What We Do

The Center for Faculty Excellence at TWU, among other things,

• functions as a gateway to a broad range of learning opportunities for faculty at all career phases.
• provides an environment that fosters an engaged learning community.
• supports faculty in developing effective teaching strategies and curriculum design through workshops, consultation, services, and other development activities.
• fashions opportunities for both scholarly and leadership development.
• recognizes and honors faculty for outstanding achievements and contributions to higher education.

At the CFE, we embrace, endorse, and promote innovative educational practices that lead to engaged teaching and learning, no matter where it happens on any of our three campuses. We are committed to helping faculty and staff translate pedagogical research into effective, evidence-based pedagogical practice. But we do more than that:  We help instructors stay abreast of developments in learning and social science and their applications to daily campus life. We explore current trends in the scholarship of teaching and learning, help faculty connect and network with TWU units dedicated to teaching, learning, and faculty/student support, and provide training and assistance in matters of leadership and work/life balance.  And we are open to suggestions: if there are areas you would like to explore, do not hesitate to bring them to our attention.

Activities and Services

PEDAGOGICAL WORKSHOPS & EVENTS
The CFE helps faculty connect across our three campuses. We host brown-bags and luncheons to discuss teaching-related issues, as well as workshops on pedagogy, scholarly writing, and professional development.

ONE-ON-ONE CONSULTATIONS
Sometimes it can be helpful to talk with someone outside of your department. We are happy to consult with you about issues such as building community in the classroom, effective assessment, how to improve student engagement and retention, and a variety of other topics.

STUDENT SATISFACTION CONSULTATIONS
You’ve received your student evaluation scores — now what? We welcome dialogue with faculty on how to interpret and improve student evaluation scores. We can discuss strategies and visit your class upon invitation.

FORMATIVE CLASSROOM OBSERVATION
Informal peer observation can offer an opportunity for reflection and growth on teaching. The CFE can provide you with tools and resources for peer observation and will observe your class by request.

NEW FACULTY ORIENTATION
The week before each fall semester, the CFE facilitates an orientation to introduce faculty new to TWU to resources on all three campuses. Service units such as the Center for Research Design and Analysis (CRDA), Disability Support Services (DSS), Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT), and many others participate and reach out to new faculty. We also offer a virtual handbook for new faculty.

HIGHLIGHTING FACULTY ACHIEVEMENTS
From featuring video interviews with faculty to hosting faculty-led sessions, the CFE provides opportunities to share your work and teaching accomplishments with the TWU community.