ONE Northwood University

Oct 5, 2007

NUQUIP

”Perfectionists do not lead. Imperfect, passionate, optimistic persistent, enthusiastic servants lead. They teach us we cannot sit back and wait until everything is perfect before we act; they convince us we can achieve more, working as a team, than we could ever dream on our own and then work with us to achieve the impossible”.
Tom Peters

NUQUIP has ignited a focus on instructional improvement. With the prompting and support of Dr. John Jasinski, an Instructional Improvement Team (IIT) has been formed to provide pedagogical support for all faculty. Why? Because faculty encounter new material, technologies, delivery formats and changing student needs in constant fashion and we must provide support in a defined and systematic way. The initial activities described below will be considered a pilot program. Rollout to all operating units will proceed in a thoughtful manner as the initial results are analyzed for effectiveness and successful application.

The IIT forecasts the following for the 07-08 year:

In a newly created part-time position, the Michigan Assistant Academic Dean for Instructional Improvement, Laura Vosejpka, will develop, implement, and monitor teaching improvement plans and assessments.
In another new part-time position at the University College, the Director of Instructional Support, Jennifer Luzar, will consult, train and serve as a resource person to the instructional staff in development, evaluation, and revision of teaching.

The positions have similar goals, so the two will collaborate, in the spirit of ONE Northwood, to provide like services for all faculty – both full-time and adjunct, and those delivering instruction in traditional, blended and online formats. Other faculty development is underway on the Florida and Texas campuses as well as at the DeVos Graduate School of Management. The IIT will be working in conjunction with other Operating Units as it conducts its pilot efforts in Michigan and at the UC. Our Provosts and Deans agreed to this approach and our goal is to learn from the pilot and think ahead toward a possible faculty development center at Northwood.

In early October, Laura and Jennifer will distribute the first monthly e-letter which will offer instructional tips, strategies and reminders. All faculty are encouraged to forward any ideas or questions to Laura and Jennifer for future publication.
Laura and Jennifer will host the first monthly faculty chat session on Friday, October 26 at noon in the Hach Wolf Den in Michigan. The topic for discussion will be the feature article from the October e-letter, “The Lecture’s Life Jacket”. The goal is to establish a casual atmosphere for idea sharing. Any suggestions for future chat topics are welcome.
In early November, Laura and Jennifer will begin to benchmark faculty development centers.
Laura and Jennifer will work in partnership with the Academic Systems Coordinator, Marcella Matzke, to help ensure the quality of hybrid and online learning at Northwood. Marcella will continue to support and train all faculty for use of Blackboard as well as identify and communicate best practices for applying sophisticated uses of Blackboard in teaching, learning and curriculum design.

Note that Marcella will be a presenter at The Michigan Blackboard User Group (miBUG) Annual Conference at CMU on Friday, October 19th. In addition to Marcella's presentation, there are several institutions scheduled to share how they use Blackboard to enhance learning. Faculty can register here.

Providing new resources to instruction at Northwood, ABD Creativity Center Director, Dr. Jessika Satori, will serve the academic community through meeting classroom needs in instructional design, print resources, guest speaker selection and national and international partnerships. For example, Jessika will work to formally integrate creativity within courses such as entrepreneurship, marketing and line-of-business strategy.
At DeVos, Jessika is fusing creativity with career service seminars and is building a creativity module for new student orientation.
Jessika has proposed that the annual creativity conference, formerly in July, be held during the winter mini to include traditional students.

Other key players on the IIT pilot committee are Greg Dumont, the IT Manager, and Tina Brisbois, the Online Strategy Task Force leader. Next academic year, 2008/2009, will see the committee expand to include representation from all operating units.

Ultimately, what does all this mean? The IIT will research best practices for all instructional situations and will assist with ideas for implementation. It is paramount that faculty feel supported. And, in this exciting new era at Northwood, the IIT embraces the opportunity to offer that support and to inspire life-long learning.

