History
Three Year Summary Report (PDF)
The Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) was established in 1998; developed by the faculty through the leadership of the Committee on Excellence in Teaching, Chaired by Loretta Morris, Ph.D. and with the support of Academic Vice President Joseph G. Jabbra, Ph.D. and University President Thomas P. O'Malley, S.J.
Mel Bertolozzi, Ph.D. became the first Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence in December of '98 and operated the Center out of an office in Sullivan Hall. The Center established its mission and began by offering teaching development grants and workshops to faculty while maintaining and distributing resources on scholarship, academic technology and pedagogy.
The Center was honored in its inaugural year with the Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Faculty Development to Enhance Undergraduate Teaching and Learning. Continuing work begun by the Committee, the CTE was integral in supporting a project entitled "Building a Multicultural Environment," and establishing grants through the Irvine Foundation to promote "interculturalism" and faculty development.
In 2000 the CTE moved to a new location in University Hall and expanded its programs and services with more resources and equipment made available to the faculty. The Center began to offer workshops on the Scholarship of Teaching and funded 6 grants in the amount of $3,000. Attendance to CTE events echoed the support of the faculty to promote scholarly teaching.
R. Patricia Walsh, Ph.D. (Trisha) became Director of the CTE in 2001 after Dr. Bertolozzi's term expired and he returned to serve on the Committee on Excellence in Teaching. Trisha applied her psychology and statistics background and research to faculty development opportunities and continued to develop interesting and informative presentations in the CTE. Her hospitality drew faculty to the Center and offered a positive environment to share teaching issues and strategies with their colleagues.
The Center expanded further in 2003 when a request by Dr. Walsh for administrative support was approved and the CTE hired a part-time administrative assistant to help manage the office. The CTE has always been aided by the tireless efforts of work-study students and Rains research assistants, but this freed the director to respond to the needs of the faculty more quickly and efficiently.
Dr. Walsh was diagnosed with cancer but continued to serve the CTE as Director along with Dr. Bertolozzi who acted as Co-director during her treatment. Dr. Walsh remained as the Director of the Center until February of 2006 when she passed away. Her commitment and service to LMU live on in the mission and services of the Center for Teaching Excellence.
The Committee on Excellence in Teaching voted unanimously to rename the faculty development grants in honor of Dr. Walsh, and the R. Patricia Walsh Grants in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning were established and the award amount was increased.
After a University wide search for a new Director in 2006, the Committee offered the position to Jackie Dewar, Ph.D., a Carnegie Scholar and former Chair of Mathematics whose work on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning links closely with the mission of the Center and the University.
Dr. Dewar inaugurated a Faculty Book Club, expanded the technological services and resources of the Center, and continues to support the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at LMU. The Center now has full time administrative support and works closely with the Instructional Technology Analysts, Information Technology Services, the Von der Ahe Library, and academic departments to assist faculty in their pursuit of excellence in teaching and student learning.
In loving memory of Dr. R. Patricia Walsh, CTE Director 2001 - 2006