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Published April 19, 2004; Category: ADMINISTRATION
'DCAL' to help develop new teaching methods
Honoring its historic commitment to providing outstanding teaching,
Dartmouth has announced plans to create the Dartmouth Center for the
Advancement of Learning.
"The center will work with faculty on matters common to all teachers,
and will provide opportunities to examine such issues as the effectiveness of
technology in the classroom, learning evaluation, and interdisciplinary
education."
- Provost Barry Scherr
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Located in Baker-Berry
Library, the center will coordinate programs and fellowships enabling
faculty members to develop new pedagogies, especially in digital technology and
new media. It will also orient new faculty members to Dartmouth's teaching
environment, which encourages close teacher-student relationships and a
hands-on, discovery-based approach to exchanging knowledge.
Principal funding for the center will come from two alumni gifts totaling
$4.5 million. Gordon W. Russell '55 has pledged $3 million to establish the
Gordon W. Russell Endowment for the Advancement of Learning. R. Stephen Cheheyl
'67 has given $1.5 million to support the work of the center's director, who
will be named the Cheheyl Professor. (See "Luxon to direct new
center for learning")
"Dartmouth's faculty are recognized scholars as well as passionate
teachers," said President
James Wright. "Gordie Russell's and Steve Cheheyl's generous gifts
will further Dartmouth's academic reputation by advancing the latest strategies
for engaging students in learning."
Russell, a resident of Portola Valley, Calif., is a former general partner
of Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm. He is a trustee of the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the Woods Hole Research Center, and
the Ravenswood Family Health Center in East Palo Alto, Calif. He is also a
founder of the Sun Valley Writers Conference. A member of the President's
Leadership Council at Dartmouth, he is the former chairman of the Board of
Overseers of Dartmouth Medical
School and the C. Everett Koop
Institute. His philanthropy to the College includes endowments to the Native American Program, a medical
school professorship, and a fund for excellence in athletics.
Cheheyl, who lives in Concord, Mass., is a private investor and consultant
specializing in information technology, mergers and acquisitions, financing,
and corporate strategy. He retired in 1995 as executive vice president of
business operations at Bay Networks, a $2 billion data networking company. He
is on the boards of directors of several private and publicly held technology
companies and is a member of Dartmouth's Computing Advisory Group, which
advises the College on strategic information technology issues. In 2001 he
established the Robert S. Cheheyl '38 and R. Stephen Cheheyl '67 Endowment to
encourage Dartmouth faculty members to incorporate innovative technologies in
the teaching and learning environment. Since that time, the endowment has
funded the work of nine Cheheyl Fellows in disciplines from government to
astronomy to art history. Cheheyl has previously provided substantial funding
to build the College's wired data network infrastructure.
"Teaching methods are constantly evolving, yet the principles of
good teaching are constant," said Provost Barry Scherr. "The center
will work with faculty on matters common to all teachers, and will provide
opportunities to examine such issues as the effectiveness of technology in the
classroom, learning evaluation, and interdisciplinary education."
Led by a director chosen from the Dartmouth faculty for a three-year term,
the Center for the Advancement of Learning will serve faculty members,
students, and administrators. The first director, appointed last December, will
be Thomas H. Luxon, Associate Professor of English, who has a particular
interest in the uses of technology in the humanities. Luxon, who was a Cheheyl
Fellow in 2001, will become the inaugural Cheheyl Professor effective July
1.
"We are part of a national trend to consolidate faculty support in
teaching and learning with advanced technology," Luxon said.
"Dartmouth, with its rich history in teaching, information technology, and
scholarship, has a leadership role to play here. The center will provide the
way."
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