Instruction

  • John Murray, Chair
  • Darlene Hantzis, Faculty Senate Representative
  • Christine Knight, Staff Council Representative
  • Lezlie Maslanka, Student Government Association Representative
  • Samantha Perry
  • Kelly Wilkinson
  • Susan Powers
  • Greg Bierly
  • Linda Maule
Updates

Nov. 7, 2011 -- The Subcommittee reviewed its charge. Arrangements were made for a common Blackboard site, weekly meetings, and a Wiki-based report writing platform. The subcommittee discussed potential issues that the group would address including: class size, issues related to faculty productivity and workload (e.g., faculty-to-student ratio), instructional delivery platforms, and course transformation. The subcommittee also discussed indirect costs of instruction(i.e., dollars spent on faculty development, teaching and learning centers, academic support staff, and other contributors to student success). Four readings will be posted on the Blackboard site for discussion at the next meeting.

Nov. 16, 2011 -- The Subcommittee continued discussion of the topics related to instruction. The many individual topics that emerged were grouped into a small set of themes. Each committee member will select a minimum of two topics to pursue on his/her own and develop a short white paper on each topic to post on the committee's Blackboard site. 

Nov. 21, 2011 -- At this meeting, the group settled on three primary areas of investigation: 1) efficiencies/reductions in costs associated with classroom instruction/pedagogy; 2) efficiencies that come from curricular modifications; and 3) cost reductions that stem from major academic and administrative policy overhauls. The team divided into subcommittees to investigate these areas in depth. The subcommittees will meet formally in one week. The following three meetings of the entire committee will be devoted to discussing each of the primary areas. 

Dec. 2, 2011 -- Factors subcommittee is studying

Dec. 5, 2011 -- Today's meeting was devoted to discussing issues of affordability related to classroom insruction. Specifically, the subcommittee discussed best practices associated with new teaching models (different platforms), course redesign/transformation, and our current paradigm of implementing course fees. Discussants will post content related to these areas in our report Wiki.

Dec. 13, 2011 -- The Affordability Subcommittee for Instruction met on 12/13/11 to continue the discussion of strategies related to programmatic practices. The group revised its report outline, and posted the outline on its Blackboard site. Task Force Subcommittee members will edit and add to the report throughout the week. The report is available here.

Dec. 19, 2011 -- The subcommittee met and reviewed all proposed strategies and practices included in the report draft and categorized each in terms of low, medium, or high ease of implementation. The members also reviewed each in terms of the need for faculty governance approval, should the strategy be fully developed. The full report will be drafted by the next meeting.

January 20, 2012 -- Final report and index