Sabbatical Leave Report

A. Applicant

Name: Monte Freidig

Department: Social Sciences

Type of Leave: Project

Leave Dates: Fall 2014

B. Purpose of Leave

I traveled to Washington DC to develop plans for an SRJC “Study in DC” summer program. To that end, I prepared for the trip by immersing myself in recent studies of US History from the Pre-Columbian era to 1877; visited a variety of potential field-trip locales in the area; met with housing, classroom, food and transportation providers; revised syllabi for Political Science 1 and History 17.1 to take advantage of learning resources in the DC area and returned home to develop contractual, financing and marketing strategies for the program. This feasibility study has given us a clearer picture of the opportunities and obstacles involved in establishing such a program. If issues can be resolved, our students could be learning in DC by 2016.

C. Objectives

1. Completed a fact-finding trip to Washington, DC and met with providers of student housing, classroom, food and transportation there to explore options and determine the costs of establishing SRJC’s “Study in DC” summer program.

2. Visited numerous potential field-trip locales in Washington DC, as well as other course- relevant sites in the wide region between Jamestown, VA and Boston, MA.

3. Revised syllabi for POLS 1 Introduction to US Government and HIST 17.1 History of the United States to 1877 to integrate area field trips and assignments.

4. Confirmed we are able revise existing SRJC travel contracts for a “Study in DC” program and created marketing materials for the program.

D. Narrative

Preparation and research in advance of the fact-finding trip The genesis of creating an academic program in Washington, DC was rooted in my experiences with our Study Abroad programs—if we are able to teach our students history and politics in European capitals, we should be able to do the same in the US. Furthermore, a DC program would be more accessible, affordable and relevant than Study Abroad to the majority of SRJC students. My previous experiences teaching in Study Abroad and as an International Studies committee member gave me insight that was utilized to model “Study in DC” on our existing programs.

I began my research for this project the same way I prepared for teaching in Paris-- by immersing myself in the current literature related to the courses we would teach in the program and by making fact-finding trips to explore options available there.

My review of recent literature in early US History began in the early stages of my sabbatical leave. As a political scientist, I keep current with literature in my field, but I hadn’t taught a history class since 2008 so I immersed myself in the recent scholarship from the time period covered in the 17.1 course. This would not only be necessary for teaching the class, but also be useful for identifying possible field trip locales back east. Several major 21st Century works in early US history won Pulitzer’s, Bancroft Prizes and National Book Awards and my sabbatical presented a unique opportunity to plow through these often lengthy tomes. I focused on new biographies of US presidents and on recent works about Native Americans, slaves and women— all areas in my studies that needed bolstering. (See Appendix A)

Objective 1: Travel to the East Coast to meet with student service providers

I scheduled my 3 week trip to Washington for late September and early October 2014 to give myself some time to do the preliminary research and visit Congress before they adjourned to campaign for the November elections. Unfortunately, after my tickets were bought, they decided to reschedule their recess so they could return home to campaign early. (Schedules in DC are always subject to change).

But I had a useful meeting with members of Rep. Mike Thompson’s staff (one of them an SRJC Political science major) about how they could assist our program by arranging tours of government buildings, setting up a meeting with congressman Thompson and helping us find guest lecturers in related fields (both governmental and NGO officials) for our classes. We also had a fruitful discussion of setting-up Washington internships for our school, but that project would be separate from the “Study in DC” program. (A full list of my contacts is found in Appendix B).

I also met with representatives of two student housing providers in Washington. Washington Intern Student Housing (WISH) is the main provider of housing for students doing internships in Washington. I toured their facilities, including some classrooms and apartments, obtained price lists for various options and discussed student liability and safety issues with them. Next to the US government, George Washington University is the largest holder of real estate in the Washington DC area and offer a variety of classroom and dorm options, as well as meal programs and some transportation services for groups using their facilities. After meeting with them, discussing our options and touring classrooms, dorms and dining halls, I was more impressed with what they have to offer us than I was with WISH. This impression was reinforced by the director of Santa Monica Community College’s Washington intern program, which has been using GWU for several years.

In short, we have a number of options from which to choose when it comes to the logistics of establishing an academic program in DC. If students fly into DCA, they can purchase a metro card that will get them anywhere in the city for $36 per week. I also spoke with area bus tour companies and returned with price lists, photos and timetables addressing various program requirements for DC and field trips beyond ranging from student board and room, to classrooms, hotels and travel in the area. (Appendix E contains some samples of contracts and price lists for the program).

Objective 2: Exploring possible field-trip locales in the region

The great advantage of on-site learning programs is giving students an opportunity to observe things firsthand and the Washington DC area is filled with sites (most of them free-of-charge) for students studying politics and early US history. The major challenge for instructors involves figuring out how to match field-trips with course material and fitting everything in given the limited amount of time available there.

For the Political Science 1 class, most of the choices are fairly obvious: Congress and the Supreme Court are both in session during the month of June and can be observed by the students. I was also able to take the White House tour, as well as tour of Arlington National Cemetery and the Treasury Department’s US Mint tour, where students can see how money is made---literally! They can view important documents, like the Constitution and Declaration of Independence in the National Archives and find other important artifacts of interest to students of history and politics in the Library of Congress, the National Portrait Gallery and in the many monuments to our leaders and troops on the National Mall. While the Newseum requires a fee, we can get a discount and its archives, displays and memorabilia will be useful to students from both courses taught in the DC program. The same would be true of the US Holocaust Museum and there is no entrance fee for that.

Our US history classes begin with the Native Americans, so I spent time exploring the National Museum of the American Indian, which is among the many of the 19 Smithsonian museums of interest to our students—all of them for free. (I also got information at The National Museum of African American History & Culture Visitor Center. It opens in 2016). Like most institutions in Washington, they have special programs for student groups. After reading several recent works on colonial history, I decided to rent a car and visit Jamestown, the first successful British settlement in the US (1607) and colonial Williamsburg, both in southern Virginia. I was so impressed with the insights they offer students into the lives of colonists natives and slaves, I’m inclined to recommend them as required field trips (rather than recommended ones), despite the fact that there are fees as well as lodging and transportation costs associated with them. The same is true of Washington’s home at Mount Vernon, which can be visited via a pleasant boat ride down the Potomac, which offers insights into the lives of our forefather and the slaves who worked his plantation. I created my own DC walking tour of many Lincoln assassination sites, including the boarding house where Booth plotted the killing, Ford’s Theater and the boarding house where Lincoln died. Other DC sites visited for the History 17.1 class included the Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian museums of American Art, American History, Natural History and the Arts and Industries building. (Appendix C lists all the potential field-trip sites toured on my trip).

After leaving Washington, I toured Independence Hall and the Constitution Center in Philadelphia, which is a 90-minute Amtrak ride from DC. I decided to make the Gettysburg battlefield site a recommended rather than a required field-trip, because of the extra time and expense. The same is true of historical sites I toured north of Philadelphia. Students can explore Washington’s headquarters in Cambridge, MA or dine at Fraunces Tavern in NYC, where he bade farewell to his troops, during weekend excursions if they want. The Boston area is loaded with important sites from America’s earliest days, but it’s too far afield to be officially integrated well into our DC program. Monticello in VA also presents time and money challenges.

Objective 3: Revising syllabi for Pols.1 and Hist.17.1

As a Study Abroad instructor, I always found preparing to teach new courses or reimagining existing courses to incorporate field-trips reenergizes my teaching. After selecting desired field- trip sites, I revised the syllabi for both of the courses. To save our students money, we may reduce the time spent in DC to four weeks and spend the first and last week of classes here. And because classrooms rentals in DC are $300 for a half-day, we would lecture there on MW and use TTh class time for field trips. My History 17.1 syllabus for this scenario (See Appendix F) would commence our study of pre-Columbian America on campus with lectures and a visit to the Jesse Peter Museum and continue the topic the following week in DC with field trips to the National Museum of the American Indian and to the Native American village reconstruction at the Jamestown settlement site in VA. While in the area that week, we would also visit colonial Williamsburg, which would serve as a natural segue to the next section of the course.

Most of the field trips are within easy subway or walking distance from the campus and on some days we may do back-to-back field trips in an area, but we will need to be flexible. For example, White House tours require a 3-month advance notice for background checks and must be arranged through congressional offices, but the time and date of tours may not be announced until the week prior to it. So after our visit there, we could either do our tour of the National Archives or one of the many Smithsonian museums on our list. Although it would be desirable to visit locales at the same time we are discussing related topics in class (e.g. observing the Supreme Court during the week it is covered in Pols 1), it not always possible to do that.

