The Coulter Faculty Commons’ (CFC) Summer Institute for Teaching and Learning (SITL) is our premier annual teaching and learning event, designed to inspire innovation, encourage collaboration, and celebrate excellence in teaching and learning. The two-day event was held May 13 & 14, and our theme was River Valleys to Mountain Peaks: Expanding Our Teaching Horizons. SITL featured both general and concurrent sessions, and a newly added leadership track for department heads. More than 20 faculty and staff from across campus and guest speakers from our neighbors at Mars Hill University led workshops at SITL.

Pictured above: SITL participants in small groups discussing items to add to their “Good List” during SITL 2026.

67 participants attended SITL this year and in survey feedback, 96% indicated that they planned to make changes to their teaching as a result of SITL in the following areas: innovative assessment; inclusive course design; student engagement and active learning; and learning supports and resources. The word cloud below represents specific changes faculty plan to make. By offering SITL and other programming, CFC continues to serve as an “anchoring partner” (Stitt-Bergh, Fowler, Donaldson, Richardson, Hunter, & Patterson, 2023) for our teaching and learning community by creating opportunities to explore, adopt, and implement research-informed teaching practices that strengthen student learning and support teaching excellence across WCU.

Stitt-Bergh, M., Fowler, D., Donaldson, J. P., Richardson, R., Hunter, T. & Patterson, C. A., (2023). Designing for impact: The center for teaching and learning as a cultivator of a faculty learner-leader praxis. To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development 42(2): 1. https://doi.org/10.3998/tia.2491