17 years at Southern Polytchnic

Serving a statewide mission via

distance education:

17 Years at Southern Polytechnic

David Edwin Stone

Institutional Context

Institutional Context One of 35 31 Public

Colleges and Universities in

the State of Georgia

Governing board (Board of

Regents) is shared by all 31

institutions - Regents are

appointed by the Governor

of the State of Georgia

Each college and university

has president and

independent budget

Formula funding from state

legislature based on

enrollment (2 year delay)

Institutional Context

USG Technical Resources

•Mandated Common Student

Information System (SCT BANNER)

•Fiber network between campuses

owned by university system

http://www.usg.edu/peachnet/

•Centralized Course Management

System - Blackboard Vista

•Galileo Online Library System

http://www.galileo.usg.edu

Institutional History

• Established at the request of what is now the Georgia Chamber of Commerce in 1948 (as a 2 year division of Georgia Institute of Technology)

• Became a 4 year college in 1970

• Separated from Georgia Tech in 1980

• Offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Engineering, Engineering Technology, Science, Math, and a growing number of liberal arts

1990 • Instructional Technology was first introduced to SPSU in the early 1990's when

Dr. Chesier asked Jim Hamrick (IET) to head a program of Instructional

Technology at SPSU. Jim Hamrick and Jo Lundy surveyed the campus about

instructional technology needs. A consultant, Mary Dinota (Who served as

NTIA/PTFP’s special concerns officer responsible for encouraging minorities to

utilize telecommunications facilities), was hired to write a grant funded by the

University System of Georgia and the State Board of Education. This grant

focused on two primary goals: remodeling of the existing college space for an

instructional technology center and to create an electronic mobile classroom to

be used to deliver distance-learning via compressed video.

• These needs spawned the creation of the instructional technology teleplex,

located in the former residence-counselor space in Howell Dormitory. This

teleplex comprised of television broadcasting, GSAMS teleconferencing, satellite

downlinks and computer equipment. A television station was established to

deliver satellite downlinks from NASA and broadcast SPSU classes to

approximately 80,000 homes.

Industry Support for Distance Education

Programs – provided support letters (1995)

AT&T

Amco Fabric and Fibers Company

Anheuser-Bush, Inc.

Atlanta Gas Light Company

Cabot Corporation

Equifax, Inc.

First Brands Corporation

Georgia Power Company

Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation

Lockheed Aeronautical Systems

Company

Riverside Manufacturing Company

Rockwell International Corporation

Russell Corporation

Samsons Manufacturing Corporation

Shaw Industries, Inc.

Southwire Company

Thomaston Mills, Inc.

Turner Entertainment Network

The Warren Featherbone Company

Additional Support for SPSU Distance Education

Programs – provided support letters (1995) University System of Georgia

Columbus College

Darton College

East Georgia College

Waycross College

Technical & Adult Education Institutions

Athens Area Technical Institute

Augusta Area Technical Institute

North Metro Technical Institute

Southeastern Technical Institute

Proprietary Institute

DeVry Institute

State of Georgia

Department of Labor

Department of Natural Resources

Department of Technical & Adult Education

Department of Transportation

City/County

Cartersville/Bartow County Chamber of

Commerce

City of Cartersville

Associations

Industrial Distribution

Assocation

Instructional Technology Teleplex (1995-96)

• Staffed with three staff members:

– Television production specialist

– Television technician

– Instructional designer.

• Faculty release time (Dr. Kenneth Rainey) was given release

time to develop and implement a series of faculty development

workshops.

– Multimedia development

– GSAMS course development

– Internet

• Instructional Technology Advisory Committee established to help

guide instructional technology implementation.

Georgia Statewide Academic and Medical System

• Funded in 1992 via funds resulting from ½ of a Public Service

commission fine against Bellsouth for unintentionally overbilling

customers ($70 Million) and additional state support ($23 Million).

• Grew to more than 370 sites in December 1999

• Sites at Universities, colleges, technical institutes, hospitals,

prisons, Georgia Public Television, Zoo Atlanta, K-12 public

schools.

• Required ½ T-1 connection to operate, as well as high cost line

fees for the service.

• “Automated” connection services via State of Georgia Department

of Administrative Services.

Early efforts

• Cable

• Satellite

• GSAMS

Distance Learning Task Force Charge:

1.The plan should meet all SACS criteria/standards

2.The plan should be broad enough to include all forms

of distance learning.

3.The plan should be comprehensive to include all

aspects of distance learning program planning and

delivery….

Goals for distance learning (1996)

1. to provide opportunities for faculty and students to

experience and utilize modern instructional

technology.

2. to cultivate an interest in and demonstration of

instructional technology as a means of enhancing

learning.

3. to create a community of learners that actively

collaborate to explore new avenues to improve

instruction, and

4. to establish a supportive environment which

encourages faculty and students to experiment with

new technologies.