We have decided to require all students participating in the program to attend all of the field-trips and most of the locales, like Independence Hall, are very relevant for students taking both classes. However, sites selected specifically for one class, like The Newseum for Pols 1 students, have many exhibits of interest to students of US history, like articles related to famous espionage cases. Observing this on my tour also led me to drop the Spy Museum as a field-trip option as a costly redundancy. Cheri Winter was helpful in helping me navigate some complex scheduling issues.

Objective 4: Contracts and Marketing

Creating a new program that sends SRJC students to a distant location for several weeks presents a number of legal, logistical and financial challenges, and at the time of this writing, not all of them have been resolved. Our potential partners in DC, like GWU, have boiler-plate contacts for the services, but do offer flexibility in areas. For example, most companies want any legal disputes adjudicated in their own states, but SRJC would like them addressed in California. I spoke with Doug Roberts about this before leaving and GWU told me they could work with Doug to iron-out such difficulties. I also assumed we would need to write new contracts for participating students, but it appears existing school field-trip agreements could be used, with some amendments--e.g. students violating Study Abroad rules are sent home without refunds. I will continue to work with Doug to iron out such details.

For our program to work, we also need to convince several students to spend a lot of money to participate in it. For the Paris programs, I drew upon my background in marketing from a former career to recruit record numbers in 2004. Fortunately, marketing has become easier since that time because of social networking sites. I designed a Facebook page for our program and have incorporated information on DC internships as well as the Study in DC program on it. I also designed a poster to post around campus notifying students about the program and will set-up times and rooms for recruitment meetings on-campus once the program is scheduled. I will then do in-class visits to invite students to informational meetings, as well as attempt to get local papers, like the Press-Democrat and the Oak Leaf to run stories on our efforts, as we were able to do in the past. (Appendix D displays the poster and the Facebook page. The latter is a “closed” group until we begin advertising.)

But contractual and marketing issues with the program are not limited to student participants— there also has to be incentive for faculty members to teach in DC. In our Study Abroad programs, transportation fees and a rent stipend for instructors is built into the $8,000 fee paid by students to reduce the negative impact of teaching abroad on the instructors’ finances. My goal was to see if we could find other ways to cover these expenses for DC, but in the end, that may be the only way forward.

After meeting new SRJC fundraiser Judy Aquiline at a summer event, I spoke with her about funding options for the program, or at least for a 2015 DC pilot program. Although she had seemed optimistic earlier in the year, the best recommendation she could offer by fall was to apply for an SRJC Foundation grant. I spoke with Foundation Director Kate McClintock during the application process who told me the committee tends to award funds for programs where the money goes directly to the students and I was recently informed our request was denied. Although I have found Social Science colleagues interested in teaching in the program, this appears to be the biggest obstacle to establishing an SRJC in DC program at this time. In light of this, I have had to explore alternative ways to make Washington accessible to our students. These include DC internships, sponsoring tours via Community Ed and partnering with American University to enable our students to study there. My Final Report (Appendix G) explores opportunities, obstacles and options for DC.

E. Evaluation Summary

1. How did this sabbatical leave enhance my work performance at the college?

After 18 years of teaching non-stop at SRJC--including summers--it was nice to be able to step back and rethink some things. (I would like to thank the committee and the board at this juncture for making this possible). Many of the readings I covered in my research enriched my understanding of the struggles faced by women, slaves and Native-Americans to this day. My teaching will be positively influenced by it, as well as by visits to places I had not seen before, like the Holocaust Museum. If the program launches and no other colleague steps forward to teach History 17.1, I now feel confident in my abilities to do so. I also have a newfound appreciation for the colleagues who helped me navigate the numerous and unforeseen complexities of establishing a program with so many moving pieces. Thanks to them too!

2. How did this sabbatical benefit students in my discipline?

There are both immediate and long-term benefits my students will likely accrue because of this sabbatical. The most immediate benefit should be felt by those in my classes this spring. Getting some distance from the classroom has afforded an opportunity to reflect on my teaching and lead me to incorporate some innovations (like assigning a free, open-source textbook this semester) and new information in my classes. I have a much clearer picture of hitherto darkened corners of American history than I once had, a more detailed understanding of some Presidents I had not focused on in the past, and a new appreciation for how certain marginalized groups in our society coped and survived their struggles through innovation and courage. I keep pretty current in Political Science, but updating my currency in a discipline I don’t teach locally, but ultimately incorporate in all my classes, was invaluable.

Longer-term benefits to students may come in several forms; including the rewards experienced by students travelling to Washington after the program launches, by those who get accepted into the internship program I discussed with Congressman Thompson’s staff (this was a completely unexpected development) and by future generations of students who may gain from the knowledge (and connections) that would accumulate over time by having an ongoing program in our nation’s capital.

3. How did this sabbatical leave benefit my department?

The research necessary to lay a solid foundation for a Social Sciences program in Washington, DC has now been completed. If we can resolve some outstanding funding issues, we should be able to offer a program there next year. I have made contacts, examined facilities and designed courses that should enable any qualified faculty member in our department to teach there. I think the department benefits if every instructor has an opportunity to personally observe politics and history in the places they are made. Other departments on campus offer field-trip and internship opportunities to their students, but our department has lagged in this area. Having a DC program will offer new educational and career opportunities in our department.

4. How did this sabbatical leave benefit my colleagues at SRJC?

The trend towards active learning will likely continue, and even grow in the future. Millennials often desire “hands-on” experiences and are not content with passive pleasures enjoyed by earlier generations---even bars must increasingly offer other activities to court them. GWU, which hosts most of the college groups that visit DC, knows of no other community college running an academic program there. Santa Monica College’s internship program, which sends about five students there every year, was the closest program to ours they could identify. We are pioneers!

But I would like our innovative DC experiment to also become an inspiration to, and model for, other departments. A quarter-century ago, Steve Olsen and others established the Study Abroad programs to Europe here. Since that time, a myriad of students and their instructors have benefitted from this effort. Others have since expanded upon the idea, establishing programs in additional European locales and on this side of the Atlantic. Studying history and politics in Washington is another step that could open up even more opportunities for my colleagues at SRJC. Why not study drama in New York or offer business internships there? The possibilities seem both endless and inevitable in the shrinking world we inhabit.

5. Abstract for Board Report Summary

Monte Freidig travelled to Washington, DC and to other regional locales to gather information about the feasibility of establishing a “Study in DC” program for SRJC Social Sciences students. While there, he met with congressional staffers, housing, classroom and transportation providers to explore options and obtain cost estimates for the program. He also scouted potential field-trip sites from Boston to historic Jamestown and colonial Williamsburg for the Political Science and History classes to be offered in the program. He researched current scholarship before his trip to aid him in selecting these sites, explored timeframes and costs associated with visiting each place and revised the Political Science 1 and History 17.1 syllabi to incorporate the field trips. Before and after his trip, he consulted with the relevant SRJC colleagues about academic, legal, financial and other aspects involved in establishing the program and upon his return he created marketing materials to promote the program if the board approves it. A. Applicant

Name: John Fritschen

Department: Business Administration

Type of Leave: Independent Study

Leave Dates: Fall 2014

B. Purpose of Leave

During the Fall 2013 semester the SRJC Business Administration Department (BAD) launched an Entrepreneurship certificate. Students completing the certificate learn many of the skills required to conceive and launch a new venture. However, some of the more challenging aspects of entrepreneurship remain to be taught. Principal among these is raising funds to launch and sustain the business venture. “Crowdfunding” represents a new and exciting way for entrepreneurial individuals and groups to raise money to finance their ventures.

The purpose of the sabbatical leave project was to: 1) develop my personal expertise in this new business area, 2) collaborate with entrepreneurial programs offered at local schools (secondary and post secondary) and other institutions, and 3) translate this expertise into an elective course to be added to the entrepreneur certificate program.

C. Leave Accomplishments

1. Developed personal expertise:

a. Attended the seminar “Global Crowd Funding Convention and Boot Camp” http://www.crowdfundingroadmap.com/bootcamp/.

b. Reviewed college level courses related to crowdfunding, summarizing information in a report. (i.e. Stanford University FINANCE 373: Entrepreneurial Finance)

2. Collaborated with local stakeholders:

a. Met with representatives of local secondary schools and college entrepreneurial programs identifying opportunities for crowdfunding course collaboration (Santa Rosa High School, Windsor High School, and Sonoma State University)

b. Met with representatives from the North Bay Business Incubator Program (North Bay Small Business Incubator (http://www.northbayincubator.com/)

c. Met with SRJC departments (fine arts, theater, and music) to gauge interest in crowdfunding as a vehicle for student support.

