2008 Woodie Awards
Switch to Blackboard Vista prompts concern among senate members
By Jonathan Munson
Issue date: 10/26/07 Section: News
Originally published: 10/25/07 at 4:02 PM CSTLast update: 10/26/07 at 9:12 AM CST
- Page 1 of 1
To some, computer talk is widely used, technical language; but for others it's just jargon; not far from gibberish. It is because of this language barrier that one may say there was tension at Wednesday's Faculty Senate meeting.
It was a special meeting called to discuss the district's recently mandated switch to the Blackboard Vista platform for Internet classes.
Beginning next fall, all Web-enhanced courses must be conducted with the new platform, which will require special training of the teachers and professors who use it.
A panel consisting of some who were involved in planning for the change, as well as President Robert Zeigler, were invited to answer any questions and clarify any confusion shared by the senators.
There are many who do not like the change, but it's not so much the end result of switching to Blackboard Vista, but the manner in which the policy was decided upon.
Senators asked questions ranging from "What is it that we are supposed to do with Blackboard Vista?" to "How do you define platform?" - but the biggest question of the meeting was "Where did the decision occur?"
The answer was not clear to the panel or the president or at least was not made clear to the senators.
"I don't understand why this question is so hard to answer," history Professor Jonathan Lee said.
"This decision, or recommendation, was discussed at the chancellor's meeting," Zeigler said, adding that the recommendation came from the discussions of various focused subcomittees. "So you could say that the decision to mandate this was made collectively."
They wanted a specific name of a person or committee, but the answer was not that simple. Many committees and subcommittees take part in the decision-making process - too many, in fact, for the president or the panel to recite from memory.
However, client services Manager Usha Venkat was able to explain the process in a phone interview after the meeting.
Venkat leads the communication team, one of five small teams that each have a specific focus when it comes to planning for Blackboard Vista. The other teams are the technical team, led by network engineer Amita Mahajan; the reporting and tracking team, led by senior application analyst programmer Laura Carranza; the teaching and learning team, which lists no leading member; and training and support team, led by client support specialist April Zimmermann.
Each team discussed and came up with recommendations regarding their specific focus in the Blackboard Vista planning.
The leaders of these teams gather and report to the project administration team, which then makes its recommendation to the executive steering committee.
From there, the decision goes to the Chancellor's executive committee, which consists of the chancellor, vice chancellor and college presidents.
But the fact that no name of a person or committee was available only increased the senate's concern about a lack of communication between committees who make decisions and the faculty who are affected.
"Each discipline has different needs for online courses," Lee said. "Each department who teaches an online course should have at least one representative on that committee."
Although panel members Charlotte Wolf, director of instructional technologies, and psychology Professor Pam Hill assured the senate that there is faculty representation among the several committees, and teaching needs will be fulfilled by the Blackboard Visa platform, the senators explained that they were not informed about any district committees' activities.
"We really needed to see what all of these district committees are doing," senate Chair Terry Walch said.
More than just knowing what is happening, many faculty members were unhappy that those who use Internet courses regularly had no input in the matter.
"We've sort of been hung out to dry on a lot of these issues," philosophy Professor Richard Oliver said. He expressed the need for regular meetings between those who teach Internet courses regularly because they encounter problems specific to the Web and can address them better then those who do not teach Internet courses regularly.
Zeigler agrees that there was a problem with communication between the district and the colleges, but took responsibility for not making sure that information about district committee activities reached the faculty until it was too late to give input.
"I think the end result is communicated," he said, "but the process, or the steps taken along the way, were not fully communicated."
To see a full list of the committees, teams and members involved in the Blackboard Vista decision, go to http://projects.accd.edu:3455/2/28 and select the "Project Teams" link under the "Project Information" heading.
It was a special meeting called to discuss the district's recently mandated switch to the Blackboard Vista platform for Internet classes.
Beginning next fall, all Web-enhanced courses must be conducted with the new platform, which will require special training of the teachers and professors who use it.
A panel consisting of some who were involved in planning for the change, as well as President Robert Zeigler, were invited to answer any questions and clarify any confusion shared by the senators.
There are many who do not like the change, but it's not so much the end result of switching to Blackboard Vista, but the manner in which the policy was decided upon.
Senators asked questions ranging from "What is it that we are supposed to do with Blackboard Vista?" to "How do you define platform?" - but the biggest question of the meeting was "Where did the decision occur?"
The answer was not clear to the panel or the president or at least was not made clear to the senators.
"I don't understand why this question is so hard to answer," history Professor Jonathan Lee said.
"This decision, or recommendation, was discussed at the chancellor's meeting," Zeigler said, adding that the recommendation came from the discussions of various focused subcomittees. "So you could say that the decision to mandate this was made collectively."
They wanted a specific name of a person or committee, but the answer was not that simple. Many committees and subcommittees take part in the decision-making process - too many, in fact, for the president or the panel to recite from memory.
However, client services Manager Usha Venkat was able to explain the process in a phone interview after the meeting.
Venkat leads the communication team, one of five small teams that each have a specific focus when it comes to planning for Blackboard Vista. The other teams are the technical team, led by network engineer Amita Mahajan; the reporting and tracking team, led by senior application analyst programmer Laura Carranza; the teaching and learning team, which lists no leading member; and training and support team, led by client support specialist April Zimmermann.
Each team discussed and came up with recommendations regarding their specific focus in the Blackboard Vista planning.
The leaders of these teams gather and report to the project administration team, which then makes its recommendation to the executive steering committee.
From there, the decision goes to the Chancellor's executive committee, which consists of the chancellor, vice chancellor and college presidents.
But the fact that no name of a person or committee was available only increased the senate's concern about a lack of communication between committees who make decisions and the faculty who are affected.
"Each discipline has different needs for online courses," Lee said. "Each department who teaches an online course should have at least one representative on that committee."
Although panel members Charlotte Wolf, director of instructional technologies, and psychology Professor Pam Hill assured the senate that there is faculty representation among the several committees, and teaching needs will be fulfilled by the Blackboard Visa platform, the senators explained that they were not informed about any district committees' activities.
"We really needed to see what all of these district committees are doing," senate Chair Terry Walch said.
More than just knowing what is happening, many faculty members were unhappy that those who use Internet courses regularly had no input in the matter.
"We've sort of been hung out to dry on a lot of these issues," philosophy Professor Richard Oliver said. He expressed the need for regular meetings between those who teach Internet courses regularly because they encounter problems specific to the Web and can address them better then those who do not teach Internet courses regularly.
Zeigler agrees that there was a problem with communication between the district and the colleges, but took responsibility for not making sure that information about district committee activities reached the faculty until it was too late to give input.
"I think the end result is communicated," he said, "but the process, or the steps taken along the way, were not fully communicated."
To see a full list of the committees, teams and members involved in the Blackboard Vista decision, go to http://projects.accd.edu:3455/2/28 and select the "Project Teams" link under the "Project Information" heading.
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