Bell TowerOctober 15, 2024

Library to House New Center for Teaching and Learning

The University of Arkansas - Fort Smith introduced its Center for Teaching and Learning this fall, an initiative that supports two of the university’s strategic pillars: investing in academic excellence and student success. 

"A center for teaching and learning is something I've hoped we would create on this campus since my arrival," said Chancellor Terisa Riley, who started at the university in 2019. "It's a major component of faculty development and a way we can truly invest in our people."

The center is endowed by a $500,000 investment by First National Bank of Fort Smith.

"We at First National Bank believe in the capacity of education to advance our region in ways few other initiatives can," said First National Bank President Sam Sicard. "When Chancellor Riley explained the vision for the Center for Teaching and Learning at UAFS, I knew it was a way First National could invest in the future of our community, ensuring that we continue to develop knowledgeable and skilled individuals who want to live, work, and serve our region after graduation."

Why create a Center for Teaching and Learning?

According to Provost Dr. Shadow Robinson, "The mission of the Center for Teaching and Learning is to be sure we provide our faculty with support that will help them take the expertise they have and translate it effectively so that students can learn and master it."

Faculty members spend years learning highly specialized information in their fields, but they may not receive teacher training. "And being able to do something well and being able to teach it well are not always the same thing," Robinson said.

What are some specific challenges faculty at UAFS face today?

At UAFS, nearly 60 percent of students are the first in their families to attend college. Students whose parents and grandparents are college graduates know how to be college students before they arrive. First-generation students often need specialized support.

Today's faculty also face students whose academic and social development was impacted by COVID-19.

"All of our students faced it, but it's different if you were a senior in high school, … or in seventh grade, (or) in third grade," Robinson said. "Our faculty are going to face this problem over the next 15 years with different challenges depending in part on when those students went home."

The provost also noted that the explosion of Artificial Intelligence applications like ChatGPT will impact higher education although no one knows precisely how.

"All of us are worried about it, but how many of us have time in our daily lives to track the latest updates and best practices?" Robinson asked.

"How would I, as a faculty member with a full teaching load and a full research load who is busy with my own work, figure out the best way to address those needs? A Center for Teaching and Learning can help," Robinson said.

What will the Center for Teaching and Learning do?

To begin, a faculty fellow will lead the center. Robinson said that person might spend some time researching a question like "What is the best way to use AI in the classroom?" and present the findings to interested faculty and staff.  

Eventually, the center might offer monthly presentations, some directed to novice faculty and some to a general audience.

Or a faculty member might take a classroom issue to the center's leader: "I'm trying something new in class, and I'd like an independent set of eyes watching me. … Wound you come in and watch and give me your reaction?"

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