Contributing to World-Class Teaching

COVID-19 Response

COLRS collaborated with faculty colleagues to transition all face-to-face classes to remote formats due to the pandemic. COLRS further supported COVID-19 response by developing the Remote Teaching, Keep Teaching, and Keep Learning websites, creating Teaching Tips e-mails and blog posts, and by providing consultations and workshops to more than 310 faculty. COLRS’ Remote Teaching website was highlighted in the COVID-19 Solutions Guide as an example for helping faculty through the process of moving an on-campus class to remote teaching.

Online, Professional & Engaged Learning Executive Director Vickie Cook and COLRS staff shared their expertise externally to help other institutions with their COVID response. A webinar series “Remote Teaching in a Hurry” was offered through CAPE for Private Universities, Business & Vocational Schools, and Illinois Community Colleges.

Learning Management System Conversion

Through a strong partnership with ITS, COLRS supported the successful transition to Canvas as UIS’s learning management system. COLRS staff developed and implemented a LMS migration plan, researched Canvas administrative functions, created a Canvas faculty training course site, created tutorial videos, delivered workshops, hosted daily drop-in office hours, and consulted one-on-one with UIS faculty throughout the conversion.

Digital Accessibility

During the year, Campus Accessibility Specialist Vance Martin meet with departments across campus to deliver customized presentations and offer digital remediation services for digital content in UIS courses and on the UIS website. The COLRS Digital Accessibility Remediation Team (DART) reviewed 72 online courses for accessibility and remediated 1,624 digital files. Dr. Martin also delivered faculty development workshops on accessibility, served on a committee to create a system-wide accessibility policy, and published on accessibility.

Quality Assurance

COLRS continues to promote an assurance of quality with online education. Over 100 faculty members have completed the Building Digital Community self-paced course designed to strengthen online instruction. UIS began offering the training program in Spring 2018. COLRS also customized a Quality Matters-based rubric for remote/blended learning quality assurance which has been used by faculty in many departments at UIS.

PROVIDING PERSONAL ATTENTION

Online Graduate Salute

Meeting our online students at the annual Online Graduate Brunch is typically a joyous event for the faculty and staff at UIS. Though safer-at-home orders kept us at a distance for the 2020 commencement, UIS celebrated our online graduates through an Online Graduate Salute. COLRS staff, along with the UIS web services team, faculty, online program coordinators, and administrators, collaborated in creating a virtual celebration of our graduates.

Dedicated Support

COLRS prides itself on providing dedicated support to faculty who seek to improve their online course design and delivery. Projects included assisting Dr. Jennifer Martin, Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, in producing her podcast, eduCATE: Caring Activist Teachers for Equity. Despite the concurrent transition to Canvas and remote learning, COLRS staff continued to emphasize customized, one-on-one faculty support. Faculty also took great advantage of daily open office hours offered via Zoom and the Online Teaching & Technology blog, a searchable support resource that was viewed over 22,500 times during the year.

Faculty & Staff Partners

As demand for COLRS services grew during the Spring and Summer 2020, COLRS actively identified Remote Learning Faculty Champions and Canvas Faculty Champions to provide additional outreach to faculty seeking assistance with teaching remotely or teaching using Canvas. COLRS also hosts semesterly meetings with Online Program Coordinators to share ideas to better serve online students. Advisory Boards for COLRS and Accessibility were also created to help guide strategic direction.

EXPERIENCE ENGAGED

Providing a Variety of Synchronous Learning Opportunities

Throughout the year, COLRS provided 30 faculty development workshops on a variety of topics:

Although usually a slower time for faculty development, COLRS saw significant faculty engagement during the Summer 2020. Over 225 faculty attended at least one summer workshop in 2020. In addition to these workshops available to the entire UIS community, COLRS staff provided customized training for Student Affairs, the Provost's Office Staff, Residential Assistants, and the New Faculty Teaching & Learning Academy.

Enriching the Scholarship of Teaching

Seven UIS faculty had presentations or publications related to their scholarship of teaching as a result of their participation in the COLRS Faculty Fellows Program. COLRS Faculty Fellows meet twice a semester as a group to discuss and advance their research.

OPEL Executive Director Vickie Cook and UIS Associate Vice Chancellor for Online Learning Ray Schroeder further promoted the scholarship of teaching through their frequent media appearances and publications. Dr. Cook's appearances include Online Education, Inside Higher Ed, and Education Dive. Vice Chancellor Schroeder authors a recurring column in Inside Higher Ed and has appeared in articles in Pew Research Center, EdTech, EdSurge, Money, Unbound, among others.

Serving the Profession

COLRS staff served the profession and the university in many capacities throughout the year, often in leadership positions. Externally, COLRS staff were involved in UPCEA, the Illinois Council on Continuing Higher Education (ICCHE), the Faculty Summer Institute Planning Committee, and the Microsoft Accessibility Committee. For the U of I System, COLRS staff were involved with the Academic Professional Leadership Program and the University Professional Personnel Advisory Committee. At UIS, COLRS staff were active with the Academic Professional Advisory Council, Safe Zone, Institutional Data Power Users Group, UIS Research Board, MBA Program Committee, and the CAPE/CARE Awards Breakfast Planning Committee. COLRS staff also served on at least six search committees for UIS.

LIBERAL-ARTS SKILLED

Building the Foundation for CAPE

COLRS staff established a strong foundation for the creation and operations of Continuing & Professional Education (CAPE). Before dedicated CAPE staff were hired in January 2020, COLRS staff created websites, handbooks, and course policies for CAPE, developed a micro-credentialing and digital badging policy, created a course catalog portal, and contributed to building the SLATE infrastructure needed to support continuing education. COLRS staff oversaw CAPE projects for the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, Ed2Go, BitsIO, ISBE Gifted website, and Illinois Department of Human Services.

Supporting the Illinois Online Network

COLRS staff also oversaw the operations of the Illinois Online Network (ION) by scheduling the courses, hiring faculty, administering the learning management system, and providing support for students. During the Fall 2019 term, ION had 155 students enrolled in first-half courses and 144 students enrolled in second-half courses with 17 students also enrolled in UIS graduate credit. COLRS staff are working closely with CAPE staff to transition most ION operations under CAPE. COLRS will continued to provide student support services for ION.

Informing Decision-Making & Reporting

COLRS works closely with Institutional Research and academic units at UIS to create reports that inform decisions about enrollments, course offerings, responding to COVID-19, and fulfilling mandatory reporting requirements for NC-SARA.