March, 2008

Academic Leader - March, 2008 - Full Issue PDF
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Serving Students by Helping Faculty: Encouraging Instructional Technology Integration
By Maria A. Clayton, DA, Thomas M. Brinthaupt, PhD, and Barbara J. Draude, RN, MSN
Digital natives make up the great majority of students in academia. Although many faculty members are not part of that generation, the majority are increasingly aware of students’ multitasking habits, their demand for immediate feedback, and, more importantly, their expectations about the use of technology in higher education. Are faculty ready to meet these student expectations and needs? What barriers stand in the way of faculty integration of instructional technology (IT)? What can administrators—deans and chairs, specifically—do to encourage IT integration?

Data-Mining Course Management Systems for Research, Faculty Recognition, and Faculty Development
By Joeann Humbert and Richard Fasse, EdD
The Rochester Institute of Technology’s Online Learning group manages the campus-wide course management system (CMS) now used voluntarily by over 60 percent of the faculty in 54 percent of course offerings. The Online Learning group has been data-mining information from the CMS for over five years to better understand what features are being used, which colleges and departments are using it the most, and what level of activities on key features are in each course.

An Accountability Program Primer for Administrators
By Trudy W. Banta, EdD
These are exciting times to be in the field of outcomes assessment in higher education. Thanks to the spotlight that Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has placed on collecting and reporting standardized test scores in secondary education, there is a lot of interest in the work my colleagues and I have done to help faculty identify and develop ways to assess student learning and institutional effectiveness and then use assessment findings to improve students’ educational experiences. I have devoted much of my career over the last 25 years to this issue.

Parents and the Role of the Academic Dean
By Michael McDonough
An increasing part of any academic dean’s week is fielding calls (and sometimes unannounced visits) from concerned parents. These so-called “helicopter parents” are well-known to student life professionals. In the past, they’ve called to try and influence the admissions process, to negotiate improved housing assignments, and to manage the personal lives of their children.

Creating Faculty-Centered Quality Assurance for Online Courses
By Molly Mott, PhD
In spring 1998, SUNY Canton reached beyond its traditional classroom walls and offered its first online course, Earth Science 107. Eighteen students were enrolled in the course. Within a few years, the small upstate college, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) university system, had embraced distance education, earning the reputation within the state system as a leader in online learning. The college owes this reputation largely to a quality assurance program first introduced in 2005, a time when many faculty members were skeptical of online learning.