FacultyCollaboratives
MAY Monthly Report
2016
State/Collaborative:
Date submitted:
Submitted by:
Progress toward goals for current reporting period:
Core Community of Practice / On May 2, 2016, we had a teleconference with all fellows, the HUB director, Jim Robinson and the state liaison. Diane Waters from UW System provided all the technical support, i.e. she completed the doodle poll for scheduling, organized a room, set up a Wisline for teleconferencing, trouble-shooted and communicated repeatedly with participants. This work time is not reflected in the grant budget and I mention it here to show that System already supports this FC project through human resources contributions (including my time spent with Diane, i.e. directing her).The May 2ndAgenda included the following items:
1.Regular maintenance of the chat located in each of our initiative pages.
2.Development of flipped workshops that can be available to other campuses
3.Identifying and reaching out to individuals that we might know that could contribute to the repository ( more outreach to the Teaching and Learning Centers)
4.Continuing to work with UW-Milwaukee on the creation of an e-journal
A second teleconference took place with everyone on May 10th, 2016
We discussed different approaches to doing our work. Generally, we thought the way forward was to engage all colleagues and constituents that we know are already gathering to talk about any aspect of curricular change or student experiences, to try to (1) get on the agenda or (2) attend THEIR event. Caroline Geary is doing this already at UW-Colleges. She has been doing a lot of presentations, too. Caroline said she also had a short email exchange with Susan Albertine that resulted in Caroline’s greater familiarity with Skype. She says she has twice been "called" by academic department steering and/or curriculum committees who have an immediate need for guidance as they work on some aspect of gen ed reform. In my opinion, all fellows could increase their use of technology and by that I mean different technologies and social media to connect with people who might need their services.
We also discussed in more depth how we could connect to the September 2015 conference participants again. With the help of Diane Waters, we recovered the conference participant email list and we plan on contacting them with follow-up news on the HUB and whether they have any needs for help/engagement with FC PIs.
A second “connection point” for us is undergraduate research and efforts underway in the UW System to highlight and potentially to fund more undergraduate research. An example is the Annual UW System Symposium for Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity. It’s now in its 15th year and took place in Stevens Point, WI. Together with a student, Caroline Geary participated and presented on the following topic. “The Role of Research in Undergraduate Education: An Analysis of Benefits and Drawbacks.” Here is the abstract.
With the birth of the LEAP (Liberal Education and America’s Promise) program, more and more colleges have been providing multi-semester research opportunities in the undergraduate experience. Challenges and rewards accompany this research emphasis. Participants in a two-year research program funded by the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium and located at the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley were asked to consider benefits and drawbacks of long-term research for undergraduate students in a short survey. The listed advantages were increased communication and technical skills, while a disadvantage was decreased time for traditional coursework. If research was a mandatory substitute for a few traditional classes, this disadvantage would no longer apply.
A further “connection point” we are exploring is to connect more with administrators who are involved in academic degree and other collaborations across the UW System. On April 11, Caroline Geary attended a meeting with faculty/staff/administrators from UW-Fox Valley (UWS 2-yr access institution) and UW-Green Bay(UWS 4-yr) to discuss 2-yr/4-yr collaborations including signature work (internships, undergraduate research, civic engagement opportunities) that FOX students could participate in at UW-GB prior to transfer. This work was equity-focused with an interest in smoothing the transfer process. Outcomes included: FOX students will be invited to apply for research opportunities at GB starting next year using the same process as GB students.
I scheduled an in-person meeting of all fellows, Jim Robinson, and the HUB director at the UW-System Van Hise building on Thursday, May 26th from 1:00-4:00.
The agenda included the following items.
- August Annual Report to AACU and Lumina with Financials/Budget
- Year 2 Activities
- Update on the HUB/ Publishing Commons
- Sustainability Strategies
- AAC&U conference in January
- February meeting?
- Planning further in-person meetings (rotating locations?)
- Connections with other System initiatives/teaching and learning/cross-fertilization
- Other
Tim Hale wrote up the following questions we had brainstormed together:
- How do I connect my learning outcomes to my program (major, degree) learning outcomes?
- What is the best way to design a general education curriculum?
- How should assessments be designed?
- What is the best way to design and assess a student portfolio?
- What are the essential learning outcomes of a liberal education, and how should they be assessed?
- How can we make the student experience of our curriculum more equitable?
- How can we design our curriculum to be more accessible to transfer students?
To better facilitate us all working on these questions, Tim and Peggy this conversation to google docs a few days after the meeting. Everyone was invited to share thoughts:
There was some but not sufficient discussion (as you can see by clicking on the link above). Peggy and Jim also restructured the questions and attributed a particularly relevant PI to each question.
During this meeting we also discussed if AAC&U would get the faculty fellows together again for a meeting apart from the annual conference, i.e. if there would be the same NOLA type of event? Additionally, there was discussion whether the fellows would be funded to go to that event, if it was to take place. Susan replied to Carmen that there was no meeting in February but that she may be able to help one or two individuals to attend the annual meeting in January. We were wondering if in future grants, AAC&U could think about repeating a NOLA type meeting where fellows and the HUB director also could interact more with other states. The February 2016 meeting was successful and inspiring, and since participation in the annual conference is voluntary, some of the fellows felt that there is no “real conclusion” of the projects==at least as far as AAC&U is concerned.
State Liaison administrative work / LEAP Fellow stipend/overload agreementsand renewals of contractshave been signedby all relevant parties, at campuses and System. Tim Hale’s contract is running until May,2016. The two other fellows, Caroline Geary and Dale Splinter opted for a contract expiration date of February 2016. Stipends will be paid in installments in October and one on March 1st, 2017. Peggy’s different pay dates will also continue as in the second year. Her contract will be extended until May 2017.
Proficiency Initiatives / Here’s a quick summary of events that several of our fellows participated in since the April report: First, the accomplishments of Caroline Geary.
Event / Actions / Outcomes
2016 UW Colleges Colloquium
May 26, 2016
Participants: ~100 attendees from UWC 2-year campuses and UW Extension / (1) Announcement and advertisement of HUB
(2) Caroline Geary gave the keynote (invited) presentation on general education reform
(3) Caroline followed up via e-mail with request for event presenters to share their presentations on the HUB. / (1)Increased awareness of LEAP & GEMs
(2)Contacted by a UWC Regional Associate Dean for Student Affairs to follow-up on the role of co-curricular activities in Gen Ed Reform
(3)Caroline submitted documents associated with this event as artifacts for HUB.
WiSCUR Workshop: 2yr/4yr Collaborations
May 24, 2016
Participants: ~35 attendees from various UW System 2-year and 4-year institutions including faculty, staff, and administration. / (1) Announcement and advertisement of HUB
(2) Caroline Geary participated in discussion on transfer issues including the use of the DQP.
(3) Caroline followed up via e-mail with request for event presenters to share their presentation materials on the HUB. / (1) Fellows uncovered some potential for coordination and collaboration between WiSCUR(a Wisconsin undergraduate research organization) and the HUB/LEAP Fellows. They are looking for ways to connect researchers between institutions who have common interests. Also, there is some interest in having common learning outcomes articulated for undergraduate research throughout the UWS.
(2) Caroline received a follow-up correspondence from UW-Oshkosh History Department Chair regarding expanding the UW-Oshkosh USP QUEST III/ UW Colleges Service Learning Collaboration (Case Study published by AAC&) to the UWC Department of History.
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The Critical Role of General Education: A free webinar featuring Scott Jaschik and Doug Lederman, founders and co-editors of Inside Higher Ed
Wednesday, May 11 / State Liaison and 1 of the fellows participated / (1)Incorporated talking points and models shared by Higher ed into HUB artifacts
The 2016 UW System Virtual Conference
April 5 – April 6, 2016
/ Caroline Geary attended / (1)Learned about UW-Stevens Point assessment program for their General Education Program- model uses faculty-constructed ePortfolios. Caroline shared that model in the UW Colleges.
