THistory of the Academy
 

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While the concept of a teaching academy had been in existence for several years, it found renewed momentum on our campus in 1999-2000. In the following, the word Academy always refers to the Academy for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Maryland.

During AY 99-00, a number of discussions on the Academy occurred among several of the Lilly-CTE Fellows and the faculty of the Center for Teaching Excellence (Neil Davidson and Jim Greenberg). The 1999-2000 Lilly-CTE Fellows were aware of the alignment between the objectives of a teaching academy and the goals of the Office of Undergraduate Studies led by Dean Hampton. They also noted the broader external developments to enhance the visibility of teaching and learning as a scholarly pursuit. One notable example is the Carnegie Foundation program to select campuses as members of the national Carnegie Teaching Academy based on a "public commitment to new models of teaching as scholarly work. [2]." Another example is the ongoing national dialogue on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, or SOTL [3], [4], [5]. The Lilly-CTE Fellows felt that, among other initiatives, the Academy could play an important role in forming a community of scholar-teachers to define an agenda for SOTL on this campus. The topic of a teaching academy was one of the two agenda items for the All-Lillys reunion of April 12, 2000. At this event, Lilly-CTE Fellows strongly voiced the need for an ongoing forum focused on teaching and learning, one organized to cut across the traditional boundaries of academic units. Such a forum would provide a mechanism for continued dialogue and exchange among campus citizens recognized for their commitment to teaching and learning.

The preceding developments provided the impetus for proposing the formation of a teaching academy on our campus. In their meeting with Provost Geoffroy and Dean Hampton on May 17, 2000, the Lilly-CTE Fellows championed the founding of a teaching academy as an agenda item for Fall 2000. In response, the Provost suggested that a white paper be prepared to set forth and evaluate the case for such an academy. A small group of volunteers worked on this paper during Summer 2000 and performed an extensive benchmarking study of similar organizations at 14 other universities. The working group also solicited feedback and input on the report during Fall 2000. The result was the White Paper [1] submitted to the Provost on November 20, 2000. The concept of the Academy as set forth in the White Paper met with the approval of President Mote and Provost Geoffroy.

Responding to the Provost's request, Dean Hampton and Jim Greenberg identified a group of faculty drawn from Lilly-CTE Fellows, Distinguished Scholar-Teachers, and Kirwan Award winners to draw up the bylaws for the Academy.

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References

[1] Founding the Academy of Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Maryland, proposal submitted to the Provost on Nov. 21, 2000. [ Report of the Working Group on the Teaching Academy White Paper-- Frank Alt, Arjang Assad, Neil Davidson, and Mark Varner, with the assistance of Jim Greenberg.]

[2] Carnegie Foundation: The Carnegie Teaching Academy Campus Programs, Invitation Booklet, August 1998.

[3] Hutchings, P. and L. S. Shulman, "The Scholarship of Teaching: New Elaborations, New Developments." CHANGE, September-October 1999.

[4] Shulman, L. S., "Disciplines of Inquiry in Education: A New Overview." In Complementary Methods for Research in Education, ed. R.M. Jaeger, 2nd edn. , American Educational Research Association, Washington, D.C., 1997.

[5] Shulman, L. S., "Visions of the Possible: Models for Campus Support of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning." Presentation at CASTL, November-December 1999.

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Proposal to Provost


Founding the Academy for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Maryland - A Proposal submitted to the Provost 

Founding Council 
 

Name	Department	Phone	E-mail
Patricia Alexander	Human Development	x52821	palexand@umd.edu
Frank Alt	Smith School of Business	x52231	falt@rhsmith.umd.edu
Arjang Assad (Chair)	Smith School of Business	x52306	aassad@rhsmith.umd.edu
Phil DeShong	Chemistry & Biochemistry	x51892	deshong@umd.edu
Bob Dorfman	Physics	x54804	rdorfman@ipst.umd.edu
Denny Gulick	Mathematics	x55157	dng@math.umd.edu
Karen Harris	Special Education	x56488	kh9@umail.umd.edu
Ruth Lozner	Art	x51451	rjlozner@umd.edu
Cindy Martin	Languages, Literatures & Cultures	x54244	cmartin@umd.edu
Phylis Moser-Veillon	Nutrition & Food Science	x54502	pmv@umd.edu
Jo Paoletti	American Studies	x56646	umprof@aol.com
John Pease	Sociology	x56436	pease@socy.umd.edu
Robin Sawyer	Public & Community Health	x52517	sawyer@umd.edu
Jose Torero	Fire Protection Engineering	x50043	jltorero@eng.umd.edu

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