Excellence in Teaching and Learning

Defining Excellence in Teaching and Learning 

Foundational to excellent teaching at Detroit Mercy is a dedication to discernment through the process of reflection. Detroit Mercy faculty and students are expected to participate in these processes regularly in alignment with Mercy and Jesuit traditions, which include a passion for quality, an emphasis on ethics and values, care for and education of the whole person, academic excellence, and real world and life-long learning. 

With a passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Detroit Mercy faculty strive to create an inclusive environment and support academic growth by meeting learners where they are with rigor, compassion, and personalized attention. Detroit Mercy faculty embrace a variety of teaching modalities, engage with emerging pedagogies and best practices, while aiming to improve teaching and learning through professional development activities. The faculty’s dedication to student well-being includes a thoughtful and practical attention to the employment market and how best to help situate its graduates for career success. 

Excellent teaching at Detroit Mercy is also excellent learning and therefore, is defined as an ongoing commitment to fostering an environment in which both instructors and students commit to their mutual responsibilities: instructors are experts in their respective disciplines as well as pedagogical professionals and students are respectful, eager, and engaged learners. 

While individual disciplines may include additional goals in their definitions of excellent teaching and learning, the following includes universally accepted maxims supported by research on best practices for instruction at the college and university level: 

As Excellent Teachers, Detroit Mercy Faculty: 

• Model Inspired Learning 
• Create an environment that strives for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 
• Provide Rigor and Challenge 
• Communicate Effectively and Consistently 
• Focus on Student-Centered Mentoring 
• Foster and Engage in Reflection and Self-Reflection 

As Excellent Learners, Detroit Mercy Students: 

• Commit to Learning 
• Embrace a classroom environment that strives for diversity, equity, and inclusion 
• Accept Rigor, Challenge, and Responsibility 
• Respect their Instructors and Class Colleagues 
• Value their Instructors’ Knowledge 
• Engage in Reflection and Self-Reflection 

In embracing these goals, both Detroit Mercy faculty and students strive for an excellent teaching and learning community that inspires both student and instructor, demands rigor of both, and facilitates intellectual, spiritual, ethical, and social growth. 

Adopted by the faculty assemblies on all campuses: McNichols (October 6, 2022), Riverfront (April 12, 2023), and Corktown (April 25, 2023).