Center for Teaching and Learning moves to Chestnut

Mai Hoang

Western faculty will no longer have to walk down four flights of stairs to get some help with their teaching.

The Center for Teaching and Learning is moving from its home on the first floor of Cravens Library to the corner of Chestnut and 31-W Bypass.

The house is owned by the WKU Foundation.

Sally Kuhlenschmidt, director for the Center for Teaching and Learning, said the move will make it easier for faculty to visit the center.

She said the center’s staff is in the process of moving, and she hopes they will be settled in their new space by mid-December. The cost has not yet been determined.

The idea to move came from the center’s advisory council.

Linda Todd, a member of the advisory council, said she has been concerned about the center for years.

At the Cravens Library location, it is difficult for faculty to stop by to rent equipment or pay a quick visit because of the lack of parking near the Cravens Library, she said.

The house will have plenty of parking, making it easier for faculty from both the community college and the main campus to visit.

The new location will be more accessible for faculty members with disabilities.

The current location does not provide such access, Todd said.

“I think the location where we’re moving is very exciting because I think it’s going to expand the possible services of the center to become a true faculty center,” Todd said.

The center offers programs and resources for faculty to help improve their teaching. They can rent equipment, such as overhead projectors, to use in their classes.

Faculty can also attend seminars on a variety of teaching issues.

Additional space at the new location will create more meeting space for faculty as well as a place to hold job applicant receptions, Kuhlenschmidt said.

“It will be a very nice place for receptions or special speakers,” she said.

Along with a new home, the name of the Center for Teaching and Learning will be changed to the Faculty Center for Excellence. The name will be changed to prevent confusion with The Learning Center, which is a student tutoring service.

Provost Barbara Burch said the center’s new location and new name will help facilitate its expansion of programs and resources.

She said it will also encourage the faculty to take advantage of the center’s services.

“It gives them a place of identity,” she said. “It belongs to the faculty to get help that benefits them. It’s very visible.”

Western is still in the process of deciding what will be done with the open space in Cravens Library, Burch said.

Reach Mai Hoang at [email protected].