Partners

The Searle Center for Teaching Excellence develops programs and initiatives in collaboration with partners at Northwestern, as well as other institutions in the local Chicago area and beyond.

At Northwestern:

Feinberg Academy of Medical Educators (FAME)

The Feinberg Academy of Medical Educators aims to promote a culture of excellence in teaching and learning for the faculty, residents, and other teachers at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Check the FAME calendar for a list of upcoming events. The Searle Center offers faculty development workshops open to all FAME members.

Northwestern University Ventures in Biology Education (nuViBE)

Funded by the Howards Hughes Medical Institute, the nuViBE program aims to transform undergraduate education in the biological sciences. The Searle Center is collaborating with faculty in the Program in Biological Sciences to revise the introductory biology curriculum, by organizing a series of workshops on modern pedagogical methods, course design, active learning.  The Searle Center is also providing continuing support through the course development process

Collaborative Learning and Integrated Mentoring in the Biosciences (CLIMB)

The CLIMB program is a professional development program for bioscience PhD students. Participants develop advanced skills for collaborating, communicating and conducting research across disciplines, and to accelerate their scientific careers. The Searle Center is evaluating the CLIMB program by measuring the impact of the program on students' research self-efficacy, research skills, and career plans.

Northwestern’s Online Writing Resources (NuWrite)

Sponsored and maintained by Northwestern's Writing Program, NuWrite provides materials about writing and teaching writing produced by Northwestern faculty. The Searle Center evaluates NuWrite activities. 

University Academic Advising Center (UAAC)

The UAAC assists students in developing meaningful educational plans that are compatible with their life goals.  The Center focuses on health professions advising, general advising and also offers various academic support programs and services. In collaboration with UAAC, the Searle Center launched a 2011–2012 pilot initiative called the Academic Mentoring Program (AMP). The AMP pilot program provides academic support for undergraduates enrolled in introductory economics courses.

Academic & Research Technologies (A&RT)

A department of Northwestern University Information Technology (NUIT), A&RT supports faculty in their primary roles as instructors and researchers.  A&RT also provides access to educational technologies and various multimedia resources for the larger Northwestern community. The Searle Center co-develops and co-facilitates workshops with A&RT regarding teaching with technology.

Beyond Northwestern:

Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, An-Najah National University 

The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at An-Najah National University, in Nablus, Palestine, seeks to impact teaching and learning both at institutional, national, and international levels by facilitating the transition of the University to a learner-centered paradigm in teaching and research.  The Director and Faculty Fellows of CELT are International Teaching Fellows at the Searle Center. 

This collaboration is part of the Palestinian Faculty Development Project, funded by a joint initiative between AMIDEAST (America-Mideast Education and Training Services, Inc.), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Open Society Institute.

The Critical Thinking Initiative in STEM (CTIS)

The CTIS program is a collaboration between the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) and the Searle Center to enhance critical thinking in undergraduate STEM courses at the two institutions.  The program is generously funded by a Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science (TUES) grant from the National Science Foundation TNSF-funded program (DUE-0942404).