David Brownlee said he thinks the idea of a teaching center is "extraordinary." "We have a bunch of people that are very excited about teaching every day of their lives," he said. "And now, we have the possibility of sharing that know-how and experience in a simple straightforward way." Because the program is new, there has been no faculty feedback yet, he added. And because of the confidential nature of the contacts between staff members and mentors, a true measure of the program's success is difficult to attain. Brownlee said the center will challenge all faculty members in the school. "This program has the possibility of being a catalyst for improving teaching for everybody," he said. "The challenge is not to make the really terrible professor OK. The real challenge is to make all of us continue to progress and evolve to meet new circumstances." SAS Dean Rosemary Stevens said she is "thrilled" the center has come to fruition. "This is the kind of collegiality," she said. "Learning from one's peers and sharing problems and directions. Santirocco said the teaching center is just the beginning. "I'm hoping this will provide a model for individual departments to consider what they can do to improve teaching and mentoring," he said. "We'll be successful only when it spreads across the whole college and University. And we have a ways to go."

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