MELA Meeting Minutes 2003 - 2017

change to "adopted platforms" 2. The course evaluation form/process needs to be evaluated. Ms. Kimble would like DLCs to send her any policies and/or forms that an institution uses to evaluate hosted courses. c. Ms. Kimble stated that money was approved for a 24/7 help desk and increased license for D2L; however, RFPs will have to be issued so that the State purchasing laws are not violated. d. A flyer was given that showed training dates for D2L at Holmes. Ms. Kimble asked DLCs to make sure that course shells are built for those who are attending the training since they will have hands-on training. Faculty should register for training through their respective DLC. DLCs should provide the names of instructors who are to attend the training to Ms. Kimble. e. An Enrollment Tool feature has been added that will allow DLCs to indicate whether a course is offered in D2L or Blackboard. Jenniffer Wamsley indicated that she feels that the students should be able to see which platform the course is on. Other DLCs agreed. In addition, a couple DLCs mentioned that they would not offer classes that were taught using D2L. f. Ms. Kimble asked if members were interested in having a demonstration on virtual labs for science/math courses to deans, presidents, faculty members etc. Let Ms. Kimble know if you would be willing to host a demonstration. Mr. Kynerd would like to see this demonstration presented to the Dean's Association. Ms. Shows stated that this could possibly be placed on the agenda for the Dean's association meeting this summer. Mr. Yates mentioned that a good place for this to be presented would be at the MAC conference that is being planned now. g. Surveys are available now through final exams. Ms. Kimble encouraged students and faculty to complete these. Mr. Yates is sending two emails a week for two weeks then one a week for two weeks directly to students reminding them about the survey. Ms. Wamsley suggested that perhaps we should extend the time frame for the survey until after the semester ends. She received an increased response to her institution's survey when it was sent the week after finals. Tish Stewart stated that some of her instructors are creating a folder in Blackboard that contains a link to the survey inside their course with tracking on. Unfinished business a. Textbook Issues: Letha Richards presented materials from E-campus and stated that they would like to meet with the consortium to discuss what their company can do for us with textbooks. Varsity Books is another company that provides a book service. Jenniffer Wamsley stated that books have been an issue for a long time and that, in her opinion, the way books are handled should remain an individual institution's decision. b. Self Enrollment Tool: i. Jenniffer Wamsley inquired as to where we are with having the enrollment tool reject a student's record when no course has been selected. The enrollment tool committee will revisit this. Ms. Wamsley would like to see the left side of the self enrollment tool (which displays master course offerings) moved to a different page. The rest of the page works very well as it is. She would like another link added that would show local course offerings. Ellene McCrimmon reminded DLCs to make sure that course information is updated and make certain that credentials are included for instructors. Ms. Kimble asked that if anyone has a standard form that is used to help instructors determine what to include in course information, please send it to her so that it can be shared with other members. ii. Alica Shows expressed a concern that self enrollment is never turned off. c. Strategic Planning: i. Audra Kimble asked for an update from the training subcommittee and asked members to let the training committee know of any training needs. Alicia Shows stated that she would

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