Colleagues,
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! As we near the end of the semester I am pleased to share progress we have made this fall in planning for implementation of the Colorado Online@ Strategic Plan over the next 3 years:
- Subcommittees began meeting, focused on how we can provide equity in access to online courses, resources, and support services for all students. A list of representatives on each subcommittee can be found on the Colorado Online@ blog.
- Recommendations moving forward to the Project Team in December include:
- More centralized support for online library resources, use of OER content, and distribution of online course materials (Learning Resources Subcommittee).
- Increased support for faculty and students needing assistance with online academic technologies such as D2L, Yuja, and other common resources — including evening and weekend hours (Technology Subcommittee).
- Development of an online web site that will help students choose a home college with their desired program, linking then directly to the application for that college (Student Support Services Subcommittee).
- Once admitted, students will be able to register for online courses offered by their home college and other CCCS colleges without having to re-apply, and will be able to select courses based on criteria identified by students as important to them (Student Support Services and Academic Affairs Subcommittees).
- Faculty credentialing through individual colleges will be honored as part of their college accreditation (Academic Affairs Subcommittee).
- Subcommittees are gathering feedback from related functional groups (e.g. the Online Faculty and Instructor Advisory Committee, Accessibility Directors, Advising Directors, Financial Aid Directors, IT Directors, Learning Technology Council, Library Directors, Registrars, etc.)
- Additional feedback is being gathered from all faculty and instructors through the end of the semester on plans for more consistent navigation across courses in D2L. Feedback is also being gathered from faculty, instructors, and students about preferences between internal messaging in D2L and college email. (See my email from November 19, or the announcement on your D2L home page).
To allow time for everyone to get used to the single instance of D2L, and for planning and implementation of the other technology and business processes needed to provide a seamless student experience, we will wait to offer our first online courses through the new Colorado Online @ model until Spring 2023.
Here is a brief overview of what the transition will look like over the next few semesters:
Spring 2022
- Subcommittees will continue gathering input and provide recommendations related to core services including (but not limited to):
- A timeline for transitioning online courses to the new model starting in Spring 2023, and how courses will be distributed among the colleges (Academic Affairs Subcommittee).
- Online student support services including accessibility, advising, and financial aid (Student Support Services Subcommittee).
- A collaborative process for design of ready-to-teach courses that can be used as is or be modified by faculty and instructors across CCCS (Learning Design Subcommittee).
- Academic technology staff at CCCOnline and the colleges will support faculty and instructors in transitioning courses to the new single instance of D2L
- Students will continue to register for online sections offered through home colleges and CCCOnline as they do now.
Fall 2022
- Faculty, instructors, and students will access all of their online courses by logging into a single instance of Desire2Learn, and enjoy more consistent navigation across courses
- SPA 111 and designated ECE courses will pilot use of ready-to-teach course shells that can be used as-is or be modified by faculty and instructors at individual colleges
- Students will continue to register for online sections offered through home colleges and CCCOnline as they do now.
Spring 2023
- A small subset of online sections will be offered through the new Colorado Online @ Consortial model to verify that registration processes and other technology are working as expected. Additional courses will transition to the colleges in subsequent semesters according to a timeline to be developed this coming spring.
Our next Colorado Online @ Open Forum will be held on February 11, followed by a special Faculty Forum on February 18 to include presentations on the new D2L interface and course design processes, as well as discipline-based discussions of challenges, opportunities, and priorities.
The Colorado Online @ Blog site has been updated to include answers to Frequently Asked Questions and a calendar of upcoming meetings for the Project Team, Subcommittees, and the Online Faculty and Instructor Advisory Committee. As decisions are made by the Project Team and/or the Steering Committee, they will also be posted to the blog site at https://coloradoonline.cccs.edu. Want to be notified of updates to the blog? You can now subscribe from the main menu.
Do not hesitate to reach out to me or Tammy Vercauteren (tammy.vercauteren@cccs.edu) with any questions. Questions can also be submitted via the Colorado Online @ Blog, or directed to individual members of the Project Team and /or Subcommittees.
Sincerely,
Landon