By James Stenerson
 Director - Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology

Welcome to the first issue of the academic year of The Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology's Cornerstone. It is hard to believe that the Fall Semester is almost over. I remember the old proverb about time flying by--somehow I feel this semester went by especially fast. It has been a while since our last publication and there are a number of updates that I wanted to share with you.

At the end of summer, Dr. Linda Anstendig resigned as co-director of the Pforzheimer Center for Faculty Development. We cannot thank Linda enough for all her support and great ideas concerning all the dynamics that impact faculty in the ever-changing teaching and learning environment of Higher Education. Linda remains on our advisory board and we will continue to seek her advice as we move forward. I am please to report that Dr. Randi Priluck from the Lubin School of Business has agreed to serve as co-director for the New York Campus. During her first semester in this role, Randi has proven herself to be a valuable asset offering some dynamic program proposals and reiterating the need to support all faculty. Dr. Constance Knapp from the School of Computer Science and Information Systems remains as the co-director for the Westchester campuses and has been a vital resource. We are so fortunate to have both Connie and Randi serve as co-directors!

I am also pleased to announce that The Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT) welcomed some new staff last summer. If you are familiar with our operation, you have met these individuals already. First, Christine Moloughney joined us as Coordinator of Support Services for Online Teaching and Learning. Before arriving at CTLT, Christine worked for DoIT at the Graduate Center where she was supervisor of User Services. I have asked Christine to make certain that all administrative and academic support have a web presence so that faculty and students involved with asynchronous or web-assisted courses can rely on quality service. Next, I am pleased to report that Christina Ojar joined the CTLT staff as Evening Program Coordinator in Pleasantville. Chris has been keeping busy by providing evening support service for faculty and students. In addition, she is an essential administrative support person for the CTLT and Pforzheimer when it comes to event planning, budget management, as well as other administrative tasks. Before joining CTLT, Chris was with the Wildlife Conservation Society where she worked in the Division of International Programs. Lastly, I am happy to report that Woody Batts has joined our team as the Courseware Designer located on the New York City campus. Woody has already assisted many faculty members with uploading and creating materials for their Blackboard course sites. And, Woody has been creating various multi-media modules. Before joining Pace, Woody was at Maryland Institute College of Art where he was a professor of video and electronic arts. Christine, Chris and Woody join a well established and respected staff which includes Dhal Anglada as the Instructional Designer, Kristina Leonardo as our Courseware/Web Designer for Westchester and Joe Seijo as Courseware Developer/Coordinator.

I do want to briefly mention that CTLT is planning some exciting programs for the spring and you should watch for details as they become available. We will continue to host our Course Development Days (Pleasantville and New York) in January. We will also be hosting the Third Annual Faculty Institute which will occur in May on the New York City campus. Other projects we are planning are an adjunct faculty reception, a research exchange forum for non-tenured faculty and workshops on assessment. We realize that everyone receives too much email, but please watch for an email in the next couple of weeks announcing these dates. Or, check our website for up-to-date information.

One other initiative taking place in the early part of the spring semester is a questionnaire to determine faculty use of instructional technology at the University. The questionnaire was developed by our Teaching, Learning and Technology Roundtable and I ask that you take a few moments to answer it. We need to hear your opinions.

I do hope that you take the time to read this newsletter--it provides you with a number of articles that we hope you will find useful. Highlights include:

• Connie Knapp submitted a report on the Collaborative Learning Conference held a few weeks ago at Pace.
• Randi Priluck authored an article on “"Faculty as More than Facilitators of Learning."
• Sarah Burns Feyl (Library) contributed an article on the Information Commons initiative.
• Dr. Michael Gillen shares his experiences with teaching a history course online.
• Prof. Sue Schmid offers insights on her experience with the Honors College Freshman Laptop Program.
• Woody Batts offers some insight to multi-media.
• Kristina Leonardo discusses the effective use of assessment in BlackBoard.
• Joe Seijo looks at being intimidated by computers.
• There is a new feature of the Newsletter entitled “"Book of the Month" and Dhal Anglada reviews a book entitled "Teaching Online - A Practical Guide."
  
  As with the previous issues, I want to thank Joe Seijo who is the editor of Cornerstone and I know that you will agree that he has done a fantastic job putting it all together. Enjoy this newsletter--and remember that your feedback is important to us. Thanks and I hope you have a great end to the semester!
  
  Jim Stenerson
  

NEW CTLT STAFF:


Christine Moloughney



Woody Batts



Christina Ojar