Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning
Mission Statement
The Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning promotes student success by supporting faculty and staff educators through ongoing professional development, including work in developing reflective, innovative, and inclusive pedagogies. Holding the values of collaboration and co-creation, the Center aspires to be a hub where Bates celebrates its educators while helping them hone their skills to ensure that all students experience equitable and learner-centered spaces that contribute to their thriving at Bates.
Beginning in the winter of 2021, a small group led by Associate Dean of the Faculty Krista Aronson and supported by Matt Duvall (Assistant Dean of Strategy and Analysis) and April Hill (Department of Biology) explored the design and creation of a center for teaching and learning at Bates college with equity and inclusion as core values. In the spring, Kathy Takayama, higher education consultant for diversity, equity, inclusion and institutional change, was hired to conduct focus group work with faculty and staff at Bates, and she presented those results to the faculty at the May faculty meeting.
Over the summer the group was not idle. That time was focused on surveying the landscape of centers for teaching and learning across the United States, especially those with a focus on inclusive pedagogy. This was done through a broad survey of center websites and interviews with directors from select centers. Summaries of the benchmarking and the interviews are linked below.
In the fall of 2021, an advisory group was formed to further the work. The advisory group has been reviewing focus group outcomes, surveys, and other evidence and readings as they prepare for their work. The advisory group includes:
- Clarisa Perez-Armendariz – Department of Politics and Program in Latin American and Latinx Studies
- Jessica Amok – Class of 2022
- Lisa Hardej – Associate Dean of Students
- Michael Boyd Roman – Department of Art and Visual Culture
- Shauna’h Fuegen – Information and Library Services
Together, this team reviewed a set of shared readings about best practices for Centers of Teaching and Learning, reviewed information from the focus groups that were held during the Winter ‘21 semester, survey and benchmarking of other centers, and a summary of the director interviews conducted during Summer ‘21. Drawing on this the group drafted a mission statement for the new center (at the top of this page), along with a suggested organizational structure.