Who We Are

The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) is an NSF Center for Learning and Teaching in higher education. CIRTL uses graduate education as the leverage point to develop a national STEM faculty committed to implementing and advancing effective teaching practices for diverse student audiences as part of successful professional careers. The goal of CIRTL is to improve the STEM learning of all students at every college and university, and thereby to increase the diversity in STEM fields and the STEM literacy of the nation.  

The CIRTL Network

To prepare the future STEM faculty of the nation, CIRTL must influence graduate-through-faculty preparation in teaching and learning at a significant number of research universities. Building on the CIRTL Core ideas, we propose to achieve this goal through a learning community of diverse research universities mutually engaged in teaching-as-research activities.

Established in fall 2006, the CIRTL Network was comprised of Howard University, Michigan State University, Texas A&M University, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Vanderbilt University. After substantial expansions in 2011 and 2016, the Network now includes universities from across the nation (see list below). The diversity of these institutions - private/public; large/moderate size; majority-/minority-serving; geographic location - is by design aligned with CIRTL's mission.

The Mission

The CIRTL mission is to enhance excellence in undergraduate education through the development of a national faculty committed to implementing and advancing effective teaching practices for diverse learners as part of successful and varied professional careers.