Mentoring to let profs help peers

Despite a tight budget, College Dean Matthew Santirocco and the Committee for Undergraduate Education will set up a new mentor system where award-winning professors will offer advice to any faculty members concerned about their teaching. Starting next fall, a number of University professors who have won the Abrams and Lindback teaching awards will offer to give teaching pointers to their peers. Santirocco praised this system, saying that he hopes these new programs will "galvanize individual departments to do the same thing" because "every department should have a mentor program." Santirocco said the mentor program is just one of a number of low-cost programs the groups have been working on to help improve the level of teaching in the College. The groups also plan to establish a videotaping program where all professors can be videotaped teaching at no cost so they can review their teaching style. The programs will be headquartered in an informal teaching center in Santirocco's office. The Rosengarten Reserve Room will house part of the program -- a small library on education research. Santirocco also said he plans to give next year's incoming teaching assistants and faculty members separate TA and faculty handbooks on teaching, unlike in past years when there was a single handbook for both groups. Training is another one of Santirocco's targets. The TA training program, which currently takes place only at the beginning of the year, will be extended throughout the year. Although Biology Professor and CUE member Ingrid Waldron said she does not think the teaching quality at the University has declined, she said "we could always improve." English professor and CUE member Peter Conn said the programs will be useful in raising teaching standards. "The new teaching center has two purposes," Conn said. "The first is symbolic . . . to signify the commitment of Penn's faculty and administration to the improvement of undergraduate teaching. The second is practical . . . to provide support to all teachers at all levels who would like to improve their teaching."

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