From the Director . . .

When I began to work on setting up the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at Queens University of Charlotte, my first thought was, “But the teachers at Queens are already excellent. How can this Center help them become “more excellent”? 

The answer lay within practices already a part of the culture of the Queens teaching community: a willingness to change and grow professionally, to work together to find more effective teaching strategies, and to reflect constantly on what we do or should do in our classrooms.

Deb Campbell

I also realized that I could draw on the Queens tradition of gathering for energetic discussions in a relaxed atmosphere—usually involving food and drink!

My excellent Steering Committee worked with me to identify four areas of faculty concern to address this year, and the CETL began to take shape: lunchtime workshops, late afternoon discussions, a professional library, a helpful website, and special events focused on assessing professional growth, using technology effectively, encouraging critical thinking and better writing, and growing professionally. 

I hope that the CETL will become a place where teachers feel inspired to embrace new ideas and practices, to look at where they’ve been and to make plans for where they want to go. Most importantly, I hope that it becomes a place where they remember why they love to teach.