Summer 2020 Request for Proposals / Intent to Teach Incoming First-Year & Transfer Students

05/03/20

As described in the recent all-faculty meeting, the college is undertaking a new summer initiative to support our incoming first-year and transfer students.

A small group of faculty members are thoughtfully but quickly developing two one-credit courses designed to encourage students to reflect on their transition to college and to engage with Ithaca College’s intellectual communities. 

Our incoming class will be invited to take one one-credit class for free and up to two additional one-credit classes at a subsidized rate. These classes are optional for students.

The two pre-developed classes (pending curricular approval) to be offered in Summer II (June 29-July 31, 2020) will be: 

College: Learning to Learn (LA) 
This interdisciplinary mini-seminar is designed to welcome brand new students to the vibrant learning community of Ithaca College and to the aspirations of a higher education. Designed to be taken online in the summer immediately prior to arriving at IC, it draws on a number of disciplinary perspectives to explore and discuss what it means to be a college student, to embark on the journey of a college education, and to begin a college experience equipped with the science for success. (SU) 1 Credit

Community: A Shared Intellectual Experience (LA) 
This interdisciplinary mini-seminar is designed to welcome brand new students to the vibrant learning community of Ithaca College and its wider host community of Ithaca, NY. Designed to be taken online in the summer immediately prior to arriving at IC, it draws on a number of disciplinary perspectives to explore and discuss what it means to be a part of a community, connecting the different worlds and identities of each student’s lived experiences and the new communities we now enter, imagine, or seek to build at the outset of a college experience. (SU) 1 Credit

Similar to Ithaca Seminars, the faculty who teach these courses, while sharing much in common across the sections, bring their own particular areas of expertise and enthusiasm to bear on the way the courses are delivered. Faculty will be compensated at the standard overload per credit rate for one credit.

Faculty should complete this simple online form to signal their intent to teach one or both of the above one-credit courses.

To propose a new one-credit course to include among a roster of third course options for students, follow these guidelines and instructions:

Courses proposed should:

• Develop the skills and strategies for academic success for incoming first-year students; introduce and engage them in a community
• Be offered over the five-week period aligned with summer session II: June 29-July 31, 2020
• Be open to all students across schools
• Be available in sections with a minimum capacity of 20 students
• Be scalable, allowing multiple sections of the same experience, at the same time, to be offered as demand increases
• Be synchronous, asynchronous, or blended delivery, but with any synchronous scheduling coordinated with planning team/other offerings
• Synchronous for no more than 2.5 hours / week (suggested synchronous scheduling for student accessibility is weekdays between 11:00-2:00 pm)
• Be offered pass/fail
• Be accessible; incorporate universal design for instruction (instructional design support available)
• Require mostly or only electronic resources, including texts and media that can be provided to students via the Sakai platform for free
• Be collaborative, coordinated with faculty across the department(s) or school(s)​
• Have dean and department chair support

Proposals should:

• Provide a course title and brief course description
• Briefly explain how short-term and long-term retention goals described above are met
• Indicate whether the course proposed is existing or experimental
• Indicate and explain any unmet parameters described above
• Identify the potential instructional team
• Indicate whether course will be delivered synchronously, asynchronously, or in a blended format

Deadline and timeline for review:

• Proposals should be emailed to jwofford@ithaca.edu by May 11, copying both dean and department chair ​
• Proposals will be reviewed by committee, based on parameters outlined above and within the context of all other proposals
• Reply will be made via email on or before May 15th

Questions can be directed to Jen Wofford at jwofford@ithaca.edu.

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