MSU Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation

What MSU Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation does

The Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation (CTLI) is an internal support unit of Michigan State University, a public land-grant research institution, located in Room W206 of the MSU Library in East Lansing, Michigan. The center's mandate is to advance equitable, student-centered teaching and learning across the university by serving all MSU educators — faculty, course instructors, graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants, administrators, researchers, advisors, graduate students, and staff in curriculum, educator development, or student success roles. Services are delivered at no charge and funded through MSU's operational budgets and the Office of the Provost.

CTLI's product portfolio combines cohort-based fellowship programs (Adams Academy Fellowship, Lilly Teaching Fellowship, Graduate Fellowship, Faculty Fellows, and Center Affiliates), the annual Spring TALKS conference (a teaching and learning tradition dating to 1995 that CTLI has fully organized since 2022), recurring workshops and consultations, grant and recognition programs (Catalyst Innovation Grant, Innovation Spotlight, Thank an Educator), the iTeach at MSU Commons publication platform, and a substantial Resource Library covering course design, D2L (Desire2Learn) LMS templates aligned to Quality Matters standards, syllabus design, inclusive teaching, generative AI integration, assessment, and accessibility. Technology integrations include D2L, Zoom, MSU MediaSpace, Microsoft Forms, and the MSU Bookings platform for workshop registration. New 2026 offerings include AI Commons — a collaborative platform on Knowledge Commons for ongoing educator discussion of generative AI — and a featured workshop, 'Teaching the AI-Ready Spartan,' focused on AI awareness, literacy, and proficiency in courses.

Commercially, CTLI is not a revenue-generating enterprise: it has no external customers, no disclosed pricing, no funding rounds, and no M&A activity. Its only economic flows are internal — stipend disbursements to fellows (e.g., $3,000 for Adams Academy; $10,000 for Lilly Teaching Fellowship, with a $5,000 match from fellows' home colleges) and modest sponsorship dollars for the TALKS conference. The unit operates as a cost center whose value is measured in educator development outcomes rather than top-line revenue.

Name

MSU Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation

Legal name

Michigan State University - Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation

Website

https://teachingcenter.msu.edu

Company type

Public

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CTLI is Michigan State University's internal Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation, providing free pedagogical consultations, cohort fellowships, workshops, and the annual Spring TALKS conference to all MSU educators. Funded by MSU operations and the Office of the Provost, it serves faculty, TAs, and graduate students exclusively within the university.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

East Lansing

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. University-funded educational support services: CTLI is an MSU centralized service unit funded through university operational budgets and the Office of the Provost. All programs, events, workshops, and fellowships are provided at no cost to MSU educators. Some fellowship programs (e.g., Lilly Teaching Fellowship) receive matching contributions from fellows' home colleges/departments.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CTLI is a centralized educational support unit that provides pedagogical consultations, professional development workshops, cohort-based fellowship programs, grants and recognition awards, an annual teaching and learning conference, and an extensive online resource library to all MSU educators. All services are delivered at no cost to educators and are funded by the university's Office of the Provost. The center's portfolio also includes D2L learning management system training, generative AI integration guidance, and inclusive teaching resources.

Product overview

The Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation (CTLI) at Michigan State University is an educational support center, not a software product company. It offers a unified portfolio of professional development programs, educational services, and resource libraries designed to advance equitable, student-centered teaching and learning across MSU. The core offerings include five cohort-based fellowship programs (Adams Academy Fellowship, Lilly Teaching Fellowship, Graduate Fellowship, Faculty Fellows, and Center Affiliates), the annual Spring TALKS Conference, workshop programs, consultation services, publication platforms (iTeach at MSU Commons, AI Commons), grant and recognition programs (Catalyst Innovation, Innovation Spotlight, Thank an Educator), and an extensive Resource Library. These services work together to support MSU educators through collaboration, innovation, and evidence-based teaching practices.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Adams Academy Fellowship A premier year-long fellowship at MSU for educators exploring transformative approaches to teaching and learning. Fellows receive a $3,000 professional development stipend, participate in monthly pedagogy talks, develop living artifacts of their teaching practice, and contribute to iTeach at MSU Commons.
• Lilly Teaching Fellowship A year-long fellowship cultivating seasoned educators dedicated to teaching excellence. Fellows receive $10,000 total support ($5,000 from CTLI and $5,000 from their college) and conduct Teaching-as-Research through a cycle of diagnosing, studying, implementing, and reflecting on instructional innovations.
• Graduate Fellowship A professional residency within CTLI for Ph.D. or Ed.D. students, offered in collaboration with The Graduate School. Fellows learn educational development theory in fall semester and work as an interdisciplinary project team in spring to address a high-priority educator need.
• Faculty Fellows Program

