Mission, Program and Values: Public Draft 2

Mission

The Center for the Advancement of Teaching is an academic resource for Xavier University's faculty and the broader educational community.� Our mission is to advance the art and science of teaching and learning.

Program

The intellectual work of faculty, staff, and students in teaching, scholarship, and service is the means by which the art and science of teaching and student learning are advanced.� Our faculty development program must enable this work.

Enabling this work requires that we have channels of meaningful and effective communication within and outside the University; advanced and comprehensive facilities and resources; sufficient funding; creative and relevant initiatives and projects; and expert staff.

Values

The Center is committed to promoting effective teaching and deep and lasting student learning, and to the University's mission of creating a more just and humane society.� In so doing, we are an organization that:

promotes a nonjudgmental, safe, collaborative, and supportive environment for faculty to experiment, learn about pedagogy, think and work in creative and diverse ways, and explore all aspects of faculty development
models and promotes life-long learning and development
values the teacher as scholar
respects the expertise, skills, gifts, interests, and experiences of each person
provides constructive, confidential feedback to faculty to improve teaching and student learning
values assessment as a means to improved teaching, student learning, and the work of the Center
fosters collaboration among Xavier faculty, students, staff, and the broader educational community
values broad-based involvement of Xavier faculty and Center staff in our decision-making process
promotes effective programmatic and fiscal planning, implementation, and assessment
values making public our policies, processes, and outcomes of our work

Last, the Center adopts, as part of our ethos, the guidelines of the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education, the premier faculty development organization in the U.S. The POD Network's guidelines — the Ethical Guidelines for Education Developers¹ — were established "...to inform the practice of professionals working in educational development roles in higher education."

June 2005
Public draft 2

¹ "Ethical Guidelines for Education Developers." 27 April 2004.� Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education.� 6 June 2005. <http://www.podnetwork.org/development/ethicalguidelines.htm>