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SDCCD Online Learning Pathways Steering Committee
Minutes for
Monday, May 21, 2007
12:00-1:30pm
Miramar College, W-248
Attendees:
Andrea Henne, Dave Giberson, Mary Kingsley, Kathyrn Oristian, Julie Moss, Susan
Schwarz, Hank Beaver, Wahid Hamidy, Joe McGerald, Mary Meiners, Bill Craft, Debra
Wright, Jim Wales, Sandra Pesce, Rechelle Mojica, Rose LaMuraglia, Roger Gee and
Gwyn Enright.
Minutes
The committee reviewed the minutes for the April 23, 2007 meeting. Andrea polled the
group for approval of the minutes; Jim moved to approve, Gwyn seconded. The minutes
are posted at http://www.sdccdonline.net/handbook/minutes.htm.
Status Report
Andrea distributed the semester comparison status report. Summer 2007 session shows
Miramar offering 105 courses showing a 22% growth, Mesa offering 119 courses
showing a 38% growth, City offering 112 courses, showing a 32% growth and
Continuing Education offering 4 courses. The 334 courses being offered online
districtwide this summer shows an overall growth of 30%. Out of the 334 courses there
are 277-fully online, 54-online, and 4 hybrids. Mary included soft information on the
Fall 2007 semester schedule which is still under construction. At present we have about a
20% overall growth expectation for Fall. Joe McGerald would like to see past
Continuing Education courses added to the report.
Mary Meiners reports that there may be a wave of course cancellations due to the newly
mandated .67 FTE limit that is being imposed on Miramar Faculty. Susan reports that
Miramar is working hard to replace instructors that have lost contracts to this newly
imposed sanction. Susan reports that the hiring of replacements for Miramar is not
immediate as SDCCD is the only college in the region using WebCT to deliver their
courses online, therefore experienced instructors are not easy to come by. It was
discussed that it was the College’s VPIs role to interpret the contract. City and Mesa
College’s instructors are not being bound by a .67 load this Summer. Normal instructor
loads during Fall and Spring apply. Miramar instructors need a logical argument to the
interpretation of the contract. It may be possible to file a grievance, or request an
explanation from Miramar’s VPI on the current decision. Bill shares that the rule states
that the load is .67 unless the VPI reports a reason why that amount can be exceeded.
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Under current circumstances there are a lot of reasons available to exceed the limit.
Bottom line is that the VPI holds the waiver and must be the person to address the issue.
2006-2007 Online Faculty Mentors Reports
Hank Beaver
Andrea thanked Hank for his service throughout the 2006-2007 academic year and
presented him with a Certificate of Appreciation for his role as Mesa College Online
Faculty Mentor. Hank has been reappointed to the role of Online Mentor for a second
year.
Hank reports that much progress has been made at Mesa College due to team
cooperation. The Academic Senate has formed a Distance Education Sub-Committee
that works on important goals for Mesa. Hank provides support for the Mesa online
faculty and also focuses on bringing new instructors to mediated instruction via
workshops, trainings, and other forums. Hank always looks at the instructors as a
collective group and the views the institution as a whole. Hank has held 22 workshops.
Hank strives to support faculty on both Vista and CE platforms. Hank also has a “First
Steps Online” workshop series which was well received. He plans to change the days of
the offerings from Saturdays to either afternoons, or Friday nights. Hank’s one-on-one
training has included working with 86 instructors keeping over 200 appointments. Hank
provided office hours and held special events “What’s it like to teach online?,” “How to
Select a Good e-pack,” and “Good Online Course Pedagogy.” Hank reports that he was
encouraged that Erika Higginbotham joined him on workshops on accessibility and hopes
to continue work with her in the future. Hank participated in the SDCCD Online
Learning Pathways 2007 Showcase and Expo as both a presenter and as a session
monitor. Hank attended WebCT/Blackboard Annual Convention Impact 2006 in
Chicago this year. Hank looks forward to serving in 2007-2008 and would like to offer
workshops based on Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) seminal work, Seven Principles of
Good Practice. He hopes to recruit District faculty to speak at these workshops offering
experience in each of the major areas.
Rose LaMuraglia
Andrea presented Rose with a Certificate of Appreciation for her role of City College
Online Faculty Mentor reminding the group of her hard work and dedication throughout
the year. Rose has been reappointed to the role of Online Mentor for a fourth year.
Rose reports that she uses Flex to recruit newcomers to using WebCT. Rose provides a
variety of workshops and on a regular basis offers workshops on Thursdays and Friday’s.
Rose provided the group with an example of how she works with instructors to create an
ideal syllabus having all of the details that could help instructors relay very concise
information about their expectations for their students. Rose explains that she is very
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proud of the City College faculty, she provides them with training and guidance and they
do all of the work. Many of them have come a long way in a year’s time. Rose likes the
format of the workshops she facilitates. The instructors gain knowledge and experience
and at the end of the session with a piece of usable work. Rose has worked to support the
purchase of software for City College Instructors; City College purchased Mediator,
OpenMind and Screencorder. Rose anticipates the acquisition of both Respondus and
Studymate this coming Fall. Rose reports that City College VPI , Ron Manzoni, has been
very supportive with guidance and funding helping to move online learning at City
College into the future. Rose also thanks Al Cordiero who has been by her side as she
leads the way in distance education at City College.
