An Academic Vision for

Mitchell College

Why an Academic Vision?

• Pathway Through Whitewater:a. Intense Competitionb. Price Inelasticityc. Indistinct Profiled. Brand inflexibility and student draw

• Why not programs? No sweet spota. Generic fields owned by publics and for-profitsb. Technical fields owned by the community

collegesc. Short windows of dominance

Whither Mitchell?

Think:• Alverno (Assessment-based Curriculum)• Deep Springs (Study/Work balance)• St. John’s, MD (Great Books)• Evergreen College (Collaborative learning)

All are known beyond their range. Mitchell can be known beyond its range for its

teaching model.

Parameters of the Vision

• Collective Commitment• Long-term Commitment• Guidance for• Academic program development• Review• Professional development• Future appointments

Six Statements to Frame a Vision• A collective model of teaching/learning at Mitchell, driven by…

• The belief that the goal is the achievement of learning and that the pathways our students may take will vary by their needs

Six Statements to Frame a Vision• A collective model of teaching/learning at Mitchell, driven by…

• The belief that the goal is the achievement of learning and that the pathways our students may take will vary by their needs

• A living/learning model that backs each student’s learning goals

Six Statements to Frame a Vision• A collective model of teaching/learning at Mitchell, driven by…

• The belief that the goal is the achievement of learning and that the pathways our students may take will vary by their needs

• A living/learning model that backs each student’s learning goals

• A classroom culture that nurtures learning, supported by a student-owned contract that empowers their inquiry, calls all of us to an honor code, and regulates disruptive behaviors

Six Statements to Frame a Vision• A collective model of teaching/learning at Mitchell, driven by…

• The belief that the goal is the achievement of learning and that the pathways our students may take will vary by their needs

• A living/learning model that backs each student’s learning goals

• A classroom culture that nurture learning, supported by a student-owned contract that empowers their inquiry, calls all of us to an honor code, and regulates disruptive behaviors

• Major outcomes that “demonstrate” or “speak to”

Six Statements to Frame a Vision• A collective model of teaching/learning at Mitchell, driven by…

• The belief that the goal is the achievement of learning and that the pathways our students may take will vary by their needs

• A living/learning model that backs each student’s learning goals

• A classroom culture that nurture learning, supported by a student-owned contract that empowers their inquiry, calls all of us to an honor code, and regulates disruptive behaviors

• Major outcomes that “demonstrate” or “speak to”

• The professional development to make the model live

To Realize the Vision, We Need To• Assure that the Mitchell expectation of what needs to be learned in

each content area reaches the same level of achievement

• Identify the student pathways we will embrace and create an instructional toolbox

Implementation Will• Be a multi-year process

• Occur in increments as we reinvent parts of courses and programs

• Be supported

• Digital Tools• Video tutorials• Portfolios• Adaptive learning software• iTunes University, et al

• Pedagogical Tools• Mastery learning• Project-based learning• Dual-format assignments

• Flipped classroom formats• Learning-disability-

sensitive techniques• Contracts• Team-centric learning• Peer models• Honors-enriched curricula

Some Toolbox Options

Next Steps

• Full-time Faculty Commitment• Spring 2014: Each FT faculty member will

implement one toolbox innovation into at least one course

• Will allow MC to plant a public stake• Expectations of Students

• Contract• Extended First-Year Seminar

• Initial Planning for Adjuncts to Participate

Commitments to DateFaculty Course Toolbox

Karen Ward GC105 Peer ModelRobert Brandt TBD Peer Model

Bob Forcier H110,HT301 Dual Format, Project, iTunesU Vicky Brennan CH112 and BI143 Voice Annotated Power Point(s)

Catherine Wright PY313, PY332, BS331 Video (iTunes, OER, etc) Links

George Wezner CJ247 YouTube, iTunesU, OER and Project Based Sections

Pat Phillips Blogs and Pintrest (Collage Dev)Marc Goldsmith CO300 iTunesU, OER and/or MERLOT

Jeff Van Kirk Cj332 Res Meth 2 Lecture to Project Based

Dean Roberts

PE121Video links (iTunes, OER, etc), Video

Tutorials (Student Dev)

Dan Kresge

PE199

Video links (iTunes, OER, etc), Video Tutorials (Student Dev)

Denise Braley HT130 Peer Model

The Vision, When We’re There

• A multiple-learning-style college for top performers and the learning challenged

• A communitarian college where student-to-student support is incentivized and valued

• A college where full-time and extended faculty partner to propagate learning across the campus