Ilevel Meeting, October 23, 2003

Members Present: Maureen Anthony, Elaine Bell, Tony Drommi, Dina Dubuis, Tom Jeffrey, George Libbey, Chris Odionu, Marcel O’Gorman, Mike Witkowski

1) Level I Credential
The Level I certification is currently in the hands of the Core Maintenance Committee and the College of Business Undergrad Curriculum Committee. The core committee is behind the idea all the way, even as it is stipulated in the grant itself, which involves replacing CIS 100 with an exam. The Business Curric. Committee is more guarded about the issue. They are concerned about who will be implementing the exam--students (Tech Mentors) or faculty. This could impact their accreditation.

Marcel will meet with both of these committees before the next meeting. Emmy has offered to arrange to have the Core Maintenance Committee take the Basic Skills Exam.

Ideally, the proficiency exam would work as a placement exam like the ones in English and Math. Students who pass would not take CIS 100, but would have to choose from another computer-intensive course, possibly one in their own, non-CIS major (could fulfill Level II).

OTHER COMMENTS:
Emmy: we need to look at how test is being administered; Student Life is putting 125 students/session in freshman orientation. It would be impossible to implement the test to such large numbers.

Tony: CIS CS and maybe E-Crit should sit together and determine what the competency of students should be.

Emmy: exam must sit OUTSIDE of any one department or college. It is a separate entity like other placement exams. Tony replied that Math and English do seem to sit in their respective colleges. This must be sorted out.

Elaine: The Level I issue is a question of both: a) administration; and b) determining content/criteria. Both of these issues have to be resolved.

2) Student e-Portfolios
Marcel and Tom will be meeting with Co-op administration this week to discuss the creation of an in-house portfolio system. This could replace the system currently used in Co-op classes, and could be offered to all UDM students. It would essentially be an FTP space where students can upload a resume and projects for prospective employers/grad schools to see. Marcel has also invited Jeff Rice to the meeting. Prof. Rice has a link at Clemson University, where they are organizing an e-portfolio research collaborative.

OTHER COMMENTS:
Elaine: This should be discussed with Sr. Nancy Surma, as it could have a positive impact on evaluation and assessment

Chris: be sure to include IT in proceeding with this plan. A Network Team person should be included to make sure that we won’t be overly taxing our resources.

3) iGrants for this budget year
There is $15,000 in the budget for iGrants this year. Marcel proposed using $10K of it for igrants and $5K for laptops to be given out at the Summer Institute. $3K that has been allocated to pay guest speakers at the Institute could also be put toward the laptops. The rest of the funds can come from rollover funds expected as a result of slight underspending last year.

The committee will look over the iGrant web page within the next couple of days and send recommended changes to Tom. The site should be functional by Monday, November 3. Marcel will send a message notifying faculty.

OTHER COMMENTS:
Elaine: we should establish very specific criteria for iGrants; we don’t want to disappoint people; it is important to specify that it must be a faculty member dealing with undergrad students. Elaine: encourage projects that encourage technology in the classroom; we should encourage pedagogy rather than research.

NEXT MEETING: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 AT 3PM IN THE FISHER 5TH FLOOR BOARD ROOM