Tenth Annual Provost’s Teaching & Learning Symposium

Your insight and teaching experience are critical as we re-envision general education at UMBC. Join colleagues across disciplines for the 10th Annual Provost’s Teaching and Learning Symposium, hosted by the Hrabowski Innovation Fund initiative.

This year’s theme, Re-Envisioning General Education: Developing a Unique Foundation to Support Students’ Life-Long Learning, is all about collaboratively imagining and building a transformative, future-focused curriculum—and your voice belongs in the conversation.

What to expect:

• 9:00 a.m.– Check-in, breakfast & UMBC Gen Ed Primer: Start the day connected and informed. [REGISTRATION REQUIRED, REGISTER FOR BREAKFAST & BACKGROUND HERE]

• 10:00 a.m. – Keynote Presentation: Fresh perspectives from a renowned expert on modern general education.

• 11:30 a.m.– Lunch and Facilitated Idea-Sharing Session: Reconnect with colleagues across campus while sharing your vision for the future of Gen Ed at UMBC. [REGISTRATION REQUIRED, REGISTER FOR LUNCH & IDEATION HERE]

• 2:00 p.m. – Poster & Teaching Tool Showcase: Discover practical strategies and tools you can take straight to your classroom. 

The agenda, program, and poster abstracts will be linked here closer to the Symposium.

This year’s keynote speaker, Dr. Paul Gaston, Distinguished Fellow in the Office of Curricular, Pedagogical, and Digital Innovation at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), will set the stage for our conversations around gen ed transformation through his talk: 

Essential Education for Interesting Times

The keynote challenges the assumption that general education is "general" by considering how a strong core or foundational program that supports all majors can createa distinct competitive advantage for the university. We will explore the essential elements of a highly intentional, coherent educational experience — from integrating high-impact practices (like learning communities, capstones, and undergraduate research) to building seamless continuity between gen ed and the major. By examining innovative models in the light of the priorities and needs of today’s students, attendees will discuss alternative approaches that address clearly defined competencies while fostering a deeper sense of community.

Paul L. Gaston, Trustees Professor Emeritus and former Provost at Kent State University, has pursued a focus on general education throughout his career. He is a former board member of AAC&U and served on the faculty of its Institution for General Education and Assessment for nearly 20 years. He is the author of three AAC&U monographs on general education reform, including General Education Transformed: How We Can, Why We Must (AAC&U, 2015) and Revising General Education And Avoiding the Potholes (AAC&U, 2009), and co-author of Lumina Foundation’s Degree Qualifications Profile. As a consultant on general education, he has made presentations and led discussions on more than 60 campuses. He is the author of US Higher Education Accreditation: How It’s Changing, Why It Must (2013), Credentials with Michelle Van Noy (2022), and Rebuilding Support for US Higher Education (2024), all published by Routledge. In the spring of 2026, he was elected as a member of the board of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC).

While the majority of the program this year is devoted to faculty and staff only, graduate students are invited to attend the afternoon poster session.

Please note that attendance at the morning activities (9 a.m. through 2 p.m.) and/or the poster and teaching tool showcase (2 p.m. through 3:30 p.m.) counts toward the ALIT (√) or INNOVATE (§) certificates. Attending the entire event (9 a.m. through 3:30 p.m.) counts as two programs for the certificate requirements.