Title V ─ Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (CFDA 84.031S)

Strengthening the Teaching and Learning Environment at Mercy College

Title V Grant:  $3 million over four years, October 2007 - October 2012

Grant Director:  Carolyn Tragni, Executive Dean for Academic Engagement and Planning

A large body of recent research points to the continued existence of the digital divide, particularly along demographic and socioeconomic lines (Davis, 2007).  This digital divide translates to institutions where access to cutting-edge teaching and learning technological resources remains disproportionately in the hands of more affluent institutions of higher education.  At many Hispanic Serving Institutions such as Mercy College, this digital divide is most acutely felt in terms of unavailability of digital tools, resources and services to increase digital knowledge, awareness and skills of students and faculty. Through facilities improvements, technology upgrades and a comprehensive technology-based faculty development program, this Title V project aims to address this problem at Mercy College. Mercy’s five-year plan for improving services for Hispanic students, and for other low-income and minority students, is at the heart of its Title V proposal. The five-year grant plan will increase student success and retention by improving facilities, instructional technologies and faculty proficiency with incorporating technology into the curriculum to improve teaching and learning.  The activities that were proposed and carried out in this Title V project are designed to benefit all students regardless of cultural, linguistic or economic background; in addition many activities specifically target the learning styles and needs of Hispanic and other low-income students.  

The goals of the $3 million dollar Title V Grant were to:

1) develop a Library Learning Commons in the Dobbs Ferry campus that will enable students to engage one another in an active learning environment;

2) develop a Faculty Development Laboratory that will provide faculty training on the use of technology-enabled classrooms and best practices for integrating technology into the curriculum;

3) broaden faculty technological skills and provide regular faculty development programs;

4) renovate and update science laboratories on the Dobbs Ferry Campus in an effort to infuse up-to-date technology into the science curriculum and provide avenues for hands-on learning opportunities;

5) increase the percentage of Hispanic and African American students in science and technology fields (Natural Science, Computer Science, and math majors) and increase the percentage of minority students who are retained and complete degrees in science and technology fields.

These objectives were generated directly from Mercy College’s 2007–2010 Strategic Plan, which involved a broad range of individuals representing the key constituencies at the College, particularly the academic and administrative areas that will be directly affected by these activities.  All activities were designed to become integral components in the educational experience of all Mercy College students. 

Title V Activity I:  Renovation of the Library Learning Commons

Activity Directors:  Mustafa Sakarya, Interim Library Director and Michele Lee, Library Learning Commons Librarian, both library faculty members

The Library Learning Commons (LLC) renovation was completed in Fall 2010. After a highly consultative process, Perry Dean Roger Architects completed the design plan for the learning commons and faculty teaching and learning center in January 2009. In addition to designing the library space, a course is being offered in the School of Business, Management 465: Entrepreneurship, whereby students developed a business plan for the LLC juice/coffee bar.  This course offers students the opportunity to engage in theory and practice while providing the college with a sustainable plan for the café operation.

The Library Learning Commons design includes:

·       Enhanced technology throughout the library

·       A faculty center for teaching and learning

·       Integrating learning center services into the library

·       A juice/coffee bar

·       Individual study carrels

·       Group study areas

·       Modular furniture for group or individual tutoring/studying

·       Comfortable seating

·       Dedicated space for student artwork

As Mercy College is home to the largest academic library in Westchester County, with a total of 176,579 volumes available at the Dobbs Ferry Campus alone (another 54,000 volumes are available at branch campuses in the Bronx, White Plains, Manhattan, and Yorktown), the renovation to the LLC has required an extensive collection weeding and shift to technological resources.  In addition, the LLC renovation has served as a catalyst for a functional and staffing reorganization of the library into a LLC organization. The associate provost has worked with the library director and approximately 30 faculty and staff in the library, media services, online learning and Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, on crafting a new organizational structure. Starting in summer 2008, three retreats were designed and held to engage the faculty and staff in identifying the mission and vision of this new organizational structure as well as crafting out the new services and staff roles that will be required in the new Library Learning Commons. A highlight was the engagement of Susan Perry, a consultant from the Mellon Foundation, and a leader in the Frye Leadership Institute, who will continue to work with us as we implement this new organizational structure with the opening of the LLC. Along with this reorganization, a search commenced for a new dean to lead these areas and was hired in summer of 2009. Dr. Braddlee came to Mercy College with over 20 years experience in technology and library initiatives as a nationally-known leader in the academic technology arena.

Title V:  Activity II, Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning

Activity Director:  Nancy Pawlyshyn, Chief Assessment Officer in Academic Affairs

Faculty-in-residence:  Marion Ben-Jacob (SLA); Donna Bookin (SSBS); John Fuller (SB); Michele Lee (LATOL); Howard Miller (SE); Laurie Olson (SHNS).

In the past, Faculty Professional Development at Mercy College was intermittent and not focused on utilizing technology to improve teaching and learning.  The diversity of the Mercy student population and the centrality of technology to modern life combine to demand new and more effective approaches to pedagogy.  Technology has been shown to be an important tool in providing the interactive learning environments that contemporary students need, even as mastery of technology itself has become a basic requirement for success in the workplace.  Educational research has demonstrated that the most meaningful learning takes place when students have direct, first-hand experience with concrete materials; as Davis (2007), Dyril (1995) and others suggest, the technologies available today offer powerful new ways to provide students with hands-on educational experiences in the classroom.  These writers support the conclusions of research by the International Society for Technology and Education, which indicates that technology, because it is interactive, fosters an increase in the quality and quantity of students’ thinking and learning.  Students become more independent and active learners, and through the use of teaching and learning resources that can be manipulated electronically, technology can extend the experience of students far beyond the time and space limitations of conventional classrooms (Dyrli, 1995).  Activity II of the Title V provides the faculty development resources needed to ensure that faculty better meet students’ learning needs. 

