Theme B Academic Excellence
THEME B – ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
The College of Coastal Georgia is a community committed to cultivating a culture of discovery in teaching and learning for students, faculty and staff that is rigorous, inclusive, engaging, interdisciplinary, and global.
GOAL B2. Enhance and promote excellence in scholarship, creativity and teaching
OBJECTIVES
- B2.1. Develop opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration in teaching
- B2.2. Support reflective, interactive and experiential learning
- B2.3. Provide support for faculty-student research
- B2.4. Expand support for faculty research and grant writing
- B2.5. Support faculty research and exchange opportunities abroad
GOAL B3. Develop a culture of evidence, accountability and continuous improvement
OBJECTIVES
- B3.1. Standardize the practice of integrating assessment into teaching
- B3.2. Enhance the effectiveness of student support services
GOAL B4. Extend high-impact learning practices and support current and new educational program offerings
OBJECTIVES
- B4.1. Embrace high-impact educational practices that reinforce academic proficiencies
- B4.2. Embed service-learning throughout the curriculum
- B4.3. Identify new degree programs that meet the professional and intellectual needs of students
- B4.4. Develop campus programming that allows for the recruitment and retention of academically-talented students
- B4.5. Develop study abroad opportunities for students to gain a global perspective
Coastal Vision 2021 – Strategic Planning Update
Year 1 (2015-16) / Year 2 (2016-17)
B2.1.1. Expand interdisciplinary course offerings / Discussed option to offer cohort sections of classes - PHIL 2020 Critical Thinking and Reasoning and MATH 2010 Logic or Psychology and Writing courses; explored possibility of offering a STEM concentration in the Interdisciplinary Studies degree and a Neurobiology concentration as part of the BS in Biology or Psychology; deactivated the AS Clinical Laboratory Technology Program with the intention of moving toward a bachelor's level program in Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) by offering a concentration within the Pre-Professional Biology Baccalaureate degree program / Created learning communities for culinary math, critical thinking, and first-year students. / Ongoing
Offered the PHIL 2020/MATH 2010 learning community this spring; the STEM in Interdisciplinary Studies was placed on hold and may be revisited in fall 2017; and neurobiology was placed on hold – Psychology department is looking to redo its concentrations in 2017-18; so, further discussions regarding new concentrations will resume thereafter.
B2.1.2. Establish specific guidelines and a payment structure for courses that are taught collaboratively by faculty across different disciplines
Scheduled 2016-17 / Created faculty workload and compensation policies that addressed faculty “team-teaching” courses. / Completed
B2.2.1. Encourage use of technology to foster interactive teaching and the creative use of eBooks and other electronic tools / Implemented a spring 2016 pilot of the Mobile Teaching Unit (a head/chest mounted GoPro camera used to record or stream lectures, activities or classroom experiences). Promoted the use of Blackboard Collaborate and other online instructional tools; evaluated Connected Classrooms Solutions (Distance learning). Implemented/adopted eBooks and other Open Educational Resources throughout core courses / Continued to promote the use of Blackboard Collaborate and other online instructional tools, as well as drop-in help sessions during fall and spring launch week to promote D2L, Blackboard Collaborate, Respondus, and Turnitin, including links to online tutorials and other resources provided in the Online Learning Community, a D2L course that is available to all faculty. Twelve faculty completed a four-day online teaching academy that featured topics such as designing group projects, giving audio feedback, and using rubrics to foster interactive teaching. Continued to evaluate Connected Classrooms Solutions (distance learning) with five connected classes offered in fall 2016 and four connected classes in spring 2017; and continued to promote Mobile Teaching Unit using a head/chest mounted GoPro camera to record or stream lectures, activities or classroom experiences. / Ongoing
