Have Money, Will Pass

As online education expands, students are finding ways to credential themselves without paying their academic dues -- by studying. Instead, students in online classes can pay an online service that will take their online courses for them. In a recent Inside Higher Ed article, Alexandra Tilsley discusses an old problem with a new face, cheating to make the grade, but in this case, the cheating is done by identity mimicking. This seems to be the latest in an arms race in which students to find ways to pass without studying and institutions of higher education find ways to promote integrity. Read more on the problem and what institutions are doing to deal with the new threat.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/09/21/sites-offering-take-courses-fee-pose-risk-online-ed

Free Webinar about Community-Engaged Research

Faculty who conduct community-engaged research find that these collaborative research projects take additional time and have a higher risk of failure. Taking these risks can provide complications for seeking promotion and tenure. Campus Community Partnerships for Health (CCPH) is sponsoring a free webinar on civic engagement and the tenure review process. See the information below.
The webinar is free, but space is limited.

A webinar from our friends at the New England Resource Center for Higher

Education:

Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Civic Engagement and the Tenure Review Process 

Wednesday, March 20 from 12:00 to 1:30 PM EST 

Details: http://bit.ly/YW6vRW

Many university campuses are seeking ways to promote increased civic engagement by their faculty. This session focuses on a complicated issue which may ultimately determine the success of these initiatives: how should engaged scholarship be evaluated during the promotion and tenure review process relative to more traditional scholarly activities

About the Presenter:

Jordan Karubian: 
In 2012, NERCHE was pleased to present the Ernest A. Lynton Award to Dr. Jordan Karubian, Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.

An assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University, Karubian's community engagement, teaching, and research focus on understanding and reversing environmental degradation and associated loss of biodiversity. In the South American rainforest, he has developed a multi-faceted program that blends scientific research with teaching, training, and capacity building to improve the welfare and conservation capacity of local residents, a model he is replicating in the savannah habitats of Australia and Papua New Guinea. He works with students and community partners to research threatened species and habitats, and to promote environmental awareness in the Gulf of Mexico region. The common thread in his work is the integration of community engagement with more traditional scholarly activities to empower local residents to make informed environmental decisions. Karubian received his B.S. from the University of California, San Diego and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago

Frankly Fridays - MOOC Mania

I would like to invite you to the March2013 meeting of

Frankly Fridays

Frank Conversation about Faculty Issues

Friday, March 1^st, 9:30-10:30 AM, Osprey Commons Faculty Lounge (Building 16, 4^th Floor)

Topic: MOOC Mania
Let us know you will be there: ofe@unf.edu

Dramatic increases in technology and innovative ideas have produced many changes in Higher Education. One of those innovative ideas is the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Here is how it works. An instructor comes up with an interesting idea for a course, an idea that has broad appeal. The course is developed in an online environment, a course management system. The course is then advertised and people join. The course is open to anyone who wants to register – anyone. And, its free. Here is a video that explains more about MOOCs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW3gMGqcZQc. 

Have you participated in a MOOC? Are you interested in designing one?

What are the implications for Higher Education? Will students come to expect free courses, and what funding models work for MOOCs?

Come discuss how these issues impact UNF and faculty in Florida.
We will meet in the new Faculty Lounge on the 4^th floor of the new dining facility, Osprey Commons.
OFE will provide the coffee and pastries.

Let us know you will be there: ofe@unf.edu

IARSLCE Research on Community Engagement Conference

Please see the call for proposals below for a conference on community-engagement. 

The International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) is pleased to announce that proposals are now being accepted for the 2013 conference in Omaha, Nebraska. The conference will take place November 6-8, 2013 and is hosted by the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Conference program co-chairs are Julie Dierberger and Paul Sather.

The theme of this year's conference is Reinvigorating our Process of Discovery: Research Informing Practice in Service-Learning and Community Engagement.

See the call for proposals here: http://www.researchslce.org/conferences/call-for-proposals/  
Proposals may be submitted here from February 25, 2013 to April 12, 2013.

