Academic Affairs

Over the last several weeks, staff in Academic Affairs have been working on a draft of an Academic Technology Plan. The plan grew out of a series of discussions held by the Academic Affairs Council over the summer and early fall. A few weeks ago, the ideas generated by the AAC were put into a Wiki, where they have been read and reviewed by a number of people.

 The Academic Technology Steering Committee is now poised to create a draft of the plan that can be submitted to the President and Provost for approval and used as the basis for ongoing campus discussion. Once formally approved, the plan will drive a vision for academic technology at Keene State College.

 In anticipation of action by the ATSC, we are seeking campus input on the draft Academic Technology Plan. There are two ways to comment:

 Like things linear? You can see the full version of the plan at http://atvision.pbwiki.com/printable+version. After you’ve had a chance to think about it, you can comment below.

 Like things non-linear? You can access the Wiki (editable) version of the Academic Technology Plan at http://atvision.pbwiki.com/ and you can comment or even edit the document right there.

 We’d really prefer that you comment publicly, but you can also send your comments directly to Tom Cook (tcook@keene.edu).

 The important thing here is that we want input from the campus community as we move toward a more formal version of the plan. This is your opportunity to participate in shaping the plan during its early stages.

 The plan will remain on the Wiki for a few weeks, so you don’t have to drop everything to read it now. The ATSC will begin reviewing it more formally during the spring semester. In the meantime, it will continue to evolve as people comment and edit.

 On behalf of the Academic Technology Steering Committee and Academic Affairs, we want to thank you for your participation and your input.

 Tom Cook
Chair
Academic Technology Steering Committee

Mel Netzhammer
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Tags: Uncategorized by enetzhammer // No Comments »

In recent years, colleges and universities have been increasing the number of traditional publications they deliver electronically (online or on CD/DVD). The reasons for this shift are varied:

• Reduced publication/postage costs
• Sustainability and environmental friendliness
• Searchability of electronic publications
• Student preferences
• Access
• Longer preparation periods/Shorter production periods

As the technology landscape shifts, President Giles-Gee has encouraged College Relations, the Budget and Resource Council, the Sustainability Council and the Vice Presidents to consider opportunities to reduce printing costs. To this end, I have been asked to solicit feedback on the potential move of four publications to electronic formats only. The publications are: the College Catalog, the Student Handbook, the Faculty Handbook and the Adjunct Faculty Handbook.

These four publications cost about $20,000 annually and generate nearly 4 million pages. Moving to electronic versions of these documents would potentially give departments, faculty and staff longer times to assemble information. Moving to an electronic version of the catalog, specifically, would increase flexibility for the curriculum process, as well.

That being said, not everyone is comfortable using these publications at their computers. Whether on CD or the Web, faculty and staff would need to be at computers to use the publications. Additionally, for some students having a printed copy of their catalog or handbook gives them the security of knowing which version applies to them.

So, we are soliciting feedback to gauge the campus’s response to moving some of our print publications to the Web. We are capturing this information on the Academic Affairs Blog (www.keeneweb.org/academicaffairs). Specifically, we’d like to know:

• How do you feel about moving any or all of these publications to electronic formats?
• If you support moving our publications to electronic formats, which format works better for you: online Web page, online PDF, CD?
• If you don’t support moving publications to the Web, what are your reasons? Could anything be done to make the move more attractive?
• How do you feel about electronic versions accompanied by a small run of printed versions that would be available to departments, but not widely distributed?

Please click on the “add comment” link directly below and give us your thoughts. You can also see others’ comments.

Tags: Uncategorized by enetzhammer // 31 Comments »

Welcome to the Academic Affairs Blog on  Keeneweb.org. The provost and members of the Academic Affairs Council will use this space to talk about Keene State priorities and to contextualize our priorities within the national dialogue on higher education. This is also a place where we’ll recognize some of the major achievements in Academic Affairs, and we’ll invite some of our colleagues to be guest bloggers on the site.

This is a transformational moment for Keene State, and the Academic Affairs Blog will give us an opportunity to reflect on the changes afoot. This is not a one-way communication. Please comment and join us in this dialogue.

Tags: Uncategorized by enetzhammer // No Comments »