B2.2.2. Provide professional development through Center for Teaching & Learning to support reflective and experiential teaching / Prepared a CCGA Center for Teaching & Learning prospectus formulated by the CTL subcommittee of the Faculty Development Committee / Created the infrastructure for a new Center for Teaching and Learning with a focus on delivering acohesive faculty development program. The next stepis to recruit and appoint a Director for Teaching, Learning & Assessment to provide leadership, coordination and training for development of learning outcomes; plan and coordinatea wide variety of faculty development opportunities; and provide expertise relating to effective practices in the areas of teaching, curriculum and assessment. / Ongoing
B2.2.3. Produce and implement a faculty development plan that provides appropriate levels of online training and support through seminars, workshops, and web-based opportunities
New / Created an Online Teaching Academy (workshop in May followed by course development over summer), a Writing Across the Curriculum faculty learning community (workshop in April followed by online discussion centered around a book through summer), and have started enhancing the full-time and part-time faculty orientations. / Ongoing
B2.2.4. Implement a quality assurance framework to enhance consistency and quality in online course design
New / Reconstituted eLearning advisory committee with the charge to (1) create procedures for faculty training/development to ensure quality online teachers; and (2) create assessment measurements for quality assurance. / Ongoing
B2.2.5. Develop an online learning handbook that includes a guide to best practices in online teaching/learning, learning theory, and pedagogy
New / Reconstituted eLearning advisory committee with the charge to (1) create procedures for faculty training/development to ensure quality online teachers; and (2) create assessment measurements for quality assurance. / Ongoing
ORIGINAL
B2.3.1. Develop a process to support faculty & student research COMPLETED
REVISED
B2.3.1. Maintain and evaluate a process to support faculty & student research / Developed a fellowship support process to promote faculty and student research, including the establishment of scholarship funding (SHIP) for student researchers who teamed with a faculty member. / Continued and expanded summer fellowship program for faculty scholarship to include academic year fellowships (starting AY 2017-2018); maintained the Scholarship Honor Intern Program (SHIP) program for student research. / Ongoing
B2.3.2. Host annual undergraduate student research symposium series / Hosted three primary symposia: Symposium on Undergraduate Research Creative Expression (SOURCE), Coastal Ecology Symposium, and the Symposium on Service-Learning. / For the second year, hosted the Symposium on Undergraduate Research Creative Expression (SOURCE), Coastal Ecology Symposium, and the Symposium on Service-Learning. / Ongoing
B2.4.1. Provide faculty with opportunities to consult with grant-writing experts / Provided application forms online and training on the grant application process. Reduced tenured and tenure-track faculty teaching loads of 12 credit hours per semester as opposed to 15 credit hours per semester for non-tenure track faculty. Witnessed an increase in Schools/Departments taking the initiative to apply for grants on their own. / Sent two faculty members to a grant-writing workshop with the plan for future grant-writing discussions at CCGA. / Ongoing
B2.4.2. Incentivize funded research activity (e.g. reduced teaching assignments) to increase faculty scholarly productivity / Reduced tenured and tenure-track faculty teaching loads per semester. Encouraged faculty to apply for Summer Fellowships – Innovative Projects and Research/External Grants. Offered courses in Research Independent Study (most Schools/Departments). / Continued and expanded summer fellowship program for faculty scholarship to include academic year fellowships (starting AY 2017-2018). Created the SHIP program for student research. Experienced a steadyincrease in faculty applications for summer fellowships. / Ongoing
B2.4.3. Host annual research colloquia to allow faculty members to engage and interact with teaching scholars from diverse backgrounds / Hosted annual research colloquia to allow faculty members to engage and interact with teaching scholars from diverse backgrounds; solidified several research programs – Coastal Scholars, Symposium on Undergraduate Research Creative Expression (SOURCE), Coastal Ecology Symposium, Symposium on Service-Learning, Gullah Geechee Symposium. / Continued hosting research colloquia to showcase faculty scholarship; maintained Coastal Scholars, Symposium on Undergraduate Research Creative Expression (SOURCE), Coastal Ecology Symposium, and Symposium on Service-Learning. / Ongoing
Hosted Symposium on Cyber Security – School of Business & Public Management.
