Combining Established Initiatives with New and Strengthened Partnerships

TitleCombining Established Initiatives with New and Strengthened Partnerships
Faculty/College/UnitVP Academic
StatusCompleted
Duration1 Year
Initiation04/01/2003
Completion03/31/2004
Project Summary

With help from our 2002-2003 TLEF grant, the Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth (TAG) has been extremely active, offering instructional development programming for over 1800 attendees. In addition, we provided consultation for numerous others. Having said this, it is important to point out that TAG has never worked in isolation. We have a history of partnering with Faculties, senior administration, and other units to provide support for teaching and learning.

Given the context we have outlined for this year's TLEF proposal, it is clear that our partnerships will become even more important in the future. These partnerships are reflected in our proposed new initiatives and in many of our well-established and newly established programs. More than ever, the University needs knowledgeable and reasoned voices contributing to its extensive dialogue on the nature of change in higher education. At TAG, we believe we have the responsibility to bring those voices together and to be part of that dialogue. This year, you will see that TAG figures prominently in at least five other TLEF applications.

The primary focus of this responsibility is the UBC community; however, it does not stop there. This is why TAG is hosting the annual conference of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in June 2003. It is why we hosted the annual Winter Meetings of Canadian Instructional Development Officers in February 2002. As our partnerships and prominence grow nationally and internationally, TAG becomes even better equipped to help the University develop its educational mandate in important ways. This is TAG's role - a role that is best fulfilled via the programs outlined in the remainder of this proposal.

Objectives:

TAG’s objectives stem from its mission statement, which reads as follows: Our mission is to foster quality teaching and learning across the University. In doing so, we take a leadership role in addressing professional development needs for current and future practitioners of teaching in higher education. In all of our activities, we create a supportive learning environment in which to explore teaching practice and reflect upon a range of contemporary instructional issues.

From this statement, our basic objectives continue to be:

  1. To introduce instructors to new and effective methods of teaching and learning;
  2. To provide opportunities for instructors to discuss issues pertinent to teaching excellence;
  3. To help instructors enhance teaching skills through practice and constructive feedback;
  4. To help instructors better understand, support and develop students' learning;
  5. To provide a comprehensive and up-to-date collection of resources in higher education;
  6. To involve as many members of the UBC teaching community as possible in these activities.
Funding Details
Year 1: Project YearYear 1
Year 1: Funding Year2003/2004
Year 1: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 1: Principal InvestigatorGary Poole
Year 1: Funded Amount400,000
Year 1: Team Members

Gary Poole, Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth
Lynne Abbott, Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth
Catherine Bennington, Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth
Luisa Canuto, Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Faculty of Arts
Alice Cassidy, Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth / Zoology, Faculty of Science
Shibao Guo, Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth, Faculty of Education
Harry Hubball, Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education
Jennifer Jasper, Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth / Animal Science, Faculty of Land and Food Systems
Janice Johnson, Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth
Amir Mirsayah, Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth / Civil Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
Desiree Mou, Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth / Forest Sciences, Faculty of Forestry
Ingrid Price, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Katryna Scott, Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth / English, Faculty of Arts