SUBJECT: Strategic Priorities for Course Scheduling and Modalities Inbox

Greetings, all:

We hope everyone is doing well. 

You received last month a communication which shared the recently administered student survey that sought to better understand the experiences and needs of UM-Dearborn students, particularly during this present moment of significant and rapid changes to their learning environments and personal lives. 

The survey, however, is just one part of an ongoing conversation and series of activities (e.g., student mental health programming) that are happening around campus to ensure we are living up to our mission of being “a caring, inclusive, student-focused institution.” As promised, we are sharing as a follow up to the student experience survey the Strategic Priorities for Course Scheduling and Modalities Report along with supplemental related course data appendix and a Guide for Evaluating Program Schedules & Modalities with an accompanying one-page version.

The report and accompanying documents present a scheduling and modalities framework not based on a single metric or particular modality but on the proposition that it is vital that we explicitly and actively overcome and alleviate our students’ course scheduling challenges, which ultimately hinder students’ progress toward graduation. The report lays out the strategy and the Guide document offers up step-by-step considerations and tools to help disciplines consider and address some of the primary challenges students face. 

As we all know, the scheduling challenges students face are varied and complex as they seek to fulfill their degree requirements, ranging from their course needs as transfer students, to their time constraints as caregivers, to their scheduling conflicts as students majoring in a program that only offers a specialized class once a year on a day and time that they must be at work. The solutions to each of these challenges will in turn look different, which is why we ask that every discipline undertake an evaluation to determine where the program and degree bottlenecks might occur and how they can be remedied. 

We encourage everyone to read the report and accompanying documents, particularly the guide. For faculty who have questions, the following four sessions will be held in March which are intended to provide an overview and discussion opportunity. 

• Wednesday, March 8th, 12-1PM
• Friday, March 10th, 10-11AM
• Tuesday, March 14th, 2-3PM
• Thursday, March 23, 9-10AM

As a reminder, the Hub for Teaching & Learning is in the process of conducting student focus groups so you will receive a follow-up communication sharing the student feedback from that effort later in the semester. 

Regards,

Mitchel Sollenberger, Associate Provost

Chris Casey, University Coordinator of Digital Education

Emily Matthews Luxon, Assessment Subcommittee Chair

Carla Vecchiola, Director of the Hub for Teaching & Learning Resources