3. Created crowdfunding curriculum: a. Created a new class detailing the theory and practice of crowdfunding.

b. Prepared course documentation for submission to cluster for review and curriculum committee.

c. Prepared documentation to revise SRJC Entrepreneurial Program certificate to include a crowdfunding course elective.

d. Prepared a presentation on crowdfunding for the BAD department

Narrative:

As I launched into my sabbatical project, I saw the work as three unique efforts (proposal objectives). The first part of the project, the education component seemed to be fairly straight forward. My review of crowdfunding texts showed that there has been much written about crowdfunding and several authors tackled the subject in a more or less scholarly way. It should be noted that most of the books on the subject fall into the "how I did it" genre and while interesting may not be the best for a college class. In addition to reading, I attended the 3rd Annual CrowdfundingBootcamp conference There were several crowdfunding conferences to choose from but this one was close, occurred during my sabbatical semester and seemed to have a pretty good track record. This part of my project proceeded as planned and was very rewarding

For the second part of my project, identifying other colleges and universities offering courses on crowdfunding, I expected to find a few dedicated courses along with a number of entrepreneurial finance classes that included crowdfunding. After completing my project, I discovered that only one for-credit college either public or private offered significant content on crowdfunding. Babson College (Boston MA) appears to be the only for-credit college offering a course dedicated to crowdfunding. Also, colleges offering classes on entrepreneurial finance have yet to include information on crowdfunding. It may be that instructors address this in their classes, but from the course description I reviewed it is not a significant part of the curriculum.

Additionally, as I sought out entrepreneurial finance class syllabi I was a bit surprised to learn that most colleges treat their course syllabi as proprietary information and as a matter of policy do not provide them to non-students. Some schools (BYU) go so far as to even restrict information about the texts they use in class. Working at SRJC I guess I was a little naive on how other colleges run their programs. It may be that they learned (through painful experience) to restrict their course information lest it end up on the University of Phoenix website.

The third part of my project was to socialize the opportunity for a proposed crowdfunding class and certificate. In this area, I found that first I will need to educate the broader community on crowdfunding before asking them for an opinion on the merits of the courses and certificate. Within my own department, a number of faculty members had an incomplete understanding of crowdfunding and what role it fulfills in an entrepreneur’s world. As a consequence, I first needed to create the attached PowerPoint presentation to help explain the concept. While working on the presentation I limited my discussion to those who had a good grasp of the basics. Interestingly, once they fully understood what crowdfunding can do they were considerably more enthusiastic. As we all know there are many challenges to pioneering new ideas; patience and persistence are the keys to success. On a more positive note, assuming that we continue to pursue this subject area, SRJC could be the first community college in the nation to offer a crowdfunding course and certificate. Not only would this give our students the tools they need to launch their own campaigns, but is would raise awareness for our Entrepreneurship program and SRJC in general.

Sabbatical Activities:

Objective 1.a. - To gain experience and connections in the crowdfunding space, I attended the 3rd Annual CrowdfundingBootcamp conference in Las Vegas. The conference was pretty much what I expected, lots of networking opportunities, chances to hear about new crowdfunding platforms and see what others are doing in the space. Unfortunately, there were only two other colleges/universities represented at the conference. I was hoping to do more networking among college instructors, but was pleased to meet a number of very capable crowdfunding consultants. Notes from the conference are attached in Appendix A.

Objective 1.b. - I also conducted an internet search for college level crowdfunding classes. This effort confirmed my suspicions there are few if any for-credit classes devoted to crowdfunding. In reviewing the top 25 undergraduate entrepreneurship programs (Entrepreneur Magazine, October 2014, Reprint of Princeton Review for 2015 – Top 25 Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs) there was only one school offering a class solely focused on crowdfunding. Interestingly, this class was offered by Babson College (Boston MA) who also has the #1 ranked Entrepreneurship program in the country and not surprisingly the largest offering of courses. Appendix B contains a syllabus from the Babson crowdfunding class.

BABSON - EPS3518 - CROWDFUNDING

EPS3518 Crowdfunding 4 credit general credit This hands-on workshop gives students the opportunity to plan a crowdfunding campaign for a creative project or entrepreneurial venture. Online crowdfunding builds community around innovative projects by organizing stakeholders and leveraging in-person and online social networks. Goals of crowdfunding include stakeholder alignment, concept testing, product pre-selling and venture de-risking. Students work individually or as part of a team to design a crowdfunding campaign which at students’ discretion may be executed following the workshop. Students are expected to meet high standards and the focal point of the course is the production and refinement of a pitch video developed based on stakeholder engagement and opportunity shaping. The course integrates emerging research on crowdfunding and ongoing developments in the industry. Prerequisites: None

Other entrepreneurship programs offered only general classes on finance and capital formation. None of these had their syllabus on line, and I was only able to identify the text books for a few of the classes. These texts cover typical areas of finance for new ventures (angle investors, IPO etc.), but had nothing to say about crowdfunding. A summary of undergraduate Entrepreneurship programs reviewed is contained in Appendix C.

Objective 2.a. – In-person meeting and discussions were held with representatives from two educational groups. These groups were selected based on their leadership in their respective areas. During our discussions I asked for specific feedback on the proposed courses as well as their general understanding and interest in crowdfunding. Interviews included Paul Kununen media instructor at Windsor High school and Dr. Glinisky from Sonoma State. Notes from these interviews are contained in Appendix D.

Objective 2.b. – In addition to academic contacts, I spoke with Ms. Amee Sas from SoCoNexus. She represents the Entrepreneurial Incubator/Start-up group housed in the old Hewlet Packard facility in Rohnert Park. SoCoNexus clients include early stage companies looking for in-kind services such as office space as well as technical and business expertise to help them grow their companies. Unfortunately, Ms. Sas didn’t appear to be too interested in crowdfunding. It seems that there is the perception that crowdfunding is only reward based, and as such is only good for entrepreneurs developing consumer products. And since many of SoCoNexus’s clients are not in the consumer product space it may not be a good fit. It is also too early to begin discussion on equity based crowdfunding, as the rules are still being written (SEC and state regulators). I will certainly keep in touch with this group looking for opportunities to reconnect when equity funding becomes more main-stream.

Objective 2.c. – Reaching out to the broader SRJC campus community is an ongoing effort. This effort began Fall 2014 by soliciting feedback from the Business Department faculty and the Business Department Advisory Committee. Responses were generally positive. An E-mail announcing the new classes went out to the SRJC stakeholders in early January. Again feedback was mostly positive among the few that responded.

Being a bit more proactive, I reached out to the music department as a test case for gauging interest in the crowdfunding classes and certificate. Data from successful 2014 Kickstarter campaigns is shown below:

 68% of Dance Campaigns (~3,000) were successful raising an average of $3,215  65% of Theater Campaigns (~6,000) raised an average of $3,569,  55% of Music Campaigns (~35,000) raised an average of $3,470,  43% of Art related campaigns (~15,000) raised an average of $2,554, and  40% of Film/Video related campaigns (~45,000) raised an average of $5,041 each.

In spite of this success, feedback indicated that there is additional work to do to find groups who might be interested in using crowdfunding. First, like most programs, Music curriculum is quite full and there are few if any “schedule holes” to fill. It could also be that fine art students (in all disciplines) are not interested in raising funds this way. Going forward I will refine the internal crowdfunding “pitch” targeting student groups who might find crowdfunding as an interesting way to support their art.

Objective 3.a.- Based on research of college classes and programs as well as for-profit crowdfunding classes I completed, I am proposing two new classes. These classes are a 3 unit 17 week class titled BMG 106 - Crowdfunding Fundamentals and 1.5 unit 8 week class titled BMK 102 Marketing via Social Media (Note. this class will likely be replaced by CS 57.11 - Introduction to Social Media). Summaries of these classes are shown below. BMK 102 Marketing Via Social Media 1.5 units - This course explores social media use from a business perspective. Students learn how to develop a social media strategy to promote business, build stronger customer relations, and targets a broad base or niche audience. Additionally, they will develop effective marketing and advertising techniques that enhance Web presence across multiple media channels. Students explore historical development as well as emerging trends in Web applications and services that facilitate creativity, collaboration, and information sharing among users and business.

BMG 106 Crowdfunding Fundamentals 3 units - Provides a practical guide on how to research, plan and launch a crowdfunding campaign. Students will learn to translate a business plan into one or more projects that can be financed through crowdfunding. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Linked-in will be used to build a group of followers to launch and then sustain the crowdfunding effort. Short video pitches describing the team, the need and rewards will be created so that students completing the class will be able to initiate their own campaigns.

A more detailed description of these classes is contained in Appendix E.

In addition to the proposed classes, an important part of any crowding campaign is a short promotional video. Computer Studies offers a 1.5 unit class 8 week class on Digital Video Production (CIS 75.11A) that seems to be the right type of class for crowdfunding students.

