Faculty Council to Lead Effort to Engage Faculty in Selecting the Next District-Supported LMS

Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) has been the District-supported environment for online courses since the late 1990s. In addition, many faculty have used other LMS solutions, including those provided by publishers, to support certain courses. The ongoing use of Blackboard as the District-supported LMS has not been reviewed in a comprehensive way in many years, and until recently the District has not in any strategic sense engaged in a conversation about which LMS product might best support the rapidly growing and evolving needs of DCCCD students and faculty.

Bringing a greater sense of urgency to this fundamental issue, increased reliance on the Blackboard Learning Management System – both for online sections as well as to supplement traditional face-to-face sections – has exposed a growing litany of concerns regarding peak usage availability and maintenance down time. Faculty and students have grown increasingly frustrated as a result. When these issues resurfaced in late Fall 2017, District Faculty Council leadership immediately met with Chancellor May, Vice Chancellor Lonon, and Chief Innovation Officer Tim Marshall numerous times starting in December, to discuss these concerns and express our frustrations, which they share.

As a result, the Faculty Council is pleased to announce CIO Marshall has charged the Council to lead an effort to engage faculty in identifying the next LMS for the DCCCD. It is important to note that, whether this process culminates in a recommendation to renew the relationship with Blackboard, or to select another vendor to provide the official District-supported LMS, faculty would still be able to use other LMS environments, including those provided by publishers, to support their courses. 

Of more importance, however, is that other than identifying certain basic technical specifications, District has agreed that faculty will drive the decision to select the product that the District will adopt as the official LMS. As a result, faculty input will be crucial to the next steps in this conversation, both directly, and through the DCCFA Instructional Goals and Academic Freedom Committee, and the DCCCD Instructional Technology Users Committee (ITUC).

Beginning later in April 2018, faculty will be invited to participate in a comprehensive survey to determine what functionalities and features faculty need the DCCCD LMS to provide. That survey is being designed presently, and will be made available as soon as possible. Meanwhile, a Request for Proposal (RFP) is being developed to be sent to all interested LMS providers. It is anticipated that the RFP will be sent to LMS providers in early summer, with their proposals due back later in the summer. Vendors will demonstrate their products in Fall 2018. Finally, faculty would be given an opportunity to test the LMS products from the various vendors during the late summer and early fall. 

Faculty then would be invited to share their thoughts, questions, and concerns, on each of the LMS products under consideration. It is anticipated that a second survey would be sent to all faculty sometime during the fall semester, perhaps in October.

Based on faculty input, the Faculty Council then would make a formal recommendation for a preferred vendor/LMS product, to CIO Marshall in late Fall 2018.

While the membership of the Faculty Council will change June 1, 2018, the current Council is planning to engage significantly during May 2018 with the incoming representatives from Brookhaven, Eastfield, Mountain View, and Richland Colleges, so that the next Council can carry this faculty-driven process to completion.

The Faculty Council encourages all DCCFA members to participate in all facets of this process, beginning with the survey. A subsequent Advance Blog post will announce the survey and provide a link.