TELECOOP
July 22, 2005
CSU, Denver
Present: Gayle Bradbeer (Auraria), Debi Colbert (CSU), Karen Finnoff (Metro), Kathy Keairns
(DU), Liz Kleinfeld (RRCC), Robin Leach (PCC), Pam Nicholson (CSU), Paul Novak (DU),
Randy Tatroe (Auraria), Josefina Tuason (RMPBS)
Randy called the meeting to order at 10:15.
Debi and Pam welcomed us to CSU’s Continuing Education Center. CSU has been in this
building for about a year now. Several degree programs, including Organizational Performance
and Change, and continuing education programs are offered through this location, which has
three classrooms.
I. Old Business
1. The May 2005 minutes were approved.
2. Conference 2006 – Josefina
The 2006 conference will be April 19-21, 2006. Estes Park, Breckenridge, and Keystone
are being considered as locations. Josefina anticipates a decision being made on the
location within a month.
The group discussed whether or not we want the conference to grow. Keeping the
conference small allows us to focus on state issues. Josefina and Kathy mentioned that
we used to have more conference participation from K-12.
Josefina suggested that Telecoop needs to do another assessment of the organization’s
goals and how well we are achieving them. Information gleaned from an assessment
could help us plan the conference.
II. New Business
1. Faculty Development Seminar – Josefina
Telecoop is sponsoring an all-day professional development seminar focusing on
telecourses at Auraria Media Center on September 23. Department chairs, any faculty
who might be interested in exploring other distance learning options, and directors of
distance education should all attend.
Colorado has lost touch with new developments in telecourses because of the focus on
online courses. With the mandate that all online courses be run through CCCOnline,
colleges may be more interested in exploring telecourses again. All the major producers
of telecourses, including Coast, Dallas, Intellicom, and WHYY in Philadelphia, will be
present at the seminar. Telecourses are being packaged and segmented in different
ways now, with many courses having online and multimedia components.
Titles for the event were discussed. “Distance Learning Options Beyond Online” is the
working title. Randy will work on a flyer and Paul and Josefina will post information to the
Website by August 15.
The seminar is free but registration is required. Telecoop will provide lunch and vendors
may sponsor door prizes.
2. CCCOnline Update – Robin
Course management system bids came in much higher than expected and would cost
colleges more than they are currently paying; since the consolidation is supposed to
save money, CCCOES is reconsidering directions at this point.
Master templates for online courses are being developed. Instructors can change the
master template as they see fit, although an instructor is expected to use the existing
template the first time they teach a course online.
A committee has been formed to create policies and procedures. This committee is
dealing with issues such as how to operate an online bookstore and hire faculty.
Twenty percent of all online courses will be run through CCCOnline by Spring 2006. The
remainder of courses will be moved during the summer, and Fall 2006 is the deadline for
all online courses going through CCCOnline.
3. Attendance at Meetings
Randy noted that attendance at meetings seems to be shrinking. He suggested that if
we met less frequently we might have higher attendance. Another possibility is to meet
at a different time or for less than four hours. Gayle suggested that people could
participate by teleconferencing. Paul said, “With a group of distance educators, attending
by teleconference ought to be as good as attending in person—and Liz, you can quote
me on that.”
Josefina suggested surveying people to find out why they don’t attend meetings and
what might help them prioritize meetings. Randy will put together a survey, and Josefina
and Liz will help. Robin will put the survey online and then send the results to Randy.
Results of the survey will be discussed at the October meeting.
4. Telecoop Goals
Josefina said when 20+ people used to attend meetings, meetings focused on
collaboration. Now meetings focus more on information-sharing. In the past, Telecoop
has written position papers on distance education issues and hosted demonstrations
and guest speakers. At this point, the conference is the main focus of the organization.
More participation from K-12 might enable us to encourage more collaboration between
K-12 and colleges.
Between now and the October meeting, we will discuss on the listserv some possible
goals for Telecoop to focus on in the next year. Kathy suggested focusing on one
feasible goal for the year rather than several lofty goals.
5. Dates and Locations for Meetings
 September 23 – Telecoop-sponsored all-day seminar at Auraria
 October 28 – Glenwood Springs
 November 18 – DU’s Phipps Mansion. The purpose of this meeting will be to come
up with one central focus for the organization, such as recruiting. We can re-
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evaluate the current recruiting materials to see if they still represent what we do.
We will need a facilitator for the meeting to be sure we’ve met our outcome.
January 27 – KRMA Holiday Party
February 24 – ACC
March 24 – FRCC
May 26 – PCC
6. Institutional Updates
 Paul reported that DU’s University College has switched from Blackboard to
eCollege. In the fall, UC will be implementing Horizon Wimba’s voice over IP, which is
a telephone call over the Internet using Internet capabilities such as instant messaging
and archiving, for instructor office hours. UC is discouraging instructors from using
voiceover IP for lectures. DU has a new chancellor, Bob Coombe, who was the
provost.
 Kathy reported that quite a few DU faculty attended Telecoop’s conference and are
now excited about putting courses online. Kathy has been doing online trainings for
faculty.
 Liz reported that Cliff Richardson has been appointed RRCC’s president and an
instructional dean, Colleen Jorgensen, has been named Vice President of Instruction.
 Karen reported that Metro has a new president.
 Gayle is the distance support librarian at Auraria Media Center. She deals mostly
with technical access issues on a one-to-one level and classroom-level. She
described the AskColorado.org program, an online synchronous reference desk.
 Robin is part of the Alternative Education and Professional Development and
Leadership Academy at PCC. The AEPDLA offers a lot of its training to faculty online
and through video conferencing. Some of the innovative things PCC has been doing
include creating more hybrid courses and producing DVDs with a semester’s worth of
lectures. PCC has lost two deans this summer.
 Debi reported that CSU has new contracts under consideration with the American
Council of Engineering Companies and a trucking group to provide training.
 Josefina reported that KRMA has just finished a documentary on the first 50 years of
the Air Force Academy.
 Randy reported that the Auraria Media Center has five new classrooms coming
online, bringing the number of classrooms with technology to 280. Turnover among
staff has been quite high, with almost half the staff of 13 being new in the last six
months. A new IT position has been created.
Next Meeting: September 23, all-day seminar at Auraria
Respectfully submitted by Liz Kleinfeld, July 27, 2005.