Instructional Support Committee

Attending: Mark Schneider, Margarita Pillado, Anatoly Vishevsky, Jen Green, Jon Chenette, Bill Francis, Justin Abramson, Christopher McKee, John Kalkbrenner, Terri Phipps

Minutes of last meeting approved.

SACC has not met this semester. Karen McRitchie (ITS) will try to find a representative to ISC.

Fieldtrip and Classroom Visitor Guidelines: Approved.

Classroom visitors: Funding is intended for visitors from nearby, within 100 miles, who can make a day trip to Grinnell. Applications may request a $75 honorarium plus mileage at the current College reimbursement rate plus up to $25 total for the visitor's and faculty member's meal expenses. In addition to the budget, applications should include the course identifier, title, visitor's name, date of the proposed visit, and a brief statement of how the visitor's presentation will enhance student learning. ISC expects that meals involving visitors and students will normally take place in College dining facilities, so that students on meal plans will be able to participate without additional cost and so that the visitors become more integrated into campus life; proposals for meals with students elsewhere should include a rationale.

For purposes of the honorarium, faculty members will need to obtain guests' signatures on the appropriate tax forms, available at http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/accounting/accountspayable/. Send these forms and any mileage estimates or meal receipts to Terri Phipps in the Associate Deans' Office.

Course-Related Fieldtrips: Funding is intended for taking students on course-related trips within driving distance of Grinnell, with faculty members or other certified college drivers providing transportation in College vehicles. Requests should include the course identifier and title, date of the proposed visit, destination, a brief description of how the trip will enhance student learning, and a budget for any expenses beyond the cost of College vehicles, such as modest admission, ticket, or meal expenses (no more than $25 per student. Students should expect to pay any additional expenses beyond the $25 cap. Students on College meal plans are encouraged to use the box lunch option when feasible.) Funding, including the College vehicle cost, is available up to $1,500 per trip.

Application Deadlines: Preferred deadlines are September 5, 2005 for fall trips and February 6, 2006 for spring trips. However, applications are accepted on a continuing basis as opportunities arise.

Cultural Education Center (CEC) Guidelines: The main focuses of the CEC are on language learning, connecting OCS students with on-campus students, connecting international and domestic students (especially language learners), and promoting global awareness and education. All regularly taught languages are currently represented in the media offerings. ALSO languages are being considered as well, pending broadcast availability.

DRAFT guidelines will be discussed at the next CFFLS meeting:

• curricular and departmental uses (including MAP and visiting scholar presentations) receive priority over non-curricular uses
• reservations are allowed for any times that the AV Center is open and are made through the AV Center, as with ARH 224
• no long-term, regular class reservations are permitted
• after giving priority to curricular and departmental uses, other users may reserve on a first-come-first-served basis
• non-curricular reservations between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. may be bumped by curricular and departmental reservations made at least 48 hours in advance
• during unreserved times, this space is freely available for study, collaborative projects, or media viewing or listening, following the principles of self-governance
• during unreserved times, people viewing media in the facility are expected to yield, at the end of a programming unit (TV show, movie, etc.), to others waiting to use the space
• maximum capacity for the CEC is twenty-five people; ARH 224 is available for media viewing requiring larger capacities (up to 35)

ISC members should forward any comments or suggestions to Jon before Monday, October 10.

TDC Evaluation: Bill distributed comments on the TDC, specifically regarding ways by which the TDC can be evaluated including being a proving ground for new technology support; raising faculty awareness of potential technology use in their teaching; providing high-end workspace for projects; serving as a testing ground for new technologies; providing a collaborative space for faculty, CTS, librarians, students, and ITS.

The document also outlined CTS/ITS technology experiments where the knowledge gained has been or will be used on campus in other venues, such as the utility of plasma panels in classrooms and other spaces; wireless capabilities of Bluetooth enabled devices; digital media hardware and software needs; movable furniture in use with computers; digital audio in language instruction; videoconferencing.

A number of faculty presentations have been held at the TDC. The space has also allowed Library, CTS, and ITS staff time to work together and support such areas as GIS, ArtStor, PDID, and Burling planning.

Valuable lessons have been learned from the TDC that will inform future campus planning, especially in the areas of location, campus communication, and staffing.

One member raised the question of whether the time ITS/CTSs spend at the TDC detracts from their other tasks. This question led to a discussion of staffing the TDC in general. It would be helpful to have a full-time employee responsible for equipment maintenance and on-site technical support. However, if this space was located near other library or ITS staff, it would be possible to support the space without hiring additional staff.

One advantage of having regular CTS hours at the TDC is to allow them time to work together on shared projects. There is concern that CTSs cannot be reached when not in their offices. CTSs are to post contact information when leaving their offices. Holding regularly scheduled hours at the TDC has alleviated some of this concern.

The librarians and CTSs agree that there should be a representative from the library in the CTS group. This group meets regularly with Jon and Bill.

Librarians and CTSs need to facilitate shared projects in or near the Library to see how effective it is to have them in close proximity. This will help inform future campus planning. Groups can use the IIF, conference room, and/or reference area. One drawback to working in a public space is the inability to leave work out in the open.

Strategic Plan: 5 Technology Goals
Wireless campus
Collaborative tools
Training - Digital Images, Multimedia, GIS, etc
AV Services - equipment in classrooms
ITS infrastructure, including wireless computing/productivity, security concerns

AV technology in classrooms varies widely due to the variety of needs of those using the rooms, the various space configurations of the rooms, and advances in technology over the years. Only so much standardization is possible without giving up special capabilities needed for particular rooms.

Should a section on "formative assessment" be included in the Plan? Not just data, such as "we have X technology in X number of rooms," but gathering feedback as to how the technology is used. In addition to following up technology use in classrooms, it was suggested that ITS gather feedback from users anytime they have a change in technology. Mark will draft text for this section. Jon will forward to President Osgood.

Respectfully submitted,
Terri Phipps