University Teaching Council
University Teaching Council Year-End Report 2018-2019
Function:
The mission of the UTC is to celebrate teaching and to elevate the profile of instruction both on and off campus. The UTC will 1) advocate for instructional excellence and 2) assist the Provost in the development of mechanisms to achieve and maintain excellence.
The UTC will review issues associated with teaching, summarize relevant information, and make recommendations to the Provost for action. Examples of topics that the UTC may consider include: exploration of funding mechanisms to promote teaching, review of modalities to recognize teaching, review of resources to elevate the profile of teaching, review of curricular requirements, review of teaching evaluation instruments and uses of evaluation data. The UTC may develop short-term and long-term plans for issues affecting teaching.
Membership:
The UTC shall be composed of at least four (4) faculty members and four (4) ex officio members. The Faculty Senate shall be represented by one (1) member. The Provost shall appoint all other faculty members. Appointed faculty may be of any rank, but shall have exceptional interest in teaching. Appointed individuals need not be limited to those having received awards (e.g., Distinguished Maine Professor, Presidential Teaching Award, college teaching awards).
Faculty members serve terms of four (4) years. Each year, one faculty member will rotate off the Council. At its formation, membership of the Council shall be constituted to enable this rotation. Ex officio members shall be the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Faculty Development, the Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies & Senior Associate Dean, the Assistant Provost for Institutional Research and Assessment, and the Executive Director of Innovation in Teaching and Learning. Ex officio members may appoint designees when appropriate.
Current membership:
Gabriel Paquette, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Faculty Development, ex officio, co-convener
Peter Schilling, Executive Director of Innovation in Teaching and Learning, ex officio, co-convener
Deb Allen, Assistant Provost for Institutional Research and Assessment, ex officio
Scott Delcourt, Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies and Senior Associate Dean, ex officio
Melissa Ladenheim, Associate Dean, Honors College
Stephanie Burnett, Associate Professor of Horticulture
MacKenzie Stetzer, Associate Professor of Physics
Lindsay Decker, Science Reference Librarian
Stefano Tijerina, Lecturer in Management, Maine Business School
Alex Friess, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Christopher Clark, Science Reference Librarian
Liliana Herakova, Assistant Professor of Communication and Journalism
Buffie McCue-Quinn, Lecturer in Management and Marketing
Jade Hichborn, Special Assistant for Academic Affairs, council staff
Reports to: Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost