About CELT

The Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching (CELT) supports faculty at Valdosta State University by providing professional development opportunities related to their roles as teachers, scholars, practitioners, and leaders throughout their career stages.

Here at CELT in collaboration with the Center for eLearning, faculty gather to share strategies for teaching face-to-face and online courses. At CELT, faculty discuss cutting-edge issues in higher education. At CELT, faculty learn leadership skills and renew their passion for the profession as they enter the next phase of their career. At CELT, faculty participate in scholarly writing groups and retreats, or have a comfortable space to work alone. Ultimately, faculty at CELT build relationships with colleagues in departments and colleges outside their own, especially when they are new faculty adjusting to the institution and region.

CELT faculty development programs include the following, or will be offered in the near future:

  • Faculty Learning Communities, whether they address the needs of a cohort of faculty, type of pedagogy, professional identity, strategic initiative, or current topic in higher education.
  • Roundtables, retreats, and institutes for writing, department heads, post-tenure faculty, or any faculty who share career aspirations and face similar struggles.
  • Open Classroom Days for faculty to see first-hand how their colleagues teach, and other peer observations of teaching that are separate from the formal promotion process.
  • A university-wide Peer Faculty Mentoring Program that matches faculty across ranks, departments, and colleges. 
  • One-on-one Instructional Consultations that target individual needs of teachers, or customized workshops that address pedagogical and curricular needs of an academic program
  • Funded faculty facilitators and a wide range of digital resources that advance the work of CELT and strategic initiatives of VSU.
  • A beautiful two-story historic building with multiple meeting rooms for faculty to work together or on their own, and where they can socialize over coffee in the lounge or kitchen. All faculty have 24-hour access to the building or can reserve a CELT room.
  • Campus-wide faculty development programs in partnership with offices and initiatives at VSU that support faculty and students, including the Center for eLearning, Employee & Organizational Development, Academic Support Center, Quality Enhancement Plan for experiential learning, among others. 
  • Blazer Nation Live! with Jamie & Ryan: live streaming show that spotlights VSU faculty engaged in the scholarship of teaching and learning, and their students. Click to watch on YouTube recent episodes about adult online learning and teaching with humor or virtual reality!