December 1, 2018 Updates as Per DCCFA General Convention Resolutions

At the November 9, 2018 DCCFA General Convention, several resolutions were adopted, calling on the Faculty Council to give progress reports via this Blog every 60 days beginning December 1, 2018. Those initial progress reports are below:

--Progress Report as per “DCCFA Resolution on HR Issues”: The HR issues designated for progress reporting by this resolution were issues for which other resolutions – stating the DCCFA positions on those issues – were also passed at the Convention. Those resolutions were transmitted to DCCCD Chancellor Joe May prior to the Faculty Council’s regularly scheduled monthly meeting with him on 11/16. During our discussion of the resolutions, and the process through which those resolutions came about, Chancellor May noted that he was open to having conversations on the various issues of concern, and that he would need to take the resolutions to the Board of Trustees.

In addition to discussions with Chancellor May, the Faculty Council has also engaged with the Academic Vice Presidents on these HR issues in an effort to find common ground. The Faculty Council and the AVPs meet monthly as the TILT group to address instructional issues and initiatives, and, given that several of these HR issues affect core instructional operations/functions – including professional development, range advancement, and assignment of extra service – the Council welcomes continued efforts to collaborate on them with our instructional leadership

--Progress Report as per “DCCFA Resolution on LMS Selection Process”: Based on communication with CIO Tim Marshall, the Council can report that, while there is not funding in this fiscal year for a replacement, we can use this time to determine how to craft an approach that addresses the concerns that came out of the Faculty LMS Survey (from Spring 2018) and others that may come up from different stakeholders.  CIO Marshall has expressed support for putting together an exploratory group that can be available to attend demos of other LMS products, prior to determining if we decide to move, so that at the least, faculty and staff will know, from a comparison standpoint, what would be prudent.  Potentially, such a group could be convened at any time, and once demos are complete can, if commanded, release an RFP for the next evolution of learning management systems in the late spring with a Fall 2019 vendor selection. The Faculty Council intends to invite the CIO to a business meeting in the near future to discuss these matters in more depth.

In addition, as the Faculty Council’s representative to the Instructional Technology Users Committee, ECC Faculty Association President and DCCFA Vice President Pam Crawford will, in collaboration with Deputy CIO Pamela Luckett, meet with representatives from Blackboard in the next week to discuss the issues the Faculty Council outlined as common themes/requirements coming out of the Spring 2018 faculty LMS survey.

Those issues include:

1. Enhanced grading/commentary on assignments
2. Plagiarism detection
3. Timed release of content
4. Mobile access for faculty and students
5. Integration of MS Office documents (Word, Ppt, etc.)
6. Monitoring/Early Alert for students 

  

--Progress Report as per “DCCFA Resolution on Work Group DELTA”: The Faculty Council has discussed the timeline for reconvening Work Group DELTA, and expect that group to begin work at the start of the Spring 2019 semester. The members of the Faculty Council will nominate an FA member from his/her campus to serve on Work Group DELTA, and a member of the Faculty Council will be chosen to serve as chair of this special committee.