Support for Shared Programs
Administrative Support
Support for Commonwealth Campuses Chief Academic Officers and Program Coordinators in the exploration, selection, planning, development, and logistics of shared academic programs is provided via the Office of the Senior Vice President of the Commonwealth Campuses.
Campus registrars and campus accessibility liasions also provide support relevant to their areas.
Teaching Support
Support relevant to teaching a Shared Programs or DLC course is offered by OVPCC instructional designers, liaison librarians, Teaching and Learning with Technology, and Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence. Utilizing these resources can help faculty make courses more inviting to students and ease barriers to teaching in different instructional modes.
Instructional Design
Elizabeth Huck, Director of Statewide Instructional Design for the Commonwealth Campuses, leads instructional design support for Shared Programs courses. Glenn Kuntz and Elizabeth Park also support Shared Programs through their split roles with the OVPCC.
Instructional Consultation
Instructional Designers offer support in the following areas:
- aligning learning objectives with expected course outcomes and learning activities or course artifacts,
- maximizing engaged learning in video conferencing class sessions, as well as online only courses, for improved student success,
- identifying/leveraging technology to support course needs (Kaltura, VoiceThread, Turnitin, Canvas, Zoom, TopHat),
- developing and sequencing content sections, learning, activities, or assignments, and
- developing an assessment plan (determining assessment approaches and guidance in grading).
Semester-long Consultation
The Instructional Designers and faculty member collaborate through the stages of transforming a course to a new teaching modality. An initial meeting and possibly two to five additional meetings as touch points will be used to guide faculty through the design process which include things to consider, syllabus, goals and lesson objectives, feedback and assessment, teaching and learning activities, and assembling the components into a coherent whole. Requests or needs are typically identified two or more months prior to the start of the semester.
Intensive Course Designs / Redesigns
The Instructional Designers and faculty member work together throughout the design, development, and delivery of a course with many touchpoints across the duration of the process both via asynchronous communications and meetings. For requests made one semester in advance.
Course Review
Penn State has created and utilized the Penn State Quality Assurance e-Learning Design Standards for many years in order to provide a measure of quality for courses serving the e-learning needs of Penn State students. These standards are based upon the Quality Matters Rubric for which Penn State is a subscribing member of the Quality Matters Organization.
As a service of courses offered within Shared Programs, the instructional designers that support Shared Programs can either facilitate a peer review of your course, conduct an instructional designer review of your course, or assist with a self-check of your course.
Teaching Review
In addition to the course quality, Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences has created a Faculty Peer Review of Online Teaching and a Faculty Peer Review of Hybrid Courses that are both used throughout Penn State. Each guide is based on the “Seven Principles for Good Practices in Undergraduate Education,” a summary of 50 years of higher education research that addresses good teaching and learning practices.
As a service of courses offered within Shared Programs, the instructional designers that support Shared Programs can either facilitate a peer review of your teaching or conduct an instructional designer review of your teaching.
Library
Liaison librarians are available for each Shared Program. They can join your course or provide resources specific to your content. These deep linking options bring a wealth of Penn State resources directly to your students’ learning space, no matter what campus they attend. Library tutorials and research guides can be embedded into your Canvas course. The tutorials cover a range of topics, including critical thinking, citations, and library research. Faculty may also select optional quizzes or interactive multimedia. Contact Emily Rimland to discuss tutorials for your courses.
Research guides specific to your course or discipline may be integrated into Canvas. To learn more about these guides, contact your Shared Programs liaison librarian as listed below.
Liaison Librarians for Shared Programs
|
Shared Program |
Liaison Librarian |
| Computer Science | Amy Deuink |
| Corporate Communication | Jason Reuscher |
| Cybersecurity | Matthew Wayman |
| English | Kristin E. C. Green |
| Health Policy and Administration (Hazleton, Schuylkill) | Jen Jarson |
| Health Policy and Administration (Harrisburg, Mont Alto) | Emily Reed |
| Project and Supply Chain Management | Molly Abdalla |
| Information Science and Technology | Jennifer Gilley |
| Criminal Justice (Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre) | Valerie Lynn |
| Criminal Justice (New Kensington, Shenango, Beaver) | Jennifer Gilley |
Teaching and Learning with Technology
The mission of Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) is “to innovate with technologies that transform teaching and learning in positive and enduring ways. TLT supports several initiatives aimed at fulfilling their mission including professional development opportunities, learning spaces, and research. One program that may be especially beneficial for shared programs faculty is BlendLT, which is guided redesign support for faculty interested in revising a traditional course into a hybrid course.
Media Commons is provided by Teaching and Learning with Technology, part of University Libraries, whose primary mission is to provide expert guidance and support for the Penn State community as it strives to enrich the learning experience through appropriate and pedagogically sound uses of digital media technologies for teaching.
Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence
The Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence (SITE)’s mission is to “advance and inspire excellence in Penn State’s teaching and learning community. The Schreyer Institute provides workshops, presentations, consultations, grant and research support, and course observations.
Peer to Peer Support
Shared Courses Teaching Shapes invite instructors from diverse disciplines to join a group of 3-4 faculty to visit each other’s shared courses to observe other methods of teaching, gather formative feedback on your own instruction, reflect on remote teaching practices.