News + Updates

A Message from Neil Hair, Executive Director, Center for Teaching and Learning

Dear Colleagues,

As we close this academic year at RIT, I want to express my thanks to everyone who has contributed to another impactful year at the Center for Teaching and Learning working on your behalf.

To our CTL team: Your dedication, creativity, and resilience have been the foundation of our work. We’ve repaired classrooms, run engaging workshops, maintained academic technology systems, triaged faculty problems and solutions, facilitated teaching circles and worked hard to stand up our third Summer Institute for Teaching and Learning (May 14-16th as a reminder!). Your commitment to our teaching community remains strong and I'm privileged to work alongside you.

To our Faculty Fellows: Thank you for sharing your expertise, mentoring colleagues, and championing evidence-based teaching practices across all disciplines. Your leadership in this role have contributed greatly to enhancing our teaching culture, and taking the student learning experience to the next level at RIT.

To our campus partners in Academic Affairs, the AI Hub, Library, Student Government and all of our academic departments: Your collaboration has been invaluable in helping us create an intentional approach to supporting and enhancing teaching excellence at RIT.

I hope you all take well-deserved time to rest during the summer break. Rest assured CTL, including its award winning classroom team, will continue to work hard to ready the teaching ecosphere for your return in the Fall.

With sincere appreciation,
Neil

Faculty Fellow Highlight

Raj Murthy serves as the inaugural Faculty Fellow in Business, he is an expert in student engagement practices and in the interpretation of student ratings data. Having served on promotion and tenure committees for many years he is able to assist faculty in building teaching narratives and can help as a thought partner in developing engaging teaching techniques. Make sure you connect with him!

Explore Active Learning

Did you know that the CTL offers tips, resources, and RIT examples to help you integrate active learning strategies in your teaching practices? 

Visit our Active Learning (AL) webpage, where you can find recent examples and presentations from RIT Faculty, as well as guidance on choosing and implementing appropriate AL activities, teaching in the SHED, and understanding student responses to AL. The Active Learning page also links to a comprehensive guidebook for adopting active learning strategies in any discipline. 

• Designing Active Learning Activities
• Teaching in the SHED
• Learning Activities
• Activity Examples from RIT Faculty
• Student Testimonials

Our team is also here to meet with faculty one-on-one to support the integration of active learning in any course, if you prefer individualized guidance. 

Propose a Teaching Circle for Fall Semester

A teaching circle is a small group of teachers who meet regularly on-campus and/or via Zoom to discuss a specific teaching and learning topic. 

CTL is seeking RIT faculty and other instructors of record who are interested in proposing a topic and facilitating a teaching circle in Fall semester 2025.

Please submit your proposal by August 8, 2025. Applicants will be notified of their status on a rolling basis.

Get Ready for Fall with the CTL!

The new academic year will be here before we know it! The CTL team has been busy planning a series of workshops designed to support you as you launch into the fall semester. Some of our upcoming start-of-semester sessions include:

• Crafting an AI Syllabus Policy
• Using Microsoft Co-Pilot for Course Design
• Teaching at RIT: Open Q&A for New Instructors
• myCourses Help Drop-in Sessions

Whether you are fine-tuning your course materials or exploring new technologies, our team is here all summer to assist with course design, instructional strategies, and technology integration.

If you have an idea for a workshop you would love to see offered, let us know. We are always looking for new ways to tailor our programming to your needs.

We look forward to seeing you at a CTL learning opportunity this fall!

Upcoming Events

Summer Institute for Teaching and Learning
May 14-16 | This annual symposium is a celebration of teaching and learning at RIT, and a time for faculty to come together to discuss and inspire each other on a variety of teaching and learning topics. With the theme of Creativity and Innovation, session tracks will include Teaching with Technology, Engaging Learning Experiences, Advancing Faculty Success, and Exploring AI In Practice.

AUG 19 | Crafting an AI Course Syllabus Policy (1pm)
Learn how to develop a well-considered AI policy statement for your syllabus.

AUG 20 | Using CoPilot for Course Design (12pm)
Learn how to use Microsoft CoPilot to streamline course planning, draft a course syllabi, write learning objectives, design assignments, and develop rubrics.

AUG 21 | Intro to Teaching Technologies at RIT (6pm)
Intro to Teaching Technologies at RIT: Overview of essential tools for instructors.

AUG 22 | myCourses Help Sessions (10am)
Join our myCourses Drop-In Q&A: Get your instructor questions answered in real-time.

AUG 26 | myCourses Help Sessions (12:30pm)
Join our myCourses Drop-In Q&A: Get your instructor questions answered in real-time.

AUG 26 | myCourses Help Sessions (6pm)
Join our myCourses Drop-In Q&A: Get your instructor questions answered in real-time.

Aug 27 | Teaching at RIT: Open Q&A for New Instructors (5pm)
Drop in session for faculty, especially those new to RIT, to ask any question they want about teaching.

Looking for Customized Support?

Tools for Teaching

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) supports faculty in using a variety of academic technologies. These three tools may not be as well-known but are still valuable for certain use cases. Learn more on our website.