Memo in support of the Senate resolution of October 14th, 2021, from the Faculty Senate Technology Committee, composed and agreed during our meeting of the 18th November 2021.

The Faculty Senate Technology Committee strongly supports the Resolution on Faculty Development and Online Instruction, passed by unanimous vote of the John Jay College Faculty Senate on October 14, 2021.   We acknowledge the need for faculty to be supported appropriately by skilled instructional designers, and we appreciate the granting of $500,000 to the college for support of the transition to online learning; however, faculty have not been adequately consulted.  We are concerned that course development is being led by and prescribed by the Department of Online Education and Support (DOES) rather than by faculty, academic departments, UCASC, and Undergraduate Studies, which, along with the move to standardization, makes this plan inconsistent with academic freedom. It is also not in accordance with our normal course development process, and does not reflect faculty responsibility for curriculum development.  Normal course development does not require faculty sharing their IP rights with the college and we are concerned about the implications of this change.

We are also concerned that the technology is “leading the curriculum” and  limits faculty innovation and creativity. The insistence on Blackboard as the course hosting platform goes against the spirit of the SUNY Open Standards that DOES has stated it will follow, as Blackboard is not an Open tool.  The implied exclusive focus on asynchronous delivery is also problematic.

Given these concerns and our urgent need to upgrade classroom technology for in-person instruction, the College should give more thought to where and how resources are allocated and ensure that faculty lead curriculum development.

Emailed on behalf of the committee. 18th November 2021.

Ellen Sexton, & Valerie West, co-chairs, FacTech.

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Resolution by the Faculty Senate Technology Committee, calling on John Jay College to provide Qualtrics licenses to all faculty who need them.  5th May 2021.

Whereas it is the responsibility of the Faculty Senate Technology subcommittee to discuss and identify technology related issues at the College that adversely affect the faculty;

Whereas the research productivity of the faculty has been hindered by the pandemic conditions;

Whereas faculty carrying out quantitative research have need of tools with which to carry out their work;

Whereas Qualtrics is a leading analytical tool in the field of quantitative research;

Whereas quantitative statistical analysis performed with Qualtrics is cited in professional and academic journals;

Whereas researchers often use Qualtrics as a survey tool and combine it with SPSS to analyze their survey data;

Whereas we have been hearing from faculty who are familiar with the power of Qualtrics and have voiced their need for it;

Whereas it is expensive for individuals to acquire; and

Whereas the college provides us with other software for our work;

Be it resolved that, to aid faculty with their research,  the College provide Qualtrics licenses for all faculty who request it; and

Be it further resolved that the College create a transparent and publicized process by which faculty can request and obtain Qualtrics.

 

Faculty Senate Technology Committee, 5th May 2021.

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