Celebrating Your Success

Dr. Bob Barrett is an adjunct instructor with CMU Online and also teaches at American Public University. Over the last few months, Dr. Barrett has given five presentations internationally in South America and Europe. Below is the list of presentations and background information.

• On July 6, 2009, Dr. Barrett presented a paper entitled, "Creating and Implementing E-Learning Applications as Strategic Tools for Students with Disabilities," at the EduLearn09 – International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies in Barcelona, Spain.

• On July 2, 2009, "The Electronic Portfolio in Online Career Development: Creation and Implementation of E-Portfolios," at the 16th International Conference on Learning held at the University of Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain.

• On June 22, 2009, "Virtually Learning Communities: How Management Education is Globally Evolving," at the "Managing in a Global Economy XIII – Management Challenges for a New World International Conferences," sponsored by EAM – Eastern Academy of Management and IAG School of Business, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

• On May 29, 2009, "Best Fits and Best Practices in Recruiting and Hiring of Virtual Employees in the Online Learning Environment" at The Institute for Business and Finance Research (IBFR), Global Conference on Business and Finance in San Jose, Costa Rica, in the Business Education session.

• On March 9, 2009, "New Approaches to Recruiting and Hiring Online Instructors: Challenges and Changes in Best Teaching Practices and Strategies" at the INTED 2009 (International Technology, Education and Development Conference) in Valencia, Spain, in the University-Industry Collaboration session.

If you are interested in viewing the presentations or have questions you can contact Dr. Barrett directly at docjob00@msn.com.

 

For future issues please share your accomplishments or success stories by e-mailing Sarah Young at young2sa@cmich.edu.

 

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Grade Grievance Policies and Procedures – Do's and Don'ts

 

By Jennifer P. Cochran, Ph.D.

 

At some time in your faculty career, you may have a grade that you have given a student challenged, or grieved. Reasons for students to grieve grades may vary, but the procedure for dealing with them does not. the following is a description of the process that should be followed by both you and the student, should that student have an issue with a grade you have assigned. (The full Grade Grievance Policy may be found in the Off-Campus Bulletin, 2008-2009, page 33).

 

For the complete article click here.

 

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Personalizing Your Online Course

This months' article offers some quick tips for personalizing your online course. A personalized course helps to set the "tone" for the entire term, which in turn reduces first-time student anxieties, cuts down on unnecessary e-mails and also encourages further student interaction in the course.

• Since the Announcement area is the first thing students see upon entering your course, be sure to add a Welcome Announcement. You may wish to include topics such as: how to navigate around your course, where to find important items, what to do first, what the objectives are for the course, best methods/times for communicating with you, what to expect for workload and time commitments, etc. Optionally, you can also send the announcement by e-mail to the entire class to reach those students who haven't yet logged in.

• If you have access to a headset microphone, you can easily record an audio welcome message (students can listen over their speakers) using the Wimba Voice Announcement or Wimba Voice E-mail tools. Mt. Pleasant area faculty may also contact Prof-Eds' CID (Center for Instructional Design) if they are interested in creating video messages for their courses.

• Consider including a picture of yourself in the "Staff Information" profile area and some biographical information, or a link to your personal Web site. Ideally, photographs should be in .jpg format and no more than 150 pixels wide x 150 pixels tall (if larger, it will automatically be resized by Blackboard). It helps greatly to be able to "put a face along with the name," particularly in a distance learning course.

• In addition to the standard "Introduce Yourself" Discussion Board which is useful, consider setting up a separate forum specifically for FAQ questions. Instruct students to check that area first – this will reduce multiple e-mails and the forums can be copied forward and re-used in future terms.

• Make empty or duplicate menu areas "unavailable" to students. Leaving extra buttons in your menu that you do not use causes unnecessary confusion for students. As an alternative, you can also completely delete an area, however it's best to be certain it is truly empty before permanently deleting it.

Tutorials providing complete steps for using these features are available at: www.cmich.edu/blackboard and the IT Help Desk can provide additional assistance at (989) 774-3662 or helpdesk@cmich.edu.

 

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Off-Campus Faculty Member Creates New Scholarship

Dr. Jay Griesser and his wife Diana, formerly of Ohio and now residing in Florida, have created a $25,000 Endowed Scholarship for CMU off-campus students. Dr. Griesser has been a faculty member for years and currently teaches Information Technology courses online. Their scholarship is designed to assist active duty military personnel and their immediate family members as well as Federal Service employees and Reserve and National Guard personnel pursuing an Information Technology or Business degree online.

 

As a faculty member, you can follow the Griessers' example by creating a named scholarship and qualify for matching funds by giving during the University Annual Campaign. The Campaign is conducted each Fall, however you do not have to wait until then to begin the process. You, like the Griessers, may determine the criteria, choose the name and amount of your scholarship, and have all the documents in place prior to actually donating funds to endow the scholarship.

 

For further information, please contact Dave Nicholson, Manager of Alumni Relations at (248) 526-2630, or e-mail him at dave.nicholson@cmich.edu.

 

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Deadline for Summer Online Grading

Please note the Web Grading Portal will close for the Summer 2009 semester on Friday, August 28, 2009 at 5 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time). If you have questions regarding grades, you can contact Linda Kolhoff at kolho1ll@cmich.edu.