Skidmore's survival in the increasingly competitive higher-education marketplace depends on its ability to define itself as the "fine dining of higher education". This creates the expectation that students will experience a highly interactive learning environment guided by faculty who are experts in their disciplines, energetic teachers, and deeply interested in their students.

While doctoral programs typically do a thorough job of developing disciplinary skills, relatively few graduate schools adequately prepare faculty for their roles as undergraduate teachers and mentors.

Skidmore has already launched an exemplary number of programs to help faculty improve their teaching skills. It should continue to expand these services and consolidate them under the umbrella of a "Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning". The Center can give a more visible presence to the services as well as more clearly separating the mentoring process from the parallel promotion and tenure review.

The Center should include both librarians and IT personnel, but should also include senior faculty who have become exemplary teachers and are eager to mentor junior faculty in improved pedagogy. Technology should not be the central goal of the Center's programs, but should be one of a variety of valuable resources.