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About
the UGA Teaching Academy
The University
of Georgia Teaching Academy was established in the Fall of
1999 as a forum to discuss, celebrate and promote teaching
excellence. This program is part of the Teaching Academy Campus
Program initiated by the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the American
Association for Higher Education. The Carnegie Foundation
is leading a national effort to affirm teaching as significant
intellectual, scholarly work and to advance models of teaching
that foster deep and lasting understanding by students.
What
is a Teaching Academy?
Generally
accepted definitions of a teaching academy include: a group
of faculty who are considered excellent or highly interested
in teaching and who have been tapped by their institution
to engage in advocacy, service, or advising on teaching matters,
and an honorary and service oriented collective
that can have a significant impact on an institution's
pursuit of teaching excellence.
Origins
at UGA
During
a campus visit in the Spring of 1999, Dr. Lee Shulman, president
of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching,
invited UGA to establish a teaching academy as part of the
Foundation's initiative to foster a national network of teaching
academies. The goal of these academies is to provide a structure,
support and forum for the scholarship of teaching and learning.
A small
group of faculty took Dr. Shulman's invitation to heart and
met with Dr. Tom Dyer, then Vice President of Instruction,
to discuss the feasibility of this initiative. Dr. Dyer sent
a memo to all Meigs and Russell Award Recipients, Lilly and
Senior Fellows, and Regents, Research and University Professors
inquiring about their interest in forming and participating
in such an organization. From this initial inquiry, an Advisory
Committee was formed, and on October 27, 1999 the UGA Teaching
Academy was officially founded with 13
charter members. These founding members crafted the mission
statements that guide the work of the Academy.
Recommendations
In the
Fall of 2000, 52 new members of the Inaugural
Class of the Teaching Academy were inducted into membership
and began discussing academy goals and possibilities for future
initiatives. Since the founding of the UGA Teaching Academy,
members have worked diligently to create a dynamic organization
that reflects the unique needs of the University of Georgia
campus.
The inaugural
group participated in a workshop titled “Taking Teaching
Seriously: An Agenda for the UGA Teaching Academy." Through
the course of this workshop, the members made several recommendations
to strength the message and mission of the Academy:
- Make
teaching "community property"
- Create
undergraduate teaching opportunities
- Establish
chaired teaching professorships
- Engage
talents of retiring faculty
- Establish
interdisciplinary teaching circles
- Establish
teacher mentoring programs
- Sponsor
workshops and seminars
Through
these
recommendations,
the
Teaching
Academy
serves
as
a
focal
point
for
thoughtful
and
informed
conversation
related
to
UGA's
teaching
mission,
and
seeks
to
build
a
university
culture
that
endorses
all
aspects
of
academic
professionalism.
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