Welcome to CIRTL!

Welcome Note from Dr. Kristin Winet

Welcome to CIRTL!

In times like these when we all feel more isolated than usual, it’s more important than ever to celebrate our successes and reflect on how far we’ve come. Since July, we have successfully brought the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) to campus and, despite the difficulties of COVID-19, recruited our first cohort and laid the foundation for the CIRTL@UArizona. For our first projects, we offered a new Faculty Learning Community (FLC) on teaching writing and, along with the help of OIA, developed a learning e-portfolio system for members to track their progress and apply for their certificate levels. And we have over 80 members now in our network!

This semester, we’re kicking off a few important initiatives: in addition to CIRTL’s regular network programming, we are piloting a postdoc co-teaching program and soft-launching our TAR (Teaching-as-Research) program here as an FLC along with other faculty across campus who are interested in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). We’re also offering our first CIRTL Book Club--with a surprise Q&A session with the author!--and co-facilitating a workshop series on teaching philosophies for the CIRTL network. And as we continue to grow, we want to hear from you! As our first CIRTL cohort, you are the ones who will help us shape the future of the Center, so if there’s something you’d like us to offer, let us know. Also, if you’re not yet a member and would like to join us, simply sign up on our website to be added to our listserv for upcoming summer and fall announcements.

Even in these strange times, your determination to grow as teachers and teacher-scholars has been so inspiring to me. I look forward to connecting with each of you and helping make CIRTL a small part of your teaching journey. It’s a joy to be a part of it.

In the meantime, join us on Twitter!