Online Education Strategic Planning - UAB · Online Education Strategic Planning ... • Karen...

Online Education Strategic Planning

Strategic Planning Meeting September 30, 2013 – Clarus Consulting Group

Strategic Planning Project

Overview & Objectives

Welcome and Thank You!

• Dr. Linda Lucas, Provost • Dr. Jackie Moss, Chair, UAB Online Academic

Advisory Council

• Dr. Martha Bidez, Director, Division of eLearning and Professional Studies

State of E-Learning in 2009

• Pockets of excellence

• Varying levels of support and faculty expertise

• Variation in types and quality of courses

• Variation in class size

• Variation in acceptance and valuing of e-learning

State of E-Learning in 2009: Report


Charge: • To establish principles and best practice for

quality web-enhanced, blended, online, and distance courses.

• Include suggestions to address barriers and facilitate the principles and practices, as desired or required.


Committee: • Lee Meadows (chair), School of Education • Karen Shader, Instructional Technology • Mary Warren, School of Health Professions • Jacqueline Moss, School of Nursing • Ted Bos, School of Business • Dan Osborne, Academic Programs and Policy


Methods: • Review of all literature • Day-long workshop with faculty representatives

from all schools • Faculty were rotated through three focus groups

related to best practices for distance/online, blended, and web enhanced courses


Principles: • Meaningful Content and Methods of Delivery • Manageable Course Design • Instructor Presence • Student Presence • High Expectations for Student Learning • Meaningful Assessment Aligned with Learning

Objectives • Creation of Collaborative Learning Environment *See entire report for practices


Recommendations: Include virtual learning and online instruction in the UAB

strategic plan Provide human and fiscal resources to implement virtual

instruction Establish university-wide expert committee to oversee

implementation of strategic plan (see entire report for other committee priorities)

An administrative structure for distance learning, which reports to the provost and is focused on learning outcomes, academic program/curricula and student services

Provide a state of the art technical infrastructure to enable and support quality virtual instruction

Online Education Vision

In one word describe your vision for online

learning at UAB

Stakeholder Input

Data collected from three processes: Sloan-C Quality Survey

LMS Needs Assessment Survey

Strategic Planning Stakeholder Feedback

Sloan-C Quality Survey Fall 2012-Spring 2013

Sloan-C Quality Survey

Design & Process: Sent to 413 online instructors as of Fall 2012 and Spring

2013 Survey performed to establish baseline status of online

education quality at UAB

Designed to measure best practices in quality of online administration; not individual courses

Not meant to measure SACS compliance, though most SACS requirements are integrated into the survey

Plan to conduct survey on an annual basis


InstitutionalSupport

TechnologySupport

CourseDevelopment

andInstructional

Design

CourseStructure

Teaching andLearning

Social andStudent

EngagementFaculty Support Student

SupportEvaluation and

Assessment Total

School of Business 57% 66% 85% 88% 88% 94% 93% 77% 69% 79%

College of Arts and Sciences 56% 67% 74% 82% 77% 78% 71% 69% 63% 69%

School of Education 42% 60% 64% 76% 76% 71% 54% 57% 53% 60%

School of Engineering 73% 82% 88% 93% 90% 100% 75% 84% 87% 85%

School of Health Professions 61% 70% 86% 87% 91% 85% 82% 81% 82% 81%

School of Nursing 74% 79% 86% 93% 91% 88% 88% 83% 87% 85%

School of Public Health 28% 37% 68% 85% 80% 78% 70% 61% 83% 67%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

UAB

ON

LIN

E SL

OAN

-C S

CORE

CARD

BAS

ELIN

E SU

RVEY

RE

SULT

S


Themes (most common comments by respondents): Need institution-wide leadership on policies, standards and

best practices.

Investigate alternate course delivery system or means to improve Blackboard performance.

Improve IT response by providing 24/7 synchronous coverage with knowledgeable staff.

Provide faculty training and support, particularly with course design and effective use of available technology.

