Academic Council Notes & Work Papers
Notes - May 29, 2003
Attendees: Judith Booker, Linda Brannon, Gil Castro, Cynthia Chappell, Ron Johnson, Phil Pierpont, Semilla Rivera, Tyrone Rodriguez, Gary Rosenfeld, Gwen Sherwood, and Jon Wiener.
Guests: Cynthia Phelps and Barry Ribbeck
Overview of Council Structure
Judith Booker shared the Council Website (http://www.uth.tmc.edu/council/index.html) with the members and explained the structure so that members would have a better understanding of the structure and what information would be available on the web for them to read and/or review.
Reasonable Accommodation Policy
Judith thanked the members who reviewed the policy and who provided comments and asked for the endorsement from the Council to proceed to the Executive Council for approval and implementation. The Council endorsed the policy and recommended that the policy go forward to Executive Council. Judith will update the Council when it has been approved by Executive Council.
Teaching and Learning Day
Cynthia Phelps gave an overview of Teaching and Learning Day and the format of the day to those unfamiliar with the event. She explained that the event is similar to a scientific meeting. This year was the fourth year of the event with increased participation. She cautioned the group that if the event grows any larger, a different venue may have to be considered. Expenses for 2003 totaled $8,500 for about 175 participants. The evaluations received were very positive although only about 1/4 of participants completed the survey. The event included invited speakers as well as a keynote speaker. The event was not overly advertised due to the lack of space. She did not want to turn down participants. There were a total of 25 posters and 15 podium presentations by faculty.
Ron Johnson attended the 2003 event and commented that the only negative comment he heard was the lack of time in the podium presentations.
Several Council members suggested asking sponsors to help fund the event. Although a great idea, Cynthia would need additional assistance for this to occur.
Other Council members suggested the use of ITV or a web cam for others to participate (including our own regional campuses). Judith suggested that the new SON building as a possible solution for a new venue if the event is expanded. Dr. Castro commented that the initiative for the event is from the SHIS and if the event is expanded, a university effort would need to occur.
Cynthia Phelps commented that this event is unique as we are supported by a health science center, there are few focuses on technology at the graduate level elsewhere; its a place to present research, have demonstrations; and share innovations. She also mentioned that the Learning and Technology group, this Council, and the Teaching and Learning Day group all have overlapping members. This could be used to our advantage.
Gwen Sherwood suggested that the event be advertised as more than just a technology conference.
Gil Castro requested that the topic of Advances in Teaching and Learning Conference be kept open. The Council will continue to brainstorm and bring additional information to upcoming meetings and/or to Cynthia Phelps. He thanked Cynthia for her overview.
Blackboard and Shibboleth
Barry Ribbeck addressed the Council with information pertaining to Blackboard and Shibboleth. Currently, Blackboard is used by some schools to offer courses, but individuals outside of the UTHSC-H cannot access the course via Blackboard. A potential solution is Shibboleth. Shibboleth will allow us to share our educational resources and will allow the university to review resources from other universities that use Shibboleth. Barry gave a brief demonstration of how Shibboleth works. Using Shibboleth would allow Blackboard users from anywhere we trust to log into our system and access our online courses. Presently, UTMB, UT Dallas and San Antonio are committed to Shibboleth. We do have the ability to protect information if one department/area wants it and another does not. We can protect information on a resource-by-resource basis. According to Barry, this is the hottest thing since the Web and there’s a very high probability for the institution to buy into. Once courseware is developed, it is placed on the Shibboleth server and is ready for access to those institutions that are committed to Shibbollith. Gil Castro suggested that Council members inform faculty members within their school about this possibility. Barry explained that Blackboard is a pilot project at the present time and he hopes UTHSC-H will be Shibboleth ready by the fall. The only drawback is that we must upgrade Blackboard to proceed.
InterInstitutional Agreements
Linda Brannon stated that we are currently experiencing issues with how we handle concurrent agreements. She would like a subset of this Council to meet and discuss the following issues:
- transcripts
- who is paying tuition where
- waiving fees
Legal Affairs is reviewing all agreements with private institutions to come up with a model policy when dealing with new agreements. Linda would like to broaden the scope and allow individual schools to create parameters.
Due to time, this discussion was tabled and will continue at the next Academic Council meeting.Dr. Castro reminded Council members to submit any topics of concern for inclusion on meeting agendas to Misty Hajek.
The next meeting of the Academic Council will be communicated via email in the next couple of weeks.