Pluscht Assumes New Position at the University of North Texas

Patrick Pluscht, TxDLA board member and former director of the CDL (Center for Distributed Learning) at UNT, has been named the new director of CLEAR (Center for Learning Enhancement, Assessment, and Redesign) at UNT. In his new role as the director of CLEAR, Patrick will serve on the Provost’s Senior Staff and assume most of the responsibilities previously handled by the Vice Provost for Learning Enhancement.

For the past 10 years, UNT has benefited from the support of the Center for Distributed Learning (CDL), and has emerged as a leading provider of online courses. More recently, the Center for Teaching, Learning and Assessment (CTLA) was created to provide support for UNT’s Quality Enhancement Plan, Next Generation Course Redesign and, more generally, improvements in classroom instruction. UNT continues to be a national leader in the redesign of large enrollment classes and has recently received a 1.8 million dollar grant to enlarge and extend this effort. 

Effective September 1, the two centers merged into a single faculty support unit named the Center for Learning Enhancement, Assessment, and Redesign (CLEAR). CLEAR offers the same services that CDL and CTLA offered independently in the past, but will also introduce new services with the addition of Dr. Bradley Shope, who has joined CLEAR as a faculty professional development specialist. 

Dr. Philip Turner, formerly Vice Provost for Learning Enhancement, has returned to a faculty role with the School of Library and Information Sciences, but will remain involved with UNT’s Quality Enhancement Plan and Next Generation Course Redesign. 

Pluscht’s leadership team includes associate directors, Jane Himmel and Dr. Kelly McMichael, and assistant director, Joey Hoffmann.