TLA discussion groups begin next week on campus

The Teaching-Learning Academy dialogue groups at Western Washington University begin Jan. 11 with the question "How can we engage and connect multiple voices to strengthen Western as a 21st-century liberal arts university?"

Groups meet every other week on either Wednesday or Thursday in the Learning Commons in Wilson Library Room 270. Dates for winter quarter are Jan 11 and 12, Jan. 25 and 26, Feb. 8 and 9, Feb. 22 and 23 and March 7 and 8.

To sign up, just email TLA Program Coordinator Shevell Thibou at thibous2@students.wwu.edu.

Students who are interested in earning Communication 339 practicum credit for participating should contact Carmen Werder at carmen.werder@wwu.edu. Faculty, staff and community members are welcome to attend when possible and to stay for as long as schedules permit.

The TLA is the central forum for the scholarship of teaching and learning at Western. Engaged in studying the intersections between teaching and learning, TLA members include faculty, students, administrators and staff from throughout the university, as well as several alumni and community members. In addition to the bi-weekly sessions, the TLA also sponsors all-campus forums with featured speakers as well as professional development workshops and seminars.

Grounded in the scholarship of teaching and learning, the TLA's central mission is to create a community of scholars who work together to better understand the existing learning culture, to share that understanding with others and to enhance the learning environment for everyone.