Mission

The mission of the UMB Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning (FCTL) is to advance evidence-based teaching and learning, and assessment and evaluation practices throughout the University community. The FCTL partners with faculty, staff, and administrators in the curation, collaboration, and co-creation of teaching and learning resources for educational enhancement and student success.

Background

Established in May 2019 as part of the strategic planning process, a task force identified the need to expand support and resources for faculty, specific to instructional technology-enhanced learning and online (distance) education. The FCTL is a central resource for all seven schools at the UMB campus.

Contribution to the UMB Mission

The FCTL supports the UMB mission through specific efforts to sustain educational excellence, and it contributes to the UMB mission in all areas, supporting: student success, research and scholarship, educational inclusivity and diversity, assessment and efficiency, and collaboration. Educational research demonstrates that many learning outcomes are a result of, and correlate to, instructional activities and instructor behaviors. Therefore, the FCTL will:

1. Apply educational research evidence to enhance teaching approaches and assessment practices for student success.
2. Foster knowledge about how individual differences strengthen and contribute to exceptional learning environments.
3. Collaborate with faculty to promote and reward exemplary programs, develop individual instructors, and co-create new programming.
4. Expand our global education reach through consultation and dissemination of UMB programming to educational partners.
5. Initiate, guide, and disseminate rigorous educational research and evaluation of our efforts.