UW-Whitewater as AAHE/Carnegie Cluster Leader in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
The UW System-through its Office of Professional and Instructional Development (OPID) and in conjunction with the UW-Milwaukee Center for Instructional and Professional Development (CIPD)-has been selected as one of twelve national "cluster leaders" in the AAHE Carnegie Academy Campus Program in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Through the establishment of a Leadership Site on the UW-Milwaukee campus, the UW System will serve as a national leader in the advancement of teaching through scholarly inquiry into student learning.
The scholarship of teaching and learning encourages faculty to step back and reflect systematically on their work in the classroom, to recount that work in scholarly form, and to make it publicly available for others to build upon. As a Cluster Leader, the UW System will focus on providing system support for the scholarship of teaching and learning, and will develop and share models and best practices throughout Wisconsin and across the nation. Renee Meyers, Chair of the Communication Department at UW-Milwaukee, will direct the site's activities, with the assistance of a system-wide advisory committee representing all UW campuses. In conjunction with OPID, the Leadership Site will work with the institutions to develop SoTL initiatives, programming, and faculty development.
The overall goal of the Leadership Site is to develop, implement, and refine strategies that build effective collaboration on SoTL work among institutions and faculty/academic staff in the UW System. Drawing especially on the SoTL work done at UW-Milwaukee (Center Scholars, conferences, national presentations) and by OPID (Wisconsin Teaching Scholars, conferences, grants), the site will help individuals raise the level of exploration into teaching and learning and help institutions understand the nature of SoTL work and its value. The site will also connect UW institutions to the national Carnegie/AAHE SoTL initiative, in which UW-Milwaukee has been an important player since 1998.
The Leadership Site was officially announced at the Board of Regents meeting held in Milwaukee, June 5-6, and will begin operations in July of 2003.