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The Graduate School at MSUcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCTLI partners with The Graduate School to co-host the Graduate Fellowship program, a professional residency within CTLI for Ph.D. and Ed.D. students. The Graduate School provides financial and administrative support for this fellowship cohort.
• Office of the Provost at MSUcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Office of the Provost provides generous funding that enables CTLI to host the annual Spring TALKS conference at no cost to presenters or participants. The Provost's Office is the primary institutional backer of CTLI's core programming.
• MSU Colleges and DepartmentscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMSU's various colleges and departments provide matching financial support for fellowship programs (e.g., $5,000 unit match per Lilly Teaching Fellow) and serve as the home base for CTLI's cohort program participants. Colleges co-sponsor and endorse educator participation in CTLI programs.
• TALKS Conference SponsorsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerExternal sponsors support specific aspects of the TALKS conference such as space bookings, meals, technology services, keynotes, printed materials, and accessibility features including ASL interpretation. Sponsors receive visibility across the MSU educator community.
• MSU IT / D2LcoreTechnology or IntegrationMSU IT manages the D2L learning management system, providing the technology platform for course delivery at MSU. CTLI provides D2L training resources, templates, and support as the pedagogical partner. D2L is one of MSU's 'Core Tools.'
• MSU LibrariesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMSU Libraries partners with CTLI to support course resource integration, stable link guidance for course materials, and licensing information. CTLI resources reference MSU Libraries guides on stable links and resource access restrictions.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning: Columbia's CTL delivers teaching consultations, course design institutes, and faculty programs for Columbia instructors, providing a directly comparable centralized teaching center at an Ivy research university.
• Harvard Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning: The Bok Center provides teaching support, course design resources, and TA training for Harvard faculty and graduate students — a long-established teaching center with a service portfolio that mirrors CTLI's offerings.
• Ohio State University Michael V. Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning: OSU's Drake Institute offers workshops, consultations, teaching awards, and course design support — directly comparable to CTLI's service mix at another Big Ten peer institution.
• Stanford Teaching Commons (Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning): Stanford's Teaching Commons centralizes course design resources, teaching guides, and faculty development — providing a comparable institutional hub for teaching excellence at a top-tier research university.
• Northwestern Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching: Searle supports Northwestern educators through teaching consultations, course design programs, and teaching assistant development — closely matching CTLI's program mix at another major research university.
• Vanderbilt Center for Teaching and Learning: Vanderbilt's CTL runs teaching workshops, course redesign programs, and graduate student teaching support — operating an analogous teaching-center model at a private research university.
• Indiana University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning: IU CITL supports faculty with instructional design, course development, and teaching workshops — a directly comparable centralized teaching center at a large public research university.
• University of Michigan Center for Teaching & Learning: U-M's CTL provides teaching consultations, workshops, fellowships, and learning communities for Michigan faculty — operating the same institutional model as CTLI at a Big Ten peer institution.
• Cornell Center for Teaching Innovation: Cornell University's centralized teaching and learning center offers faculty development, course design support, and educational technology consulting — a near-direct structural analog to CTLI at a peer research university.
• University of Wisconsin-Madison Teaching Academy: UW-Madison's Teaching Academy provides faculty development, teaching awards, and community-building programs for instructors — closely mirroring CTLI's cohort-and-awards structure at a Big Ten peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/michiganstateu
• Facebookfacebook.com/spartans.msu
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/msu-center-for-teaching-learning-innovation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 MSU Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation