What People are Saying About Provost’s Challenge

The SMSU Ballroom was buzzing with excitement on May 19. Hundreds came to celebrate the completion of the Provost’s Challenge projects.

The Provost’s Challenge launched in the Fall 2012 with ideas generated by faculty and staff. The Challenge provided the infrastructure and funds to innovate and implement technological solutions to change curriculum and student processes. Their collective impact on the student experience is greater than the sum of the parts and reflect PSU’s ability to engage in transformational change.

Time to Celebrate Provost’s Challenge

On Tuesday, May 19, 2015, from 3 to 5 p.m. in SMSU Ballroom, join your colleagues for an informal celebratory and interactive event to honor the outstanding accomplishments of Provost’s Challenge faculty and staff teams, Office of Academic Innovation and the Provost’s Challenge project managers.  

Exploring PSU Online

The Provost’s Challenge and reTHINK PSU have increased our online footprint. This spring quarter we plan to launch an online portal – PSU Online will help students find online pathways, course offerings and programs.

The demand for online courses has increased. The 2013 Survey of Online Learning revealed:

• Over 7.1 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2012 term; an increase of 411,000 students over the previous year.
• Thirty-three percent of higher education students now take at least one course online.

Here is How PSU Can Reduce Textbook Costs

PSU is making college more affordable for students by reducing the cost of textbooks and course materials. A comprehensive report prepared by the PSU Task Force outlines 46 strategies that the University can undertake.

The Task Force
The 13 member Task Force involved in the launch of the report, “Textbooks and Course Materials: Reducing Student Costs,” was appointed by Bob Liebman, Presiding Officer of PSU Faculty Senate; Eric Noll, President of Associated Students of PSU (ASPSU); and myself. It includes students, faculty and staff and was led by Marilyn Moody, Dean of the University Library.

Badge it!

I recently blogged about the completion of five Provost’s Challenge Projects. One of them was Digital Badges for Creativity and Critical Thinking. It is a project that demonstrates great potential for assessing student learning and also raises a number of issues that we, as a university, need to discuss.

So, what are badges?
The MacArthur Foundation defines digital badges as “an assessment and credentialing mechanism that is housed and managed online. Badges are designed to make visible and validate learning in both formal and informal settings, and hold the potential to help transform where and how learning is valued.” Many universities and other groups have developed badges—some for credit, some not for credit. There are hundreds and hundreds of badges available via open badge platforms such as Mozilla.

Home Stretch on Provost’s Challenge

Thanks to the efforts of so many, we are really making headway on the Provost’s Challenge projects. Thirteen projects have been completed since the awards were made in 2013. Here is a brief update of the five most recently completed since the December 2014 status report.