Caroline Geary presented at UW Colleges’ academic department spring meetings (note: our academic departments are state-wide including members from all UW System 2-yr schools, these groups meet face-to-face twice a year). / (1) Caroline was invited to present on Degree Reimagining and articulation of student learning outcomes using GEMs principles, DQP and VALUE rubrics. Met with the following departments: Communications/Theater Arts, World Languages, Art, Health and Exercise Science, Mathematics, Computer Science/ Engineering/ Physics/ Astronomy, Chemistry, Biology, Music, Gender/ Sexuality/ Women’s Study, Psychology/ Education, Philosophy, History, Political Science (15 total presentations reaching ~250 faculty members)
(2) Caroline was invited to UW Colleges Online campus in Madison on degree reimagining and general education reform, ~15 participants in 2 hr workshop / (1) Increased awareness of national tools: GEMs,DQP, VALUE
(2) Networking within and between UW Colleges departments spread over 13 different locations
(3) Consensus building and advocacy for shifting to student-centered learning outcomes framework.
(4) Promotion of equity-mindedness for development of student experiences and GEMs design principles- at the department level and institutional level.
(5) Increased understanding of the unique UWC Online student population and the need for equity-mindedness for that group.
(6) Networked with UWC Online Instructional Designers leading to their involvement in the newly created UWC GEMs Community of Practice (!!)
UWC GEMs Community of Practice Workshop
June 13, 2016
Madison, WI
Participants: 11-membered group with representation of faculty (7) and ad hoc instructors (2) as well as instructional designers (2). / (1)GEMs CoP created to address the need for a process to map current curriculum to the new gen ed breadth categories (these are based on AAC&U ELOs). Members are volunteers in the UWC with expertise in assessment, AAC&U work, and/or proficiency-based education.
(2) Goal of workshop was to organize this project and brainstorm approaches. / Artifacts for the HUB were created
Tim Hale helped developing a partnership with the UW Colleges (2 year institutions) to create an online degree completion program for transfer students. (Utilizing the DQP and Tuning. He also led a two day curriculum retreat for the UW-La Crosse Department of School Health Education to develop learning outcomes, map the curriculum, and determine changes that could be made to better serve students. (Utilized the DQP and VALUE rubrics.) Further, he participated in in strategic planning for the university, and emphasized the need to develop an equitable curriculum that supports signature work, and promotes the delivery of high impact practices.
Peggy James and Jim Robinson contacted all poster presenters at the LEAP conference were and asked to submit their work for uploading to the HUB. Jim and Peggy finished uploading these posters by the end of April. They are planning to do the same for the OPID poster presentations.
Please describe any current challenges you are facing in meeting your FC Project goals:
Finding time. Meeting all the needs of the fellows besides logistics. Anything that happens, happens only when we set meetings, but then it looks like we have forward momentum.We didn’t make much progress on discussing sustainability and assessment of YEAR 1 activities outside the LEAP assessment project led by Rebecca Karoff and Carleen Vande Zande from UW-Oshkosh. We must find our own assessment strategies, metrics, and feedback loops.
Suggestions or Questions for AAC&U FC Staff:
Please update your goals for the next reporting period:
How to do an effective re-design of the HUB is next on our collective list.How to better demonstrate through conference presentations that the FC practitioners are also researchers. Conference proposals for the AAC&U January Annual conference in SF will be created and the plan is that all fellows and the HUB director will participate in at least one, if not two, group presentations.
Will talk to VP Henderson about capacity building and sustainability beyond the grant funding. But the current outlook at System is not rosy. There is still no UW System Strategic plan. It’s been in the works for years now but never comes to publication --- it’s hard to put the FC and the LEAP work in general into practice without a System strategic plan. We are in limbo—but that doesn’t hinder us from working at the faculty level, even without UW System support.
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