LMS Needs Assessment Survey

July–September 2013

LMS Evaluation: Process & Outcomes

Needs assessment conducted to poll all interested faculty, students and instructional designers for features and tools that must be present in the LMS. • As of Aug 14, 2013, 146 people completed the

LMS needs assessment (75% Faculty, 14% Students, 11% Staff)

• 65% of respondents were open to using a different LMS (some of which were willing only if improvements in functionality and technical issues were possible)

Comparative study of LMS technologies, which meet the features and functionality of the needs assessment. • Top 7 candidates were compared and posted for

review (on UAB online web page and eReporter by August 30th).

• LMS candidate interviews were conducted by members of IDC and Division of eLPS, and results submitted to the UAB Online Academic Advisory Council.

Formal usability studies are being conducted through the CTL to allow UAB Online stakeholders to score the final LMS candidates. • Top 4 LMS candidates were selected for

usability studies: Blackboard, Canvas, Desire-to-Learn, and Pearson Learning Studio.

• Usability testing will be conducted in mid-September through Oct 2nd in both the CTL and in schools. Any interested faculty, student or staff member can participate.

The IDC and the UAB Online Academic Advisory Council will analyze the results,

and vote on a prioritization of the final LMS candidates.

A recommended rollout plan will then need to be approved and finalized by the

Provost during late October.

Strategic Planning

Stakeholder Engagement Process June-October 2013

Strategic Planning Process

Strategic Planning Kick-Off

June - July 2013

Stakeholder Engagement

July - Aug 2013

Strategic Planning Retreat

(Identify goals &

objectives)

Sept 2013

Finalize Strategic Plan

& communicate

to stakeholders

Sept - Oct

2013

Implement Strategic

Plan (Identify

work groups)

Fall 2013 -

ongoing

Review plan and modify as needed

On-going

Steering Committee

*Members selected to represent cross-section of schools and colleges.

*Member Affiliation Jackie Moss Steering Committee Chair and Assistant Dean, Nursing Martha Bidez Professor and Director, Division of eLPS Hughes Evans Sr. Associate Dean, Medical Education Elizabeth Fisher President, Instructional Design Consortium Eric Jack Dean, Business Hassan Moore Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering Dan Murphy Graduate Student, Instructional Design Manager, Nursing Betty Nelson Associate Professor, Education Robert Palazzo Dean, CAS Donna Slovensky Associate Dean, Academic and Student Affairs, SHP Ken Tilashalski Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, Dentistry Samika Williams Director, CME David Yother Director, Instructional Technology

Stakeholder Engagement: Informing the Strategic Plan

Inte

rvie

ws (

17)

• President • Provost • VP, University

Development • VP, Administration • Associate Provost,

Enrollment • VP, Information

Technology • Co-Directors,

Center for Teaching and Learning

• Deans from each school and college (some also invited Associate Deans, Program Directors, Instructional Design Managers and Faculty)

Focu

s Gro

ups (

3)

• Instructional Designers Consortium

• APRC, Undergraduate Program Review Committee

• ADCOM, Graduate Council Advisory Committee

Surv

eys • Online survey to

focus group participants who are unable to join in person

• Online survey to public

• Links posted on UAB Online web site

Interview and Focus Group Topics

Branding Culture Strengths and Opportunities

Challenges Priorities for the Future Funding/Revenue

Strategic Partnerships

Organizational Development

Stakeholder Feedback

July-August 2013

Stakeholder Feedback Analysis

Branding and Culture Challenges and Concerns Opportunities

Branding and Culture: Themes

Branding and

Culture of UAB

Online

Collaboration and

Innovation

Varied culture and online offerings

across schools An emerging and fractured

faculty culture

Branding and Culture: Quotes

• The other thing that has distinguished us and given us an edge is a culture of innovation and a culture of collaboration and we need to keep that. We need to keep with this innovative culture instead of going out and creating a market.

Collaboration and Innovation

Online offerings and culture are varied by school

• The culture around this online learning initiative really depends on the department, school, and faculty as far as their interest, buy-in and willingness to resource it.

