Webster University: Faculty Development Center

Activity II: Establish Faculty Instructional Technology Center

The proposed Instructional Technology Center (ITC) will enable the University’s academic community to engage in systematic, fundamental, educational reform. The future will see the faculty deeply involved in mentoring and serving as managers of an array of learning resources. Faculty members will use technology to deliver essential information, leaving themselves free for functions that only teachers can perform.

The Center, through a Faculty Fellowship program, will provide the faculty with the training, skills, and support as well as rewards needed to engage in fundamental course reform. As participants in the ITC Fellowship program, faculty will receive intensive, sustained training in the most effective learning techniques and technological approaches currently available. In addition the center, on an on-going basis, apart from the structure of the Faculty Fellowship program, will provide training workshops and course design consultation to both full and part-time faculty.

Meeting the objectives of Activity II will enable the university to realize the following outcomes related to strengthening the academic program by using various strategies to enhance teaching and learning:

Faculty support for a wide range of library initiatives:

A significant increase in retention and graduation rates of Webster's students.
An Instructional Technology Center that can support the infusing information technology and applicants across the curriculum
A significant increase in the number of faculty members committed to and trained in alternative instructional methodologies and curriculum delivery systems that address the needs of the University students.
A revision of 70 of the universities courses during a the grant period that will show learners a technological enriched hands on active learning environment
A significant increase in the number of full- and part-time faculty members committed to transformation of the learning environment and the integration of instructional technology in course delivery.

The Instructional Transformation Center will serve as the hub for all facets of efforts to reform teaching, engage learners and transform the institution into a learning centered environment by offering support to courses outside of the online degree programs.

Transformation and the Instructional Technology Center

Upon the completion of the Library, an Instructional Technology Center will be established and become a fixed resource of the Webster Library. Serving as the focal point for the coordination of resources and activities, the center will offer scholarship/research/fellowship stipends, pedagogical practices, strategies and materials, dissemination of information through print and electronic sources, multimedia and technological training, Web based course use and development, mentoring, consultative support, and technological initiatives. These strategies and activities will transform teaching and learning at Webster. Its services will be available to part-time as well as full-time faculty members.

Under the direction of James Staley, Project Director, and Laura Rein, Associate Project Director, an ITC staff will support the faculty in planning teaching strategies, designing courses, and incorporating technology tailored to specific courses and specific student clientele. The staff will assist the faculty in adapting appropriate strategies, or combinations of strategies, to effect course transformation, such as supplemental instruction, classroom based research assessment, and educational technology to most effectively meet students' needs, and engage them in the learning process. Each instructor will receive assistance in tailoring the resources to his or her individual needs.

ITC Advisory Council

An advisory council, functioning during the ITC time period, will guide topics for workshops, award Fellowship Incentive Stipends, and attend to general matters related to teaching and learning including activities of the transformational effort centrally located on campus. The advisory council will consist of one faculty member from each College or School, the Dean's Council, and representatives from Academic Affairs. The Center will be a very visible incarnation of Webster's commitment to the primacy of teaching and learning.

Teaching Transformation Fellowship Program

The sponsorship of transformational teaching and learning is the heart of this activity. Vital to the success of ITC will be careful selection of faculty participants. The ITC staff, the ITC Advisory Board, and the Title III Advisory Committee, will develop a selection process and criteria for awarding stipends. Webster's assumption is that many more faculty members will want to participate than can be readily accommodated by ITC staff and that all of the faculty could benefit from participation. Consideration will be given to personal and professional characteristics of faculty applicants. Criteria will be examined from the standpoint of selecting faculty members whose proposed courses for transformation will have greatest impact on reducing university attrition and enhancing retention. For example, criteria could be based on a combination of the existing "percentage" of attrition compared to the attrition rate of all undergraduates.

ITC will offer Fellowship Performance awards of $2,000 and a laptop computer (also valued at approximately $2000) for faculty participants. These grants will serve as an incentive to encourage faculty interest in transformation, which has a high probability of enhancing teaching and learning in the classroom. Normally, awards will be made on the basis of specific criteria for courses, discipline or pedagogical approach. Faculty Fellows will be expected to integrate a minimum of four new pedagogical approaches into two different courses (one must be an introductory course) or into one new course to be developed during the fellowship year. A faculty member who receives an award will be eligible to apply for an additional grant after two years upon validation to the satisfaction of the Center staff, Advisory Board, and external consultants that the first project has enhanced teaching and learning.

