Welcome to the Institution Age: A Narrative of Change and the CTL

This article introduces and defines the term Institution Age, arguing that Centers for Teaching and Learning, while long-predicted to play a central role in institutional change, no longer have the luxury of deciding whether they will play such a role following the pandemic, and in order to help their institutions respond to the ongoing disruptions and challenges in higher education in the 21st century. Narrative reflection of one director’s experience moving from former “ages” within educational development to the “Institutional Age” recounts the effects following changes to the roles of a faculty-qua-director and other staff members, as well as changes to audiences served and projects undertaken outside of the traditional scope of educational and instructional development. The pairing of narrative reflection and this account of a CTL in the Institution Age is purposeful in order to document and highlight both the material and emotional effects of the ongoing difficulties facing higher education.