This is my favorite time of year when we can celebrate
holidays
with family, friends, and our communities. As a community of faculty, I hope you feel connected to us here at NGS and feel a part of our group of teachers and learners in our special place in higher education. It has been a pleasure getting to know you over the past months; I am eager to speak with each of you when you have a few minutes to call or email me. I enjoy hearing about what we do well and what we can do better to assist you with the most important job of teaching our students.
First, I would like to thank M.J. Vieweg, our past Administrative Assistant for the MS and BSc Programs, for her dedication and hard work with us here at NGS. This past Monday was her last day with us and I know many of our MS and BSc faculty have interacted with her to deal with faculty contracts, details about courses, and many other essential parts of the teaching process. M.J.
was
always there (virtually out there in N.C.) for us and dealt with faculty, students and staff in a kind and professional manner. We are sad to see her leave, but excited for her as she moves on to her next journey. Thank you for wishing her well as she will be missed.
Second, I am delighted to introduce Ms. Maura Burke, our new Administrative Assistant in Academic Affairs here on campus in Falmouth. She is responsible for all the administrative details for the BSc, MS, and certificate programs; this includes data tracking for faculty and students, scheduling, dealing with student issues, and working on special academic projects with us in Academic Affairs. Maura earned her B.A.
from
Stonehill College and her M.A.
in Communication from
Miami University. While at Miami University, she served as a Graduate Assistant, as well as an Instructor and Director of the Collaborative Learning Program. She has worked
at
numerous companies and brings an excitement to be in higher education. Please welcome Maura to our NGS community and reach out to her with your BSc and MS administrative questions. (
mburke@ngs.edu)
Third, a special thank you to Dr. Patricia Murrin, our NGS BSc Program Chair, who has taken the lead to work with me above and beyond the call of duty to initiate our new Faculty Training and Professional Development sessions. Professor Jack Kovalcik, Program Chair for our MS Program, and Dr. David Braga, Program Chair for our DBA Program, will also present some of the information that is important for faculty to know in all three programs. There are 21 modules for this first training and we will be recording two one-hour sessions for all faculty to watch and
hear
at their convenience. Then, in mid-January, we will send out dates by degree program for one-hour open sessions for faculty to attend a GoToMeeting (GTM) session with Program Chairs and me to answer any questions about the training. We are excited to roll out the start of these training sessions designed to assist you with administrative details, program updates, technology, and best practices. An outline for the first set of training modules is listed here:
First Session Modules (One hour)
1. NGS Background
2. Our NGS Students-Adult and 21st Century Learners
3. What's New at NGS
4. Curriculum Committee, 2015-2016
5. Curriculum Development Committee (CDC) Updates
6. Program Chair Updates
7. Orientation Course
8. Preparing for the First Class
9. The Business Project
10. Student and Faculty Resources
11. Classroom Structure/Layout
Second Session Modules (One hour)
12.
Faculty Policies and Responsibilities
13.
Go to Meeting (GTM) Basics
14.
Project Tracker
15.
Grading
16.
Grading Rubrics
17.
Incomplete Grades
18.
End-of-Course Evaluation
19.
Best Practices for Online Teaching
20.
Netiquette
21.
Next Steps and Where to Turn for Help