Wahid Hamidy
Andrea presented Wahid with a Certificate of Appreciation for his role of Online Faculty
Mentor at Miramar College and thanked him for his second year of service.
Wahid has held several workshops throughout the year at Miramar and has established
strong relationships with faculty on campus. Wahid has worked on resolving problems
brought to him by online faculty and has fine tuned data migration from Campus Edition
to Vista. Wahid told the group that he has learned a lot about course building while
working in this position as he solves the many challenges that come his way. Wahid has
provided guidance, direction, and assistance in the development of resources and
materials for best practices in online instruction. Wahid has served on SDCCD Online
Learning Pathways Steering Committee, participated in several Faculty Meetings,
provided workshops and trainings, and developed methods to assist faculty with their
technologic needs. Wahid has worked closely with Miramar’s VPI, School Deans, and
Department Chairs to ascertain their thoughts and ideas about online learning and
technology mediated instruction. When asked for his suggestions for improvement,
Wahid suggested that some Steering Committee meetings be held virtually and that
additional funding should be allocated to expand the time available for mentors to assist
faculty.
2007-2008 Faculty Senate Representatives to Committee
The SDCCD Online Learning Pathways Steering Committee has requested that the
Academic Senates at Miramar, Mesa, City, and Continuing Education all have formal
representation at each of our meetings in 2007-2008. The representatives that have been
selected are, Gwyn Enright for City College, Jim Wales for Mesa College, Joe McGerald
for Continuing Education, and we look forward to an appointment for Miramar College.
Task Force Retreat
Andrea opened discussion regarding the Summer 2007 SDCCD Online Learning
Pathways Task Force Retreat. Andrea hopes for a creative venture addressing current
issues and providing future directions for the program. The group suggested some items
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for discussion (course caps, incentives for new online instructors, advertising to students,
online degrees, and continuing education.)
Andrea introduced SDSU intern Julie Moss. Julie will be working for SDCCD Online
Learning Pathways in a research capacity during her summer internship. Julie will be
seeking information on current trends in distance education and will pull this information
into a report for distribution. Julie will also be working as an hourly IDC to help with
the current workload. Julie reports that she is excited to be working for SDCCD Online
and shares that her experience with both teaching online and being an online student
makes her a nice fit for this project. Location for the retreat was discussed. The group
agreed that Mission Trails Regional Park facility would be ideal for this retreat. Mary
will work to make arrangements. The anticipated date of the retreat is August 15, 2007
from 9:00am-1:00pm.
Meeting Schedule for 2007-2008
Andrea polled the group and it was agreed that meeting on Mondays from 12:00-1:30
will continue throughout the 2007-2008 academic year. It was also agreed that virtual
meetings are an option. Andrea will create and distribute the calendar for 2007-2008
meetings.
Open Forum
Jim brought a faculty concern regarding turnaround times for course shell creation.
Andrea shared that she has full staff on duty and anticipates that turnaround on requests
are fulfilled in 24-48 hours. Andrea shared staff the in-house course shell tracking
system which logs semester information on course shell status, training status of
instructor, whether course information page has been created for the course, semester
readiness.
Mary Meiners would like to have master course shells provided for all session durations
4-wk, 5-wk, 8-wk, 16-wk. Andrea answered that her staff is ready to provide. Instructors
have the ability to put comments in the course request form, this is where communication
should take place.
Bill reports that Mesa is working on offering a complete AA in Business online.
Discussion regarding student services to support complete degree online took place. It is
SDCCD’s goal to provide equivalent, not identical, services as those provided to on
campus students.
Debra would like to see Dragon Naturally Speaking integrated into the Vista training.
Mary Lewis has purchased Dragon, Camtasia, and Captivate. Details of availability have
not yet been provided.
Debra would like to see a bi-monthly e-newsletter from SDCCD Online. Debra feels that
adjuncts do not have the same avenues for information as contract instructors. Andrea
reminded that important information and resources is constantly updated at the website.
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Andrea prefers an informative website that pulls instructors to it, rather than DL emails
which is more pushing information. Andrea also reminds that there are announcements
posted within WebCT for all instructors needing information on current issues.
Debra would like to see an appreciation event for all online faculty. Andrea reports that
she currently observes online faculty accomplishments through the annual Breakfast of
Champions and the annual SDCCD Online Learning Pathways Showcase and Expo.
Andrea will consider the addition of another appreciation event.
Dave provided the group with a picture slideshow presentation of the Expo. Andrea
shared the Expo page which provides the public a description of the expo and access to
handouts and presentation materials.
Bill reported that he has received many compliments on Andrea’s reworking of the
SDCCD Online website. The new site is clear, easy to navigate and full of resources.
Dan is running the online faculty evaluation pilot. Results and any reworking will be
reported.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Kingsley