• [The online culture] has been organic and came from bottom up when the market said there was an opportunity.

An emerging and fractured faculty culture • It is an emerging culture as there is lots of interest among certain faculty and a

desire to move forward. There are a minority of faculty who are set against the idea of online learning because it takes away the face to face dynamic. Then we have some folks who see the possibility and embrace it and even though it takes extra energy they are launching forward and putting the seeds out there for the rest of us to follow.

Challenges and Concerns: Themes

Challenges and

Concerns

Market Challenges

Condensed timeline

Alignment to UAB's

Strategic Plan

External Strategic

Partnerships

Organizational structure to

support online education

Challenges and Concerns: Quotes

• We have a market challenge. We are starting late and already behind as there are so many other programs that have name recognition. [A challenge for us is to think through] how can we compete in this world with an appropriate investment and market ourselves.

• There are some statistics that say the majority of higher education is moving

towards online and if we don’t move in this direction we will continue to be way behind. The competition at other schools is causing us to rethink how we can best meet the needs of the students and become more flexible and fluid with the options for enrolling students.

• We have yet to invest in the infrastructure and state of the art software and platforms to support online learning.

• We’re really in our infancy in a market that’s changing and evolving at a

remarkable rate.

Market Challenges


• We agree with [a comprehensive] strategic planning process as it is much easier to lead then to push and drag. At the end of the day it will be much easier to have faculty support as opposed to dictating from top down.

• The absolute priority in year one is to do the hard work that is necessary to convince the faculty who will be doing this and that it is strategically beneficial to them. That means slowing [the planning] down to the point of saying we believe that this is what we need to do but must get faculty buy-in.

• A concern is that UAB doesn’t rush to online learning just so the university can say that they’ve implemented online learning. There needs to be a process in place that evaluates how to do online learning, which programs to offer online, etc.

• For [some schools] it took years to build back-end support, cultivate [a supportive

online culture], and train [faculty]. This doesn’t happen overnight.

Condensed Timeline


• We need a strategic plan with a marketing component that shows us why we would want to continue in this direction. What is the value for us to put our energy into creating online courses and expanding online learning? How does this strategy benefit the university, the school, the unit and the individual faculty member?

• [We need] some clarity on institutional mission/vision concerning how online learning fits into the larger mission/vision of UAB. This will allow for more directed planning within individual units. Everyone will be on the same page.

• There has not been any articulation around reasoning, vision, mission and [an explanation of the associated] risks. The message is that everyone is doing it so we need to do it too. The more uncertainty [we have, will equate to] more skepticism and this generates more resistance. The communications need to be way ahead of the system and ensure process and deliberations so everyone will be heard and comfortable with it.

Alignment to UAB’s Strategic Plan


• In any business the partner is trying to create urgency and the message they give is, ‘this is moving so fast in academics and you aren’t going to get there without us and then you will miss out’. I’m not sure this is entirely true and I err on the side of thoughtfulness and caution. Partnering can be risky and have an impact on brand and reputation, or we go out on our own which is a slower process.

• There is some logic to partnering with someone who has the expertise to develop high quality online education (i.e., process, design graphics, technology, etc.), and yet the question is, what does that costs you? If you don’t have to build your own IT and graphics as it would be outsourced, then you’re not wasting your own resources and I can see the use for those outsourcing opportunities.

• If [an external strategic partner] is going to be provided as a holistic partner and cut our fees, such as one tuition rate, it will make some sense. But let’s make it clear what the value added is and define it as a portal or a full service package.

External Strategic Partnerships


• We have to determine what the scope of this is and clarify roles. Then set goals, metrics and [implement an] infrastructure to match the vision.

• Communication is very important and [the Division of eLPS should be] very clear in their role and direction and get input from a variety of stakeholders.

• We need to be sensitive to this organic nature [of UAB]. The message should be

compelling and explain the value added around centralization of online learning.

