Welcome! The Center for Teaching, Learning & Mentoring (CTLM) was established on July 1, 2021.
In collaboration with the crucial work done in and by schools and colleges, the center supports UW–Madison faculty and staff in their continuing growth as practitioners of the complex, challenging and dynamic craft of teaching.
Bringing together more than 50 professional staff members with extensive and wide-ranging expertise, the center serves instructors at all career stages, including teaching assistants, by offering campus-level professional development, course design and instructional consulting programs and services.
Mission and values
Our mission
CTLM’s mission is to improve learning for all students by advancing the craft of teaching at UW–Madison.
At the heart of our work is a commitment to excellence and equity in teaching and learning. We advance effective practices, identify and address barriers, and nurture environments that help learners and instructors realize their highest potential.
We fulfill our mission by providing expertise, resources, coordination, and guidance to instructors at all career stages and to those who support instruction at all levels of the academic enterprise. Specifically, we:
- Partner with and support instructors across the career span
- Design, develop, implement, and support instruction
- Seek partnerships and work collaboratively to support schools, colleges, departments, and academic programs in pursuit of their teaching and learning priorities
- Advance campus teaching and learning initiatives to support the teaching mission of the university
As we carry out our mission, we practice our core values, both in our work within the Center and with the broader UW–Madison teaching and learning community.
Our values
Inquiry
CTLM comes to our work with a mindset of inquiry. We practice curiosity when learning about campus partners and colleagues. We approach challenges as opportunities while embracing continuous growth and improvement.
Equity
CTLM commits to advancing equity in teaching and learning. We seek a deep understanding of the diverse strengths and needs of our students and instructors and cultivate spaces, capacities, and resources to support teaching and learning environments in which everyone can thrive.
Evidence
The evolving knowledge of teaching and learning animates our work. We draw purposefully from data, scholarship, lived experiences and other forms of knowledge to benefit instructors and students of diverse backgrounds and in diverse settings.
Community
CTLM builds community in learning environments across campus. We support inclusive, human-centered practices and create opportunities for people with diverse perspectives to connect and learn with and for one another.
A Brief History
During the 2019-2020 school year, Provost John Karl Scholz charged a campus committee with exploring teaching and learning support on campus. In fall 2020, the committee recommended the creation of a Center for Teaching, Learning and Mentoring, a recommendation Provost Scholz enthusiastically endorsed. The process of building CTLM was completed during spring and summer 2021, bringing together staff from the Collaborative for Advancing Learning and Teaching; the Division of Continuing Studies; and the Division of Information Technology.
The creation of CTLM was facilitated in part by the unprecedented efforts to support instructors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those efforts, led by then-Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning Steven Cramer, brought many of those now working in CTLM together through the university’s Instructional Continuity effort. The collaborative spirit of the Instructional Continuity effort lives on in CTLM.