CTLs under the spotlight

by Alexandra Mihai, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.

Centres for Teaching and Learning (CTLs) have been consistently gaining relevance and visibility since the Covid-19 pandemic, becoming essential actors in the higher education ecosystem.

On 17 June 2025, CTLs were the focus of a pre-conference workshop organised in the context of the Media and Learning Annual Conference. The workshop, entitled “Maximising the impact of Centres for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Institutions”, was organised in collaboration with Npuls and KU Leuven and brought together colleagues working in CTLs in Europe and beyond. I had the privilege of facilitating a knowledge café aimed at providing a discussion platform to explore important topics related to the mission and functioning of CTLs.

This dynamic setup saw participants work in five small groups, building an initial knowledge base for each topic, followed by a journey through the various stations, to discuss and add input to the different topics. To conclude, the “hosts” of each station reported back on the discussions they had facilitated and the main ideas gathered.

The topics ranged from the role and mission of CTLs, their positioning within the university and the backgrounds of their staff, to how CTLs interact with technology support teams and how to make CTLs more visible on campus. Through the various interactions, each topic was enriched with new ideas, and several challenges were identified:

• CTL positioning and identity: the benefits and drawbacks of central- vs faculty-based CTLs were examined, as well as the links and potential synergies between the two levels. The diversity of institutional set-ups quickly became apparent, making it clear that one important task for CTLs is to constantly negotiate their role in the institutional ecosystem.

• CTL mission and role(s), and how they are evolving: the focus here was on the current challenges CTLs are facing, such as the use of GenAI and budget cuts. Are CTLs still mainly confined to academic development, or are they slowly but surely becoming agents of organisational change? What areas of activity should they become involved in, and what resources are necessary for that?

• The links between CTLs and teams providing educational technology support: this theme revolved around mapping different models (separate, integrated, hybrid, consultancy, etc.) and discussing collaboration channels and practices, as well as faculty perceptions of the support provided.

• CTL as a workplace: this theme focused on CTL staff, and participants explored topics such as staff backgrounds and skills, status and contracts (academic/non-academic), and career paths. These proved to be quite sensitive topics that all institutions are confronted with, and it became clear that they play an important role in the performance, engagement and perception of CTL staff.

• Enhancing the visibility of CTLs on campus: a topic that seemed to resonate well with all participants, as the output at this station consisted of a large number and range of ideas, from using various communication channels to connecting with other actors on campus who could become “CTL Ambassadors”.

It was great to see participants actively engaging with all of these topics and enjoying the company of like-minded peers from other institutional contexts. These exchanges are key to establishing more systematic collaboration networks among CTLs, which in turn enable them to increase their impact and diversify their activities.