Establishment of the Center for

Instructional Technology • Established during the summer of 1996 based on the report of

the Smart Classroom/Multimedia ad hoc committee and under

the guidance of Dawn Ramsey and Susan Putzell.

• Located in the “Library Annex”, the center was founded to

sponsor faculty development related to teaching, learning, and

technology for campus.

• Activities included:

– consultation, recommendation, and training for faculty and staff about smart

classroom equipment and other instructional technology.

– Facilitation of GSAMS faculty instructional and web based teaching

technologies, satellite downlinks, and general access smart classrooms.

The Teaching and Learning Academy

• Created with matching funds from the University System of Georgia helped

established a Distinguished Professor Program which provided matching funds

for campus based activities

• The Distinguished Professor would serve for one year as a champion for

teaching, learning, and technology implementation on campus.

• Scott Tippens proposed and began the Teaching and Learning Academy in the

winter of 1999. This academy involved approximately 40 faculty members in a

semester long course of discussions about the scholarship of teaching that

included pedagogy, effective instructional techniques, and training in creating

course materials and courses for delivery via the Internet.

• The funding for the distinguished professor program was eliminated during spring

2000, but the program set the stage for future activities and programs.

2007-2012

• Implementation of a rubric

• Creation of the Teaching Academy for

Distance Learning

Financing Growth

• We have an “eRate” tuition that is below

out of state rates and above in-state

rates

• Used to fund growth and support

activities

• We budget a variety of distance learning

expenses through the differential

Reinvestment Prior to 2010 • Course support for individual faculty based on credit hours

generated – Funds to buy distance learning related equipment, software

or other resources

– Funding for student assistants, etc

• Funding managed by the Distance Learning Task Force: – Course design and redesign funding

– Academic Program marketing

• Rewarded individual faculty efforts and entrepreneurial academic programs

Issues with pre-2010 fund distribution • Support funds distributed based on individual needs and

wants

• Difficult to mange the coordination of fund pooling, making hiring students and graduate assistants challenging

• Expenditures not aligned with department or academic school priorities – Course Development

– Equipment and software

• Funding decisions became increasingly politically challenging as the number of programs and quantity of courses grew

Additional Drivers of Change for the

funding model • Long term course development and

maintenance needs

• Must be able to support the continuous improvement of course standards

• University wide budget concerns and declining departmental funds

• The need to more closely link certification and course assessment to the funding model

An evolving model for fund distribution • Funds distributed to departments (or school) each semester

– Individual instructor support no longer funded, but could be made available at the department level

• Purchase and payment requests still must by processed through the Office of Faculty Support and Development

• Course development agreement managed via OFSD

• Seed money held back for VPAA priorities in distance learning academic program development

• General Distance Learning Marketing funds managed by Educational Support and Online Learning Unit

• Guidelines and operational procedures for spending set by OFSD

University System Strategic Goal #2

• Increase capacity for enrollment

• Increase access to programs regardless of

the geographic location of the students

• Motivators for institutions

– Classroom space

– Program enrollments

– State needs Biesinger & Finegan, (2009)

Office of Faculty Support and

Development The mission of the Office of Faculty Support and

Development is to focus on learning excellence by

providing integrated support for SPSU faculty as they

pursue excellence in teaching, service, professional

growth and development, and scholarship by providing

staff expertise to guide and assist with planning,

development, assessment and delivery of instruction, to

provide orientation, training and mentoring, to assure

continual exploration of promising delivery alternatives,

to provide faculty with a sounding board for idea

generation, and to support educational outreach

activities.

Office of Faculty Support and

Development The Office of Faculty Support and

Development is comprised of three units:

– Educational Support and Online Learning

– Faculty Growth and Development

– Instructional Design

Educational Support and Online

Learning The Educational Support and Online

Learning unit supports online programs by

providing strategic planning, assessment,

data analysis and tracking, research and

design, as well as coordination with

service providers to provide a quality

learning environment for SPSU students.

Distance Learning Strategic Plan

• Objective 1.1: Increase the percentage

of online credit hours.

– Key indicators:

• Increase the percentage of online credit hours

to 11% in fall of 2012, 12% in Fall 2013, 14% in

Fall 2014, and 15% by Fall 2015.

• Increase the number of courses that have

successfully completed the SPSU Distance

Learning assessment process.

0

2000

4000

6000

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10000

12000

Spring2010

Summer2010

Fall 2010 Spring2011

Summer2011

Fall 2011 Spring2012

Summer2012

Fall 2012 Spring2013

Graduate Credit Hours

Undergraduate Credit Hours

4944 3011 5922 6755

3773 7494 8324

4435 9672 10259

52620

15513

57097 53670

15098

58542 53626

11806

61030 57455

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

Spring2010

Summer2010

Fall 2010 Spring2011

Summer2011

Fall 2011 Spring2012

Summer2012

Fall 2012 Spring2013

On-Campus Credit Hours

Online Credit Hours

Guiding Principles for SPSU Online Learning (2011)

1. The unique principles of education at SPSU should be reinforced in the blended learning environment, and faculty will be able to incorporate the key course experiences that comprise the unique nature of SPSU programs.

