Established in 1990, the Center promotes academic professional excellence for faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students; encourages intellectual connections throughout the University of Virginia; and contributes to national and international conversations on learning, teaching, and professional development.

The Center strives for excellence in:

• Building and nurturing cross-disciplinary communities and mentoring networks for scholarly exchange around learning, teaching, and professional growth
• Fostering student learning and effective teaching through creative, innovative, and research-driven approaches, assessments, and technologies
• Advancing and translating the scholarship of teaching and learning for the classroom and beyond
• Cultivating life-long learning for current and future faculty at all career stages

To realize this mission, Center faculty and staff develop world-class programs and collaborate with individuals and institutions across Grounds and around the world.

Guiding Principles and Values

We believe that...

• Faculty and graduate students care deeply about student learning and want to be the best teachers they can.
• Striving for excellence in one’s teaching is an iterative, dynamic, and scholarly process that spans the faculty career.
• Promoting teaching and learning excellence requires a dual focus on efficacy and innovation.
• Faculty and graduate students at all levels welcome opportunities for cross-disciplinary conversations about teaching, learning, and professional growth.
• Faculty and graduate students enjoy sharing their effective, innovative teaching approaches and discovering research on teaching and learning.
• Sustained learning communities, peer and mentoring networks provide excellent vehicles for fostering deep reflection, innovation, and connection.
• When teaching and research are interconnected, they enrich each other.

How we work:

• Our individual consultations are strictly confidential and are driven by the faculty member’s goals.
• We model effective teaching, mentoring and learning practices in our workshops, programs, consultations and services to maximize learning.
• Helping people build community is an integral part of our work.