Members of faculty development at Texas A&M University-Commerce have recently decided to propose a center for teaching for future teachers. “A center for teaching is a center that provides space on a university campus that will meet professional development needs of all faculty at all stages of their career,” professor of literature and languages Dr. Robin Anne Reid said. According to the University of Massachusetts website, http://www.umass.edu/cft/, “the CFT has been named one of the top four Model Faculty Development Programs in the U.S. and Canada.”
Their center for teaching has been very beneficial to the faculty, and it has also won several other prestigious teaching awards, including the Outstanding Lilly Fellows teaching award. Reid believes A&M-Commerce has been in need for a center for teaching for quite some time.
“I have been a professor here for 17 years,” Reid said. “Many people as they begin their teaching career find that they need help on how best to teach as they transition from graduate student to a full-time teacher.” The idea of a center for teaching is not new; several universities have already implemented a center for teaching on their campuses. Stanford University, the University of Iowa and Vanderbilt University all have centers, just to name a few. The center for teaching will provide help to teachers through workshops, seminars and other various events. Reid said she can personally attest to professors needing assistance in teaching.
“I came from outside this area,” Reid said. “I was raised from Idaho and went to school in Washington, so when I came to Texas there were various kinds of culture shock for me and my students. At that point I struggled to improve my teaching.” Other teachers are also in support of the idea of a center for teaching. Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. Stephen Reysen has been teaching for six years, but is teaching as a professor for the first time this semester. “The good in this is that professors will have an open place to go, an open door,” Reysen said. “Some professors might have this idea that there isn’t anyone they can go to if they have an issue, so it’s nice to know that there is somewhere they can go for help.” Reid and other faculty members plan on finishing their proposal by the end of this semester and presenting it to Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Larry Lemanski and President Dr. Dan Jones.