• [There is a] sense from established programs that they will have their hard work compromised and we want to build on what they have created and their reputation – tap them for their strengths and experience, we need to respect and grandfather new courses into the mix and be mindful when introducing new fee structures.

Identify appropriate organizational structure to support online education

Organizational Structure

Benefits of Centralization

Differentiated Support to Schools

• It will benefit the students if we have stronger standardization, consistent infrastructure, and a unified portal and front/brand.

• There needs to be more of a centralized function. If we don’t do this then we will have varied resources and success in some areas and failures in other areas.

• [UAB Online] can be centralized where there are some standardized policies and procedures, and [at the same time] decentralized with designers and support at the school level. There could be a selection or continuum of offerings based on what different schools and offices need.

Build a strategic funding model

• The strategic plan needs to show some outcome that has operational delivery mechanisms and some way to set operational objectives and goals and plot out the return of investment and quality piece.

• Faculty members don’t want online to diminish what they do in the classroom and the case hasn’t been made around the value proposition and return on investment.

Opportunities: Themes

Quality Assurance

• Quality control systems and supports

• Evaluation mechanisms

• Accreditation, compliance and integrity

Marketing & Development

• New revenue sources

• Marketing and branding

• Student needs and student access

Faculty Development

• Training programs for faculty

• Evaluation tools and incentives for faculty

Infrastructure and Support

• Technology hardware and systems

• Technology support

Relationship Management

• Communication strategies and systems

• Internal partnerships

• External partnerships

QUALITY ASSURANCE

Implement quality control systems and supports

Create strong evaluation mechanisms

• Doing it well means making sure that everything we do adds value. I think we need to make sure that’s its high quality and up to par with the current technology. This is where you can get creative and make a lot of money, but we have got to make sure it’s of high quality.

• When courses are offered online, you need to look at them and evaluate what is being put out there. This will ensure that the rigor for online and on-ground should be the same and the degree from UAB should mean the same thing.

• We need everyone evaluating the process, from students, faculty, admissions, etc.

Institute policies around accreditation, compliance and integrity

• [Courses] have to be in-sync with accreditation, that’s where you can access quality.

• You’ve got to have [strong testing protocols] and make sure that you use [these protocols] to ensure that you have quality offerings and degrees.

MARKETING & DEVELOPMENT

New Revenue Sources

• We should administer a needs assessment for which programs will work for online and which ones don’t make sense. [We should be] building on our strengths and being selective and strategic with what value we can add to our existing uniqueness.

• At UAB, we can distinguish ourselves in Professional Development opportunities and niche opportunities that can be offered to special populations.

Increased marketing and branding around online opportunities at UAB

• Let’s look at our strengths that exist and UAB’s brand and leverage what is already in place… We should not create an independent online learning brand yet an extension of the universities existing brand.

• From a student’s perception, a unified front and brand is key (one place you go for online learning) and this standardization will [make it] successful.

Assess student needs and student access

• Students need to focus on learning content instead of learning different platforms. • The consumer has a high expectation and a low tolerance threshold and if you don’t

meet those standards then you’ll lose those consumers.

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT

Develop and deliver training programs for faculty

Create evaluation tools and incentive mechanisms for faculty

• Faculty needs the competence to operate online tools and programs. [Training] programs can be built to get everyone on a baseline level and then other supports can be brought in to foster and boost this baseline.

• [There is a] lack of training for faculty and a lack of motivation for faculty to go online. You have to know how to create interactive and engaging models for online offerings and the model for each course may be different.

• We could be harming ourselves even more by offering faculty [to teach online courses] who may not be trained or of high quality.

• No one knows how to evaluate what we are doing and we have to develop tenure and promotion tracks with online faculty. The chairs and Deans have to decide how to evaluate for delivery of online courses, and the incentives have to be clearly defined and communicated.

• We need to determine what the incentives are to enhance marketing and retention of faculty. Evaluation for faculty may need to be tailored to delivery of online courses, along with appropriate incentives, support and training.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND SUPPORT

Invest in effective technology hardware and systems

Offer substantial technology supports

• We have capacity issues with infrastructure, staffing, revenue and funding, bandwidth, and WiFi. [These] are all obstacles which need to be addressed.

