Miami University
Office of Residence Life
211 Warfield Hall
EDL 301:
Student Development in the Residence Halls
Committee Report
August 2009- May 2010
Submitted by: Stephanie M. Acheson, FYA
Table of Contents
EDL 301 Committee Overview…………………………………………………………………………………3
Committee Mission
Course Objectives
Committee Members
Committee Charge
Priorities of the Committee………………………………………………………….……………………….…4
Accomplishments of the Committee…………………………..………………………………………..…..4
Recommendations……………………………………………………………………………..………….….....….4
EDL 301 Committee and Structure………………………………………………….……………...……….5
Logistics
Instructors
Instructor Recruitment
Instructor Training
EDL 301 Projects…………………………………………………………...... ……….…….….7
Course Review
Curriculum Development
Course Syllabus
Facilitators Guide
Grading Rubric
Budget…………………………………………………………………………………………………….……..……..…7
EDL 301 Committee Overview:
Committee Mission(as posted in the Office of Residence Life Advisory Staff Manual) Members of this committee will teach EDL 301 in either Fall 2009 or Spring 2010OR are interested in helping to enhance the curriculum of EDL 301. This class is required for all new RAs in their first semester of employment. The continued assessment of the curriculum is assigned to this committee. This committee also recruits and trains instructors for the course as well as facilitates instructor meetings to maintain consistency in participant experiences across course sections. The workload for this committee varies depending on time of year and number of courses being offered in a given semester.
Course Objectives
-Develop an appreciation of diversity and social justice concepts
-Explore personal identity through leadership styles and ethical decision making
-Develop strategies to build community
-Learn the appropriate way to handle a crisis situation
-Understand job responsibilities and be able to prioritize appropriately
-Be aware of campus issues and resources available to provide support
Committee Members
-Jennifer Rybski, First Year Advisor – Committee Chair
-Jamie Workman, Coordinator – Committee Liaison
-Stephanie Acheson, First Year Advisor – Interim Chair
-Jamie Matthews, Graduate Resident Director
-Sarah Kelly, First Year Adviser
-Ronnie Houchin, First Year Adviser
-Jess Melita, First Year Adviser
-Ed Butch, Apartment Director
-Laura Knab, RA (spring semester only)
Committee Charge
-Ensure that the syllabi are revised as needed to reflect the learning outcomes of the residential curriculum.
-Collaboration with the RA Training Committee, RA Recruitment and Selection Committee, and the Cultural Proficiency Committee so that course content supplements training activities and vice versa.
-Examine the current instructor training program/schedule in the context of the residential curriculum.
-Assess the content of the course in the context of the residential curriculum.
Priorities of the Committee(in no particular order)
Construct a curriculum that fits the goals of the residential curriculum
Assess the current course assignments and update as necessary
Review the current articles used for the course
Create a comprehensive grading rubric that allows all instructors to use the same format while allowing for individualism
Update and streamline the Facilitator’s Guide
Review and complete the Committee Charges set forth by the Office of Residence Life
Accomplishments of the Committee:
Revised the EDL 301 Fall Syllabus to better align with the Residential Curriculum
Revised resources for the Facilitator’s Guide and Appendix (all items can be found in the ORL Manual)
Established comprehensive individual grading rubrics for course assignments to enhance consistency in grading across the various sections of the course
Adjusted point values of assignments to reflect their importance
Deliberatelyformed the class around the Millennial Generation; eg: learning styles, reflection, collaboration, and multi-media for both in and out of class assignments
Developed intentional reflective writing prompts
Provided opportunity for veteran RA’s to become peer mentors and earn 1 credit hour of independent study (EDL 377) for assisting an instructor with course facilitation
Successful instructor recruitment including Central Staff, Full-Time and Graduate Students for Fall 2010
Recommendations:
Update course evaluation and assessment tool to align with the changes of course.
Keep current with articles and new advances in Student Affairs that pertain to RAs and the topics covered in the course.
Create contract and reflective writing assignment(s) for peer mentors.
Instructor Meetings should be weekly, scheduled for one hour and a half (1½).
- Schedule the meeting time during training to prevent other obligations from impeding
- Each week instructors should be asked to critique the session they just taught in order to offer insights on how to make it better.
- Focus on the week to come. Leave time to gauge how the RAs are responding to the assignments and to provide support to the instructors
Committee Meetings should continue to be weekly for one hour and a half (1½) in the Fall and in the Spring they should become bi-weekly to allow for work to be completed on the weeks when not formally meeting.
- All members of the committee (even those not currently teaching) should be expected to attend the Instructor Meetings so they are aware of successes and challenges of the current curriculum.
- It is ideal to have the instructors on the EDL 301 committee and not just participating during the first eight weeks.
- Consider having a few seasoned RAs participate in the committee to provide a student point of view.
Expect to have 1 – 2 sections of EDL 301 taught in the Spring semester for mid-year hires. Be prepared to recruit instructors for these sections.
- Create an adjusted Spring Syllabus; altered from the syllabus used in the Fall semester. The idea behind this is that new RAs in the 2nd semester face different challenges than do RAs starting at the beginning of the Academic Year.
