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Contact Information:

Graduate Studies Information and Admission

Layne Nelson
(970) 943-2885
lnelson@western.edu

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing
Mark Todd
(970) 943-2016
mtodd@western.edu
 

Publishing Certificate
Teresa Milbrodt
tmilbrodt@western.edu

Intern Director of Teacher Education Program., Accreditation Assessment Coordinator
Linda Manzano- Larsen
(970) 943-7041
lmanzano@western.edu
 
Master of Arts in Education 
Barbara Woerner 
(970) 943-2030
bwoerner@western.edu
Master in Environmental Management

John Huasdoerffer
(970) 943-3450
jhausdoerffer@western.edu

 

Graduate Faculty Training & Support

Quality Matters Standards

Through the implementation of the Quality Matters (QM) rubric standards the online graduate faculty will be provided with appropriate technical, design, and production supports.

The online graduate faculty is supported through the use of the Quality Matters Rubric and process in the following ways:

Continuous

    • The Quality Matters process is designed to ensure that all reviewed courses will eventually meet expectations.
    • The process is integral to a continuous quality improvement process.


Centered

    • On research - the development of the rubric is based in national standards of best practice, the research literature, and instructional design principles.
    • On student learning - the rubric and process are designed to promote student learning.
    • On quality - the review sets a quality goal at the 85% level or better (courses do not have to be perfect but better than good enough).


Collegial

    • A Quality Matters review is part of a faculty-driven, peer review process.
    • The review process is intended to be diagnostic and collegial, not evaluative and judgmental.


Collaborative

    • The review is based on collaboratively identified evidence found in the course rather than the personal preference of an individual reviewer.
    • The review is flexible and not prescriptive (many ways to meet each standard).
    • The review team consists of three experienced online instructors as reviewers along with the course faculty developer

Benefits of the Quality Matters process for faculty and Western State College of Colorado include the following:

    • Confirms Western's commitment to excellence in online learning
    • Provides for a continuous quality review of online courses through a systematic process
    • Offers a collaborative approach to online course development
    • Supports on-going faculty development based on needs assessment
    • Uses a faculty centered process grounded in research that assists students
    • Offers access to instructional design support
    • Assists Western State College of Colorado in meeting the Accreditation Standards for Distance Learning

Required Training and Supports:


Course Designers: All Western State College of Colorado faculty serving as graduate online course designers will be required to use the current campus and/or department approved course management system (i.e. Blackboard) and supporting software (i.e. Softchalk, Wimba, etc). All Western State College of Colorado faculty serving as graduate online course designers will be required to participate, or demonstrate proficiency, in the following trainings leading to Western State College Online Initial Course Designer Certification:

 

Course Instructors: All Western State College of Colorado faculty serving as graduate online course instructors will be required to participate, or demonstrate proficiency, in the following trainings leading to Western State College Online Initial Course Instructor Certification:

Additional Trainings and Supports:

Additional faculty trainings and supports will be determined and designed based on needs assessment using faculty surveys, student surveys, and recommendations from the Western State College Online Course Review Team, based on a synthesis of results from campus wide reviews.

Supports:

In addition to our available Western State College of Colorado campus-wide technology support, it is proposed that all Western State College Online Graduate Course Designers and Instructors enroll in a Western State College online collaborative support site. The site would:

  • allow faculty to access additional resources for improving courses including books, articles, websites, and video tutorials
  • encourage faculty to participate in discussions with colleagues on how to improve online course design and instruction
  • provide faculty with awareness of upcoming training opportunities
  • promote a "faculty helping faculty" approach
  • offer timely "tips of the week" for improving courses, and
  • provide an avenue for Q & A, in which participants could pose questions and colleagues could respond with answers or ideas.

Potential Basic Trainings:

Potential Advanced Trainings: