Professor Don Warrick
College of Business
University of Colorado Colorado Springs
PTS PROJECT: DIRECTOR OF TEACHING DEVELOPMENT FOR UCCS, COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
As part of my service requirement I am serving as the Director of Teaching Development for the UCCS College of Business. I work closely with Dean Joseph Rollo and Associate Dean Jeff Ferguson and Teaching Development Team chartered in September 2001 to fulfill the following vision and mission:
Vision: To develop outstanding state-of-the-art teachers in the College of Business.
Mission: To be a catalyst and advocate for teaching excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement in the College of Business.
Our team is on the agenda for the fall and spring College of Business Faculty Retreats, plans 1-2 faculty teaching excellence luncheons sessions each semester, and seeks and allocates funding for teaching development activities for faculty. We are also available for coaching and mentoring, facilitating sessions for part-time faculty, coordinating faculty visits to the classes of other faculty members, and communicating valuable information about teaching.
Our first session was held in October of 2001 and included ideas about teaching shared by President’s Teaching Scholars Gene Abrams, Bob Camley, and Fred Coolidge. We had a full room of full and part-time faculty who saw Gene Abrams make math interesting, Bob Camley use a pyramid illustration to captivate the audience on the value of physics, and Fred Coolidge stand on a table to make a point regarding psychology. The faculty members were fascinated to see how good teachers can make any subject come alive. Other sessions have included, for example, involving the faculty in identifying their needs and ideas regarding teaching development and training on teaching technology.
This approach has received the full support of the Dean and Associate Dean and has already had an impact on the interest the full and part-time faculty have in teaching excellence. The process has also brought to light many things regarding teaching excellence in the College of Business including the fact that faculty rarely see other faculty teach, have not until recently had a forum for exchanging information about teaching, and have not had a plan for involving and developing part-time faculty members. This has been an exciting and rewarding endeavor that I hope other President’s Teaching Scholars will initiate with their departments. Imagine the impact we could have on the University of Colorado if every major school had a Director of Teaching Development!!!