A new Center for Teaching and Learning opened in the spring 2020 semester with Dr. Shauna Hiley, professor of chemistry, serving as its director. The center offers professional development opportunities for all employees, and it kicked off with several options for them.

Dr. Hiley said the center hosted a lunch topics series, informal events where attendees were invited to bring their own lunch and hear a guest speaker. Those were held two or three times a month and featured an employee who shared information about recruitment, advising and more.

“The guest speaker starts the conversation and it goes wherever those attending want it to go,” she said. Dr. Hiley also likes the lunch sessions because they gave attendees a forum for interacting and networking with colleagues across campus.

The center also held a series of presentations in the spring, and topics were also presented by employees. They included Generation Guide: Today’s College Students, Getting to Know MWSU Graduate Programs, and Open Educational Resources – Are They Right For You?

Dr. Hiley said she will take advantage of Missouri Western’s Gold Fridays, which begins in the fall of 2020. With Gold Fridays, very few classes will be scheduled on Fridays, so she plans to use the days to offer more workshop-style presentations.

“The center helps employees explore new ideas, improve pedagogy and improve service to students,” she said. “We all want to improve our performance on the job.”

The center is located in Spratt Hall.