Surviving the Storm: Impact of Institutional Change on a First-Year - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Surviving the Storm: Impact of Institutional Change on a First-Year Cohort Program E. Jane Fee, PhD Special Advisor to the Dean of Applied Sciences Simon Fraser University, Canada July 25, 2006 19th International Conference on The First-Year Experience Toronto, Ontario

Organization of Talk  Program Beginnings at TechBC  The Transition to SFU  TechOne Today  The Future of TechOne  Lessons Learned

The Technical University of BC (TechBC)  Public, niche university  Legislation passed – December 1997  Specialized mandate to deliver high-tech programs: Interactive Arts, Information Technology, Management & Technology –“Doubling the Opportunity” initiative  Located on south side of Fraser River - highest growth area in B.C. - lowest participation rates in post-secondary

Academic Innovations at TechBC  Student success model  Blended learning pedagogy  No Faculty structures – faculty appointed to University  Commitment to interdisciplinary models – all courses/programs developed by faculty teams  Small class sizes

Immediate Challenges  CAUT Boycott – Fall 1997  Provincial degree program approval process  Permanent facility would be built “off book” by Crown Corporation  Temporarily located in leased space  Capital funding model at 50% of COU standards

TechOne Program Structure  Integration of content across courses – learning community model  Courses a mix of online and F2F delivery  Education, Technology and Learning Unit Support program  36 credits of required coursework

The TechOne Courses  Disciplinary courses in IA, IT, Business  Interdisciplinary courses in Math/Physics/Stats  Process elements: communication, teamwork, information literacy  Integration of content through process element courses  Cohort – lab classes of 24  All courses taught in 1-credit, 5 week modules

The Beginning of the End  New President hired summer 2001  New Liberal government elected summer 2001  Core Services Review – Fall 2001  Announcement of transfer of students and Programs to SFU – February 2002

Why was SFU interested?  New campus south of the Fraser River  Doubling the Opportunities initiative  Innovations in online education  Interactive Arts program  TechOne

2002  Information Technology and Interactive Arts Programs frozen – Became “The Surrey Programs” in Faculty of Applied Sciences  Management & Technology dissolved – Students transferred to Faculty of Business Administration  200 students accepted to TechOne  Campus staffing arrangements change  TechOne acknowledged as independent program

Transition to a Disciplinary Structure –2002/03  TechOne courses owned and operated by home departments (IAT, CS, Bus, Math)  Advisory program committee – “cooperative” model  Program managed by Associate Dean  Sole first-year program at SFU Surrey; serves as first year of all UG degree programs

2003 Re-Imagining Begins  TechOne Restructuring – TechOne will feed ‘Doubling the Opportunities’ programs – Revised modules to regular 3-credit courses  TechOne numbers double to 400  High-tech crash  Special Advisor appointed

TechOne Today  10-15 limited-term lecturer positions  Students largely go into IAT, Computing Science, and Business degree programs  500 students, representing – more than 50% of new BC 12 enrollment in Applied Sciences – 60% of all enrollments at SFU Surrey  Competing visions beginning to coalesce

Current Curriculum Core Courses Fall Spring IAT 100 IAT 101 TECH 100 TECH 101 CMPT 120 CMPT 125 + a MATH course Electives Based on degree program

Current Management Structure  Separate “Program Director” and Program Assistant  Budget subsumed by IAT  Program Director manages 5 core courses; consults with Computing Science re 2 courses  Work co-operatively with other departments to ensure elective courses available

Why Re-design Again? Its history  Vision, ownership, resourcing, consistency  New general University requirements  Developing vision of the SFU Surrey campus and  new first-year learning community programs “One-size fits all” model isn’t working for students 

SFU Surrey Vision – First Year SFU Surrey students enter the campus through first-year cohort programs designed to provide a strong foundation for their academic career and exposure to a full range of disciplinary ideas.

Why this model?  Greater flexibility – in number of courses taken each semester – to take electives to fulfill major program requirements  To articulate with all Applied Science undergrad programs  Interdisciplinary courses become the ‘value added’  “Bullet-proofing” for possible changes in Faculty of Applied Sciences  Enrollments still down in computing science

The Vision for Fall 2008  Reduced interdisciplinary core (4 courses) – Taught by interdisciplinary TechOne faculty  Certificate in Collaborative Technologies to be awarded at end of year  One program within a new “Department of X”  Back to learning communities model

The Framework An integrated set of 4 courses Spring Fall Analytical History & Design: Communicati & Social Theory on Critical Implications & & Reasoning of Practice Collaboration Technology (W) Theme electives as required Information Technology Theme Digital Media Theme

Short-term Challenges  New University-wide curriculum changes  Increased competition for new students – BC wide – Within our campus  Resources – Faculty are 90% LT teaching faculty – Very lean on staffing  Possible restructuring of Faculty of Applied Sciences

Lessons Learned First year students require lots of support: An effective first-year program must have full-time  continuing faculty resources You must work closely with student support units to  create seamless services (e.g., Student Life, Writing Support, Orientation) Young, enthusiastic faculty will naturally gravitate to  innovative first-year programs. You must find ways to attract more senior, experienced faculty

Lessons Learned Structures/Funding Programs must own and control their own  resources Innovative programs require innovative structures  Government policy is always 5 years behind reality  Assessment is a powerful ally 

Lessons Learned Inertia You must be ever vigilant in the creation of  innovative programs; any challenge will result in going back to “the way we’ve always done it” The efficacy of well-established programs is not  questioned; you must provide evidence of success for new and innovative programs There will always be those who are not supportive  of anything new or different. Just accept this and move on

Reasons for Optimism  New Surrey campus opens September 8, 2006  Developing partnerships, and technology initiatives are on the horizon  General readiness for reform at SFU  Data shows we are being successful (retention = 85%)  Students and faculty love the program

www.surrey.sfu.ca

www.sfu.ca/techone