B2.4.4. Establish a Grants Office
New / Preliminary conversations held, but placed on hold with the imminent departure of the Provost & VPAA. / On Hold
B2.5.1. Establish a comprehensive international education plan that promotes study aboard, faculty and staff exchanges and collaborative research opportunities
Scheduled 2016-17 / Preliminary discussions with key campus stakeholders, including survey research, has provided traction in moving forward with the development of an international education plan in 2017-18; continue increasing opportunities for international and domestic students and scholars to interact, collaborate, and learn from one another; began to streamline and simplify as much as possible the exchanges so that they are facilitated quickly and efficiently. / Ongoing
B3.1.1. Identify and implement assessments to measure College and program objectives in specific courses / Program assessment processes and procedures revisited with the establishment of an Assessment web page for faculty to reference as they work on program and course student learning outcomes / All Deans/Chairs submitted a calendar for assessing program learning objectives for each of our degree programs. Part of this process was refining program-level SLOs for various degrees and identifying how they would be measured from courses. / Ongoing
B3.1.2. Provide professional development to create, use, reflect on, and improve teaching, using varied assessments to guide instruction at College, programmatic and course levels
Scheduled 2016-17 / An Assessment web page created in the previous academic year was further refined and updated with the latest best practices in assessment for faculty to access and utilize; however, more needs to be done in providing faculty with regular assessment workshops and training. Hiring a Director for Teaching, Learning & Assessment will first need to occur before this strategy can be fully implemented. / Ongoing
B3.1.3. Develop course-level student learning outcomes that map to program-level SLOs
Scheduled 2016-17 / All Deans/Chairs submitted a calendar for assessing program learning objectives for each of our degree programs. Faculty are still working on aligning course-level student learning outcomes with program-level outcomes. / Ongoing
B3.1.4. Appoint a coordinator of academic assessment to manage the development and implementation of a comprehensive program of assessment to ensure institutional improvements in support of institutional effectiveness
New / Awaiting the arrival of the Interim Provost/VPAA to revisit this action strategy given its key role in creating a robust and synergistic academic assessment culture; hiring an inaugural Director for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment is paramount. / On Hold
B3.1.5. Revisit course evaluation system by identifying strategies to help increase course evaluation completion rates
New / Reconstructed the questions on student course evaluations and transitioned to a new course evaluation system (effective summer 2017). / Ongoing
B3.2.1. Expand and strengthen programs that focus on critical student transitions, including advising, testing, TRIO, service-learning, supplemental instruction, tutoring, and Move on When Ready (MOWR) / Expanded and strengthened the Center for Academic Advising by adopting a full intake model, where professional advisors advise all students for the first 30 credits of their programs. Testing Center received the Site Readiness Certification: Center now meets ETS specification, and is certified to administer the GACE, GRE, TOEFL and PRAXIS. Received "meeting" or "exceeding" TRIO Project Objectives mandated by the U.S. Department of Education. Obtained Supplemental Instruction (SI) program certification that ensures that staff receives most up-to-date and pertinent training. Awarded Testing Center recertification on three levels of Mastery by the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA). / Tutoring program has been recertified on three levels of Mastery by the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA). (This is an international Tutoring certification).TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) either met or exceeded the Project Objectives mandated by the U.S. Department of Education.The Testing Center received the Site Readiness Certification: Center now meets ETS specification, and officially certified the College to administer the GACE, GRE, TOFEL and PRAXIS. / Ongoing
B3.2.2. Provide equitable, engaging, and comprehensive student support services for distance students with annual implementation of new student support mechanisms
New / As part of the SACSCOC Fifth Year Interim Review (Core Requirement 2.10), the College is documenting and assessing its student support services in an effort to evaluate institutional capacity to deliver an equivalent level of support for distance students. / Ongoing
B3.2.3. Create an internal marketing campaign to regularly remind students, faculty and staff of student support services available on the Brunswick campus and Camden Center
New / As part of the Complete College CCGA strategies, the institution is developing a Student Support Portal to be launched in fall 2017 that will provide information regarding the different support services at the institution and other support mechanism that are available locally. / On Hold