Keith A. Pretty, J.D.
President and CEO
Northwood University
4000 Whiting Drive
Midland, MI 48640
989.837.4203 (phone)
989.832.9590 (fax)

pretty@northwood.edu

Oct 5, 2007
	NUQUIP ”Perfectionists do not lead. Imperfect, passionate, optimistic persistent, enthusiastic servants lead. They teach us we cannot sit back and wait until everything is perfect before we act; they convince us we can achieve more, working as a team, than we could ever dream on our own and then work with us to achieve the impossible”. Tom Peters NUQUIP has ignited a focus on instructional improvement. With the prompting and support of Dr. John Jasinski, an Instructional Improvement Team (IIT) has been formed to provide pedagogical support for all faculty. Why? Because faculty encounter new material, technologies, delivery formats and changing student needs in constant fashion and we must provide support in a defined and systematic way. The initial activities described below will be considered a pilot program. Rollout to all operating units will proceed in a thoughtful manner as the initial results are analyzed for effectiveness and successful application. The IIT forecasts the following for the 07-08 year: In a newly created part-time position, the Michigan Assistant Academic Dean for Instructional Improvement, Laura Vosejpka, will develop, implement, and monitor teaching improvement plans and assessments. In another new part-time position at the University College, the Director of Instructional Support, Jennifer Luzar, will consult, train and serve as a resource person to the instructional staff in development, evaluation, and revision of teaching. The positions have similar goals, so the two will collaborate, in the spirit of ONE Northwood, to provide like services for all faculty – both full-time and adjunct, and those delivering instruction in traditional, blended and online formats. Other faculty development is underway on the Florida and Texas campuses as well as at the DeVos Graduate School of Management. The IIT will be working in conjunction with other Operating Units as it conducts its pilot efforts in Michigan and at the UC. Our Provosts and Deans agreed to this approach and our goal is to learn from the pilot and think ahead toward a possible faculty development center at Northwood. In early October, Laura and Jennifer will distribute the first monthly e-letter which will offer instructional tips, strategies and reminders. All faculty are encouraged to forward any ideas or questions to Laura and Jennifer for future publication. Laura and Jennifer will host the first monthly faculty chat session on Friday, October 26 at noon in the Hach Wolf Den in Michigan. The topic for discussion will be the feature article from the October e-letter, “The Lecture’s Life Jacket”. The goal is to establish a casual atmosphere for idea sharing. Any suggestions for future chat topics are welcome. In early November, Laura and Jennifer will begin to benchmark faculty development centers. Laura and Jennifer will work in partnership with the Academic Systems Coordinator, Marcella Matzke, to help ensure the quality of hybrid and online learning at Northwood. Marcella will continue to support and train all faculty for use of Blackboard as well as identify and communicate best practices for applying sophisticated uses of Blackboard in teaching, learning and curriculum design. Note that Marcella will be a presenter at The Michigan Blackboard User Group (miBUG) Annual Conference at CMU on Friday, October 19th. In addition to Marcella's presentation, there are several institutions scheduled to share how they use Blackboard to enhance learning. Faculty can register here. Providing new resources to instruction at Northwood, ABD Creativity Center Director, Dr. Jessika Satori, will serve the academic community through meeting classroom needs in instructional design, print resources, guest speaker selection and national and international partnerships. For example, Jessika will work to formally integrate creativity within courses such as entrepreneurship, marketing and line-of-business strategy. At DeVos, Jessika is fusing creativity with career service seminars and is building a creativity module for new student orientation. Jessika has proposed that the annual creativity conference, formerly in July, be held during the winter mini to include traditional students. Other key players on the IIT pilot committee are Greg Dumont, the IT Manager, and Tina Brisbois, the Online Strategy Task Force leader. Next academic year, 2008/2009, will see the committee expand to include representation from all operating units. Ultimately, what does all this mean? The IIT will research best practices for all instructional situations and will assist with ideas for implementation. It is paramount that faculty feel supported. And, in this exciting new era at Northwood, the IIT embraces the opportunity to offer that support and to inspire life-long learning. Keith A. Pretty, J.D. President and CEO Northwood University 4000 Whiting Drive Midland, MI 48640 989.837.4203 (phone) 989.832.9590 (fax) pretty@northwood.edu