University of Waterloo COED 2009 Update

University of Waterloo Centre for Teaching Excellence

update by Donna Ellis, Interim Director

Successes

New SoTL conference launched -- Opportunities and New Directions -- publication forthcoming and numerous workshops for SoTL researchers on our campus

Continued uptake of curriculum assistance as part of program reviews (pre and post)

Overhauled our website -- much new information has been added and tip sheets are now searchable

Revised our mission statement and created guiding principles for our work

Continued success of our cross-campus programming (e.g., Teaching Excellence Academy, Learning about Teaching Symposium, Certificate in University Teaching, International TA Training)

Instructional Skills Workshop launched -- one faculty facilitator being mentored next month

Strong staff research contributions at national and international conferences

Challenges

Fiscal restraint -- severely limits our abilities to hire needed staff, including an Associate Director to backfill for me while serving as Interim Director

Multiple locations -- makes it increasingly difficult to keep staff connected and to create synergies

Goals for 2009-2010

Complete our strategic planning activities -- focus on analyzing our individual goals and offloading/eliminating roles and tasks that no longer support the work of our centre

Continue focus on department-based instructional support with individual support being provided as is available

Create a network of senior faculty members to serve as teaching mentors

Increase our staffing to meet demand for services

Create more networks on campus (new senior administrators, office of development, etc)