Training Curriculum

The transformation support/training will consist of two phases: (1) a teaching/training phase and (2) a course development phase. The teaching/training phase will be coordinated by the Center staff, outside consultants and local faculty experts. Faculty Fellows will attend development sessions on topics such as use of the Internet, learning communities, classroom based assessment techniques, supplemental instruction, and other pedagogical advances. These faculty development programs will also be open to the faculty-at-large. The consultant/presenters chosen will be nationally recognized authorities in implementing new learning technologies and instructional approaches.

Consultants will be drawn from other universities that have nationally recognized programs in instructional transformation. The Center will also make use of local campus experts who have developed successful approaches in dealing with students and whose expertise could be utilized to assist their colleagues. During the third and fourth year of the transformation, faculty members who have successfully implemented new programs and approaches based on their fellowship experience could also serve as presenters/trainers.

To a limited extent, the Center will make use of the "train the trainers" technique. In this strategy Faculty Fellows will work with an instructional technology consultant and a faculty consultant in their own or a closely related discipline to integrate several new pedagogical techniques into two existing courses or one new course currently under development. On-going e-mail consultation and feedback throughout the following year will provide pedagogical support for the Fellows as they teach their transformed course to students. Key library staff members will provide assistance to Center staff in the selection and incorporation of information technology: Ellen Eliceiri, Head of Reference and Public Services; Eileen Condon, Systems Librarian, LeAnne Balzer, Computer Technician, Stacy Lillyman, Computer Technician, Mary Anne Erwin, Reference Librarian; Kathy Gaynor, Reference Librarian; Sue Gold, Reference Librarian; Holly Hubenschmidt, Reference Librarian; Eileen Simon, Reference Librarian.

Transformation Seminars/Workshops

Just as students learn increasingly well in groups through active, experiential learning, faculty members can best master new material and make it their own when brought together with colleagues and experts for discussion and practice. Each year the Center will sponsor workshops on topics relevant to teaching and learning at Webster. In-house personnel selected by the ITC staff and the ITC Advisory Board will conduct the fall semester workshops. These faculty members will share their expertise and "wisdom of practice" with their peers in a highly interactive, "hands-on" setting. An example of such as workshop would be a training session on the development and use of rubrics as a proficiency based evaluative mechanism.

Each semester the Center will also bring scholars and educational practitioners to campus. Nominations for the workshop/seminar leaders will be solicited from the faculty at large and facilitators will be selected by the Center Director in consultation with the Center's Advisory Board and the administration of the university. Each program will be highly interactive and designed specifically to educate the faculty about important issues in teaching and learning and to inspire members to experiment with new approaches to learning in their classrooms. Every year there will be workshops on integrating classroom assessment techniques and interactive technologies into the classroom.

Training Faculties

Support offered will be carefully planned to provide hands-on applications of instructional strategies validated to be successful in engaging and motivating students. The ITC Center will be a separate space modeled on the very successful center at the University of Delaware. The purpose of this facility will be to increase the technical literacy and expertise of the faculty, to serve as an incubator for research involving the application of technologies to teaching, and to enable the faculty to produce high quality multimedia materials and computer-based applications for instruction. It will contain state-of-the-art PC hardware and software and will be open to faculty members at specified times and by appointment. Scheduling and use will be overseen by the Center Director to guarantee smooth operation and ensure that statistical data relevant to the use of technology in teaching and learning can be compiled, analyzed and disseminated.

This facility will be reserved for faculty members seeking advanced training in hardware and software for experimentation and designing specific transformation applications. The assistance of external consultants and faculty experts volunteering their services as mentors will be available to faculty members working in the lab to aid them in planning applications and mastering techniques for computer assisted instruction and multimedia enhancement of teaching.