Together these classes provide the theory and training for students to launch their own crowdfunding campaign. These classes form the basis for a 6 - 7.5 unit mini certificate offering students with the chance to earn a certificate in this subject area. An outline of the proposed certificate is shown in Appendix F.

The Crowdfunding certificate in conjunction with the Entrepreneurship certificate program creates a certificate ladder. This ladder not only expands the abilities of students finishing the Entrepreneurship program, but it addresses the “what’s next” question that many entrepreneurs face. Just finishing the Entrepreneurship program doesn’t necessarily place students on the path to success. While they may have a good business and marketing plan, they may not have the funding, quantity of customers, market feed back or management team necessary to take the next step. Preparing and launching a crowdfunding campaign such as one on Kickstarter, requires the entrepreneur to do all of these things. If successful they have the funds to launch their campaign and if not they have valuable feedback from which to revise their offering and try again.

Objective 3. b./c. – COR packages for the new classes have been prepared and are in the review process. Revisions to the Entrepreneur certificate are underway pending approval by the BAD department and Curriculum Committee review.

Objective 3. d. – A power point presentation detailing crowdfunding was prepared and presented to the Business Department. This presentation is attached in Appendix G.

E. Evaluation Summary

1. How did the objectives of this sabbatical leave enhance my work performance at the college?

During my research and conversations with other instructors, I developed a real appreciation for the pioneering work required to bring a new area of study to the college. I am now a bit more sympathetic to those bringing new curricula or other programs to SRJC. Also, I found it refreshing to work with other instructors in this subject area, reviewing course content and materials for class. I plan to stay in touch with instructors at SSU and Babson as well as professionals I met at the CrowdfundingBootcamp. Finally, I return to the classroom with new energy and enthusiasm for teaching.

2. How will the objectives of this sabbatical leave benefit students in my discipline?

I currently teach two sections of BAD 10 American Business in Its Global Context. This class is a survey class covering many aspects of business including entrepreneurship. Having completed the project, I have significantly more knowledge about the crowdfunding industry and can bring examples and case studies to the classroom. In addition to my classroom responsibilities, I spend a fair amount of time coaching students who are looking to develop their entrepreneurial ideas. Having current information in this area, success models and supporting documentation will be a great help to any student developing their business plans.

While I was at the CrowdfundingBootcamp conference in Las Vegas, there was considerable attention given to a representative from the University of Maryland. Apparently, several of their students received support from the University to help with an immersive gaming goggle, the Occulus Rift. Last year Occulus Rift was purchased by Facebook for $2 Billion with the founders giving the university foundation a gift $30 Million. Hopes for our SRJC students may a bit more modest, but we should be helping students succeed in whatever way we can; because you never know.

3. How will the objectives of this sabbatical leave benefit my department?

While most people have heard of the term, they may not fully realize the power of crowdfunding as a way to raise awareness and capital for all types of ventures. Educating my fellow BAD faculty members on crowdfunding will be an on-going effort and it will take a several years for students to complete the Crowdfunding certificate. However, once they do we should have lots of success stories to share within the department and broader campus community. Additionally, other disciplines in the department (Hospitality, Real Estate and Marketing) could use this course in connection with their certificates. Having local expertise provides BAD colleagues with a resource to direct their students as they look to build their own crowdfunding campaign.

4. How will the objectives of this sabbatical leave benefit my colleagues at this college?

Other SRJC departments now have the opportunity to offer crowdfunding expertise and curriculum to their students. While this could be as addition to their certificate electives, more likely it will be through faculty counseling aspiring students. Students in Music, Arts, Theater, Culinary or other departments will be able to launch their own campaigns. Finally, I plan to present the attached PowerPoint presentation during Fall 2015 PDA, providing my colleagues with information on crowdfunding and models for engaging with their students.

F. Abstract for Board Proposal Summary

John Fritschen completed a sabbatical project to research and create curriculum on crowd- funding. Crowdfunding describes the collective effort of individuals who pool their money, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by people or organizations. Crowdfunding is used to support of a wide variety of activities, including; support of artists, political campaigns, start-up companies, motion pictures, software, scientific research and civic projects. Fritschen created an elective course in the Business Administration Departments’ Entrepreneur program and has proposed a Crowdfunding certificate incorporating social media and a video editing class.

SABBATICAL REPORT

A. Applicant Name: Dr. Carla Deicke Grady Department: Philosophy, Humanities, & Religion Type of Leave: Independent Study Leave Dates: Jan. 15, 2014 – May 30, 2014

B. Purpose of Leave I traveled to India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, to engage in religious study and pilgrimage at several locations. This travel broadened my knowledge of ancient and modern India and allowed me to gather material (text, photos, and video footage) for use in my Asian Philosophy (PHIL 11) course, my World Religions (PHIL 8) courses, and material from which I created two new RELS courses: 1) RELS 7 Wisdom Religions of Asia, and 2) RELS 8 Buddhism. I have also created an annotated resource guide for students of Asian Philosophy and Religious Studies who wish to travel to India (& Nepal) for the purpose of spiritual study (appendix, separate doc). I am also developing a website which houses all of the material I collected, making it available for download to my students and colleagues and for use in my courses, without the need for custom publication of additional texts. (N.b.: Language differs from proposal due to unanticipated necessary alterations to travel plans, and due to consultation with RELS colleague Eric Thompson re. curriculum development plans. Please recall that the time lapse between submission of proposal and departure date was 17 months, due to college budget constraints that did not allow all of us to take leave at our scheduled times – I was in the later group. During those 17 months, many changes occurred, both in India and in my knowledge of where I would be traveling.)

C. Leave Objectives 1. Currently developing a website which presents text docs, photo galleries, video links, and more, covering ancient Hindu philosophy, Hindu-Buddhist syncretism in Sri Lanka & Nepal, Theravada-Mahayana syncretism in Sri Lanka, Sikhism, Jainism, Nath & Aghora Tantrism, Kashmiri Shaivism, and other topics, for use in PHIL 11 (Asian Philosophy), PHIL 8 (Comparative Religions), HUMAN 20 (Humanities in Asia), and in the new RELS 7 course I just submitted to Curriculum Committee. This website will likely always be a work-in- progress, but parts of it are completed and accessible now (see www.carlasite.info). Future revisions will reflect future research. 2. Revised the lecture content of the PHIL 11 Asian Philosophy course and updated the course outline, and updated the lecture content of PHIL 8 World Religions course. 3. Completed and published on my website an annotated list of spiritual study opportunities in India (and a few in Nepal) that welcome Westerners. 4. Created two RELS courses: RELS 7 Wisdom Religions of Asia & RELS 8 Buddhism. 5. Prepared a PowerPoint presentation for colleagues, which was presented at PDA Spring 2015, detailing some of the highlights of my travel in India and Sri Lanka.

D. Narrative

Objectives #1-#5 – as in the proposal, all objectives were met simultaneously throughout the trip.

Jan. 2014 Traveled throughout Sri Lanka, visiting shrines, temples, and historical sites, gathering material on the history and political importance of Buddhism, Theravada-Mahayana syncretism, and Hindu-Buddhist syncretism, in the shaping of Sri Lanka’s identity as the oldest continually practicing Buddhist country.

Jan. 28 Flew to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Met with Sufi teacher to glean information on Sufism in India

Feb. 1 Drove to Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu; stayed at Sri Ramanashram five days, then in Tiru near the ashram, for three more weeks. Studied at the ashram library, engaged in spiritual rituals and ashram religious activities. Interviewed a long-term resident and manager of media at Auroville (who was visiting Tiru), who gave me a wealth of information and convinced me it was unnecessary to go to Auroville myself. Took a one-day trip to another ashram and famous shrine in Vallore of Narayani Amma (see appendix). Collected gigabytes of useful material while in Tiru.

Final week of Feb. Drove to Bangalore to visit a study-abroad program at Christ University. I will be making a pitch about this university to Peg Saragina as well as to the Study Abroad Committee, to encourage SRJC students to consider studying in India at this lovely university that hosts a successful program for visiting foreign students. There will also be a link plus photos and information on my website about this program.

Feb. 28 Flew Bangalore to Varanasi. In Varanasi I stayed at a branch of the International School for Jain Studies in order to study Jainism. While there I also visited nearby Sarnath, a major Buddhist pilgrimage site, as well as made many trips to the ghats along the sacred Ganges to gather material about Hindu practices and Ganga pilgrimage.

