3/1/2011 Appendix 1 Integration of Prescott College Undergraduate
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Appendix 1 Integration of Prescott College Undergraduate Programs: Model One Curricular Elements Nomenclature: Prescott College serves its undergraduate students with two delivery models. The campus-based delivery model is designed for students seeking a learning experience built primarily around instructor facilitated courses, both in the classroom and in field experiences. The limited residency delivery model is designed for students seeking to complete a bachelor’s degree with community-based mentored independent study supplemented by online coursework. Admissions: Because the different delivery models are designed to serve different students and have different expenses, there are separate admissions processes and tuition rates for both; students are admitted to enroll in coursework specific to that delivery model. Qualifying students can request, however, to transfer between delivery models for a one term exchange. Criteria for such exchanges are determined by faculty. A cross-college faculty committee reviews exchange applications. Students wishing to move permanently from one delivery model to the other must go through the appropriate admissions process. Faculty Work: Undergraduate faculty have a primary association with one or the other delivery model, but are able to teach and serve students in the other delivery model. Due to the distinctiveness of the needs of students in the different delivery models, however, not all faculty will want to or be well suited to mixing their workload. While faculty need to meet within the delivery models to handle curriculum planning and administrative issues, there also need to be cross-college curricular groups meeting for the purposes of consistency of outcomes and planning program improvement. Consistency of Outcomes Across the Delivery Models: One set of learning targets is used to assess the effectiveness of undergraduate instruction, across the institution. Although the two delivery models are distinctive, consistency of expectations is achieved by cross-college faculty review of degree plans. Students in both delivery models document their learning through a summative e-portfolio. An illustrative set of rubrics for the learning targets is evaluated by cross-college faculty teams conducting “eval-o-ramas” of learning artifacts collected in the portfolio. Alignment of Mentored/Independent Study: Although students in the campus-based delivery model are primarily working in course settings, they also engage in independent study and (more rarely) hybrid courses. For both delivery models, cross-college faculty review of independent study guidelines helps ensure quality, as does IRB review of independent studies engaging in human, animal or environmental research or intercultural study. Periodic randomized review of course contracts by a cross-college committee helps ensure consistency in undergraduate independent study, as does consistent mentor training. Joint Seminars: One possibility for cross college learning could be joint seminars. Joint seminars will be co-designed by cross college teams addressing topics within an interdisciplinary frame so that they are relevant to multiple student competences. The seminars will include resident students and those living at a distance through internet based webinar platforms. 3/1/2011 Students will be required to be prepared for the live seminar times by completing research activities and readings, as well as uploading artifacts to e-portfolios throughout the semester. Faculty will participate in professional development seminars to learn how to facilitate these sessions. Topics include how to seminar (technology and facilitation), how to develop interdisciplinary curriculum through the lens of specific themes, how to connect content to home community and how to cultivate a learning community based on differing developmental stages and cultures. This program would serve the entire college, both students and faculty. This program would not only help students learn how to learn but help them learn together simulating real world working relationships. It could also be a potential opportunity to attract funding sources because of the novelty of this program. Organic Food for thought: Seminars could range from 1-4 credit hours to accommodate smaller focuses. Seminars could happen 1 time per semester or more. More seminars could be offered in the summer. Calendar Alignment All undergraduate degree programs will have the same length semesters with course structure and course duration options designed to meet the needs of their distinctive student populations. 3/1/2011 Appendix 2 Discussion Paper: Unifying the Undergraduate Curriculum for Enrollment Growth This submission is to encourage additional dialogue around various aspects of the first undergraduate discussion paper which introduced the notion of a unified undergraduate program. The new ideas that follow serve to compliment and expand on the one undergraduate program concept. One noticeable difference between this effort and the first proposal is the idea of offering one undergraduate program via two distinct delivery models – this discussion paper suggests offering one undergraduate curriculum delivered across three modes. To be sure, the Prescott College of 2020 must enroll many more students in order to thrive and one way to increase enrollments is to expand into the still growing category of online delivery. There is no intention to homogenize or water-down our current offerings, but to challenge this Committee to identify current majors or propose new majors that lend themselves well to this delivery mode while attracting a new category of learners to Prescott College. The expansion into online delivery will not only invite new learners to the College, the literature is also clearly demonstrating that more and more traditionally aged college students are already hybrid learners (i.e. completing courses incorporating various delivery models) so the College needs to satisfy this up and coming learning style to meet the demands of the 2020 learner. The Prescott College of 2020 must be mission driven AND market savvy. The challenge is for us to have the people, systems and culture in place to be nimble and ready for the changes that we choose to make and for the changes that will be too hard to ignore. Additional recommendations tied to the curricula committee charge are also included in this paper. Unified Undergraduate Curriculum Recommendation: Focus on our core competencies and where we have a distinct advantage in the marketplace. Create three to four academic themes, majors or centers of excellence around preexisting or new interdisciplinary disciplines. Design a single course-based undergraduate curriculum that can be delivered on-campus, 100% online or through a blended limited-residency/online format anchored at specific bio-regional hubs. In short, the content will be mission driven, market aware, experiential, relevant, and prepares students for graduate school or the pursuit of their professional career goals. Guiding Principles: • Articulate a set of expectations that leads to a definition of an educated person. • Build depth and breadth into the curriculum to meet predetermined educational objectives and outcomes. • Create defined curricular structures, pathways and degree plans and use consistent credit values and graduation requirements across the curriculum. • Focus on excellence, rigor and professional relevance. • Limit the total possible number of independent study credits. • Limit independent study opportunities only to juniors and seniors. Students must complete required training in how to succeed as independent learners. Undergraduate Delivery Models Student Type Primary Delivery Secondary Delivery Residential BA Face-to-face Some online electives and General Ed. courses Online BA 100% Online NA Limited-Residency BA Hybrid Online/Limited-Residency (offered at regional centers only) Post Degree 100% Online Hybrid Online/Limited Residency (offered at regional centers only) Benchmark: August 2011, create an interdisciplinary task force. Substantive update to the Provost, and Academic Deans due January 2012. Final proposal to the Provost, Academic Deans and President’s Circle due May 2012. Recommendation: Create an interdisciplinary degree major for on-campus or online students seeking a Prescott College experience but who are not drawn to any one particular major. Students work with a full- time faculty member to select specific on-campus or online electives and bundle them into a customized major. Example: http://www.newschool.edu/bachelorsprogram/ Benchmark: August 2011 create an interdisciplinary task force. Substantive update to the Provost, and Academic Deans due January 2012. Final proposal to the Provost, Academic Deans and President’s Circle due May 2012. Launch Fall 2012. Annual evaluation during the first 3 years of operation then evaluate every 5 years. Recommendation: Investigate the viability of partnering with a high-quality online education provider to assist in the creation, marketing and delivery a 100% online undergraduate curriculum. Benchmark: July 2011, form a task force to create a Request for Proposal (RFP). August 2011, go public with the RFP. January 2012 report results and make a recommendation to the President’s Circle. Graduate Programs Recommendation: Introduce a pilot accelerated BA to master’s program (4+1 or 3+2). Interested BA students can apply to an accelerated one-year MS (non-thesis) option in the new residential masters program.