News...

Hello. Faculty News and Notes is a monthly electronic publication distributed to all instructors in our faculty pool who have taught off-campus in the last two years. This publication was created to help you feel more connected to CMU and to provide you with news and updates to our off-campus policies and procedures. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at frc@cmich.edu.

For this issue, we wanted to bring your attention to some specific information regarding safety in the classroom. Over the past year, we have seen an increase in basic incivility in our classrooms as well as national tragedies such as the shootings at Virginia Tech. Our students are impacted daily by the war in Iraq, our economic hardships in Michigan and around the nation, and a host of other factors that they bring to class. It is CMU’s responsibility to have policies in place to make the classroom a safe environment for learning. It is your responsibility to make sure those policies are followed in the classroom and also to clarify your expectations for classroom management. To that end, here is some information we think you will find valuable:

• Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Disciplinary Procedures. This code is available online and you should be aware of the expectations CMU has for each student. You should be able to use this code to address student classroom behavior issues. To report an incident, please contact Alicia Haley. 

• Syllabus.  Be clear in your syllabus about your expectations for classroom behavior and what constitutes disruptive behaviors (i.e. cell phone use, reading the newspaper).

• Review Expectations the First Day of Class.  It would be beneficial to review your expectations for classroom management on the first day of class. If you would like some pointers on how to do this, please contact a mentor. In addition, you can also use Maximize Your Learning as a framework for this discussion.

• Rules for civil discussions. For many of us, classroom discussions can be both rewarding and challenging to manage. Here are some tips on ground rules for civil discussion. 

• Harassment, Violence, Discrimination Reporting.  If you witness such a situation in your classroom or if a student confides in you about this type of issue, you need to report it immediately to Alicia Haley and your center administrator. If you or your students are in immediate or imminent danger, please contact the police directly or the military police if you are on a base. Please review the Workplace Violence Policy.

• Please review the Consensual Relationship Policy.

• Have a plan.  Think about your safety and your surroundings when you teach. Have a plan in place for emergencies. Please read the Campus Security at CMU Off-Campus Programs document.

• How to talk about Virginia Tech and Other Resources.  Please check out the April issue of Teaching Central for a helpful article on how to talk about this in your class. 

Technology Corner...

Blackboard Face-to-Face Training at the Marriott Detroit Metro Airport, May 18th, 2007

Please sign up for one of two hands-on sessions. Basic system functions from login and course management to communication, grading and posting materials and online assignments will also be covered. Time permitting, questions and discussion will be welcomed as well. Jeremy Bond will be your facilitator for these sessions. Travel costs will not be covered as this is considered a Faculty Development Seminar.

Teaching Online

The Center for Instructional Design is accepting applications to join the next section of Teaching Online which begins May 21^st and runs through June 15th. Seats are limited, so sign up now.

Enhancing Online Course Content Scholarship

To enhance online content in courses delivered off-campus, the Center for Instructional Design will be offering summer scholarships. Each scholarship will consist of up to $500 of professional development monies to be used to support your proposed project. Projects that will enhance the academic quality of a course, revise course content to appeal to different learning styles, or that transfer face-to-face content to an electronic format will receive preference. Proposals will be accepted via e-mail until midnight, May 20th, 2007. Notification will be e-mailed May 31^st, and all projects must be completed before July 31^st 2007. Please limit your e-mail proposal to 300 words and include the following information: your name, CMU e-mail address, phone number, course number, What you want to change, How will this affect learning, and What resources will you need to implement your proposed changes. Please include an estimate of the hours you will contribute to this project.

Call to Evaluate Online Collaboration Tools

FACIT, ProfEd, and IT are seeking input on the following online collaboration tools. Each tool can be integrated into our current Learning Management System environment (Blackboard). Each product offers a virtual classroom, in which participants can interact in real-time, sharing voice, video, text chat, applications and presentations. Participants are asked to attend one each of the one-hour scheduled online informational sessions for each product. Actual content-based sessions, either with peers or students, will be encouraged during the course of the evaluation. These will be independently arranged and allow you to try the products as they would be used once adopted.

If you are interested in participating in this evaluation, please e-mail Dan Bracken.