Mar. 16 Flew to Dehradun, then drove to Rishikesh. In Rishikesh I studied under two different spiritual teachers, attended a week-long yoga retreat, and investigated many ashrams throughout the area as potential sites for SRJC students to go for short-term study. All are included in the guide (appendix). The headwaters Char Dam pilgrimage that goes further up the mountains above Rishikesh that I had intended to join does not start till late May/early June. Last year’s pilgrims had met with major tragedy in June 2013 when early monsoon and the heavy winter’s snowmelt combined to create disastrous flooding and landslides. Thousands of pilgrims doing the headwaters pilgrimage in 2013 were washed to their deaths in major floods that ravaged Rishikesh, Badrinath, Kedarnath, and Haridwar, and other areas surrounding the Ganges. Central government issued warnings in 2014, advising against doing the pilgrimage at all this year.

April 13 Flew to Delhi. In Delhi I met with the head of the International School for Jain Studies, the parent organization of the Varanasi school where I had stayed in March, and learned more details about the Delhi branch. We had preliminary discussions regarding a potential program they could create for SRJC students who could visit during summer months. Discussion focused on a potential Peace Studies program because the Jain Institute is closely affiliated with Gandhi and Peace scholars throughout India. I also visited the Baha’i temple, escorted by a leader of the organization who provided a wealth of material about the Baha’i faith in India. Also visited ISKCON temple and gathered information about this International Krishna cult. Also visited Ashkardham, an enormous modern theme park designed to inform (indoctrinate) young people about the glories of the Hindu faith and its illustrious history. I was also guided through parts of old Delhi, including several Islamic historic sites and shrines, the Red Fort, the Central government campus, and more, by a friend who teaches Indian Ocean History at University of Hawaii; he has been teaching in Delhi for three years. I learned a great deal from him.

April 21 Flew to Amritsar, Punjab. Here I visited the Sikh Golden Temple for a few days and gathered extensive material about Sikhism, then drove to Batala, Punjab where I stayed with a family at the invitation of the father, a professor whose area of expertise is the Naths & Aghoris. With him I visited several Nath shrines and gurus throughout the Punjab and collected additional material about Sikhism with his help (his father had been a Sikh scholar and researcher in Punjab, so he had valuable textual sources from his father’s personal library).

April 28 Drove to McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh. (Proposal says Dharamsala, but H.H. Dalai Lama’s monastery is actually in McLeod Ganj, farther up into the mountains above Dharamsala.) This area is called “Little Tibet” due to the numerous Tibetan refugees who have fled Tibet and been given shelter and assistance from the Indian government & NGOs in this area. I visited the monastery of H.H. Dalai Lama, the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, and several Buddhist retreat centers (see appendix).

The proposal item that said I would go to Sikkim around this time became out of the question once I learned of early monsoon last year and the dangers of being on mountain roads during monsoon. The journey from Darjeeling to Sikkim is best undertaken in 4-WD jeeps due to the cliff-side dirt roads, which would entail hiring an expensive jeep plus driver, with no certainty about weather or road conditions. There was no way I could face it. The objective to learn more about Tibetan Buddhism in the north regions was in part satisfied by staying in the McLeod Ganj area longer, and in part by a (previously unplanned) trip to Nepal instead.

May 15 Flew to Nepal I stayed in Kathmandu Valley for a few days to explore and document several Buddhist and historical sites, then flew to a remote lake region close to the Pokhara tourist hub (from which many treks into the Himalayas embark). This region provided a beautiful opportunity to see ancient Hindu influences mixed with Buddhist religious imprints, combined seamlessly in a unique Nepali religious worldview. Pachabaiya village above Pokhara was inaccessible by motorized vehicle, up a stone footpath along the ridge line; a visit there was a step into a way of life no longer possible in modernity. There is a Buddhist retreat center along one of the lakes below Pachabhaiya, described in the appendix. It was a place I can heartily recommend to SRJC students due to its remoteness and beauty, as well as the kindness of the locals. There are also WOOF opportunities nearby, so the locals are used to young foreigners living there for extended periods. (Workers On Organic Farms is popular short-term employment for young people, allowing them to afford travel around the world.) Then I flew back through Kathmandu and headed south to Namo Buddha, another remote region, home to one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist Gonpas, which educates nearly a hundred young monks. Westerners can study Tibetan language there for eight weeks in the summer months and learn about Tibetan Buddhism by observing a true monastery in action. Back in Kathmandu before flying back to Delhi, I explored Bhoudanath, probably the most famous of Buddhist stupas in Asia, as well as a monastery where many Western students live for extended periods to study Tibetan Buddhism. This location is also documented in the appendix guide (Ka-Nying Shedrup Ling).

May 26 Flew back to Delhi From Delhi drove to Vrindavan, Krishna Capital of the world, location of the oldest Krishna temple in India as well as the largest ISKCON temple in India. Visited both temples on the hottest day of my trip (115 degrees), photo-documenting both for interested students. Many Western Krishna devotees live at this ISKCON temple long-term.

May 29-June 5 BONUS! Flew to Israel and investigated Jerusalem and nearby Ein Karem. Gathered information for the Judaism section of PHIL 8 World Religions.

General explanation for the majority of travel plan changes: Travel overland in India is difficult and unpleasant, especially while I was there because it was the period prior to the nationwide election in every state (elections were held throughout April & early May 2014). Thus, everywhere roads were under construction, a common pre-election strategy by incumbents to impress constituents. Road travel under these conditions was even more horrific than normal and took three times longer than it should have, so I was never eager to hit the road again once I had settled in a location where I was learning a great deal. It was not until May that I finally learned the secret about train travel in India. Up till then, I had been informed that I should make train reservations online. The national railway website was incomprehensible to me, and all rail cars were always fully booked every time I tried to make reservations. In May I finally learned that local travel agents are able to find rail seats even when the website says the train is full, but by then, it was too late for me to benefit from this information. Feb. – April I ended up flying most places to avoid road travel whenever possible, although of course I had to take some buses and hire drivers on several uncomfortable occasions. The upshot is that I traveled to fewer places than I had intended when I wrote the proposal, yet I am so glad I stayed longer in the locations that I did. The trade-off was worth it in the long run.

E. Evaluation Summary 1. How did this sabbatical leave enhance my work performance at the college? I have returned to teaching PHIL 8 World Religions this year, after I last taught it in 2008. It is as if I am teaching a new course, now with so much more material and experience to share. The Hinduism and Buddhism sections just completed were rich with new material. Still, the PHIL 8 course is a whirlwind survey course and does not allow much time for depth into any religion. Thus, I am anxious to establish the RELS course which can focus exclusively on Asian Religions, as well as the RELS Buddhism course which will provide the opportunity to share the new material I gathered on Buddhism in Little Tibet, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Spring 2015 semester I began to teach Asian Philosophy again, since I gave the course to a colleague to teach it in my absence, who asked to teach it for two semesters. It is a delight to incorporate new stories, images, and texts into the Indian & Buddhist Philosophy sections of that course, after all that I discovered about South Asia during my sabbatical.

2. How did this sabbatical leave benefit students in my discipline? It has been unfortunate that so few of us who teach Asian philosophy & religions at SRJC have ever been to India or Sri Lanka or Nepal. Only one colleague who teaches PHIL 8 has been to Nepal and India as a tourist, and not for an extended period. This sabbatical allowed me to alter that imbalance, to offer students first-person narratives of life on the ground in India today, so that they can consider experiencing it themselves to learn much more about it than they currently do by watching Bollywood films. I have already shared my annotated guide with two former students, and I expect to share it with many more students now that my website is up and running. I have confirmed what I’ve already known for some time, that I need to write my own material and not rely on textbooks anymore, since the texts rarely include information that I consider essential, or if they do, they are mega-volumes so expensive that the average SRJC student cannot afford to buy them. By making all of my textual as well as visual material available to students on my website, I can eliminate the need for textbooks at all, thus saving students money as well as providing them the very best educational material, constantly revised as new information is gathered. I intend to develop, revise, renew, and populate the website until I retire. It will be the locus of all material for all my Asian RELS & PHIL courses. SRJC students will benefit for years from the free, downloadable material I will continue to provide. Because of this website, I am not going to pursue my original idea of creating a booklet or a hard-copy text. The majority of students these days prefer to access material digitally, so there is no point in creating a paper version; besides, a paper text would violate the college’s Strategic Plan Sustainability Initiative. Also I have been asked by a former student now attending UCB to give a presentation to Philosophy students at Berkeley at their 2015 conference. I will be one of two keynote speakers in April at UCB; my presentation will focus on my research in South Asia.

3. How did this sabbatical leave benefit my department? The biggest impact my department colleagues will experience is the availability of educational material, visual and textual, all of which they will be able to download from my website. All photos and video footage will be downloadable. I will give my RELS colleagues a comprehensive introduction to the website when it is more complete at end of summer 2015.