- Consider offering an Independent Study in the Spring only for those students who absolutely cannot fit the course into their schedule. If these students are chosen to be an RA for the following year, it is recommended that they register for EDL 301 in the Fall.
EDL 301 Committee and Structure:
LogisticsJamie Workman and Jenn Rybski met bi-weekly throughout the year to discuss what should be discussed at Teacher Meetings and Committee Meetings once the course was finished. Jenn used information from these meetings to set the agenda for each meeting.
Teacher Meetings were originally held weekly for one hour. As instructors became familiar with the course and needed less support, the meetings were changed to bi-weekly. The nature of these meetings tended to be a critical review of the material used for the previous session, with the intentionality of improving the course for future RA’s. The attendees at these meetings were the instructors, Jamie Workman and committee members.
Committee Meetings started in mid-October once the EDL 301 course was over. These meetings were held weekly in the Fall and bi-weekly in the Spring for one
hour and a half (1½). The committee reviewed the course evaluations and it was determined that the course could be more effective, and that it was critical to align the course with the Residential Curriculum. Course sessions were divided up among committee members (intrapersonal development, academic success, effective community engagement and cultural proficiency). Committee members paired up and provided lesson plans for the various sessions. The committee then collectively reviewed the lesson plans and offered feedback. Once complete, Jamie Matthews collected all of the lesson plans and supporting materials to create a facilitator’s guide. Ronnie Houchin then updated the course syllabus to align with the updated course curriculum.
Instructors
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Fall 2009 Instructors
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-Jennifer Rybski, FYA*
-Matt Crouse, Coordinator
-Jamie Workman, Coordinator*
-Ronnie Houchin, FYA
-Stephanie Acheson, FYA
-Jamie Mathews, GFYA*
-Ed Butch, Apartment Director
-Sarah Kelly, FYA*
-Barry Tolchin, FYA
-Stephanie Bibbo, GAA*
-Taran Cardone, Practicum Student*
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Spring 2010 Instructors
-Jess Melita, FYA
-Jenn Rybski, FYA
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*Indicates individuals who were co-teachers
Instructor Recruitment was mainly overseen by Ed Butch and Jamie Workman aided in the recruitment of instructors. Interest was generated through the ORL Newsletter, team meetings and departmental meetings. A form was provided for those interested to fill out. These forms were then reviewed and interested individuals were assigned co-instructor teams or solo sections based on preference.
Instructor TrainingJess Melita took the lead on Spring Instructor Training. She reserved the room, sent a meeting proposal, provided an agenda and facilitated the conversation. Instructor training took place on Friday, 23April at 9am in Warfield 007.
- The syllabus and corresponding Facilitator’s Guide were reviewed
- Course sections and peer mentors were assigned(note: all courses will be taught in McGuffey)
- Tuesday 2:15-3:55 = Morgan Wagner & Jon Lentz
- Tuesday 4:10-5:50 = Carrie Bierck & Jen Halpert
- Tuesday 6:00 – 7:40= Jess Melita and Monica Lewe
- Wednesday 10:10-11:50 = Grant Walters
- Wednesday 2:15-3:55 = Matt Lewis & Maggie Sweeney
- Wednesday 4:10-5:50 = Phil Campbell & Carmen Esparza
- Wednesday 6:00-7:40 = Tim Staples, Melanie Krook, Laura Knab
- Thursday 2:15-3:55 = Maulik Khatadia & Annie Mumpower
- Expectations of colleagues were set:
- Be prepared and engaged for class and instructor meetings
- Grade objectively and fairly
- Create a meaningful experience for peer mentors
- Share experiences and resources
- Place course updates in newsletter for supervisors to stay current with course happenings and encourage supervisors to be familiar with syllabus
- Grade and return material in a timely manner
- Reflect and assess ourselves throughout our teaching experience
- EDL instructor meetings were set for Monday’s from 11am-Noon
EDL 301 Projects:
Course Review and Curriculum DevelopmentOnce the course was over in the fall, the committee began to review the materials currently being used in the course. Each person was paired with another committee member and assigned a section to work with and enhance the course curriculum to meet the needs of the Residential Curriculum. The final product is more intentional and relevant discussions, activities and readings. All materials for the Fall 2010 course are posted on the ORL webpage in the EDL 301 Toolbox.
Course SyllabusRonnie Houchin adapted the Fall syllabus to align with the new course curriculum, assignments, point values, due dates and expectations
Facilitators GuideJamie Matthews collected lesson plans and supporting documents (i.e. class activities and articles) to create a cohesive facilitators guide.
Grading Rubric Stephanie Acheson created a comprehensive grading rubric to be provided to the instructors. A grading rubric was determined for each assignment so that instructors can have similar grading practices across the difference course sections.
Budget:
EDL 301 purchases come out of the RA Training Budget (RSL002). The only purchases made were 2 books. Jamie Workman made these purchases and portions of the books will be used in the Fall 2010 syllabus. All copies for the class are made “in house” so we do not get charged by the copy center. Most copies are made in the fall semester, and are handouts for class.
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