Much to the delight of faculty members who have campaigned for its return, UB will re-establish an office of teaching effectiveness, which could be up and running by this fall.

The announcement, delivered by Provost Elizabeth D. Capaldi at the March 13 Faculty Senate meeting, was praised by J. Ronald Gentile, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology and chair of the Faculty Senate Teaching and Learning Committee. Gentile had worked with other faculty members to draft a proposal for a new office-one the committee suggested renaming the Center for Teaching and Learning-that was submitted to the provost last November.

"The committee is so excited, you can't believe it," he said. "So many people are delighted to see this moving forward."

The office will fall under the purview of Kerry S. Grant, vice provost for academic affairs and dean of the Graduate School. The formal name has not yet been decided, nor has the location, although Capaldi has mentioned possibly pairing the new office with the Educational Technology Center (.etc.) in a nearby site in Capen Hall.

Capaldi, who was made aware of the issue by Gentile shortly after her arrival at UB, had questioned why the university did not have an office for teaching effectiveness and encouraged the committee to put forth a proposal, Gentile said.

"We do have an office to help with using technology in teaching," Capaldi said of the .etc., "but not one that just supports teaching in general." The .etc., which opened in spring 1999, assists faculty members and instructors in integrating technology into research and instruction.

"The office (of teaching effectiveness) is needed to give assistance to faculty who would like to improve their teaching, and also to help give graduate students assistance in learning how to teach," she said.

New faculty, in particular, Gentile said, are eager for guidance.

"The new people are crying out to talk about teaching," he said. "We need to find ways to encourage this dialogue-that's why we need (an office)."

The proposal submitted by the committee will be taken into consideration as plans solidify for the office, Grant said, noting that "although all of the functions may not take place in the office as proposed, (those) suggested certainly have an appropriate place within the general effort supported by the provost and vice provost for academic affairs."

Grant said he plans to meet with Gentile and others within the Faculty Senate "to consider what's proposed in light of the resources available."

The goal is to have the office defined and structured, and its leadership identified, before the end of the academic year or summer, Grant explained, with the goal of having the office open for business by the fall. An internal search is under way for a director, who also would work with a faculty advisory committee, he said.

Gentile said the old office, which provided programming at a relatively low cost to the university, was phased out some five or six years ago when the administration suggested deans should be responsible for working with faculty on teaching.

The faculty’s concern all along was finding a forum in which to talk about teaching, Gentile said, and he’s pleased with the provost’s response.

“This would not have happened without her personal invitation to do this,” he said.

The committee’s proposal outlines a number of suggested functions for the office, among them assuming responsibility for student evaluations of teaching, establishing a new faculty-orientation program, providing mentoring and sponsoring professional-development workshops, courses and conferences. The committee also recommends methods for funding the office, including creating an endowment as part of the university’s capital campaign that currently is under way.

Grant said specific funding for the office has not yet been identified, but plans are moving forward.

“There’s a ready agreement that this is a campus priority,” Grant said. “It simply needs to be acted on as soon as we can construct it with the appropriate guidance from faculty.”