4. How did this sabbatical leave benefit my colleagues at SRJC? PDA Day, Feb. 2015, several JC colleagues attended my presentation about the sabbatical. I also invited the entire JC community to meetings with the guru I met in India and invited to Sonoma County. I hosted my guru and her entourage in October, 2014; she gave satsang in Sebastopol Oct. 17-19.

F. Abstract for Board Report Summary Dr. Carla D. Grady traveled to Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, and Jerusalem from Jan.-June, 2014 to gather material, both textual and visual, to enhance her existing PHIL 11 Asian Philosophy course, her sections of PHIL 8 World Religions, and to create two new courses in the Religious Studies Program: RELS 7 Wisdom Religions of Asia, and RELS 8 Buddhism. All of her material will be available to students, colleagues, and the public through the website she is developing -- www.carlasite.info. She gave a presentation to the college on PDA Day in Feb., 2015, invited colleagues to attend satsang in Sebastopol with her guru in October ‘14, whom she hosted for one week, and she will be one of the keynote speakers at a student-led conference at UCB in April, where she will present information she gathered while in South Asia.

G. Appendix  Website being developed that houses my sabbatical material: www.carlasite.info.  See separate accompanying doc Spiritual Study Opportunities in India (& Nepal), or if it is not attached here, it can be downloaded from the homepage of www.carlasite.info  Course outlines for two new RELS courses that I created upon return from sabbatical are available online: RELS 7 Wisdom Religions of Asia, and RELS 8 Buddhism. They have both been approved by Cluster Tech and the Curriculum Committee and will likely both be offered starting Fall 2016. Sabbatical Leave Report

A. Applicant Name: Keith Simons Department: Kinesiology, Athletics and Dance Type of Leave: Independent Study Leave Date: Fall 2014

B. Purpose of Leave I observed and studied five Northern California community college physical education programs and their physical fitness programs. My study will keep Santa Rosa Junior College on the cutting edge of body conditioning and strength training. In addition, I observed the workout centers and have reported back to the KAD department and the district facility committee.

C. Leave Objectives 1. I identified new workout methods in regards to body conditioning (flexibility, cardiovascular exercises and the combining of aerobic and anaerobic drills). 2. I identified new core exercise routines. 3. I identified new strength training methods in regards to developing muscular strength or muscular endurance. 4. I recorded the likes and dislikes of each workout facility and reported back to our weight room committee and district facility committee.

D. Narrative 1. I identified new workout methods in regards to body conditioning (flexibility, cardiovascular exercise and the combining of aerobic and anaerobic drills). The majority of the programs and instructors that I studied were working with facilities and space similar to Santa Rosa Junior College with the exception of City College of San Francisco. There are workout classes at CCSF that have the ability to split body conditioning with weight training and not run into an overloaded teaching station (too many students with two different classes in the same facility space). While there were a lot of cases where instructors were teaching the standard formula of static stretching followed by core work and cardiovascular activities, I did learn a great deal of new ideas to challenge students. The different ideas that I came away with were: A. More anaerobic work at the beginning of class and aerobic work at the end B. Targeting one part of the body to work with multiple drills instead of total body targeting C. New formula for determining target heart rate and measuring work intensity D. Teaching a routine that can be done at home and without teaching equipment to get a third day of working out in E. Combination of aerobic and anaerobic cross training which includes interval and periodization workouts F. BOSU training to develop core, flexibility, agility and over all body strength The challenge is not only putting students through effective drills but also having a large variety of workouts to keep the class fresh. Through my study I was able to bring 29 new workout routines back to my body conditioning and weight lifting classes. The other challenge is to have workouts ready for poor weather days where there are multiple classes using the same indoor space. Two of the most important body conditioning workouts I learned was weight training without the use of weights and interval training. Weight training without weights is crucial for departments that cannot use the weight room as part of their conditioning class because weight training classes are being taught at the same time. The method is to use the students own body weight as the resistance in isolated movement to target areas of the body ( ex: pushups to work the chest and shoulders and that take the place of bench press or dumbbell press with iron weights ). Interval training is one of the newer concepts in the training world and is cross training combining aerobic and anaerobic exercises to improve strength and endurance. Students are engaging in exercises and movements that develop strength and endurance but are executed at a more condensed time frame. I learned yoga during the semester and this routine develops flexibility, strength and body / breath awareness. Yoga is a great way to end class and act as a cool down after a workout. 2. Identify new core exercise routines Core training is extremely important and usually ignored by the students that we get from high school. Every school that I studied incorporated a well thought out and inventive core routine. The most important core sequence or execution that I learned was more variety of the isolated positions. For example when performing a front plank I learned 5 – 8 more variations of the plank position. This does two things for the student: No. 1 - there is not a body position change so you are not wasting time waiting for some of the slower students to get into a certain position and No. 2 - the student is exhausting the targeted muscles with repeated plank poses. BOSU training is relatively new but extremely challenging and is a different method to developing the core (abdominals, obliques and lower back). The BOSU is a rubber dome on top of a hard plastic and flat surface. The students perform exercises either standing or sitting on the dome (filled with air) or by standing or sitting on the flat surface atop the dome of air. The act of maintaining balance and stillness fires the core muscles up and strengthens. Stability ball training is core exercises and moves taken to the next level. The ball uses the same principle as BOSU in that parts of the students body are on a ball filled with air and they must fire their core muscles to keep stable and balanced. 3. Identify new strength training methods in regards to developing muscular strength or muscular endurance. Lifting weights to develop muscular strength or endurance has not changed much in regards to lifting with free weights, be that barbell or dumbbells. What has changed is the machines to produce the same effects. Biomechanics has become clearer in how the body effectively works through the full range of motion so has the production of efficiently sound machines. CCSF uses the Life Fitness weight training machines and Laney College uses Precore exclusively and these lines are producing a wide range of machines but just as important the machines will adjust for students of all heights. Most of the fitness machines on the market do not carry 100% multi – adjustment models. For example: anyone under 5’4” cannot use the Pec Deck machine in SRJC’s weight room because there is no adjustment for height. Life Fitness and Precore are examples of lines that have adjusting Pec Deck machines which allow all weight training students to use that machine. Sierra Goes through Sacramento Exercise Equipment for machines, free weights and all accessories and American River and Diablo Valley Colleges incorporate a variety of weight machines to meet their needs. This is not unusual for schools to have a mix of equipment brands as long as the machines are practical and somewhat current. The most common new weight training method I learned was the “overload” principle which simply means changing up your routine frequently to stimulate muscle fiber growth. Muscles adapt to the stress they are put under which causes the muscle and / or the student’s performance to plateau. Instructors are now teaching their students to change their routine out earlier or more frequently. This is an easy adjustment in my teaching because we have all of the necessary equipment in the weight room. In addition, I have installed a new weight workout to develop muscular endurance which gives the students a different approach to train and is important in regards to the overload principle. The elements that stand out in this workout are: A. The program is divided into 5 muscle targeting groups and within the group there are 4 – 8 different exercises to choose from B. Each target area lists its own number of sets and repetitions C. Each target area lists the desired number of picks Ex: Chest has 6 different lifts to choose from. The student can choose 2 – 3 lifts to do within that group. I have also installed a new strength program training load chart which assists students with calculating their 1 rep maximum lift and then breaks the lifting down by percentages. Ex: If the student squats 300 pounds for 1 repetition he can assign intensity percentages for his program design. The chart will show him how much weight to do if he wants to lift 60% of his max and so on. Two other varieties of weight training that I will install in my classes are weight lifting without weights and interval training which was reported in objective one. 4. Record the likes and dislikes of each workout facility and report back to our weight room committee and the district facility committee. The colleges with fairly new workout facilities are CCSF and Laney College. While both are new centers they are not alike in that CCSF has much more space and variety. I polled the department chairs at CCSF and Laney as to what were the major important components the facility needed (pre - construction). A. Storage was the number one concern and not just a large storage area but storage for each designated room or space. Ex: storage for mats, stability balls and half domes for their body conditioning area. Storage for all gym activities (basketballs, volleyballs, badminton etc.). B. Sound was a high priority. Each room had to have its own sound control. This was in place for dance rooms, jazzercise, pilates, aerobics and yoga room and the two weight rooms. These rooms were also soundproofed so that one class would not drown out another’s music or microphone instructions. C. Lighting. As much natural lighting as possible so the windows were from floor to ceiling in most cases (this was a problem in a couple of the rooms – I’ll explain later). I also polled the post construction problems that arose and the items that were not done but they wished would have been done. A. Security cameras. This is an issue on our campus and must be addressed as a must have when designing the new space in KAD. B. The use of floor to ceiling windows was a problem in the dance room and aerobics room because students gathering in the building foyer could look down into these rooms. There was considerable complaints from female students who felt uncomfortable with men staring at them from the foyer. C. The foyer itself became a problem as it became a hangout for students and non - students coming onto the campus. D. Carpet was used for flooring in the locker room and became an obvious problem with mold and odor. Non – pores flooring resulted in a couple of staph infection issues. E. No official entry point to check students in / out

