Volume I Number 4
April 1995
The Advisory Board of the Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning has been developing a set of operating procedures including processes by which Faculty Center staff and Advisory Board are selected. All faculty are encouraged to review the positions of Advisory Board member, Key Resource Faculty, and Facilitator, and are invited to apply. Pages 7 and 8 of this Newsletter include application forms for all Faculty Center positions. The deadline is April 19! Details on all positions are available from Maureen McCreadie or Michael Schwartz.
All faculty are welcome to join the Advisory Board. To do so, simply indicate your interest on the form on page 7 and return the form to the Faculty Center. Ideally, all academic divisions and areas will have representation on the Faculty Center Advisory Board.
The Advisory Board decided that Resource Faculty better describes the positions currently called Facilitators, so the title will be changed accordingly. To apply for a Resource Faculty position, full-time faculty are invited to submit a project proposal as outlined on the form on page 8. Proposed projects should be roughly equivalent in effort and time to that invested in teaching a 3-credit course. Assignment to Resource Faculty positions will be determined by the Advisory Board based on blind review of the proposals submitted. Assignment will be awarded for a semester, renewable, at the discretion of the Advisory Board.
The title of the position currently labeled Coordinator will be changed to Facilitator. Any full-time faculty member interested in taking on this position is encouraged to apply by so indicating on the form on page 7. Interviews will be scheduled with the Advisory Board. The Facilitator, also selected by the Advisory Board, will serve for one year, renewable annually.
The Faculty Center is looking less primitive. Our telephone has been installed. The phone number is 968-8321. Donations continue to furnish our space. Stop in to admire the art work on loan from four generous and talented members of the Division of the Arts: Robert Dodge, Alan Goldstein, Gwen Kerber, and Charlotte Schatz. Lyn Allison contributed her mother's gorgeous, colorful rug to warm the space and soften the sounds of the building. Judy Switzer added a soothing painting, Poonam Sood donated spoons, and Barbara Korb brought in the perfect coffee table. We are grateful to all.
Thanks to Faculty Center volunteers, we have continued to expand the hours during which the Center is open. Lisa Angelo, Anne Kinnier, Lin MacGregor, Marilyn Puchalski, Michael Schwartz, and Judy Switzer all help Gwen Kerber, Barbara Korb, and Maureen McCreadie staff the Center on a regular basis. In addition, John Ford, Eric Lifson, and Rebecca Stevenson occasionally filled in to keep things operating.
The Advisory Board invites you to use the Faculty Center for College-related meetings. To schedule a meeting time, please contact Maureen McCreadie at extension 8055, or leave a message at the Faculty Center, extension 8321. You are not limited to the Center's hours of operation.
Rebecca Stevenson, Director of Resource Development, has been forwarding copies of The Grants Advisor to the Faculty Center. They are available for you to peruse at your leisure in what we are referring to as the Grants Corner. Okay, so it's only a binder on the mantlepiece today. But stay tuned--we plan in the near future to add computer-assisted searching of funding sources.
Information on the following professional opportunities is available in the Faculty Center. The Faculty Center may be able to sponsor your attending a conference. Please visit the Center to learn more.
Transforming Classrooms Through Technology
Penn State University, University Park, PA, May 15 - 17, 1995
Designed for faculty, administrators, and support staff interested in exploring the issues and challenges of implementing computer and related technologies in today's post-secondary classrooms. The conference presents a strategic approach to the creation and use of multimedia teaching and learning environments, and focuses on the components of a college infrastructure needed to create effective classrooms for the future. Techniques for analyzing classroom requirements, including discipline-appropriate solutions, determining appropriate technologies, planning for support, and providing faculty development opportunities are all components of the conference.
Major Topics:
Registration deadline: April 28,1995
Supporting Teaching Excellence: The Seventeenth Annual International Conference on Teaching Excellence
The Austin Convention Center, Austin, TX, May 21 - 24
Sponsored by the National Institute for Staff & Organizational Development (NISOD), the Community College Leadership Program (CCLP), and The League for Innovation in the Community College.
Major Topics:
Registration Deadline: May 10, 1995
The Adult Learner: Programs to Attract, Retain, and Educate Older Students
San Antonio, TX, May 28 - 31, 1995
Sponsored by the University of South Carolina Division of Continuing Education.The invited keynote speaker for the conference is August Kappner, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Adult and Vocational Education.
Major Topics:
Improving Learning: Forging Better Connections Between Assessment, Quality, and Accreditation The 10th AAHE Conference on Assessment & Quality
The Marriott Copley Place, Boston, MA, June 11 - 14, 1995
Sponsored by the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE). The Conference has three main aims. First, it will help participants recognize, create, and strengthen connections to improve student learning and institutional effectiveness. Second, it will help them understand and respond to calls for better information and more accountability from their many "publics." Third, it will help participants connect to the resources, networks, individuals, tools, and information they need to assess and improve performance in their classrooms and on their campuses.