Monies have also been set aside in this activity to purchase institution-wide licenses for computer software needed for faculty and course development, for use by the entire faculty. Final selection of software will be made by the Center and the Advisory Board based on recommendations of Webster's information technology staff.

Major Objectives in Measurable Terms: Activity Two
Year Three: 2003-2004
Objective 1: To encourage new approaches to learning and foster revitalization of teaching by creating the Instructional Transformation Center (ITC) headed by an Instructional Development-Designer by Dec. 30.	Performance Indicators 1.3 Instructional Development Designer is appointed as ITC Director. 1.4 ITC Advisory Board established.
Objective 2: To install courseware software in ITC by January 30.	Performance Indicators 2.1 Academic courseware installed and ready for training and use.
Objective 3: To install courseware software in ITC by January 30.	Performance Indicators 3.1 Academic courseware installed and ready for training and use.
Objective 4: To encourage distribution of materials and exchange of information to promote teaching revitalization, ITC establishes a Web page by January 30.	Performance Indicators 4.2 Web site is operational and address made known via campus e-mail and publications. 4.3 Web traffic logs document awareness and use of page.
Objective 5: To plan teaching transformation opportunities for the faculty, the Center director and the ITC Advisory Board conduct a training needs assessment survey for developing ITC operational guidelines, criteria for participation and contract/curriculum procedures and practices by March 30.	Performance Indicators 5.1 75% of faculty respond to needs assessment survey 5.2 Criteria for participation and application guidelines are available in print form, posted on home page and "Passports".
Objective 6: To inform and engage the faculty in the potential for transformation, the ITC will sponsor a one-day faculty development workshop by April 30 which will be attended by 25 full-time and part-time faculty.	Performance Indicators 6.1 Nationally recognized consultant in instructional improvement will present a one-day workshop to a minimum of 25 full and part time faculty. 6.2 Participation will rate workshop 9.0 or better on a 1-10 scale.
Objective 7: To stimulate the adoption of good teaching practices, the center staff produces a Library Instructional/Web-based Design Handbook for distribution to the faculty by May 15.	Performance Indicators 7.1 Print and Web version of handbook is distributed to faculty
Objective 8: To stimulate teaching transformation, the ITC awards 8 Teaching Transformation Fellowships by June 30, 2004 .	Performance Indicators 8.1 Records document that 8 faculty members have been awarded Teaching Transformation Fellowships. 8.2 Fellowship performance contracts of up to $2,000 plus a laptop computer will be awarded to the 8 Fellows. 8.3 Purchasing records will verify the purchase of 8 laptop computers by July 2004 8.4 Records document 100% Faculty Fellows have signed performance based contracts.
Objective 9: To develop and certify a ITC curriculum, which will enhance teaching and learning by September 30.	Performance Indicators 9.1 Nationally-known consultant will certify appropriateness of curriculum, which will include, but not be limited to: · Latest pedagogical advances · Uses of the Internet and other technologies in enhancing the learning process · Learning Communities · Classroom-Based Assessment techniques · Supplemental Instruction · Reshaping of instructional perspectives · On-line course development · Use of interactive technologies · Peer-based collaborative learning · Web-enhanced course development 9.2 Curriculum management will consist of support by Instructional/Web Designer, Library staff outside consultants, and local faculty experts. 9.3 Participation will require that Fellows develop for course inclusion a minimum of four instructional approaches that employ new pedagogical strategies and technological approaches presented in the curriculum and complete 100% of the performance outcomes in their contract.
Objective 10: To further improve teaching and increase student engagement and learning, the center provides instructional technology or theory consultations to a minimum of 15 full and part time faculty members (non-fellows) during 2004-2005.	Performance Indicators 10.1 Center logs document that targets have been met. 10.2 Average faculty rating of the quality of consultations received is 9.0 on a 1-10 Likert scale. 10.3 Copies of all instructional alternatives developed will be retained for general faculty reference. 10.4 Records document 100% Faculty Fellows have signed performance based
Year Four: 2004-2005