For more information about the 2013 conference, to view the call, or to submit a proposal, please visit www.researchslce.org/conferences.


 For more information, contact:

Tara Luparello

Administrative Director, IARSLCE

Tulane University, Alcee Fortier Hall

6823 St. Charles Avenue

New Orleans, LA 70118

(504) 862-3366

(504) 862-8061 (fax)

tluparel@tulane.edu

www.researchslce.org

Frankly Fridays - The Erosion of the Credit Hour

You are invited you to the first installment of a new OFE event series called

Frankly Fridays

Frank Conversation about Faculty Issues"honest as a cup of joe"

Friday, February 15^th, Friday
9:30-10:30 AM
Osprey Commons Faculty Lounge (Building 16, 4^th Floor)

Topic: The Erosion of the Credit Hour
Let us know you will be there: ofe@unf.edu

Have you ever had two students with the same list of courses and credit hours but with completely different skill levels?
Have you become worn by students questioning your grading by saying, “but I passed my writing course?”

Is a measure of “time in seat” useful, or should the focus be on other measures of student success?

Students accumulate credit hours for courses taken, although the original conception of the credit hour was not for students but for faculty. Two recent Chronicle commentaries about the legacy and value of the credit hour. With a push in higher education for efficiency and movement by the State of Florida to make higher education less expensive, the credit hour is under attack.

Come discuss how these issues impact UNF and faculty in Florida.
We will meet in the new Faculty Lounge on the 4^th floor of the new dining facility, Osprey Commons.
OFE will provide the coffee and bagels.

Let us know you will be there: ofe@unf.edu

Course Redesign for Effective Learning

Have you ever thought about reconstructing a course that has become stale, ineffective, or just plain obsolete? How about reducing the amount of class time devoted to lecture while increasing the time devoted to active learning and discussion? While many faculty members express an interest in redesigning one or several courses, they usually indicate that they are unable to combine the block of time and necessary resources to conduct a comprehensive course redesign. The CREL workshop is intended to address this need.

The Office of Faculty Enhancement (OFE) invites full-time faculty to participate in a week-long CREL workshop. The purpose of this extended workshop is to provide faculty with the time, resources, information, and collaborative support needed to revise and redesign a selected Fall 2013 or Spring 2014 course (or design a new course) in ways that will maximize student engagement and learning. The UNF faculty selected to participate in the CREL and who produce a redesigned product will receive a $1000 stipend.

Preparing the CREL Project Proposal Application

Interested faculty should complete the online application at:

http://unf.us2.qualtrics.com//SE/?SID=SV_20hhetE0jojoRkV

The deadline for applications is March  1st

The applicant will need to address the following questions:

• What courses do you typically teach?
• Provide the title of the course that you would like to redesign and briefly describe the course (as it exists currently): 150 words max
• Reflect on the course you intend to redesign and identify its strengths: 200 words max
• Reflect on the course you intend to redesign and identify the weaknesses. 200 words max
• Describe the specific areas that are most important for you to improve and how you propose to implement these improvements. 300 words max
• How will you know if the redesign is successful? How will you evaluate the impact of the redesigned aspects of the course? 250 words max
• When would you be implementing this course (semester/year)?
• Have you ever participated in a CREL/BUILD workshop at UNF before?

For examples of previous redesign efforts, see the CREL participants webpage at: http://www.unf.edu/ofe/services/Faculty_Learning_Communities.aspx

If you have any questions, please contact Dan Richard at drichard@unf.edu or 620-1446.

Campus Community Partnerships for Health Award

Please see the announcement below from Campus Community Partnerships for Health (CCPH). The award would apply to community partnerships that address many areas of community action, social justice, and community health and wellness.

Apply by March 4 for the CCPH Annual Award! The award was established in 2002 to highlight the power and potential of community-campus partnerships as a strategy for health equity and social justice. The 2013 award will be presented at the CU Expo international conference on community-university partnerships in Newfoundland, Canada. For application instructions and info on past awardees and honorable mentions, click here.

For guidelines for submitting an application for the award, visit this website:

http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/pdf_files/Award13guidelines.pdf