Faculty and staff dedicated a near-record 15,293 hours working with the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT) in 2018. This commitment to professional development with CTLT’s team of teaching and course design specialists helps, ultimately, to improve student learning at Illinois State University.

Three academic units demonstrated exceptional dedication to professional development in 2018. They were honored with CTLT’s Path to Excellence Awards January 9 at the annual Teaching and Learning Symposium. Here are the winners:

First place—Department of Criminal Justice Sciences

Second place—Department of Accounting

Third place—Department of Psychology

“Good teachers make teaching look easy,” says CTLT director Claire Lamonica, “but, of course, teaching is rarely easy. It takes determination and hard work. The University community should be proud of the commitment these faculty members have made to the mission of Illinois State and the success of our students.”

The winners of the Path to Excellence Awards are calculated by the number of hours each department has invested in CTLT-sponsored professional development programming. This number is then divided by each school’s or department’s number of full-time equivalent (FTE) faculty. In 2018, Criminal Justice Sciences dedicated 29.3 hours per FTE towards professional development. Accounting devoted 24.1 hours per FTE, with Psychology devoting 23.1 hours per FTE.

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology supports educators at Illinois State University in their pursuit of excellence and innovation in teaching, student learning, and the effective use of technology. CTLT offers hundreds of hours of professional development programming each year, in addition to instruction support and teaching consultations.