E. Evaluation Summary 1. How did this sabbatical leave enhance my work performance at the college? I was able to evaluate different kinesiology instructors and their methods and have gained a deeper understanding of and deliver a more innovative approach to body conditioning and weight training. I have installed new and fresh methods to increase the success of my students obtaining their physical fitness goals and objectives. 2. How will the objectives of this sabbatical leave benefit students in my discipline? Students now will receive the advantage of innovative workout programs not only in the physical work but also in its application and sequencing of the activities. Student reaction has been very positive this semester. They not only receive quality instruction of my body conditioning and weight training programs but now have more variety to choose from. 3. How will the objectives of this sabbatical leave benefit my department? In the research of this sabbatical I gained knowledge in new fitness philosophies and program applications that I have shared with my fellow kinesiology instructors. By staying current with new exercise physiology and the methods to instruct students, SRJC will stay on the cutting edge in this field. The KAD facility is on the priority list for future building on campus and I have shared my findings with the department and the district facility committee in our quest to provide the students with the best learning environment. My major point of interest in talking with department chairs was to list what components were left out of the master plan pre construction and if they had to do it again, what components would have been included. 4. How will the objectives of this sabbatical leave benefit my colleagues at this college? Our department has many talented and knowledgeable instructors and like all great teacher’s we are always looking for new teaching tools. I have reported back on my findings from the instructors that are currently working in the top physical education departments in the California community college system. I have written up a detailed report on my findings on workout center planning and construction.

F. Abstract for Board Proposal Summary Keith Simons observed and studied 5 of the top physical education departments in the Northern California community college system. He reported back on all new findings in the instruction and application of body conditioning and strength training from these colleges. He also wrote a report on the design aspects of these newly built campus facilities which he shared with his department.

G. Appendices Appendix I Aerobic / Cardio Training Appendix II Anaerobic Training Appendix III Aerobic and Anaerobic Training Appendix IV Weight Training Appendix V Weight Training With Out Weights Appendix VI Core Training Appendix VII BOSU / Stability Ball Training Appendix VIII Interval Training Appendix IX Target Heart Rate Appendix X Yoga Appendix XI Report on New Facilities

Sabbatical Leave Report

A. Applicant

Name: Phyllis Usina

Department: Library & Information Resources (LIR)

Type of Leave: Formal Coursework/ Independent Study

Leave Dates: Fall 2014

B. Purpose of Leave

The purpose of my sabbatical was to pursue formal course work and independent study and to create a modularized Information Literacy Course that is available for use by all instructional faculty in the Library and Information Resources (LIR) Department.

C. Leave Objectives

1. Attended formal Moodle Learning Management System training and became proficient in navigating the software

2. Investigated resources available to create individual information literacy modules to update curriculum

3. Created a course of information literacy instructional modules within Moodle, aligned with the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) information literacy standards and in conjunction with the most current course outlines of record (COR) for the LIR department’s information literacy curriculum

D. Narrative

1. Attended formal Moodle Learning Management System training and became proficient in navigating the software (See Appendix I for the Certificate of Online Special Expertise).

I fulfilled my first sabbatical objective by attending and completing a formal Moodle Training Course offered through the Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC), fall semester, 2014. I completed the full Moodle training and received a Certificate of Online Special Expertise (OSE). I believed completing all of the modules to obtain the certificate would be a good way to update my pedagogical and technological skills.

The training consisted of seven self-paced training modules equaling twenty eight hours of coursework. The sections in the Moodle Training included: Course Setup and Administration, Resources, Communication, Activities, Blocks, Quizzes/Assessment, and Gradebook. The modules included text-based Moodle documentation, video tutorials on specific Moodle topics, and resources regarding online education pedagogy. Each module included hands-on activities and assessments introduced as each topic and resource was covered. Each module also contained comprehensive assessments of learning objectives at the end. In addition to the required training modules, I completed the Accessibility module. Accessibility is a critical area of knowledge for online course design to ensure that all course materials meet federally mandated standards.

My learning experience in the SRJC training course gave me a thorough introduction to the Moodle Learning Management System. This training updated my proficiency in navigating the software and increased my knowledge base of current technical practices. The instructional design of the Moodle Training Course was a best practice example for structuring the modules of the Information Literacy Course I designed as my third sabbatical leave objective. The Course Setup and Administration section helped me adjust settings and learn about course organization. The Resources section gave an overview of the resources and activities available and facilitated which ones I selected for use. Through the Communication section I gained comfort using the forums, chat, and messaging tools. I also got practice using the SRJC Moodle Support Forum and Moodle Help Documents as resources for development. In the Activities section I learned about options for making my course more interactive. The Blocks section helped me choose what to include as standards and options. The Quizzes/Assessment and Gradebook sections helped me understand the complexity of set-up of question banks and how to set grading.

2. Investigated available resources to create individual information literacy modules to update curriculum (See Appendix II for the Summary of Practices and Pedagogy of Information Literacy Curriculum) I fulfilled my second sabbatical objective, to investigate resources by conducting research on current practices and pedagogy of information literacy curriculum at community colleges. My initial searches across the United States, excluding California, failed to identify three examples of community college information literacy credit courses required for graduation. I was surprised by the difficulty I encountered locating comparable instructional resources at the national level. My next step was to use the American Library Association (ALA) Information Literacy Best Practices Exemplary Programs (http://www.ala.org/acrl/aboutacrl/directoryofleadership/sections/ is/iswebsite/projpubs/bestpractices-exemplary). The results of my investigations of the community colleges on this list showed the predominant method of teaching information literacy nationally was orientation workshops that were most often paired with an English course. I did identify a few institutions that offered credit courses such as LaGuardia Community College in New York, Tallahassee Community College in Florida, and Umpqua Community College in Oregon. Unfortunately, these programs did not prove to be comparable to SRJC’s one unit required course because they were three unit elective courses. Given my inability to locate three national examples to use as resources, I made a minor adjustment to this objective by increasing the number of California examples I investigated from three to six. There were a large number of California community colleges with some kind of information literacy requirement to choose from. This is due to the 1998 resolution of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) (http://asccc.org/node/174895) requiring that all California community colleges implement education programs to ensure that graduating students meet information literacy competencies. Seventeen years later, this expectation persists and information literacy education is offered in many forms. However, only a few of the 112 colleges in the California system met my criteria of having a general education associate degree requirement of a one unit information literacy course taught by the library.

The method described in my proposal of surveying by email did not prove to be successful. I made a minor adjustment to this objective by switching to the strategy of gathering information from a question asked on the Information Literacy Instruction Listserv and examining institutional websites. I used the Listserv responses to determine which community colleges had a general education information literacy (competency) requirement which was met by a credit- based library course. I confirmed this information by examining the general education associate degree requirements and class schedule of each college’s website. The six colleges I selected that met that criteria were Cerro Coso Community College, Glendale Community College, Golden West College, Long Beach City College, Ohlone College, and Santa Barbara City College.

My review consisted of investigating and evaluating the practices and pedagogy of information literacy curriculum at six community colleges using official course outlines and syllabi. This examination was guided by two actions stemming from the California Community College Council of Chief Librarians (CCL) 2013-14 Action Plan’s (http://www.cclccc.org/documents/ 2013/CCL-2013-2015-ActionPlan.pdf) goal to “strengthen the capacity for California community college libraries to support student success through the attainment of information literacy.” One action was to create a statewide open access information literacy course and an information literacy assessment exam. The second action was to identify common rubrics, benchmarks, and instruments for measuring student mastery of information literacy. I also investigated curriculum alignment of the course outline and syllabi content with the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) nationally approved information literacy standards (http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/standards/standards.pdf). The key finding of my review was that the CCL directed actions of a shared open access course or common rubrics, benchmarks, and instruments were not a part of the practices and pedagogy of the information literacy curriculum at the six colleges. However, all six aligned their course outlines and syllabi content with the ACRL information literacy standards. In general, the colleges used the standard teaching resources available in their Learning Management System including text, images, and videos. While the results of what I learned through my independent study of other community college practices and pedagogies did not provide any open access resources I could use in my project, however, I did expand my knowledge of pedagogical practices. The most important resources I found were the different course outlines and syllabi, all aligned with the ACRL IL standards. I discovered new ways of approaching student learning outcomes to meet the standards incorporated into my development of the shared information literacy instructional modules for SRJC’s LIR instructors teaching the Area I general education IL course. Another interesting finding was that SRJC offers considerably more sections of the information literacy required course than any of the other colleges I studied. It appears that SRJC is a leader in information literacy instruction. It is possible that these information literacy instructional modules can form the basis for further LIR department collaboration. This could lead to a possible development of an open access resource sharable with the California Community College Council of Chief Librarians (CCL). This could then be used as a model for their action plan goal of a statewide open access course to teach information literacy. Additionally, this investigation was timely. The ACRL is currently revising the national information literacy standards for higher education and a new approach will need to be incorporated by the department as well.

