CCFIT > Calendar & Minutes > 1998-2003 Minutes > March 17, 2003 AC4 Minutes

1. Approval of Minutes - Chair Bledsoe
2. Awards for Technology in Instruction -- Chair Bledsoe
3. Online Course Approval Process -- Bill Hornof
4. IT Allocations and Finding Sources -- Julie Saylor
5. Presentation: MyUCDavis Course Management Tools -- Brain Alexander/Joyce Johnstone

Present: Chair Caroline Bledsoe, John Bruno, James Case, James Chalfant, Jack Farrell, Andy Jones, Andre McLaughlin for Barry Klein, Bill Lacy, Harry Matthews, Ann Orel, Gail Yokote for Marilyn Sharrow, James Spriggs, Ellen Sutter, Mani Tripathi, Neal Van Alfen, and Jason Wood.

Excused: Mike Allred, Jeffery Gibeling, Rob Kerner, John Meyer, Dave Shelby, and Pat Turner.

Absent: Jay Lund.

Guests: Brian Alexander, Bill Hornof, and Joyce Johnstone.

Staff to the Councils: Moory, Julie Saylor, and Babette Schmitt.

I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS- CHAIR BLEDSOE

Chair Bledsoe requested comments on the March meeting minutes. The minutes were approved as submitted.

In response to a question from last month’s meeting, Vice Provost Bruno informed Council members that student email accounts remain active for a total of 60 days after a student graduates and his or her status in the Banner student information system becomes inactive. Email accounts for staff members remain active for 120 days after their employment with the university is terminated. Faculty accounts remain active for 7 months.

II. AWARDS FOR TECHNOLOGY IN INSTRUCTION -- CHAIR BLEDSOE

Chair Bledsoe reported on her investigation of current awards available to faculty. Bledsoe noted that Steering Committee members had expressed interest in the possibility of offering an award to faculty for innovative use of technology in instruction. The impetus for this award comes from recent discussions with the WASC review team who identified it as something the campus lacked. Responding to the Council’s request for information about existing awards given to faculty, Bledsoe reported that both the Academic Senate and the Academic Federation have award programs to recognize faculty’s contributions to teaching, mentoring, or research. The Academic Senate offers the Distinguished Teaching Award and the Distinguished Graduate Mentoring Award. Both come with a stipend for $500 and dinner with the Chancellor at an awards celebration. The Academic Federation offers the Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Award for Excellence in Research.

Council members identified other awards given by the campus, including a large $30,000 award from the UC Davis Foundation and the James A. Meyer Distinguished Achievement Award. Council members suggested that further investigation be done to determine whether existing awards could be, or are already, used to recognize the creative use of information technology.

Council members discussed the merits of such an award program. Members recognized the need to accelerate the recognition of faculty use of information technology to show the value the campus places on educational technology. It was reported that UCLA offers its faculty such an award. Members also noted that it might be preferable to work within the framework of existing award programs for faculty rather than creating a new one. Some members suggested that the impact of the award to recognize technology in instruction would be greater if it was handed out the same night as other faculty awards.

Chair Bledsoe offered to investigate whether or not the use of information technology is a criterion for the existing faculty awards. Vice Provost Bruno stated that he would check with the WASC representative from UCLA and obtain more information about the UCLA award.

III. ONLINE COURSE APPROVAL PROCESS -- BILL HORNOF

Professor Bill Hornof reported that the Academic Senate Committee on Committees is concerned with difficulties with the online course approval process that have been reported by the Committee on Courses of Instruction. These difficulties are causing frustration among the faculty members on the Committee on Courses of Instruction that must use the system to approve course changes or new courses. Hornof also indicated that the current online forms process is also a source of frustration for faculty members that use the system to submit course changes and new courses. Hornof says that this frustration is manifesting itself in faculty not wanting to serve on the Committee on Courses of Instruction. Hornof suggested that the difficulties being experienced might be lessened if more automation was built into the Online Course Approval.

Registrar Jack Farrell added that the current system was developed four years with limited resources. It has been in a constant state of evolution ever since and should probably be considered a Tier 2 administrative system.

