This is the first installment of our Graduate Assistant Spotlight Series, which aims to introduce you to our student staff in the Center for Teaching. Mike Sebastian is the senior graduate research assistant at the Center for Teaching.

In this special guest contribution, 2024-25 Graduate Teaching Fellow Kit Fynaardt (Mathematics) offers a reflection on his experiences as learner and as a teacher, highlighting the value of intellectual empathy.

For our staff spotlight, we’re delighted to introduce you to our newest staff member. Allie Brandriet joined our team this spring as an assistant director at the Center for Teaching.

The 2025 Course Design Institute took place from May 19–23 and included 18 instructors representing 14 departments across 6 colleges and units. Throughout the week, participants engaged in a student-centered, backward design process, beginning with identifying what they wanted students to remember long after the course ended, then aligning learning objectives, assignments, and activities to support those goals.