In the short time since its launch in fall 2008 under the Title V grant project, the new Mercy College Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning (FCTL) has forged effective partnerships and has aligned the community with an action orientation toward the institutions’ strategic goals of excellence in teaching and scholarship. Supported by the Title V grant, the development of the Faculty Center was led by the associate provost who was the activity director for the grant,  who brought together a creative and energetic 30-member Faculty Council to conduct the community needs assessment, lay the foundation for the Faculty Center, and create a strategic plan to implement the Center’s launch. In addition, a mission of the Faculty Center was developed by its faculty council during the planning year:

The Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning has been developed to ensure excellence in teaching and learning by promoting a college culture, through conferences and other mediums, where the Mercy community works collaboratively to champion pedagogy and research that acts as a concrete resource for the development and implementation of academic initiatives.

The Faculty Center works collaboratively with other components of the new organizational structure of the Library Learning Commons -- Online Learning and Academic Technology/Media Services -- and partners with faculty committees to advance their goals including:  Academic Computing, Faculty Development, and Student Learning Assessment Committee. The Faculty Center has quickly become the means to engaging faculty with advancing innovations, the way to facilitate achievement of tangible goals.

Highlights of Faculty Center activities and programs

·       Programs, orientations and mentoring opportunities for new faculty;

·       Video-conferenced workshops to three campuses simultaneously;

·       Partnership with IT, Mercy Online to provide technology training;

·       Partnership with the Assessment function of the College to provide a venue for faculty engagement and training in best practices in assessment;

·       Training on SMART classroom technology;

·       Symposia for current issues:  State of the Economy with a Federal Reserve Economist; UN Ambassador Series; a UN Pathways Video conference sponsored in conjunction with the Office of Global Learning of Fairleigh Dickinson University;

·       Development of faculty scholarship with grant writing workshops and cohorts;

·       Sponsorship of Faculty Learning Communities:  including Mercy College E-portfolio Project,  iClickers; both are innovative technology tools proven to significantly increase faculty   and student engagement as well as assessment of student learning outcomes; Digital Storytelling; WIMBA; Social Justice; Grant Writing.

·       Collaboration with the Faculty Development Committee and Office of the Provost on Faculty Seminar Day;

·       Sponsorship of faculty participation in conferences related to faculty development.

·       Workshops on grant development and grant writing.

·       Workshops on the Promotion and Tenure process.

In its first year, the Center held over two dozen events and sponsored 82 activities attended by over 300 full and part-time faculty. In the second year that increased to over 135.

Title V:  Activity III:  Science Labs

Activity Director:  Mario Ciani, Assistant Professor and Chair in Natural Sciences

Activity III of the Title V grant renovated and updated science laboratories on the Dobbs Ferry Campus in an effort to infuse up-to-date technology into the science curriculum and provide avenues for hands-on learning opportunities. This activity initiated in October 2009. A technician to oversee this project was hired, May 2009. A major emphasis on this Activity has taken place in 2010.

INSTITUTIONAL GOALS and MEASUREABLE OBJECTIVES: 

Goal 1:  To develop a Learning Commons in the Dobbs Ferry Campus library that will enable students to engage one another in an active learning environment.

Objective 1.  In Year 1 of the project, renovate space within the Library at the Dobbs Ferry Campus to establish, equip and furnish a comprehensive, student-centered Learning Commons.  (Significant Problem 1)

Objective 2.  In years 2-5 of the project provide a comprehensive series of activities within the Learning Commons to promote active learning. (Significant Problem 2)

Goal 2:  To develop a Faculty Development Laboratory that will provide faculty training on the use of technology enabled classrooms and best practices for integrating technology into the curriculum.

Objective 3:  In Year 2 of the project, establish a Faculty Development Center within the Learning Commons at the Dobbs Ferry Campus.  (Significant Problems 2 and 3)

Objective 4:  Provide a series of Faculty Development Training activities for Mercy College faculty in each year of the project beginning in Year 2.  (Significant Problems 2 and 3)

Goal 3:  To broaden faculty technological skills and provide regular faculty development programs. 

Objective 6:  In year 2 of the project hire an instructional designer and implement a series of faculty training programs geared toward integrating technology into the curriculum. (Significant Problems 2 and 3)

Goal 4:  To renovate and update science laboratories on the Dobbs Ferry Campus in an effort to infuse up-to-date technology into the science curriculum and provide avenues for hands-on learning opportunities.   

Objective 7:  Beginning in Year 3, renovate and equip one science laboratory in each project year (Years 3-5) and equip each renovated laboratory with technology-rich teaching and learning resources.  (Significant Problems 1 and 4).

Goal 5:  To increase the percentage of Hispanic and African American students in science and technology fields (Natural Science, Computer Science, and math majors) and increase the percentage of minority students who are retained and complete degrees in science and technology fields.

Objective 8.  Implement a series of science improvement initiatives and activities that focus on supporting undergraduate Natural Science, Computer Science and Math majors.  (Significant Problem 1)