About Us
Welcome to the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley!
As an educator, I desire to create linguistically inclusive spaces where students draw on their conocimientos, strengths, and lived realities to learn and create new knowledge, and I am committed to listening to student voices and experiences with teaching and learning to improve my teaching practices. I bring this philosophy to my role as Director of the CTE as our collective vision is to inspire reflection and collaboration in teaching and learning at UTRGV.
We want to engage in collective conversations on teaching and learning as a public practice where faculty, staff, students, administrators, and community partners learn from each other to understand student success gaps and teach for student success in the classroom and beyond.
CTE offers a wide range of programming and services to promote teaching and learning. We offer interactive conversations on teaching, faculty learning communities, learning circles, and the Faculty Spotlight on Teaching Series. We also provide individual and departmental consultations in target teaching areas. At CTE, we are also committed to collaborating with faculty and staff across departments, programs, and schools on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning to seek external grant funding. We are partnering with the Office of Engaged Scholarship and Learning on the Scholarly Undergraduate Based Interdisciplinary Research (SUBIR) program, implemented Spring 2020, which seeks to expand experiential learning opportunities for undergraduates at UTRGV through faculty development. Also, we have submitted two grant proposals to the National Science Foundation that seek to explore the impact of innovative faculty development and student partners initiatives on teaching and learning practices.
We are excited to announce two new initiatives at the Center for Teaching Excellence. Students as Teachers and Learners at a Hispanic Serving Institution, which will be implemented Fall 2020, is a new initiative where students serve as pedagogical consultants in faculty partners’ courses. Also, the Peer Observation of Teaching Series, implemented Spring 2020, is a guided and collaborative exploration of peer observation of teaching where we invite faculty peers across departments and schools to explore peer observation of teaching as authentic, collaborative, and reciprocal conversations about teaching and student success. In the near future, we also intend to implement a faculty learning community on inclusive and equity-based teaching practices at a Hispanic Serving Institution.
We invite you to engage in conversations with us about teaching and learning by attending and/or leading teaching conversations, participating in or leading a faculty learning community, and/or partnering with CTE to design diverse programming and initiatives that places student success at the forefront of our mission as members of the UTRGV community!
We look forward to collaborating with you! ¡Vengan a CTE!
Alyssa G. Cavazos, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE)
OUR MISSION & OUR VISION
We aim to provide professional development opportunities that foster success in teaching and learning through reflective, collaborative, and learner-centered practices with faculty members, staff, and students at UTRGV and beyond.