MELA Meeting Minutes 2003 - 2017

6. What have I accomplished over the past year that has improved efficiency and effectiveness in my office? Have I shared that with folks at other institutions? 7. Is more time needed in meetings to share information among eLCs? 8. How could our group become more effective and accomplish the most? Also, if we could add additional staffing, where should those individuals be placed and what responsibilities should they have? 9. How much do I contribute to the group, and how can I be more productive as a member of the group? 10. Do I take a college-centric approach when thinking about eLearning? 11. When I see potential areas of concern, how much time do I spend finding strategic, creative solutions? 12. If I were in Christian’s shoes, what would I do differently?

Christian opened the session by providing an overview of the progress of MSVCC since the inception of MEGA, MSVCC’s current state and what he saw for the future.

Responses

 There was a request for minutes to be indexed.  There is a need for mentors for new eLCs.  Sometimes there is a need for immediate support. Examples: first day of class, end of registration, finals.  The eLCs need a contact with the vendors when the SBCJC staff is out of the office.  SBCJC needs a technical support person for Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Enrollment Tool and the other products that MSVCC is supporting.  More communication is needed about updates and processes.  Use Parature to submit technical support helpdesk tickets.  A moratorium was requested on adding new products.  Meetings are most effective when they are face-to-face and there is a major topic to discuss.  More training was requested, repetition is good.  eLCs are too bogged down in day-to-day processed to work on committees.  State Board should continue to be a part of the eLC meetings. The group was reminded that Beverlin Givens’ time is divided between auditing and MSVCC.  There was no discussion with the eLCs before a partnership was made with USM, JSU and Sloan. Some eLCs had concerns that money is taken out of the Community and Junior Colleges’ budget to pay for Blackboard and our other vendors. USM and JSU will reap the benefits but will not have to make any contributions.  There was a request for more feedback of what the college presidents are saying concerning MSVCC.

Christian stated that this was one of the most engaged eLC meetings that he has attended. He will see what can be done about getting a fulltime technical support person for MSVCC.

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