Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Texas Collaborative for Teaching Excellence?

  • The Collaborative exists to support quality teaching at all community and technical colleges in Texas. Its purpose is to promote a collegial, cooperative approach to professional development statewide and provide an infrastructure to enable colleges to share resources and avoid duplication.
  • The Collaborative's electronic clearinghouse and five regional centers for teaching excellence work in partnership to develop and disseminate professional development resources to faculty statewide.

How can my college participate?
If you are associated with a two-year college in Texas, you are already a member! The Collaborative seeks your college's active involvement in sharing professional development ideas and resources.  Use the Collaborative's resources to enrich your institution's professional development programs.  Share best practices in professional development from your college to promote improved teaching and learning statewide.  

Who are the partner institutions?

  • Del Mar College
  • El Paso Community College
  • Northeast Texas Junior College
  • Northwest College, Houston Community College System
  • South Texas College
  • Tomball College, North Harris Montgomery College System
  • Tyler Junior College
  • Western Texas College

What are the Regional Centers of Excellence?

Center for Teaching and Learning
Addresses topics such as learning styles, active learning techniques, critical thinking, assessment, teaching strategies, diversity, classroom management, syllabus development, and support for adjuncts.

Center for Career and Personal Development
Provides tools for improving the quality of work and life, such as stress management, emotional wellness and leadership development.

Center for Online Technology
Tyler Junior College - lead institution
Focuses on improving faculty members’ ability to use the Internet as a teaching tool and on the provision of online tools for assisting in the instructional process. The Center provides online curricula and onsite workshops for Internet faculty.

Center for Technology in the Classroom
Facilitates the Master Teacher Course in Educational Technology and a follow-up certification opportunity for course graduates. The course is designed to improve participants' educational technology skills for the purposes of ultimately enhancing student success and providing educators more professional development opportunities through advanced technologies.

Center for Discipline Development
Northwest College - lead institution
Focuses on helping faculty members build knowledge and skills within specialty technical areas or integrated academic disciplines.

Who manages the Collaborative?
El Paso Community College provides fiscal and administrative leadership of the Collaborative. Under subcontracts with EPCC, CORD (an educational non-profit) provides technical support for the project and maintains the Clearinghouse, and Dr. Molly Boyd serves as the project evaluator.

How is the Collaborative funded?
The Collaborative is funded through a grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which awarded Perkins funds for the project, #51102. (Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act of 1998)

I know about some professional development resources or events that you don’t have listed.  Can I submit them to you?
Yes!  Please e-mail [email protected] to suggest additional resources.

© Texas Collaborative for Teaching Excellence, 2002-2003
Developed by CORD
This site was made possible by a Carl D. Perkins Grant.