Kenyon College Mission Statement

At Kenyon, we build strong foundations for lives of purpose and consequence. We harness the transformative power of a liberal arts education — engaging in spirited, informed, and collaborative inquiry — to form a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the world and all who inhabit it.

Center for Innovative Pedagogy Mission Statement

The CIP facilitates faculty conversations about teaching. Through the resources of the center, Kenyon faculty augment their knowledge of effective pedagogies. The CIP staff assist faculty in implementing teaching and learning strategies in the classroom. The staff also assist faculty with investigating and evaluating pedagogical practices.

Strategic Goals

We envision this as a 5-year plan, to be evaluated and revised in 2027.

  1. The CIP encourages a collaborative, cross-disciplinary, and inclusive environment for the faculty.
    1. We will continue to prioritize cross-disciplinary topics for our book clubs, article clubs, and Faculty Learning Communities.
    2. The CIP will reach out to all new faculty members individually, to build relationships and introduce them to our office and our spaces.
    3. We will continue hosting writing groups, which have been popular venues for faculty to accomplish their work in community with others.
    4. We will introduce regular technology “sandbox” times, where faculty and staff can receive very short introductions to new tools and discuss ways in which they might be used in class. These sessions will prioritize exchange of ideas over “training”.
    5. We will offer a variety of levels of structure in our events, from highly spontaneous to highly structured.
    6. We will strive to offer a physical space that is welcoming, comfortable, and accessible to all members of the community, and promote its availability for both formal and informal faculty collaboration.
  2. The CIP supports faculty in creating inclusive classroom environments through both faculty development programming and direct consultation.
    1. The CIP will adopt some of the successful programs which have been supported through the college’s HHMI Inclusive Excellence grant. This includes the Natural Sciences Reading Group, the Kenyon Equity Institute Reads and Continuing Conversation programs, and the regular hosting and co-hosting of faculty presentations, external speakers, and longer workshops.
    2. Accessibility of course materials and activities is an inclusion issue. We will advance principles of universal design, which ensure that course materials are created with accessibility in mind, and work with SASS on providing training and services which can ease the burden of creating accessible courses.
  3. The CIP supports faculty in exploring new approaches to teaching, including the thoughtful use of technologies.
    1. Faculty prefer consultation at the point of need to training in advance of a specific case. We will advertise the availability of consultations with CIP staff, especially during the course design process.
    2. Faculty like hearing from other faculty about approaches which are working at Kenyon. We will institute a fall showcase where faculty can demonstrate their innovative approaches. We will also expand web resources where faculty can showcase their work.
    3. We will continue the summer What Works conference which brings a broader liberal arts community together for sharing their experiences. Over the period of this plan we will assess the benefits and drawbacks of keeping this conference as an online event.
    4. Our course design workshops have been a popular way to deliver consultation and training in a group format. We will extend the reach of this valuable workshop by reflecting elements of it better on our website and advertising the availability of those materials. 
    5. Mid-semester observations and classroom observation protocols can provide faculty members with valuable feedback for evaluating their teaching. We will continue to offer the GIFT service for mid-semester feedback, and design a service for offering classroom observations through the CIP. 
  4. The CIP contributes to awareness, use, and creation of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).
    1. We will continue to support the popular book and journal clubs which give faculty members time to engage with the scholarship of teaching and learning.
    2. We will continue to sponsor faculty learning communities (FLCs) as opportunities for small groups of faculty to work deeply with one particular topic in the scholarship of teaching and learning. 
    3. We will continue to sponsor and co-sponsor speakers who create or synthesize the scholarship of teaching and learning. We should sponsor at least one speaker in this area per year.
    4. We will offer services to help faculty members with awareness of the scholarship of teaching and learning. This will start with writing regular book or article reviews for the CIP website.
    5. We will encourage people to present or publish about their course innovations. This will include workshops on self-reflection, consultation on course designs which can lead to presentation/publication, small grants to defray the cost of conference attendance, and promotion of appropriate venues.
  5. The CIP publishes a website and social media accounts on new approaches to teaching, inclusive teaching, and the scholarship of teaching and learning.
    1. We will get community feedback on the usability and navigability of our website, working toward a redesign.
    2. We will survey the faculty about the communication channels where they would like to receive CIP content.
  6. The CIP staff are continually developing as professionals and community members.
    1. We will prioritize dedicating the time and resources needed for CIP staff to keep learning.
    2. We will engage with consortial, regional, national, and international organizations as venues where we can continue to develop, including by presenting our work at Kenyon, and by taking formal roles in organizations.
    3. We will let the campus know when and how we are engaged with external efforts to improve education, through our newsletter and social media.
    4. CIP staff members will explore the use of structured conversation techniques in our events, which make sure all voices are heard.