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Bush Proposal Summary

In October 1997, Xavier University was awarded a three-year, $450,000 grant from The Bush and William and Flora Hewlett foundations to support a faculty development program.  This program had four specific aims, which are listed below.

Aims of the Original Proposal:

  • Promote the scholarship of teaching by creating a campus culture where teaching is made public, discussed, examined, improved, and rewarded
  • Implement a faculty development program that encourages and supports the use of technology in the classroom
  • Establish communities of faculty and students whose conversations are focused on specific teaching and learning problems and opportunities
  • Establish communities of faculty and students engaged in research using information technology and other resources.

The Center for the Advancement of Teaching has solicited input from Xavier faculty and administrators and examined the data collected throughout the three-year course of this initiative, with equal attention to what worked and to what did not work.

As a result, we have revised the original proposal.  These revisions, while significant, do not constitute a major change of direction for the Center.  Rather, the revised proposal serves to clarify, focus, and refine our program of faculty development for the next three years.

Overview of Revised Proposal:

AIM: To improve student learning by fostering a campus culture where teaching and research are improved and made public.

GOALS: The Center for the Advancement of Teaching will promote this aim through a continuous program of faculty development which:

  1. Encourages faculty and student conversations that are focused on specific teaching and learning problems and opportunities; and
  2. Encourages faculty and student research, including the scholarship of teaching.

ACTIVITIES:  The Center will achieve these goals through the following activities:

  • Teaching communities
  • Research communities
  • Workshops and speakers
  • Travel grants
  • Support of experimentation with information technology.

This revised renewal proposal capitalizes on the most successful aspect of the first three years of this faculty development initiative: communities of faculty and students focused on teaching and research.  This approach was originally chosen by Xavier faculty focus groups in 1997, and three years of Bush-Hewlett funded activities have revealed this approach to be a fruitful one.

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