CTE History

In January of 1983, the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) first opened its doors at Texas A&M University with a staff of only three people: a director and two graduate student assistants. The establishment of a place designed to support and inspire great teaching grew out of an idea that was sparked by a popular graduate class on teaching skills in 1982. With support from the Texas A&M Mothers' Club, The Association of Former Students, and administration and faculty committees, the Center for Teaching Excellence soon grew into a full-fledged program.

Since that time, the Center has grown from a small program into a busy office with a staff of 14. We now offer a wide variety of services that aid in the improvement and enhancement of university teaching, promote the development of new teaching strategies, support scholarship in the areas of teaching and learning, and recognize teaching excellence. The goal of the Center for Teaching Excellence has always been to strengthen the academic experience of our faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students by providing support for teaching and learning at Texas A&M. CTE has played a vital role in supporting efforts to develop effective and innovative teaching and learning practices, facilitating and encouraging connections between faculty and students, providing information and resources, taking part in university-level and national dialogues on teaching and faculty development, and recognizing the importance of its role in the preparation of future faculty.

Through its growing number of programs and services, the Center has become a place where faculty can come to explore the research on learning and teaching, enhance their teaching skills, speak comfortably and privately about their teaching concerns, or browse through our library of resources; it is a place where graduate teaching assistants can prepare for their current and future work as teachers, attend workshops to develop their classroom skills, gain help in preparing a syllabus or a teaching portfolio, or work with a mentor, and a place where undergraduates are invited to contribute to the dialogue about teaching enhancement. Most of all, the Center for Teaching Excellence is a place whose programs, services, and projects demonstrate that we believe strongly that teaching and learning excellence is a vital part of the mission of Texas A&M University, a mission to which we are proud to contribute.