Council members suggested that while integration into MyUCDavis could be explored, the integration itself would not address the functionality issues that have been identified. Council members suggested that more discussion and information was needed before the Council could make recommendations on how to proceed. Council suggested that the issues about the current system and proposals to address these, should be considered by the Education Subcommittee.

Council agreed to move consideration of the Online Course Approval process to the Education Subcommittee.

IV. IT ALLOCATIONS AND FINDING SOURCES -- JULIE SAYLOR

Handout: Instructional Technology Fund (ITF), November 2002 Update 2002-03 Information Technology Allocations from Central Campus Funds and Virtual Chemistry Lab -- Module Chem 2C

Julie Saylor, Office of Resource Management and Planning, reported on the use of campus funds for IT projects. Saylor informed members that the “2002-03 Information Technology Allocations from Central Campus Funds” table identifies the areas and projects for which the campus has already allocated IT funds. Saylor then indicated that the second table (“Virtual Chemistry Lab--Module Chem 2C”) gives a detailed example of how funds were allocated to a specific project.

Saylor then noted that the campus will receive no new Instructional Technology Funds (ITF). One of the handouts identifies the projects that were allocated permanent ITF funds and those that received one-time funds. Saylor informed the Council that, since the one-time funds were exhausted, that funding would need to be obtained from other sources if the campus wished to pursue these activities.

Council members’ comments revolved around the importance of several of the projects that do not have permanent campus funding. Projects identified by Council members included:

• Degree Navigator
• Campus modem pool
• Mediaworks
• Upgrades of classroom equipment
• Classroom Night Crew

Members commented that, if these items needed to be prioritized, they would assign a lower priority level to support of the modem pool. Vice Provost Bruno informed the Council that IET is reducing the cost of supporting the modem pool by eliminating trunk lines that it leases from SBC. The campus is hoping that usage of the modem pool will continue to drop at a faster rate than the campus population is expected to grow.

Council members discussed the importance of the campus supporting Mediaworks and the upgrade of classroom equipment. Members identified significant concerns with the possible discontinuation of funding for Mediaworks and possible loss of support for the classroom night crew. Members commented that the significant efforts made to upgrade classroom equipment over the last few years would be lost if the campus does not continue to support it. They also reported that an increasing number of faculty are using the equipment in the classrooms, and some have requested additional improvements to the equipment.

V. PRESENTATION: MYUCDAVIS COURSE MANAGEMENT TOOLS -- BRIAN ALEXANDER/JOYCE JOHNSTONE

Vice Provost Bruno introduced the presentation on course management tools available from MyUCDavis by providing a brief overview of recent portal usage trends and describing the various communication tools available in MyUCDavis. Communication tools are used for messaging, quick surveying and channel building. Bruno noted that policies on how those tools are used to communicate with large groups remain to be drafted, and that the AC4 will play an important part in the review process.

Brian Alexander and Joyce Johnstone, from the portal development team, summarized the changes made to the MyUCDavis Course Management System since the last update to the Council in May of 2002. Alexander reported on the growth in the use of MyUCDavis by students and faculty and the new tools that are available in the Course Management System (See Presentation).

Council members commented that the availability of MyUCDavis has changed many expectations. Many students now expect faculty to make greater amounts of information available to them through the portal. Members also commended the MyUCDavis team for their approachability and responsiveness.

Members inquired about the functionality of MyUCDavis and how faculty are using the Course Management System. Alexander replied that almost all students use MyUCDavis and are registered in at least one class that uses one or more course management tools. About 50% of the UC Davis faculty use MyUCDavis. Fewer use the Course Management System. Alexander explained that the Course Management System is used principally for larger classes. Members expressed some concern about how the Course Management System accommodates classes with multiple teaching assistants. Alexander indicated that the MyUCDavis team is aware of the concern and is working on a solution.

Other questions focused on the following topics:

• Access to course Web sites. Alexander explained that access to Web pages in MyUCDavis is controlled by the faculty. They can choose whom to grant access to all or some of those pages.
• Occasional system crashes and the ability to store course materials locally. Alexander replied that the MyUCDavis system is set up with a fair level of redundancy. He confirmed that materials can be stored locally.