Teaching for a Change: Beyond Buzzwords--Walk the Talk! The Fifth Annual Teaching for Change Conference
Westin Resort, Vail, CO, June 18 - 20
Sponsored by the Community College of Aurora, Colorado. Underlying the Teaching for a Change theme is the conviction that change agents can best initiate, implement, and sustain change in collaboration with others, in an atmosphere of respect and support for diversity. The conference will showcase successful programs, projects, and activities; model new methods for teaching and learning; provide strategies for implementation; offer "Paradigm Shift Sessions" to help foster learner-centered instruction, and nurture teaching training and excellence.
Early Registration Deadline: May 5, 1995
Celebrating Learning: A Faculty Showcase: A Regional Conference on Excellence in Education for Community College Faculty
Sheraton Fontainebleau, Ocean City, MD, November 1 - 3, 1995
Sponsored by The College Board Middle States Regional Office and Chesapeake College. This conference is designed to highlight innovative and effective teaching strategies, academic programs, and developments in student services at community colleges.
Conference on Information Technology The Eleventh Annual Conference on Information Technology
Hyatt Regency and Westin Crown Center Hotels, Kansas City, MO, November 5 - 8, 1995
Sponsored by the League for Innovation in the Community College. The conference is designed to convene a range of practitioners and leaders interested in the applications of information technology to teaching and learning, student support services, and institutional management in community colleges. The focus of the conference encompasses all applications of information technology.
Conference on The Educational Uses of Computers in the Community College
Faculty and administrators from the five area Delaware Valley community colleges are invited to participate in this conference, planned to focus on the educational uses of computers in the sciences, humanities, social sciences, and business curricula.
Proposal deadline: June 1, 1995
Breaking the Boundaries of Time and Space: A Focus on Distance Education and Training 9th Annual Distance Education Conference
University of Maine at Augusta, September 28 - 30, 1995
Proposal deadline: May 15, 1995
The Annenberg/CPB Projects
In 1995, the Annenberg/CPB Higher Education Project will award up to $2 million for two funding initiatives:
- The development of multimedia courses in areas such as Biology, General Science, Political Science, Comparative Government, History, and Information Technology for national distribution to colleges and high schools.
- The activities of teams who will collect, analyze, and disseminate information about how a cluster of widely taught courses is being redesigned for students using technologies.
National Endowment for the Humanities: A National Conversation on American Pluralism and Identity
The NEH invites us to join in a conversation, informed by scholarship, about the nature of American pluralism and identity. Consider applying for a grant to hold a series of conversations; or to carry out a research project or conference, a fellowship or seminar, a preservation project, a museum exhibition or library program, a television or radio program, or a public forum or symposium.
The Advisory Board of the Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning is sponsoring a full schedule of programs this Spring. Every Wednesday from 2 - 3 p.m. the Board invites you to participate in a range of programs on topics including multimedia presentations, academic advising, sabbatical reports, committee issues, and how to implement the core curriculum.
Our first program, led by Lisa Angelo and Sylvia Perelman (co-chairs of the Academic Affairs Committee), met on Wednesday, March 8 in the Faculty Center, when approximately fifteen faculty members participated in an informal discussion. On Thursday, March 9, more than fifty attendees gathered in the Orangery as Grace Gagliardi and Bill Ford encouraged Implementing the Core Curriculum at this Dean's Reception, co-sponsored by the Faculty Center.
Since Spring break, the Center has sponsored a roundtable discussion on incorporating moral and ethical issues in the core curriculum; a talk by Francine Perrine-Wittcamp, Gender Equity Director of Bucks County; and informal question & answer sessions with Dr. Linksz.
From now until the end of the semester, the Faculty Center will offer programs every week. Most programs are held Wednesday afternoons from 2 - 3 in the Faculty Center. Exceptions are noted in the schedule on page 6. Comments from faculty indicated a strong preference for both informal interaction and food. Therefore, light refreshments are provided at all programs.
Roundtable Discussion on the Core Curriculum--Conflict Resolution
The second of our roundtable discussions on how to implement the Core Curriculum, this session looks at ideas for incorporating conflict resolution in courses and in programs of study. The discussion will help in developing program of study master plans. Led by Grace Gagliardi and Bill Ford.
Multimedia Workshop: Multimedia Development for the Marketplace and Classroom
Jeffry Weicher, an award-winning multimedia designer/producer, will demonstrate how, despite changes in technology, design issues remain constant. Jon Alley, Division of the Arts will show a multimedia program he has created for his students using Toolbook, a Windows-based authoring program.
Turning Education Upside Down: Redefining Our Mission
An emerging group of educational leaders are calling for a redefinition of the mission of the colleges and universities. The new model places student learning at the core. Come participate in this live, interactive teleconference.
The Role of Counseling in Support of Students and Faculty
A number of counseling services are available to both students and faculty through the Student Services Center. Anne Kinnier, Counselor, will let us know of the services available and will lead discussion.
Roundtable Discussion on the Core Curriculum--Adapting to Lifelong Change
The third of our roundtable discussions on how to implement the Core Curriculum. Led by Grace Gagliardi and Bill Ford.
Multimedia Workshop
Academic Advising
A Selection of Sabbatical Reports