Why Support the Work of the Center for Excellence in Teaching?

A Present Memory of the Future

"Growth is the only evidence of life"  _ John Henry Newman

The Center for Excellence in Teaching (CET) is beginning the next and transformative stage in its support of Georgia Southern's faculty in teaching, learning, research and overall professional development.  The CET has a working vision for a renaissance of faculty development, and through that development, for enhancing student learning opportunities, experiences and outcomes.  The CET aligns its work with the university's mission which says, in part,

Central to the University's mission is the faculty's dedication to excellence in teaching and the development of a fertile learning environment exemplified by a free exchange of ideas, high academic expectations, and individual responsibility for academic achievement.  Georgia Southern faculty are teacher-scholars whose primary responsibility is the creation of learning experiences of the highest quality, informed by scholarly practice, research, and creative activities.

Strong professional faculty development is important for that mission and is:

  • central to student learning outcomes and effective teaching
  • a professional responsibility
  • an evidence-based approach to teaching innovations for student learning
  • a way to develop a collegial academic community
  • significant in attracting and keeping the best faculty and, thus, in attracting and retaining students

The CET's commitment is to support the faculty of all departments and colleges with competence and leadership through ways imaginative, evidence-based, and effective, grounded in the scholarship of teaching and learning. The CET is a steady resource for the faculty's work, providing the best research, evidence and practices for improved teaching and student learning.  The CET publishes an international journal for research into teaching and learning, and hosts on campus, an annual national conference for the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Giving financial support to CET will be a living legacy to Georgia Southern University since the Center's role is to help faculty, working with their students, to attain excellence in teaching and student learning, the heart of the university's mission and future.  If you have any questions or would like further information on how your gift could be used to benefit faculty and students, please contact me at (912) 478-7082 or aaltany@georgiasouthern.edu.

To make a gift for the growth of our work, please go to http://welcome.georgiasouthern.edu/foundation/ and designate the Center for Excellence in Teaching (account # 0574) as the recipient of your gift.  On behalf of all of us at the Center, thank you.

Alan Altany, Ph.D., Director
Center for Excellence in Teaching
Georgia Southern University