About Us
Our Staff
Summary of Services
Campus Advisory Group
CTL Partners
Mission Statement
The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), a division of the Office of Academic Affairs, supports the professional development of those who teach and learn at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Our goals - to promote engagement in courses, on campus, and in the community - enhance the University as we align our activities, services, and consultations with the campus goals to promote excellence in teaching, research, and service.
The Center's mission and goals are reviewed annually and revised to be congruent with current campus initiatives. Our goals directly support four of the five goals in the Gateway for Greatness (G4G) Strategic Plan:
- Enhance the quality and delivery of undergraduate, graduate, and professional education
- Recruit and retain an outstanding and diverse undergraduate, graduate, and professional student body
- Build the quality of research, scholarship, and artistic/creative activity
- Enhance civic engagement for the economic and social benefit of the region
The four G4G goals are reflected in the most recent update of the CTL's goals which are to:
- Promote teaching as an essential function of a public metropolitan research university
- Be a catalyst for achieving the campus' goals for retention, student and civic engagement
- Support high impact educational experiences (HIEE) that engage students actively in
learning (collaborative activities, group and cooperative learning, undergraduate research, problem-based instruction, service-learning, peer academic support)
- Promote collegiality through mentoring and sharing expertise among the faculty, teaching assistants, and undergraduate peer assistants across the University's colleges
- Promote the integration of appropriate instructional technology into traditional, hybrid, and online classrooms to support effective teaching and aid student learning
- Recruit, mentor, and prepare future faculty in higher education by fostering interest,
offering programs, and assisting departments in preparing graduate students to assume teaching responsibilities as they prepare for the job market
- Encourage faculty, staff, teaching assistants, and undergraduate peer assistants to
participate in disciplinary and pedagogical conversations about teaching, student
learning, and professional development.
- Support the professional success of faculty across their responsibilities to teach, research, and serve
- Support academic leaders' professional development
- Support continuous improvement by contributing to UMSL's program review and
assessment processes
Revised March 2012