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Academic continuity perspectives and effective practices

Academic continuity perspectives and effective practices. Course and program Institution and infrastructure Region, nation. Introductions. Ray Schroeder Director of the Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning at the University of Illinois at Springfield Don Spicer

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Academic continuity perspectives and effective practices

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  1. Academic continuity perspectives and effective practices Course and program Institution and infrastructure Region, nation DRAFT 10-08-07

  2. Introductions Ray Schroeder Director of the Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning at the University of Illinois at Springfield Don Spicer ECAR Senior Fellow & Assoc Vice Chancellor for Information Technology, University System of Maryland Adelphi, MD Bruce Chaloux Director, Electronic CampusSouthern Regional Education BoardAtlanta, GA Janet Moore Chief Learning Officer, The Sloan Consortium DRAFT 10-08-07

  3. threats • Weather • Pandemic • Terrorism • Campus lock-down (?) DRAFT 10-08-07

  4. drivers • Academic mission • Reputation, ‘culture of readiness’ • Survivability, sustainability • Enhancing routine operations DRAFT 10-08-07

  5. Live and Learn: Campus Closure and Academic Continuity Program and Course Level Ray Schroeder University of Illinois at Springfield DRAFT 10-08-07

  6. Program and Course Level Preparedness begins at the course and program level Without preparation and participation by the faculty member, no plan can succeed From a student perspective, the course is the building block of the degree Preparations must extend to every faculty member, course and program DRAFT 10-08-07

  7. Course Level (Student) We take for granted that students can easily navigate LMS and Web 2.0 – not always the case At UIS this fall 48.5% of the students are taking at least one online class – 73.4% of the grads last spring had an online class Blackboard created for every class – used in approximately 85% Building familiarity among students DRAFT 10-08-07

  8. Course level (Student) Best practices: Develop a student orientation program in which all students are taught the technology tools which are used to deliver classes online Encourage all students to use the course management system, web conferencing for discussions, access to course syllabus, etc. Assure that students are experienced with the technology before an emergency occurs DRAFT 10-08-07

  9. Course Level (Faculty) Faculty members need to be facile with the technology before the crisis occurs One time trainings just don’t do the job Daily use of the LMS, web conferencing, and related technologies Build the tools into the class – blend some portion of your classes Put class materials in LMS or content management system (saves on copying!) DRAFT 10-08-07

  10. Course Level (Faculty) Best practices: Use the electronic tools regularly – they are efficient, less expensive, and green Store content on the LMS or Content Management System Try blending at least a portion of your classes so students and faculty members build electronic rapport Build relationship with faculty members at other institutions – use virtual guest lectures DRAFT 10-08-07

  11. Program Level (Chair) Advising and detailed records are kept at the program level Too many departments still have a row of file cabinets with hanging files Assessment records, coursework samples, syllabi are too often in paper form Student major records, contact information and program plans are on paper Program computers are not regularly backed-up off campus DRAFT 10-08-07

  12. Program Level (Chair) Best practices: Keep your records electronically – more efficient, economical, and environmental Back-up all computers off campus or at least to an electronic storage facility elsewhere – ICCN is 400 Gbps 500 mile loop linking three campuses – SCSI arrays and VM servers Develop collegial relationships with analogous departments at other universities DRAFT 10-08-07

  13. Live and Learn:Campus Closure and Academic Continuity--an institutional perspective Donald Spicer Assoc. Vice Chancellor, Univ. System of Maryland Senior Fellow, Educause Center for Applied Research (ECAR) DRAFT 10-08-07

  14. Background of My Perspective • I am a Chief Information Officer for a System • I have had similar positions on campuses • As an ECAR fellow I have participated in studies related to emergency response, disaster recovery, business continuity • I recently participated in writing an ECAR Research Bulletin on new views toward these issues, focusing on UMUC as a model of an institution that understands the need for continuity of operation DRAFT 10-08-07

  15. IT Organization Perspectives • Typically have long experience in continuity of operations • Driven by many institutional processes depending on IT • Auditors look closely at these processes • Traditional IT disaster recovery views • About data center operation • Prepare for flood, fire, electrical outage, human error, etc. • Preparing to react • Plan, design redundancy and backup, train, test, etc. DRAFT 10-08-07

  16. Institutional Business Continuity • Historically focused on business functions • ECAR study [Shelter from the Storm: IT and Business Continuity in Higher Education (Yanosky, 2007)] • The message of the study: Strong incentives, limited resources • Business continuity unthinkable without continuity of IT operations • Institutions invest in emergency response teams, but do not make substantive investments • IT is often involved in continuity planning with business units, much less so with that of academic units DRAFT 10-08-07

  17. Pandemic Flu May be Different • The scope of discussions likely to be institution wide. Recognition that the institution may be closed for a substantial time • Within our System, there was preliminary discussion of continuing the academic program via ALN • Only a couple of our institutions have a hope of doing this DRAFT 10-08-07

  18. Why? • Pros • Institutionally LMSs are broadly used • Have a substantial number of faculty who have course support already in a LMS • Students substantially use LMSs in their courses • Cons • Typically faculty don’t have enough of the course for offering entire course online • Laboratory Courses are generally not doable without substantial revision • Have no plans or triggers or communication plans to switch to fully online delivery in case of closure DRAFT 10-08-07

  19. Additional Factors • While many faculty are trained to use the tools for online learning, many aren’t • Suggestion: require every faculty member to at least put up a syllabus in LMS • Campus Faculty Support organizations are currently stretched----could not scale up on short notice • Support is not scalable and little chance of more investment in this outside of an emergency • We still have an attitude of “we do things the way we do them” • Runs counter to designing in collaboration and sharing DRAFT 10-08-07