2. Students enrolled in online programs at SPSU will feel connected to the university, and should develop lifelong relationships with fellow students, advisors, and SPSU.

3. As an institution we will follow a deliberate design process to build a cohesive blended learning environment for SPSU. This should focus on the student experience in both the on-campus and online environment, much like theme parks or other environments where the experience is part of the value provided to the customer.

SPSU Data Collection – AY 09/10 • Lectures were a dominant instructional activity in both online and

face-to-face courses.

• GeorgiaVIEW Vista was the online system (of those listed in the

survey) that most respondents used, followed by Wimba, and

textbook publishers websites.

• Satisfaction with Wimba as an online teaching technology was

mixed.

• The reliability of classroom (face-to-face) technology frequently

reported as a problem, and the need to have classroom

technology upgraded was mentioned repeatedly in the survey

long format responses and in interviews.

• Better technology is needed for small group and one-on-one

meetings, including small group discussion.

SPSU Data Collection – AY 09/10 • A method for peer sharing of faculty knowledge regarding strategies for

teaching online should be created (one suggestion was peer mentor

programs).

• Faculty reported that students need better preparation for online

courses. Some suggested solutions included pre-course orientation and

student training.

• Digital whiteboard/screen space (in online environments) is currently

limited and poses a problem for some academic disciplines.

• Working out math problems, equations, and other drawing based

examples cannot be done easily with existing technology.

• Faculty would like more “virtual classroom technology” that allows

faculty to monitor student engagement during synchronous sessions.

This technology would allow faculty to teach in the same manner as

they teach in face-to-face courses.

Steps Taken to Meet Needs • Additional tablets and digital whiteboards to allow the use of

writing in online environments

• Online Student Orientation

• Faculty Online Learning Community (CTE)

• Added recording booth with document camera for recording

written examples

• Encouraged the use of Web Conferencing for small group and

use out of class meetings.

• Explored synchronous live video technology to supplement

asynchronous activity.

• Worked with UITS and logistics to improve classroom technology

and support

Supporting multiple methods

• Synchronous communication

– Video, web conferencing, collaboration

• Maximizing engagement during class

– Polling, small group breakout sessions

• Community building through technology

– Social media, increasing personalization

• Collaboration technology

– Group document and project management

• Mobile devices and computing everywhere

Building the Learning Environment • Build and test physical classrooms and labs that support the

SPSU vision of blended and online learning.

• Develop institutional support for blended and low residency

degree programs.

• Develop a process to incorporate student, faculty, and staff

perspectives into the continuous improvement of SPSU courses

and the SPSU learning environment.

• Track and share student success data with academic programs.

• Develop a platform of effective and reliable support for students

and faculty.

• Use the affordances of online technology to provide access to

global perspectives within courses and programs.

TCSG Articulation Agreement • Seamless transfer in which there are minimal or no losses of credit • Courses available in the local community – keep them rooted in their

community • Low residency/no residency course formats to support students with

full time job or other commitments (family, etc) • Balance articulation where 50% via TCSG and 50% via SPSU • Limited to SACS accredited institutions only • Target underrepresented, rural areas with no access to programs

– In 2010, 85% of students in TCSG received Hope Grant of Federal Pell

Grants

• Support economic growth within communities

Articulation Agreements

• Technical College System of Georgia

– Pre-Engineering Technology

– BAS programs

• Georgia Military College

• Expansion to other partners

Alignment of curriculum

• TCSG was undergoing transition to Semester

system

• Agreement to provide low-residency lab or

remote lab capability

• Bachelor of Applied Science programs

• Pre-Engineering Technology added

– Electrical, Mechanical and Industrial

Faculty Development and Support for

TCSG Program • “Seed money” to support the development of TCSG courses

(via distance learning differential) • Teaching Academy for Distance Learning • Additional staffing (Instructional Designers • Technology infrastructure

– Video conferencing – Lecture capture – Classroom upgrades

Complete College Georgia The plan calls for cooperation and lays the groundwork in three

areas:

1. Create new forms of collaboration and accountability among

organizations responsible for or reliant on higher education

2. Continue to work with the Georgia Department of Education to

increase the number of college-ready students graduating from

high school

3. Reevaluate and envision anew the performance of completion-

related aspects of higher education.

- USG BoR Press Release, November 9, 2011

Milestones • First online course offered 1995

• First online Masters program in the State of Georgia: – Master of Science in Quality Assurance

• Teaching and Learning Academy 1996 – 1998

• Distance Learning Standard Rubric - 2003

• Participation in the USG eCore program

• Creation of the Office of Faculty Support and Development

• Technical College System of Georgia Articulation Agreement: – Bachelors of Applied Science

• Distance Learning Strategic Plan 2010-2015 endorsed by the faculty senate

• Development of infrastructure to support the continued growth of online learning.