On behalf of the Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI), I'd like to highlight some of the changes we have incorporated into the Center this summer in an effort to continue our support of teaching and learning innovations across the District more efficiently and effectively.
Faculty/Staff Development for the District will now be supported by MCLI. This change will provide college Faculty/Staff Developers and those they serve with better access to MCLI resources and instructional designers, who have extensive background and knowledge in teaching and learning issues and agendas. This move fits with one of MCLI's goals, to encourage professional development and collegiality among faculty and staff in the District. The Faculty/Staff Development Coordinators plan to continue to focus on student outcomes assessment and institutional effectiveness as their district-wide priorities for the upcoming year.
This year's Faculty/Staff Development Coordinators are:
Ocotillo 1993-1994 will be coordinated by Maria Hesse from Chandler- Gilbert Community College, as Faculty Chair, and Maria Harper-Marinick (MCLI), as Project Manager. Keep yours eyes open for the announcement of this year's subcommittees via A1.
Faculty Dialogue Days will be coordinated by Cindy Leshin (MCLI) with the various instructional councils or interest groups who plan to host such an event.
Resources. On your next visit to MCLI, you will find information resources and demonstrations of instructional applications of technologies that are focused by disciplines. For example, to support the Maricopa Mathematics Consortium, we have available the latest print and non-print materials on mathematics curricula and pedagogical reform that can be checked out by faculty. Also computer workstations have been consolidated to provide faculty and staff use and experimentation with software application by discipline.
Visiting Faculty. At MCLI, you will see more faculty who have been doing research and development in specific areas of interest. For example, Sally Rings, Reading faculty on sabbatical from PVCC this semester, is investigating and analyzing software to develop critical reading skills for students.
Faculty Mentor in Residence. In response to comments from faculty, MCLI has designed a system to provide Maricopa faculty experts time to research, experiment, assist, teach, and share their particular expertise with other faculty across the District. Together with an instructional designer, the Faculty Mentor can work closely with small groups and individuals on specific instructional or learning issues that cannot be fostered by an external expert or a one-day workshop. We anticipate that the Mentor will also be able to experience professional growth and development as he or she mentors and creates linkages with others across the District. For 1993-1994, Ed Chandler (PVCC), an expert in innovative teaching of Calculus, is on partial reassigned time to develop a model for Faculty Mentor in Residence with Maria Harper-Marinick. MCLI hopes to pilot and refine the model so that more faculty experts can be recruited as Maricopa Mentors in Residence as funds become available.
College Support. MCLI staff continue to support the colleges by "being there." For example, Cindy Leshin spends Wednesday afternoons working with faculty and staff at MCC's Center for Teaching and Learning. Cindy, Maria, and I are actively supporting SMCC's Plan-to-Plan committees. Maria works regularly with PVCC faculty, Larry Burgess, Phyllis Shaw, and Ed Chandler as they implement the Harvard Model for teaching calculus. Again, these are a few examples of MCLI at the colleges.
The challenge of enhancing learning and instruction drives MCLI to re- invent and re-engineer ourselves so that we can better address the multifaceted agendas and systems across the District through cost- effective, yet sound research and development efforts. MCLI has a small, yet very creative and responsive staff. We hope you will continue to work with us to move Maricopa forward to be a better learning organization this coming year.