  20. Other Issues • Many institutions have no systems in place for fully online students for assessment, advising, text books, etc. that would be needed if the closure is long term. • There may be policy issues that need to be resolved a priori in order to change a course to fully online from some other mode DRAFT 10-08-07

  21. Can We Get These Discussed and Resolved? • Katrina was regionalized and was 2 years ago. Many say “it can’t happen here” • Pandemic Flu certainly caught attention but the wind has gone out of those sails • Institutions are overwhelmed by immediate issues • Campus shootings being the emergency issue of the day • Accountability being the issue of the day • This all seems like buying insurance DRAFT 10-08-07

  22. Implications of ECAR Research Bulletin • Articulates a principle of “Resilience” • Design sustainability of operation into everything you do and be willing to pay to implement it • Quite different than the reactive approach of the past----disaster recovery • Much easier to discuss in IT, though not widely adopted even there • Need to start with the premise that “we are going to be out of operation for an extended period of time----how will we survive as an academic institution?” DRAFT 10-08-07

  23. Live and Learn:Campus Closure and Academic Continuity--A Regional and National Perspective Bruce Chaloux Director, Electronic Campus Southern Regional Education Board DRAFT 10-08-07

  24. Regional/National EffortsA Key to Survival? Local campus and system-wide efforts and actions are essential to maintaining continuity of operations but… Your relationships, partnerships and connections to regional and national organizations might get you through a crisis • Why regional and national efforts are key • What we learned from Katrina -- Seven strategies/actions you should DRAFT 10-08-07

  25. Why Regional and National Efforts are Key • It can extend your network of assistance • It can operate when you can’t • It can mobilize resources and get them to you or • You can move your students/operations to them • It can help sustain academic continuity for students • It can serve as a “bridge” for students from your institution back to your institution DRAFT 10-08-07

  26. Lessons Learned from Sloan Semester/Katrina DRAFT 10-08-07

  27. Lessons Learned • There are a large number of good people in the higher education community. The fact that so many institutions would come forward to offer their courses for free, and that so many faculty would take on an additional class with only a small stipend, speaks volumes about the high quality of these institutions and their staff. DRAFT 10-08-07

  28. Lessons Learned • Given the right set of circumstances, you CAN cut through academic “red tape” to get things done. Given a common goal and purpose, you CAN build an “institution” in three weeks. • We need to build on the Sloan Semester effort and establish a national system that will be ready to respond to the next inevitable disaster. DRAFT 10-08-07

  29. Strategy One • Develop academic emergency plans as facility/IT plans are being formulated • Faculty Component • Administrative Component • Student Component • Focus on re-establishing or continuing academic activities/services DRAFT 10-08-07

  30. Strategy Two • Develop a plan for re-establishing institutional Web sites…fast • Clear evidence from Sloan Semester that academic communities turned (attempted to in any event) to their web sites • Have a back-up hosting site • Develop a system for approving messages DRAFT 10-08-07

  31. Strategy Three • Develop student continuation plans—online learning should be a key component • Migrating courses to online format • Course continuation strategies • Course sharing arrangements • It is difficult to develop online courses or to undertake faculty training in a crisis DRAFT 10-08-07

  32. Strategy Four • Develop a set of guiding policies and obtain policy commitments. Include… • “Admission” to another institution • Tuition and fees • Financial Aid • Credit transfer/recognition • Course completion/extension of terms DRAFT 10-08-07

  33. Strategy Five • Establish and have ready online repositories of courses…join now • ElectronicCampus • Sloan C • State and system online initiatives DRAFT 10-08-07

  34. Strategy Six • Design an academic “buddy system” • “Partner” with another institution(s) • Student services/support • Faculty (joint course development) • IT back-up/sharing • Strengthen relationships • Sloan C, NUTN, ADEC, others DRAFT 10-08-07

  35. Strategy Seven • Once you have developed a disaster recovery/continuation plan, don’t hide it!!! • Make it known to the community • Review and revise regularly • Provide access to it in an emergency DRAFT 10-08-07

  36. Strategy Eight(a charge to regional and national organizations) • Establish an emergency, back-up site • “Default” 9-1-1 site in case of disaster • “House” plans and strategies • Available at all times—ongoing, regularly updated and easily accessible • Provide access to resources and services from national, regional, state, institutions • Move educational continuity on to the national “radar screen” DRAFT 10-08-07

  37. resources Academic Continuity-Emergency Management Workshop Report (and resources) http://www.academiccontinuity.org Sloan Semester http://www.sloan-c.org/sloansemester/ Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery http://www.sreb.org/programs/EdTech/Disaster/ Changing Ideas of Campus Disaster Recovery: Designing Resiliency into Systems, Suresh Balakrishnan, Robert "Rob" Sapp, Eric Spangler, Donald Z. Spicer, EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, Volume 2007:20 20 College checklist for pandemic flu http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/collegeschecklist.html Fairleigh Dickinson University Faculty Quick Start Guide http://fdu-coursecontinuity.wikispaces.com/ Learning After Loss http://www2.universitybusiness.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=546 Shelter from the Storm: IT and Business Continuity in Higher Education (Yanosky, 2007) http://connect.educause.edu/library/abstract/ShelterfromtheStormI/39105 DRAFT 10-08-07

  38. thoughts DRAFT 10-08-07

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