TEAM MEMBERS
Jean Barness
Pam Humphrey
Redmond Humphrey
Tim Hunt
Mari Molseed
Holly Streeter
Kathy Wenthold
Suzanne James (chair)
DOWNLOAD REPORT, PUBLIC COMMENTS & RESPONSE
WATCH OPEN FORUM VIDEO
Team Report (32.3 MB 8 minutes 5 seconds)
SEAMLESS MOVEMENT REPORT COMMENTS
(6 comments)
Comment 1: Welcome
Welcome to the comment page for the "Seamless Movement" part of our strategic planning effort. Please enter your comments and let the Seamless Movement Team know if you have questions. We look forward to hearing from you.
Suzanne James
Comment 2: 03 October 2007
While I would like to "engage in a campus-wide dialog" as requested by Dr. Walker, I note that these pages are accessible to the general public.
Although we have nothing to hide, this dialogue may prove to be more dynamic and effective if taken off-line. While the general public can be privy to the process itself, would it not better serve the university to keep the content at this point within the university community?
I submit this comment with the utmost respect for our historic values and institutional heritage.
DSerra
Comment 3: Examination of Academic Calendars
UIU has a rich array of options for course modalities, and this richness is increasing (e.g. videoconferencing among sites). Rather than concentrating on making all calendars match, perhaps there is a way to have subject matter, credit count, and delivery mechanism fit with various calendar options. Some courses may require the elapsed time of a 16-week semester, while others fit comfortably in the one-week IEXL summer format. Does one size really have to fit all?
Additionally, as we become a global organization, we will be coordinating across time zones, nations, and diverse cultures. There are significant differences across these divisions, and it is not trivial to bridge them. Student and faculty input across the UIU divisions will be needed to invent ways to overcome these differences. I also suggest we might look at larger international corporations (Microsoft springs to mind...) that have already encountered these differences and probably made strides toward addressing them.
K. McCarville
Comment 4: Accounting for ROI
In reference to #4 on Page 3 -- it may also be advisable to be able to calculate ROI for "clusters" of majors. There are some disciplines that must be represented in the curriculum for certain majors -- but there may be no corresponding major or the major is not in high demand. Nonetheless, the service courses must be provided and so the marginal cost of some majors is quite low.
K. McCarville
Comment 5: Faculty and Student Exchange Programs
Regarding #6 on page 4.
The item notes that differences in calendars and life schedules present barriers. They may also present opportunities...
One way to overcome short term scheduling differences is to use a longer period as the basis for exchanges -- six months or a year.
Audio-video conferencing across widely separated time zones is possible. There are sometimes very narrow time slots when participants can reasonably be expected to be available. It has been my experience that the most effective uses of audio-video conferencing are among people who have already met face-to-face.
Pay scale differences are noted in the plan document. Workload expectations are likely to be at least as significant as pay-related differences, and potentially more difficult to solve. Solving pay scale differences requires primarily money, adjustment of workload expectations is not trivial.
K. McCarville
Comment 6: Strategic Importance of "Seamless Movement"
The seamless movement area is of strategic importance because it offers the opportunity to align administrative and operational activities with ACADEMICS (which are, after all, our core business at UIU). One of the important defining factors that sets UIU apart is our focus on providing higher education to students who are balancing their educational activities with other priorities in their lives.
Clearly the interface between students and faculty is central, if we are putting students and their academic needs first. Then, provide the operational and administrative functions and activities that enhance the academic success of students and support faculty efforts.
K. McCarville
RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENTS
Comment: Examination of Academic Calendars
“UIU has a rich array of options for course modalities, and this richness is increasing (e.g. videoconferencing among sites). Rather than concentrating on making all calendars match, perhaps there is a way to have subject matter, credit count, and delivery mechanism fit with various calendar options. Some courses may require the elapsed time of a 16-week semester, while others fit comfortably in the one-week IEXL summer format. Does one size really have to fit all?”
Team Response: We agree with this comment. Our proposal does state that we feel this is an area that needs to be examined further, and that the various academic calendars should be examined to determine if and where they can be aligned. We feel these comments do need to be taken into account when examining academic calendars.
“Additionally, as we become a global organization, we will be coordinating across time zones, nations, and diverse cultures. There are significant differences across these divisions, and it is not trivial to bridge them. Student and faculty input across the UIU divisions will be needed to invent ways to overcome these differences. I also suggest we might look at larger international corporations (Microsoft springs to mind…) that have already encountered these differences and probably made strides toward addressing them.”
Team Response: We agree that all of these issues present a challenge when offering education to a diverse group of students. These comments will need to be taken into account when exploring obstacles. We may find that some of the obstacles mentioned are true obstacles while others are self-imposed. We may also find that some barriers can be overcome while others cannot.
Action: Led by the Senior Vice President for International Programs, we should examine like organizations that have already been through this process and use them to benchmark best practices. We recommend looking at other universities rather than corporations.
Comment: Accounting for ROI
“In reference to #4 on Page 3 – it may also be advisable to be able to calculate for ROI for “clusters” of majors. There are some disciplines that must be represented in the curriculum for certain majors – but there may be no corresponding major or the major is not high in demand. Nonetheless, the service courses must be provided and so the marginal cost of some majors is quite low.”
Team Response: We agree with these comments. We have also taken into consideration the idea of clusters of majors. We suggest developing best practices for ROI as well as assembling a team led by the Senior Vice President for Business Services to explore activity-based accounting to remove current pressures on individual operating units for specific annual financial outcomes.
Comment: Faculty and Student Exchange Programs
“The item notes that differences in calendars and life schedules present barriers. They may also present opportunities…
One way to overcome short term scheduling differences is to use a longer period as the basis for exchanges – six months or a year.”
Team Response: The committee has discussed this public comment, and we suggest an alternative viewpoint. Although it may solve some of the issues regarding academic calendars, it does not take into account the person-related barriers we have identified. Many domestic as well as international full-time and adjunct faculty members have family schedules to work around, and most adjunct instructors have full-time jobs as well. Six month or one year appointments do not fit into the majority of life schedules.
“Audio-video conferencing across widely separated time zones is possible. There are sometimes very narrow time slots when participants can reasonably be expected to be available. It has been my experience that the most effective uses of audio-video conferencing are among people who have already met face-to-face.”
Team Response: We agree that audio-video conferencing is worthy of exploration. We also feel that this becomes a burden for individuals teaching or learning in time zones far apart. The balance between the two will need consideration when explored.
“Pay scale differences are noted in the plan document. Workload expectations are likely to be at least as significant as pay-related differences, and potentially more difficult to solve. Solving pay scale differences requires primarily money, adjustment of workload expectations is not trivial.”
Team Response: We agree with the observation that workload expectations are significant, and should be examined along with pay-related issues.
Action: The original recommendation was for the Senior Vice President for International Programs to examine this issue. We also believe that appropriate faculty representation to explore workload expectations must be actively involved in this process.
Comment: Strategic Importance of “Seamless Movement”
“The seamless movement area is of strategic importance because it offers the opportunity to align administrative and operational activities with ACADEMICS (which are, after all, our core business at UIU). One of the important defining factors that sets UIU apart is our focus on providing higher education to students who are balancing their educational activities with other priorities in their lives.
Clearly the interface between students and faculty is central, if we are putting students and their academic needs first. Then, provide the operational and administrative functions and activities that enhance the academic success of students and support faculty efforts.”
Team Response: We agree that the academic needs and success of students is our priority. Our service to the students and their academic needs is our competitive advantage.