B3.2.4. Create an SI student support infrastructure to assist students enrolled in online courses
New / Academic Services is evaluating the prioritization of resources from Tutor.com. Additionally, the ATTIC is developing the structure to utilize Blackboard Collaborate Ultra with Mondo pad or laptop for scheduled online tutoring sessions. Other USG institutions are being contacted to determine best practices for online student support. / Ongoing
B4.1.1. Identify and develop workshops and other resources for faculty-related to high-impact learning best practices within the boundaries of 120 credit hours / Developing a plan for the establishment of a Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), identifying inaugural eLearning fellows, and creating an online learning community are underway.Made available travel funds for faculty to attend conferences; e.g., Education faculty have attended edTPA and PDS conferences.Offered various workshops, including Education, Yesterday, Today, & Tomorrow; Self-Determined Learning, Assessing Competency Based on Online Learning; Blackboard Collaborate; Flipped Classroom; Active Learning;and Online Active Learning. Offered faculty Professional Development Workshops on Online Classes, Service-Learning, D2L, etc. / Concept for a new Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) was developed and approved. Faculty travel funding was streamlined and expanded to continue to provide assistance with travel in attending/presenting at professional conferences regionally, nationally and internationally. Continued offering a series of Faculty Professional Development Workshops on Online Classes, Service-Learning, D2L, etc. / Ongoing
B4.1.2. Develop and implement assessment plans for high impact practices and use assessment results to increase and improve implementation of high impact practices / Funded School of Education and Teacher Preparation to attend edTPA in Savannah and a Professional Development conference in Orlando to learn about content and assessment, both from faculty and student perspectives. / Development of the Center for Teaching and Learning will provide the infrastructure for the development, implementation, and assessment of high-impact educational practices that reinforce academic proficiencies; learning communities, service-learning, undergraduate research, study abroad activities, internships, and capstone courses are all high impact strategies that the institution has implemented, but we need to develop a cohesive assessment plan to evaluate the effectiveness of the different activities. / Ongoing
Restructuring School of Business & Public Management curricula to improve the validity and usefulness of course and program level assessments. / School of Business & Public Management curricula was restructured to improve the validity and usefulness of course and program level assessments. / Completed
B4.2.1. Increase the number of faculty members engaged in teaching service-learning courses by enhancing professional development opportunities / Encouraged faculty to attend and participate in professional conference; created a Faculty Fellows Program; hosted annual Service-Learning Symposium; hosted Service-Learning Scholar’s Workshop (Fall session, Spring session). Hosted Service-Learning Beginners Workshop (2015 Fall Launch); provided mini-grants for Service-Learning projects
Supported community presentations by faculty members
Hosted lunch faculty focus groups; planned summer work sessions/support sessions; and encouraged peer mentoring and modeling of service-learning activities. / Continued what was established last academic year. / Ongoing
B4.2.2. Strengthen the evaluation and assessment of service-learning and disseminate findings / Collected Student Pre- and Post-Surveys each semester.Collected Faculty course assessment surveys annually.Collected Community Partner surveys annually.Hosted occasional focus groups with various stakeholders.Engaged in one-on-one discussions with students, faculty, and community partners.Shared data with Community Advisory Board during bi-semester meetings. / Disseminated a bi-annual newsletter in April 2017. Updated faculty & community partner (CP) surveys. Collected faculty & student surveys in spring 2017; Disseminating CP survey shortly; finalizing QEP Report – findings to be analyzed and reported soon. / Ongoing
B4.2.3. Connect a series of courses across the disciplines through service-learning / Several faculty members collaborated on paired S-L projects, including Carla Bluhm (Psychology of Nutrition) & Matthew Raiford (Dining Room Etiquette) – Dining Etiquette Presentations & Booklets; Andrea Wallace (Introductory Chemistry) – Taught cohort of Culinary students and catered coursework toward cooking science; Fall 2015: Sarah Hartman (Effective Instruction Language Arts) & Lydia Watkins (Nursing Care of Children) – Teddy Bear Clinics;Carla Bluhm (Infant & Child Psychology) & Brandy Chambers (Special Project) – Lactation Station; and Tate Holbrook (Principles of Ecology) & Chris Wilhelm (History of Georgia) – Cannon’s Point Geocaching Project. / ASN & BSN programs collaborated to teach lesson that overlaps two of their courses each fall.In fall 2016 – biology & history courses collaborated on a geocaching project. One ENGL 1101 course was taught as SL and connected to other courses as a learning community. / Ongoing