3. Created a course of information literacy instructional modules within Moodle, aligned with the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) information literacy standards and in conjunction with the most current course outlines of record (COR) for the LIR department’s information literacy curriculum (See Appendix III for the Outline of Information Literacy Modules) I fulfilled my third sabbatical objective by creating a course of information literacy instructional modules in the Moodle Learning Management System. I will offer this course as an open access resource available for use by all Library and Information Resources Department instructors who teach Area I general education courses. This information literacy curriculum will be developed in modular fashion according to the LIR department information literacy course, LIR 10’s, course outline, based on ACRL information literacy competency standards.

The module development consisted of using the skills I obtained in the SRJC Moodle Training to incorporate new technologies. All LIR faculty who set-up a Moodle account will be able to import the modules and adapt them for use in face-to-face, large lecture, hybrid, and online contexts. Moodle can be an interactive and effective instructional tool for all formats. I used the content knowledge I gained in my review of other community colleges’ practices and pedagogy to decide what concepts to teach. The basic structure of each module included stated learning objectives, text and image based lectures of concepts with interactive practice of skills, quizzes for student self-assessment, and formal assessment activities graded by the instructor. I used the LIR 10 course outline to dictate the structure of the modules and focused the content of each on finding, evaluating, and using information to solve problems. I emphasized critical thinking by aligning the content with the performance indicators and the learning outcomes of the ACRL information literacy standards. I tailored specific content in the instructional modules to the various skill levels of community college students. For example, to create a welcoming experience for students new to online learning, I used a suggestion from a colleague to create a Week Zero module. This learning activity awards extra credit points to orient students who may be new to taking online classes or using Moodle. At the same time, it offers an engaging experience for students already familiar with online learning by giving access to the class materials a week early to complete activities related to using Moodle and the LIR 10 classroom.

I used Gagne's Nine Levels of Learning (http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/conditions- learning.html) as a checklist for instructional design. This design model has been in place since the 1960s and has a proven track record of maximizing the learning experience for students. 1. Gain Attention - I began a Defining Information section with a funny video. 2. List Objectives – I structured a Learning Outcomes for Citing Sources section with a graphical checklist to show what is in it for the student. 3. Recall Prior Knowledge – I deepened learning in a Finding Information section by connecting what students already know about searching Yelp for restaurant reviews to what they would learn to enhance a search for scholarly articles. 4. Present Stimulating Material – I organized a lecture on Modifying Search Strategies into smaller chunks of text, images, videos, etc. to increase student retention of content by giving an overview of the concept, providing practice learning activities, and reading quizzes for self-assessment of understanding. 5. Provide Learning Guidance – In a Smart Search section, I provided scaffolding by linking to a guide on the side tutorial with step-by-step practice while students read and learn. 6. Elicit Performance – In an Evaluation of Authority segment, I use problem based learning where students choose a real world topic to locate sources in a designated resource. 7. Provide Feedback – In a Defining an Information Need segment, I the graded assessment a forum activity allows students to get quick constructive feedback from their peers. 8. Assess Performance Task – In an Evaluation of Relevance segment, I kept the assessment short to allow for quicker instructor grading of the appropriateness of resources used. 9. Enhance Retention and Transfer – In a Copyright and Online Sources segment, I use a minute paper asking students to reflect on how they would handle the situation of a fellow student turning in a copy of another student’s term paper.

I conducted a self-assessment of the design and development quality of the instructional modules using the California Community Colleges Online Education Initiative (OEI) Course Design Rubric (https://sites.google.com/site/coursedesignrubricoeifinal). The use of this Rubric was a minor adjustment to the proposal objective that outlined using the Quality Matters (QM) Rubric. Unfortunately, the QM Rubric was only available through a training that was not included in my sabbatical leave objectives. I found the OEI Rubric to be a current and relevant option because it was developed in 2014 specifically for California community colleges. I used this assessment to ensure that the information literacy instructional modules scored in the accomplished or exemplary categories of the Rubric.

In summary, I used skills and knowledge I gained in the first two sabbatical leave objectives to design the curriculum of the instructional modules to reflect the changing landscape of digital and physical resources and services offered in an academic library. I made a minor adjustment to this objective not to include the LIR department’s common assessment tools and rubrics. They in still in development. Additionally, I will need to work in the spring 2015 semester to integrate aspects of the new ACRL framework into the shared instruction modules where appropriate.

E. Evaluation Summary

1. How did this sabbatical leave enhance my work performance at the college?

The combination of coursework, independent study, and practical course development undertaken during my sabbatical leave enriched my work performance in several ways. The training in the Moodle Learning Management System focused on incorporating emerging technologies and empowered me with the instructional design skills necessary to develop information literacy instructional modules. I will share these modules as an open access course for the entire Library and Information Resources faculty to utilize. The use of Moodle for course delivery also supports SRJC’s sustainability values and strategic initiatives. The exploration of resources and pedagogical methods used at other community colleges expanded my information literacy instruction knowledge by giving me a deeper understanding of current practices which I will use to evaluate the instructional modules I develop. The skills and awareness I gained will impact the way I approach teaching with the current curriculum.

2. How did this sabbatical leave benefit students in my discipline?

Students benefit from the technological and pedagogical teaching strategies I now utilize to develop the information literacy instruction modules. As a result of the updated skills and knowledge I acquired on my sabbatical leave, I am able to create information literacy instruction that actively engages students in finding, evaluating, and using information sources in ways that can be of value in other classes. The modules contain learning activities related to refining the scope of search, evaluating information sources and avoiding plagiarism, more fully engaging students and increasing the likelihood of academic integrity. The instructional modules will provide students with the opportunity to learn and apply academic research skills and principles and thus become more self-directed. This results in increased student success and retention and prepares students to excel in academic research which has the potential to broadly impact how they use information sources in other classes.

3. How did this sabbatical leave benefit my department?

The information literacy instruction modules will aid the LIR department in several ways. It will provide a resource of consistent information literacy instruction based on the most up-to-date standards. It allows for incorporation of emerging instructional technologies in our department curriculum and serves as a resource for department faculty. Updating information literacy instructional materials to meet the constantly changing information landscape creates a workload challenge that has burned out many LIR instructors. I will present the information literacy modules to my colleagues at a spring 2015 department meeting. I will also work with the department chair and the lead instructional services librarian to define the platform and structure for sharing the instructional modules with current librarians. I will integrate the instruction modules into the new librarian training programs. The modules will have an impact on instructor workload by alleviating the burden of updating existing course materials or for new adjunct faculty developing a course from the ground up.

4. How did this sabbatical leave benefit my colleagues at SRJC?

The issue of keeping instructional materials up to date is important to departments and instructional faculty in all disciplines. I will be available to present at a PDA or Flex Activity about my experience developing the instructional modules. I will discuss how the skills and knowledge learned during my sabbatical leave resulted in a course that will be used as an open access shared resource for colleagues in my department. An added benefit is standardized information literate instruction that will engage and prepare students to achieve academic success in disciplines across the curriculum including departments such as administration of justice, economics, psychology, and nursing. Discipline faculty will experience the district wide impact of having students in their courses who know how to find, evaluate, and use academic and scholarly sources effectively to complete assignments including papers, speeches, and reports.

F. Abstract for Board Proposal Summary

Phyllis Usina attended formal Moodle training in the use of emerging educational technologies. She also conducted independent study of the current information literacy practices and pedagogical methods used at six California community colleges. Phyllis used the knowledge gained from the Moodle training and community college resources explored to develop a course of information literacy instructional modules aligned with national standards and local student learning outcomes. The information literacy modules were designed to maximize transferable skills that can increase students’ success in other courses requiring research. The academic research field is constantly evolving and this project provided an up-to-date instructional resource that will be shared with all Library and Information Resources (LIR) faculty teaching Santa Rosa Junior College’s required Area I general education information literacy course.

G. Appendices

I. Moodle Learning Management System Training  Santa Rosa Junior College Certificate of Achievement of Online Special Expertise

II. Resources Available at Other Community Colleges  Summary of Practices and Pedagogy of Information Literacy Curriculum

III. Outline of Information Literacy Modules  Outline of the course of information literacy instructional modules.