• UAB got into the business incredibly late and we have yet to invest in the infrastructure, such as state of the art software and platforms to support online learning.

• Our IT infrastructure is very limited and rudimentary in terms of the way it is built.

• We don’t have a center or person that will be able to handle the nuts and bolts and handle the quality of the technology. We don’t have capacity to handle the technology infrastructure.

• We need 24/7 technical support to account for the differences in which students access the online services and technical support that’s equipped with the resources to lend support to students’ use of various computer programs.

• An in-house and program instructional designer is important since faculty want an instructional designer to offer on-hand support.

RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

Implement on-going communication strategies and systems

Strengthen existing partnerships and leverage unique cross-disciplinary opportunities

• The Division can be educating the schools about how important online learning currently is and how important it can be. [The Division] can also meet with the Deans after each semester to share numbers, success stories, obstacles, and explain possible external partnerships.

• UAB can offer quality products and innovative course offerings. Schools can team up [across disciplines], which can make us unique in our specialized and interdisciplinary course offerings and can be a distinguishing characteristic in the future.

Explore and build strategic external partnerships

• There should continue to be on-going discussions around international online learning.

• Possibly look at partnering with other universities, and if they have a program already built, how can we become part of a consortium?

Strategic Priority Areas:

Working Groups

Strategic Priority Areas: Themes Comprised from all Stakeholder Input Mechanisms

• Course design • High touch instruction • Assessment • Accreditation and Compliance

Quality Curriculum

• Support services for online students same as face-to-face students • Proactive at-risk tracking services • On-line tutoring • Authentication of on-line students

Student Success

• Training and development support • Incentives and recognitions • Curriculum content support • Staff support

Faculty Success

•Unique and innovative programming •Expanded enrollments •New revenue sources •Expanded awareness of UAB brand •Community of on-line scholars

University Success

•Learning software •Infrastructure (Wi-Fi; bandwidth, etc.) •Technical support (quality and accessibility) •Reliability and maintainability •Research and innovation

Enabling Technology

Process For Break-Out Groups During the break, you will select your top 3 areas of focus which will guide the break-out groups (i.e. where you think you can contribute the most and are most interested). At the end of the retreat, everyone will get a chance to hear a summary of the outcomes from each strategic priority area working group, ask questions, and add any contributions.

Rules of Engagement 1. Withhold judgment

2. Limit side conversations

3. Build on the ideas put forward by others

4. Every person and every idea has equal worth

Priority Area Break-Out Groups


Break-Out Group Prompts:

What are we trying to accomplish? What are the steps in order to accomplish

this goal? How will success be measured?


Rotation #1

Quality Curriculum

Kay

Quality Curriculum

Kay

Student Success

Alice

Faculty Success

Kristie

University Success

Lynn

Student Success

Alice

Faculty Success

Kristie

University Success

Lynn

LUNCH BREAK


Rotation #2

Enabling Technology

Kay

Student Success

Alice

Faculty Success

Kristie

University Success

Lynn

Student Success

Alice

Faculty Success

Kristie

University Success

Lynn

Enabling Technology

Kay


Rotation #3

Quality Curriculum

Alice

Faculty Success

Kristie

University Success

Lynn

Quality Curriculum

Alice

Faculty Success

Kristie

University Success

Lynn

Enabling Technology

Kay

Enabling Technology

Kay

Strategic Priority Areas: Report Out

Quality Curriculum Student Success Faculty Success

University Success

Enabling Technology

Break-out Group Prompts: What are we trying to accomplish? What are the steps in order to accomplish this goal? How will success be measured?

Retreat Overview

Communication Strategy

Discuss the following in your table groups:

Who needs to hear the results of today’s meeting?

What do they need to know?

What mechanisms will you use to communicate these messages and by when?

Next Steps and Questions

Online Education Strategic Planning - UAB · Online Education Strategic Planning ... • Karen...

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