Objective 11: To further stimulate teaching transformation, the ITC awards an additional 16 Teaching Transformation Fellowships for 2004-05 by October 1, 2004 .	Performance Indicators 11.1 Records document that 16 faculty members have been awarded Teaching Transformation Fellowships. 11.2 Fellowship performance contracts of up to $2,000 plus a laptop computer will be awarded to the 15 Fellows. 11.3 Purchasing records will verify the purchase of 8 laptop computers by November 15, 2004 11.4 Records document 100% Faculty Fellows have signed performance based contracts.
Objective 12. To validate the models through September 2005 for faculty participation in the ITC, which will have the greatest positive impact on transforming teaching, improving the quality of teaching, and fostering increased student engagement and learning.	Performance Indicators 12.1 Assistance with the selection models will be provided by an outside consultant. 12.2 Models will be validated by a nationally known consultant and by retention studies provided by the Director of Institutional Research, and input from Chairpersons and Associate Project Director
Objective 13. To revitalize and transform learning and improve student retention through September, the ITC graduates the first cohort of 8 Fellows in June 2005 and the second cohort of 15 Fellows in September 2005 from the intensive year-long professional development process.	Performance Indicators 13.1 Records document that faculty stipends of $2,000 per member are provided at the successful conclusion of the course transformation process. 13.2 Fellowship Performance Contracts require participants to complete the development/revision of two courses that employ a minimum of eight different strategies and technological approaches presented in the ITC curriculum.
Objective 14. To evaluate the impact through September 2005 of promoting teaching improvement and course transformation. Records show participation cohorts in 20 or more hours of professional development.	Performance Indicators 14.1 Fellows rate the training an average of 9.5 on a Likert 1-10 user satisfaction survey. 14.2 The Center's Instructional Designer will initiate a validation process with faculty members who have completed training to monitor implementation progress and document a 15% increase in client retention over in the same course over 2001 year base.
Objective 15: To enhance teaching transformation, encourage pedagogical innovation, and improve student learning and retention, the curriculum/selection procedures of the ITC will be refined and revised by September 20, 2005 .	Performance Indicators 15.1 On-going assessment instruments will be used by faculty participants to refine the curriculum/selection process. 15.2 External evaluation documents refined curriculum content and examination of procedures/results. 15.3 Evaluation of follow-up sessions with faculty graduates document that participants rate support methodologies employed as 9.5 on a 1-10 Likert satisfaction scale.
Objective 16: To improve the teaching/learning environment and increase student engagement and retention, the center provides instructional support consultations to a minimum of 30 full and part-time faculty (non/fellows) during 2004-2005.	Performance Indicators 16.1 Center attendance logs document that target has been met. 16.2 Audit show that the average full-time faculty commits 25 or more hours and the average part-time commits 20 or more hours. 16.2 Average faculty rating of the quality of consultations received is 9.5 on a 1-10 Likert scale.
Objective 17: To stimulate teaching transformation, the ITC sponsors a minimum of one workshops per month during the academic year.	Performance Indicators 17.1 Center logs document that workshops have taken place. 17.2 Workshop evaluations by participants' average 8.5 on a 1-10 satisfaction survey scale. 17.3 Records document that an average of eight faculty members participated in the workshop/seminar effort each month.
Year Five: 2005-2006
Objective 18: To further stimulate teaching transformation, the ITC awards an additional 16 Teaching Transformation Fellowships to faculty members by October 1.	Performance Indicators 18.1 Records document that 16 faculty members have been awarded Teaching Transformation Fellowships. 18.2 Fellowship Performance Contracts of up to $2,000 plus a laptop computer will be awarded to the 16 Fellows. 18.3 Purchasing records will verify the purchase of 16 laptop computers by November 2005.
Objective 19: To revitalize and transform learning and improve student retention through September 2006, the ITC graduates the third cohort of 16 Fellows from the intensive yearlong professional development process.	Performance Indicators 19.1 Records document that 100% faculty stipends are provided at the successful conclusion of the transformation contract. 19.2 To validate completion of 100% of the performance outcomes in their contract, Fellows provide documentation of course development with a minimum of four instructional approaches that employ new pedagogical strategies and technological approaches. 19.3 Records document that 100% faculty stipends of $2,000 per successful faculty applicant are provided at the successful conclusion of the transformation contract.