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Infusing Consistent Syllabus Templates Across Your College:
A Case Study
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• Introductions
• Case studies
› Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
› Lansing Community College
• Giveaway
• Questions and answers
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▪ The syllabus: Your school’s contract with students. Their roadmap to success.
▪ Typical Scenarios
› Various form factors (paper, .pdf, Word, html)
› Wildly inconsistent, error-prone output
› Inefficient, labor intensive process
› Adjuncts hired at last minute
› Multiple campus locations
› Various learning modalities
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▪ Drivers
› “2nd layer” of info
› Outcomes focus
› Policies, required
statements, etc.
› Information changes
constantly, comes from
every corner of your school
› Managing it and delivering
on deadline is nearly
impossible
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Rowan-Cabarrus
Community College
Presented by Sharon Craig
System Administrator, Information Systems
Rowan-Cabarrus College, NC
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Each semester, RCCC managed 1,200+ syllabi, including 7 templates, such as program and delivery method versions.
Staff handled:
▪ collect hundreds of syllabi
▪ review syllabi for approval or revision
▪ convert all Word documents to PDFs
▪ move approved syllabi to a shared drive
▪ upload PDFs to a website, and finally
▪ insert link to PDF manually in Bb shells for DE offerings.
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▪ Time consuming…an unexpected change could take 30+ hours
▪ Labor intensive…weeks of work for one person each semester
▪ Costly…paper and toner
▪ Obsolete…once printed
▪ No tracking or reporting…multiple versions distributed, no way to audit
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▪ Design, edit and view online (NO PAPER!)
▪ Permission levels
▪ Template levels
▪ Audit tracking
▪ Reporting
▪ Integration with LMS and SIS
▪ Single Sign-on
▪ Global edits
▪ Consistent design for all delivery methods
▪ Archiving
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Institutional Institutional
Course
Institutional
Course
Section
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Course Title & Number
Description
Objectives
Meeting Times & Locations
Contact Information
Outcomes
Materials
Course Policies
Deliverables
Institute Policies
Evaluation Strategies
Schedule
Course
Members
Public
Academic
Community
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/ /
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/
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▪ Authenticated
through LMS
▪ Section creation
through manual feed
file process
› Plans to add to
automation in future
▪ Some access
granted through
group permissions
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▪ Program Chair and Deans modified level access
▪ Plan out template levels
▪ Pull in the right groups for discussion
› Financial Aid
› Student Services
› Policy levels
▪ Plan for the unexpected
› Cancelled and Templates domains/campus
› Leave room for expansion or ‘other’
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Lansing
Community College
Presented by Jamie Stone
Adjunct Faculty Member, Psychology
Lansing Community College, MI
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▪ Third largest community college in
Michigan
▪ Approximately 1,150 courses each year
▪ Career and technical programs,
developmental programs, and transfer
degrees
▪ Online,hybrid, and face to face classes
each semester
▪ Large percentage of adjunct faculty
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▪ Joined LCC faculty as psychology
instructor in 2007
▪ Was given several examples of instructor
syllabi; no standard template
▪ Frankenstein syllabus; different
descriptions, outcomes, etc.
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▪ Started with hard copies, then used Lotus Notes, moved to CurricUNET
▪ Had established syllabus policies and procedures but current syllabus system was not meeting needs
▪ Faculty required to turn in copy of syllabus to department each semester; different start dates led to management issues
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▪ Institutional adoption› Had to migrate data from CurricUNET
› Faculty and staff having to learn yet another system
› No current efficient way to audit syllabi; multiple versions
▪ Personnel› Training
› Time consuming; labor intensive
▪ Accessibility› No integration with LMS or SIS
› Hard to access master courses
› No section syllabi
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▪ Design, edit and view online
▪ Easily searchable and publicly accessible
▪ Control over permissions and templates
▪ Auditing capabilities
▪ Integration with LMS and SIS
▪ Consistent design for all delivery methods
▪ Syllabus archival function
▪ Intuitive for faculty, staff, and students
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▪ Implemented Concourse in 2013
▪ Migrated outcome data from CurricUNET
▪ Descriptions from Banner
▪ Institutional policies managed by Academic Affairs; standardized course information managed by departments
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▪ Linked syllabus templates
▪ Manage specific item permissions
▪ LTI Integration with D2L
▪ Authentication, automated feed
processing
▪ Syllabi managed in one location
▪ Increased consistency and efficiency
▪ Life is better
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▪ Consensus is possible
▪ Engage faculty early on
▪ Set realistic and attainable goals
▪ Get IT involved early…no surprises
▪ Be flexible but prepared
▪ Use Concourse pilot to help with decision-
making
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▪ www.intellidemia.com
▪ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOy0ZblQ_3E
(Concourse explainer video)
▪ George Cook, VP Sales & Corp Dev
▪ 312-929-0155
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