Teaching & Learning Center
Alfred University strives to offer academic and co-curricular programming that is both intellectually challenging and practically relevant. At the heart of this mission is the student experience in the classroom, which should be characterized by innovative teaching. Capitalizing on AU’s commitment to teaching excellence, the Teaching and Learning Center seeks to provide faculty the resources they need for continuous improvement—both as teachers and scholars, a forum to think through pedagogical issues, and a clearinghouse of concrete tips and exercises to bring directly into their classrooms. Faculty development programs enhance the AU community by helping teachers work on their craft and by modeling the intellectual community into which we hope to bring our students. The AU Teaching and Learning Center promotes:
- Pedagogical Innovation
- Idea-sharing among an accomplished faculty
- Community-building among faculty and staff
In order to promote Alfred University's mission of providing excellent quality and enduring value through academic and co-curricular programming that is both intellectually challenging and practically relevant, AU has created the AU Teaching and Learning Center.
The AU Teaching and Learning Center coordinates faculty development opportunities, creates channels of communication for faculty to express their pedagogical needs, and facilitates homegrown and external programming.
The AU Teaching & Learning Center promotes:
- Pedagogical innovation
- Idea-sharing among an accomplished faculty
- Community-building among faculty and staff
AU Teaching & Learning Center Committee
Elizabeth Matson, Director: Associate Professor of Mathematics, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Robert Stein: Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Ayush Sengupta: Assistant Professor of Analytics, College of Business
Samantha Dannick: Engineering & Scholarly Communications Librarian, Scholes Library of Ceramics
Colleen Wahl: Associate Professor of Dance, Performing Arts Division
Rebecca Welch: Assistant Professor of Glass Science Engineering, Inamori School of Engineering
Christopher Gause: Director, Center for Academic Success
Meghanne Freivald: Manager of Instructional Technology & Virtual Education Support, Information Technology Services
Liz Stearns: Joint Secretary for the Divisions of English and Communication Studies, and the Teaching & Learning Center
Pondering Pedagogy
The Alfred University Teaching and Learning Center (AU TLC) is happy to announce the first meeting of Pondering Pedagogy for the Fall 2025 semester on Friday 9/19 from 12:20 pm – 1:10 pm in Olin 400.
Pondering Pedagogy is a monthly discussion group organized by AU TLC for faculty and staff to ponder their teaching, learn from each other, and form deep connections across campus with the aim to better our pedagogy (and andragogy). The topic for September 2025 is “Ponder your Pedagogy,” providing a space to reflect on how the semester has started, workshop issues, share innovations, and meet new colleagues.
Pondering Pedagogy will meet monthly during the semester on the third Friday of each month from 12:20-1:10 pm in Olin 400. If you have suggestions for future topics or questions regarding AU TLC, email Elizabeth Matson.
Live Deliberately
The Alfred University Teaching and Learning Center (AU TLC) invites you to participate in a series of reading groups. These Live Deliberately discussions will provide a forum for the AU community to think about society and our roles in it. Among other benefits, taking some time each semester to live deliberately will help us reflect on our purpose, even as we help students realize theirs.
The fall 2025 Live Deliberately reading groups are being organized, and details will be available soon!
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." -Henry David Thoreau
Past Reading Group - Spring 2025
The Spring 2025 discussion focused on Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why it Matters, and What to Do about It by Richard V. Reeves.
Faculty Observation Exchange
Would you like to participate in the Faculty Observation Exchange? Whether you are looking for a development opportunity or are willing to assist someone who is (or both), sign up for the exchange here.
Join the Faculty Observation Exchange
What is the Faculty Observation Exchange? One valuable part of the promotion and tenure process at Alfred is the feedback faculty receive from peer observations. However, P&T observations always have that element of evaluation attached to them. The Teaching and Learning Center would like to create opportunities for faculty to get the benefits of classroom observations without any of the evaluative baggage. We also need faculty who are willing to assist, either by observing and providing feedback to a colleague or by allowing colleagues to sit in on a class session or two. By signing up for the Faculty Observation Exchange, you will help the AU TLC match faculty who are seeking a development opportunity with those faculty who are willing to assist.
These observations are not connected to the Promotion and Tenure process in any way. This is just a chance for faculty to help each other become better teachers.
The AU Teaching & Learning Center is pleased to provide a curated list of resources to assist and support faculty on their teaching journeys. As the AU Teaching and Learning Center grows, additional resources will be added. The following AU-provided resources have been gathered so faculty may access them easily: