Fall 2004
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The multiple roles of the Center for Teaching and Learning are to do the following -

1.           Advocate for keeping teaching and learning first at GRCC.
2.           Provide learning and skill building opportunities for Faculty.
3.           Provide an environment for faculty to know themselves and to engage as a community.
4.           Provide support for faculty and learning focused initiatives.
5.           Provide a safe place and support for faculty innovation and systems development.

 To meet its purpose, the Center is structured around the following –

Organizational Development

The focus of this work is the organizational structure of the institution in relation to teaching and learning. The overall goal is to look at systems within the institution and how they affect the teaching process and then work in partnership to seek ways of making those systems more humane and more effective in regards to student learning.

Faculty Development

The focus of this work is on the individual faculty member as a teacher and person. The goal is to assist faculty to develop his or her knowledge and skills around teaching. This is done within the context of having faculty reflect on who they are and what they believe while at the same time nurturing the inner drive that brought each person to teaching.

Instructional Development

The focus of this work is the course, the curriculum and student learning. Instructors are brought together as a community to identify appropriate course structures and teaching strategies while examining how a course fits into the overall departmental and institutional curriculum.

The work of the Center is directed toward providing resources to enhance the following areas of the college - 

Learning Relationships – The interaction between people and systems which effect learning.
Learning Technologies – The tools and techniques used to facilitate learning.
Learning Environments – The physical, social, and psychological environment required to support learning.
Learning Design – The creation and documentation of policies, processes, and structure designed to support learning.

The Center holds the following abbreviated Philosophy of Learning -

Optimal learning happens at the intersection of the instructor’s philosophy of education, our students’ diverse background and interests, and the content or subject being taught. Best practice is when teaching and learning honors and supports all three systems.

Our Assumptions about meeting our goals...

1. Change requires an understanding and engagement of the whole system
2. Organizations are a network of interconnections and relationships
3. Diversity in all forms leads to better decision making and implementation
4. We must honor the past and present while creating the future
5. Individuals can and do make good decisions about their own lives
6. The best decisions are made in an information rich environment
7. The best decisions are made with the involvement of all interested parties
8. Leadership should be distributed throughout the organization
9. Practice is a manifestation of individual and organizational beliefs
10. Individual and organizational beliefs are created within a social and cultural context