Scaling the Mountain of Faculty Governance in Building Institutional Online Capacity

Description

This conversation will focus on practical approaches to guiding and equipping faculty and administrators to engage in productive dialogue around faculty governance of online education. Often Centers for Teaching and Learning are at the campus’s leading edge for designing online learning. However, their roles and oversight likely do not extend to the critical dimensions of curriculum development that are under the jurisdiction of the faculty. The process for developing academic policy can be very slow and yet the pressure to create new, innovative online programming and online teaching resources can feel intense. Having sound institutional policies that govern the online learning space is an essential component to a clear and coherent approach to developing online programs. Those dimensions include: preparedness to teach online, creation of online course guidelines, standards for online learning, course evaluation, faculty hiring and reappointment, calculation of workload, and more. This conversation includes questions to facilitate exchange around strategies that are culture- and context-specific and that are practical.

Goals

1. Learn context-specific strategies to influence online policy development

2. Learn context-specific strategies to operate effectively when online policies are not in place

Questions for Discussion

1. Survey the Landscape: Framing the Challenges (Question for the larger group)

   1. What is one challenge you face with supporting or growing your online presence that your office does not control?

   2. What are the components of your institution’s faculty governance? (Review handout on common faculty governance structures and components and have individuals identify those components at their institution)

2. Prepare Your Backpack: Understanding Your Context and Audience (To be discussed in small, facilitated groups)

   1. What are your administration’s concerns with online? What are their blind spots?

   2. What are your faculty members’ concerns with online? What are their blind spots?

   3. What forums do you have to interact with each group (these may be within or outside your institution)?

3. Put on Your Climbing Boots: Choosing Tools and Strategies for Your Particular Challenge (Large group discussion, plus time for individual reflection)

   1. What are trends (challenges and strategies) that each group identified?  (Question for the larger group)

   2. What strategies are appropriate for the challenge/s you face? What are the first three steps you need to take to begin implementing one (or more) strategy? (Individual reflection and use of handout)

Engagement Techniques

1. (Pre-conversation): We will invite participants to add their questions/challenges to a shared Google Doc before the session begins (ideally linked in the session description on the conference site).

2. Questions will be discussed in small group breakout sessions, each facilitated by one of the presenters, with report outs after each

3. Participants will write the first steps of their action plan

4. Handouts of resources, including resources to communicate with faculty and with administrators will be provided

Presenters

1. Heather McCullough, Ph.D., Associate Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, UNC Charlotte

2. Pamela Wimbush, Associate Director, Office of Distance Education and Summer School

3. Laurie Hillstock, Ph.D., Higher Education Consultant

4. Kristin Palmer, Ed.D., Director, Online Learning Programs at UVA 

5. Staci Davis, Executive Director, Online & Distance Education Programs, Ball State University