In this presentation, presenters will share one School’s experiences, challenges and solutions using a SWOT analysis for moving permanently to a blended program with input from students, faculty and administration.
Prior to the pandemic, the social work program at the Facundo Valdez School of Social Work at New Mexico Highlands University, a Hispanic-serving institution, was delivered in a face-to-face format in our undergraduate BSW program and in our graduate MSW program. NMHU has five campus centers throughout Northern New Mexico that serve to increase access for students who are unable to attend classes at the main campus. Through the experience of moving both our BSW and MSW programs to an online format during the pandemic, the opportunity arose for us to consider how to maximize student access through adopting permanent online programming in asynchronous and hybrid models.
The FVSSW leadership and faculty decided to explore options for continuing to deliver some of the program courses in a hybrid model, while still offering some of the program courses in the traditional face-to-face model at various campus locations. These considerations included preference and impact on students, faculty, and administration. Additional attention was given to restructuring the programs and navigating current best practices for teaching and learning. A work group was formed within the School of Social Work, a student satisfaction and feedback survey was conducted, and there were regular meetings with administration.
This presentation will share the continuum of engagement and needs of the students, faculty and administration as we moved our program to a blended model permanently. Using lessons learned and input from students and faculty, a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis was developed. This analysis provided a critical lens for integrating online programming with traditional face-to-face programming.
Each review session will be approximately 5 to 7 minutes of presentation followed by an opportunity to discuss with participants their experiences, solutions, and questions regarding moving forward with hybrid learning models, post-pandemic. Specific prompts will be asked of attendees to invite personal reflections and encourage engagement.