NUTSHELL NOTES "Teaching tips in a nutshell" - The University of Colorado at Denver's One-page Newsletter for Teaching Excellence

Also new to this campus is me, Edward Nuhfer (pronounced "new fur" ), your new director of the above office, and I feel honored to be serving you in this capacity. I first encountered an office like this in Boulder while on sabbatical from Wisconsin. What their office did for faculty made so much sense that I authored a grant to start a teaching excellence center on my own campus in Platteville. The center flourished to the point that the demands on it (and me!) soon went far beyond the 25% release time that was provided. Platteville was a fine place in which to work and live, but when the opportunity to do this work full-time was offered in Colorado, I couldn't resist. Colorado was too beautiful, Denver too exciting, and the campus too rich in opportunities to think of passing up the chance to be part of it. My wife, Mary, and I are thrilled to be here!

What does an "Office of Teaching Effectiveness" do? The collective term that describes the general functions of offices like ours is "faculty development." A good way to start to think of such

centers is as the analogues to the weight training rooms of professional athletes. Professionals go there to become stronger and more capable of doing a very difficult and demanding job. Like athletes, teachers engage in an enterprise in which there is no such thing as perfection. There is no teaching so good that it cannot be improved. In short these centers exist to help faculty succeed well in their teaching. Help is provided in a variety of ways. Typically, faculty development centers offer and sponsor workshops, provide resources, offer consultation and serve as advocates for good teaching. Faculty development centers are not in the business of judging faculty or entering into the evaluation of individuals for purposes such as salary, tenure or rank. A faculty member approaching a development center for help has every right to expect that help, as well as encouragement and full confidentiality.

The "molecule" above models the "big picture" of a faculty development center within a university. Three basal spheres (administration, faculty and students) should pull together to support a teaching and learning community larger than all three groups combined. The faculty development center (the small dark "atom" above) should help to promote cohesion within and between the basal spheres without being obtrusive. Strong cohesion between the spheres results in a wonderful university in which to be an employee or a student.