Mission statement
CTL aims to advance evidence-based innovation that promotes excellence in learning and teaching for student access with success. 

Strategic objectives:

• To become a research leader in the areas of learning and teaching, student engagement and the use of analytics. 
• To provide contextualised professional development for current and next generation academics and academic leaders.
• To enable innovation in inclusive curriculum design, delivery, and assessment.
• To create and lead high impact practices that advance student learning and employability.
• To lead the practice of academic advising and enable flexible access with success. 
• To lead innovation in student transition and the integration of graduate attributes in the curriculum and co-curriculum.
• To develop students’ academic language and literacy skills to support their academic careers. 

A caring collaboration has been key to the success of the University of the Free State (UFS) Centre of Teaching and Learning (CTL) over the past decade, with 223 national and 52 international conference papers, and various publications, including 288 research reports, two books, 93 articles/book chapters/peer-reviewed conference publications, and the supervision of 35 postgraduate students. 

CTL follows a collaborative approach, focused on continuously adapting to the strategic changes in the environment and the learning and teaching needs of faculties and students, and a scholarship-driven approach built on research and evidence-based practice in all its work. CTL projects are informed by research on national and international trends in specific areas and continuous needs analyses based on academics’ and students’ inputs.

A focus on impact has enabled visibility

Over the years, CTL has been involved in various high-impact practice (HIP) programmes and projects that have increased impact and exposure, such as:

• The South African Surveys of Student Engagement (SASSE) – a recognised robust, longitudinal research project that has helped put students at the centre of institutional design.
• CTL initiatives played a learning role in the Siyaphumelela network, which focuses on improving student success. 
• The A_STEP tutorial programme, which employs an average of 450 students annually, empowering them to support 13 000 of their peers to succeed and preparing them to be more employable.
  
• The Academic Language and Literacy Development (ALLD) team, which helps an average of 20 000 students per year through literacy courses and the Write Site.