Hostos Center for Teaching & Learning: A Beacon of Excellence Featured in Book ‘Centers for Teaching and Learning’

The book “Centers for Teaching and Learning: The New Landscape in Higher Education,” authored by Mary C. Wright, was published in 2023. This seminal work provides a comprehensive overview of more than 1,200 Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs) across the United States. Wright, the associate provost for teaching and learning at Brown University, recognized a gap in the field and built upon existing studies to conduct extensive research into CTLs, investigating their operations, strategies, challenges, and the impact these have on higher education institutions.

Wright’s premise began with a simple question: how many CTLs exist at U.S. universities? This led her to compile information from the websites of various CTLs, identifying exemplary centers for a closer look at their structures and approaches by interviewing CTL leaders and staff. The Hostos Center for Teaching and Learning was identified as one of these exemplary centers. Co-director Carlos Guevara was interviewed to provide insight into the center’s evolution over its 20-year existence, its achievements, and its role in fostering innovation and teaching and learning excellence. These interviews and Wright’s research informed the book’s content.

The book outlines the evolution of CTLs over the past decade, paralleling the exponential growth of technology and digital teaching and learning. As CTLs have expanded their support and service portfolios to include digital learning, assessment, service learning, community engagement, diversity, equity, and inclusion, they have not seen proportional increases in staffing, funding, or resources. Wright notes that these added responsibilities are often not strategically planned, leading to inadequate support and a misalignment with institutional goals.

At Hostos, we take pride in the work carried out by our Center for Teaching and Learning and are honored to be featured as one of the exemplary centers in Wright’s book. We agree with Wright that for these hubs of innovation and community to continue promoting teaching and learning excellence and student success, there must be a careful alignment with institutional goals as well as the provision of adequate staffing and funding.

Link: The Evolution of Teaching and learning