Mitchell Community College Celebrates The Grand Opening of Center for Teaching and Emerging Technologies

“Many people have asked me, now that you’ve had this grand opening, what now?” said Dr. Jonathan Howle, Director of Teaching Excellence as addressed the standing-room-only audience. “This center will be a site for collaboration, learning and growth that will be open to embrace all corners of Mitchell Community College because everyone here plays a part in teaching and learning.”

Aligning with one of Mitchell’s key priorities in its 2023-2028 strategic plan of Empowering Futures, the center plans to bring resources and training opportunities for Mitchell’s employees that will aid them in supporting the success of students. Currently, the center is located in the George W. Brawley Building at the Mooresville Campus with hopes to open another center on the Statesville Campus. 

“We are looking forward to the opportunities that it will bring faculty and staff – and ultimately our students,” said Dr. Marla Harris, Dean of the Mooresville Campus. “The training and workshops that will occur in this center will ultimately affect our students whether it’s in the classroom or in the services that we provide.” 

As co-chairs, Kell Wisdom, English and Humanities Faculty, and Dr. Micki Kaleta, Associate History Professor, spoke on behalf of the Teaching and Learning Council. 

“We want to thank Mitchell for making this a reality,” said Dr. Kaleta. “Faculty can come together and share and collaborate and commit to being better educators and better teachers.” 

Kell commented on how the center will highlight the innovation that already occurs at Mitchell: 

“Teaching doesn’t happen in a vacuum” added Kell. “Jon and this Center will highlight the innovation and skills of our faculty while providing opportunities to learn and grow and expand and connect with others across the campus and community college network. I’m excited about the greater opportunities ahead.”

Opening with a quote from Aristotle that posed a rhetorical question on excellence, Randy Ledford, VP for Learning, closed the grand opening ceremony.

“The first question I put forth when we formed the committee for teaching and learning was what is excellence? How do you define excellence?” said Ledford. “Booker T. Washington said that excellence is doing common things in not so common ways, which goes to the heart of innovation. We look at Mitchell’s core values, mission, and vision and we know what we’re about. That’s what this center is about. It’s about innovation, excellence, and integrity. It’s about taking faculty and staff to the next level. If faculty and staff are successful then the students are successful.”

The Center for Teaching Innovation and Emerging Technology plans to release a comprehensive calendar of workshops and training for the Spring 2025 semester. Information will be available on the College’s website calendar, internal calendar, and on the center’s web page: mitchellcc.edu/teaching-excellence