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
  • Samantha Dannick: Engineering & Scholarly Communications Librarian, Scholes Library of Ceramics
  • Michaela Fendrock: Assistant Professor of Geology, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
  • Colleen Wahl: Associate Professor of Dance, Performing Arts Division
  • Rebecca Welch: Assistant Professor of Glass Science Engineering, Inamori School of Engineering
  • Magan Straight: Assistant 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

AUTLC Staff and Faculty Mixer 

Wednesday 9/2/26, 9/16/26, 9/30/26, 10/14/26, 10/28/26, 11/11/26, 11/25/26, and 12/9/26 from 5-7 pm at Alex’s College Spot Bar – come connect with your colleagues and friends, meeting biweekly for this informal community building event.

AUTLC Advancing Teaching Seminars 

A weekly seminar led by Dr. Dani Gagne, Professor of Psychology in Fall 2026 meeting on Tuesdays from 1:20 pm to 3:10 pm in Science Center Room 406. Outstanding teaching is a skill that develops through intentional practice, reflection, and continuous learning. This professional development course is designed to help AU faculty, staff, and graduate students enhance student learning by integrating evidence-based teaching practices, inclusive pedagogy, effective assessment, educational technology, and reflective teaching.

 

Live Deliberately

The Alfred University Teaching and Learning Center (AUTLC) 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.

“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

Fall 2026 Reading Group

The Fall 2026 discussion will focus on The MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut. Complete this form to sign up AUTLC Fall 2026 Live Deliberately Reading Groups: The MANIAC – Fill out form.

Past Reading Group

The Fall 2025 discussion focused on The Anxious Generation: How the Great Revising of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt.

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.