Poster Sessions

A Heavy Lift: Shifting a Residential Campus to Online Learning

Kristin Flora and Virginia George-Nelis, Franklin College

In academia, change often occurs at a glacial pace. The COVID-19 pandemic was an accelerant for change that was afoot in the area of digital fluency. The digital footprint of our faculty suggested we were underutilizing this space. As the pandemic took hold and necessitated an online presence, the data paint a compelling picture of how far we had to go. Data from 2019-2020 show increases in the usage of the LMS (25%) and number of online assignments and quizzes (50% and 77% increase respectively), while our student retention and instructional quality remained strong. This poster will discuss these achievements.

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Dual Leadership Model in Academia

Alishia Ferguson, University of Arkansa

Imperfect circumstances call for creative solutions. This poster will present a creative leadership solution that was implemented by a small academic unit in a fairly large university. A literature review of creative models will be presented along with conclusions about alternative leadership models. The poster outlines a case study, introducing the specific dual model implemented. A description of how the two leadership positions were conceptualized, outlining day to day successes and challenges from inside the school and from the broader university. Also discussed—advantages and disadvantages of the arrangement and faculty attitudes toward the model.

Creating a Customizable Leadership Development Program

Sara Spear, Rutgers University

Often used in K–12 education, KWL charts list what learners already Know, Want to learn, and actually Learn. Professional and leadership development initiatives, however, are generally planned by program developers who design the content using their own expertise as a guide. This poster describes how the simple KWL concept was translated into an approach that was then applied to a one-year leadership development program where faculty administrators are the learners. This model allowed program developers to design the program and customize it to fit the needs of its participants and the broader organization.

Free Summer Online Classes: Do They Help Pre-College Students?

Linda Bryant, National Technical Institute for the Deaf and Sandi Connelly, Rochester Institute of Technology

As colleges contemplated COVID-19’s impact on perspective students, innovators at RIT offered a variety of tuition-free online courses (1–3 credits) to incoming students designed to prepare them for college classes and motivate them to commit to fall matriculation (reduce “summer melt”). RIT offered 29 courses to BS degree students and NTID offered six courses to AS degree Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing students. Additional virtual opportunities including seminars and workshops were provided to build community. Results showed participants’ fall semester GPAs and spring term retention were statistically higher than those who did not participate. We will present the program design, outcomes, and future directions.

Lesson Learned From Developing and Implementing an Online Faculty Orientation Program in the Developing World

Kiran Qasimali, Edward Misava, and Fouzia Nawaz, Aga Khan University

In 2020, the Aga Khan University launched a university-wide online faculty orientation program to introduce new faculty to the academic culture, provide them development opportunities aimed at promoting academic success and orient them to the support systems available to them to enact their roles effectively. Early evaluations of the orientation program indicate that the initiative to engage faculty through synchronous and asynchronous modalities have acclimated them with the academic culture of AKU, instilled sense of belonging with the institutions, and oriented them to support mechanisms and professional growth opportunities available to improve their teaching practices. The poster will examine the challenges and opportunities experienced in developing a university-wide online orientation program and the lessons learned. In particular, the poster will highlight issues around a) developing one comprehensive orientation program for a multi-site university; b) opportunities and challenges of offering an online orientation program; c) partnering with other academic units to provide a holistic program, and d) creating continuous support mechanisms for faculty to support their transition at AKU.