Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning

What Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning does

Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is an internal academic support center within Columbia University, operating under the Office of the Provost and the Office of Teaching, Learning, and Innovation. CTL provides pedagogical consultation, instructional technology support, and professional development services to Columbia University faculty and graduate students across both the Morningside Heights and Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) campuses. Its service model is consultative: dedicated Learning Designers are assigned to nearly every Columbia school and department, providing scheduled consultations, teaching observations, course design support, and department-specific workshops. All services are provided free of charge, with funding flowing through Columbia's institutional budget.

CTL's core offerings span three areas: Faculty Programs and Services (teaching feedback, Faculty Communities of Practice, CTL To Go on-site workshops, Provost Teaching and Learning Grants administration, and the Students as Pedagogical Partners initiative); Graduate Student Programs (Teaching Development Pathways with transcript notation and CTL certification, Mid-Course Reviews, Teaching Observations, Lead Teaching Fellowships); and Resources and Technology (CourseWorks/Canvas LMS support, Poll Everywhere, Gradescope, Zoom, Ed Discussion, and the Teaching with AI program). The Teaching with AI program includes custom AI chatbot building workshops using Google Gemini, an AI Faculty Learning Community, and resources on AI syllabus statements and ethical AI use. Additional programs include the Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning podcast, the SOLER (Science of Learning Research Initiative), alternative grading approaches, inclusive teaching resources, clinical teaching series, constructive dialogue programming, and mentorship communities of practice.

CTL operates on a non-commercial model with no external revenue or paying customers. It is funded entirely through Columbia University's institutional budget via the Office of the Provost and does not have independent ownership or external investors. Distribution is multi-channel: a weekly newsletter, podcast, YouTube event recordings, LinkedIn and X/Twitter presence, on-site department visits through CTL To Go, and online self-paced courses. The center integrates with Columbia's CourseWorks (Canvas) LMS and supports a broad portfolio of educational technology platforms. CTL does not develop proprietary AI models; its AI capabilities are applied and educational, built on third-party generative AI infrastructure.

Name

Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning

Legal name

Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning

Website

https://ctl.columbia.edu

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning is a non-profit academic support center within Columbia University that provides pedagogical consultation, instructional technology support, and professional development services to Columbia faculty and graduate students across all schools and departments.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. University-Funded Operations: CTL is a department within Columbia University's Office of the Provost, funded through university operational budgets. All services are provided free of charge to Columbia faculty and graduate students.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning is a university-level pedagogical support center that partners with Columbia faculty, graduate students, and departments to support excellence and innovation in teaching and learning. It delivers direct teaching consultations, observations, workshops, instructional technology support (CourseWorks/Canvas, AI tools), communities of practice, teaching development pathways for graduate instructors, and specialized programs on inclusive teaching, AI in education, alternative grading, and mentorship, all free of charge to the Columbia community.

Product overview

Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is a university-level pedagogical support center, not a commercial product company. The CTL offers a coordinated suite of teaching support services organized around a central advising and consultation model. Core offerings include Faculty Programs and Services (teaching feedback, observations, communities of practice), Graduate Student Programs (Teaching Development Pathways, Mid-Course Reviews, Teaching Observations), and Resources & Technology (CourseWorks support, instructional technology workshops). Key programs include Teaching with AI (AI chatbot building with Google Gemini, AI-aware course design), the Students as Pedagogical Partners (SAPP) student-faculty partnership initiative, the Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning Podcast, and SOLER research initiative. Services are delivered through CTL To Go (on-site workshops), online self-paced courses (Course Design Essentials, Blended Learning Essentials), Faculty Orientation, and Provost-funded grants. The CTL integrates with Columbia's CourseWorks (Canvas) LMS, Poll Everywhere, Zoom, Gradescope, Ed Discussion, and other educational technology platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning: The CTL's podcast exploring ideas in teaching and learning
• SOLER
• Columbia+

Products and services

• CTL To Go

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Office of the ProvostcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCTL is a department within Columbia University's Office of the Provost. The Provost provides funding opportunities for faculty through Request for Proposals for innovative course design, instructional technology projects, and MOOCs. CTL provides logistical, organizational, and instructional support for these funded projects.
• Office of Teaching, Learning, and InnovationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Office of Teaching, Learning, and Innovation is part of the Provost's office and works closely with CTL on faculty orientation, funding opportunities, and teaching innovation initiatives.
• Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty AdvancementcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCTL partners with the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement to deliver the Office of the Provost Faculty Orientation for new and junior faculty.
• CIRTL NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCTL offers CIRTL (Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning) Network opportunities, providing graduate students access to free online resources, workshops, and courses focused on evidence-based teaching.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• University of Pennsylvania Center for Teaching and Learning: Penn's university teaching center offering pedagogical consultations, course design, instructional technology support, and graduate student teaching programs — directly comparable to CTL's service portfolio at another Ivy League institution.
• Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning (Harvard): Harvard's university-wide teaching and learning center, providing pedagogical consultation, course design support, and faculty development programs to Harvard faculty and graduate students — the closest functional analog to CTL at a peer Ivy League institution.
• Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning (Brown): Brown's central teaching center providing teaching consultations, course design support, learning communities, and graduate student teaching development — operating under the same institutional model as CTL at a peer Ivy League institution.
• McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning (Princeton): Princeton's central teaching center offering teaching consultations, learning communities, graduate student teaching programs, and AI-related pedagogical support — closely mirrors CTL's service portfolio within a peer Ivy League university.
• UC Berkeley Center for Teaching and Learning: Berkeley's central teaching and learning center offering pedagogical consultations, learning communities, course design support, and graduate student teaching programs — a comparable university-level support hub at a public research university.
• MIT Teaching and Learning Laboratory: MIT's central teaching and learning lab conducting educational research, evaluation, and program development to improve teaching at MIT — directly comparable to CTL's blend of pedagogical support and learning-science research (CTL's SOLER initiative).
• Cornell Center for Teaching Innovation: Cornell's university-wide teaching innovation hub providing course design, instructional technology, teaching observation, and AI integration support to faculty and graduate students — a direct functional peer to CTL across another elite research institution.
• Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning (Yale): Yale's central teaching center offering teaching consultations, observations, learning communities, and graduate student teaching development — operating under Yale's Office of the Provost with the same institutional model as CTL.
• Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning: Stanford's university teaching center providing pedagogical consultations, teaching observations, course design support, and AI-in-education programming — a near-exact structural parallel to CTL, including recent work on generative AI in teaching.

Emerging players

• CIRTL Network: A national consortium of universities (including Columbia via CTL) focused on evidence-based teaching in STEM; CTL offers CIRTL Network opportunities to its graduate students. Relevant as both a partnership channel and a broader field-development network that overlaps with CTL's mission.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ColumbiaCTL
• YouTubeyoutube.com/columbiactl
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/columbia-center-for-new-media-teaching-and-learning

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning