Inter Faculty Organization

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Faculty Update

October 2003

www.ifo.org

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

This is the second in a series of Faculty Update newsletters -- an attempt to keep you informed of what is happening on a variety of issues facing the Inter Faculty Organization.  If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at pehler@ifo.org or by calling 800/325-9644 x0 or 651/227-8442 x0.

In today's issue there is an update on the negotiation meetings between the Inter Faculty Organization and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, and an article on the status of our insurance and coalition bargaining.  A third item is a calendar on the events occurring in this coming school year.  You will notice that on March 26-27, 2004 we have the Delegate Assembly.  I would strongly urge you to submit your name to your local Faculty Association office to become a delegate for this biennial event.

The Delegate Assembly is a process by which faculty representatives gather together to propose, discuss and implement the issues facing faculty at the various State Universities.  Delegate Assembly resolutions are the basis for our negotiating goals and become the cornerstone of our proposals to MnSCU.

Also below you will find an article on Desire2Learn.  John O'Brien, MnSCU's Associate Vice Chancellor, Instructional Technology, and Deputy Chief Information Officer, forwarded an article to us regarding this IMS program.  MnSCU is in the process of hiring a project team leader to handle the implementation of this new program.

Inter Faculty Organization Events Calendar 2003-2004

CONTRACT TOPICS

2003-2005 IFO/MnSCU Contract Bargaining Chronology
by Wil Harri, Office Administrator

Insurance and Coalition Bargaining
by Wil Harri, Office Administrator 

Representatives from the Department of Employee Relations and representatives from each of the State collective bargaining groups meet jointly to negotiate standardized insurance plans for all state employees. Each union has 2 authorized representatives on this joint health coalition. Historically, this insurance negotiation process is concluded in the overall negotiations for the AFSCME and MAPE bargaining units and the plans are subsequently adopted by other bargaining units.  

A major restructuring of the health insurance plan took place several years ago when the parties negotiated the “Advantage” plan which involved greater “cost sharing” and categorized clinics by cost levels.

Seeking to avoid any increase in insurance costs the state has proposed substantial decreases in benefits accompanied by greater cost shifting to the employee with respect to copays, annual maximums, and employee-paid premiums. A detailed description of the State’s proposal may be examined at AFSCME’s website:
http://www.afscmecouncil6.org/claudia/publications/negreps/statenegrep.htm

AFSCME and MAPE have scheduled October 9^th and 10^th for negotiating sessions and insurance will be the linchpin of any negotiated settlement.

The State has filed mediation petitions for the bargaining units to expedite reaching negotiated settlements or impasse. Once impasse has been declared the State believes it can unilaterally suspend existing employee contracts and impose an insurance plan desired by the employer.

In order for new insurance plans to be in place by January 1, 2004 the State must have signed contracts with providers by early November and arguably sooner. The health coalition had tentatively agreed to a 2-week open enrollment period but balked at reducing the informational period prior to open enrollment from one month to 2-weeks as well.
 

CAMPUS TOPICS

Instructional Management Systems RFP Update: Desire2Learn
by John O’Brien, MnSCU Associate Vice Chancellor, Instructional Technology, and Deputy Chief Information Officer

At the September 9 meeting of the Leadership Council (which includes presidents from all our campuses, the chancellor, and the chancellor’s direct reports), the group discussed the recommendation to select Desire2Learn as the instructional management system to be hosted and supported by the Office of the Chancellor.  After discussion, the Leadership Council endorsed the recommendation and urged us to begin negotiations immediately with Desire2Learn.  They are currently underway. 

Detailed information on the extensive campus-led process by which this decision was reached can be found at http://www.oit.mnscu.edu/ims/IMSQA.htm.  Questions and answers are posted on this web site, too, and we ask you to please share this information with your campus colleagues.  We are seeking ways to communicate this information effectively and welcome your assistance.   

Below are some brief answers to some of the questions that we know are circulating: 

Will my campus have to switch to Desire2Learn? 
Though most campuses are operating under contracts that expire in August of 2004, campus hosting solutions are different enough to make the answer to this question somewhat complicated.  There are three hosting arrangements for existing instructional management systems.  Campuses whose systems are hosted by the Office of the Chancellor will need either to switch to Office of the Chancellor hosting of Desire2Learn by fall of next year (2004) or host another system at their own expense.  Campuses who currently host their own systems do not face a mandatory transition, though the Leadership Council acknowledged strong pressures from the Board of Trustees to move to a single system within a reasonable amount of time.  The Leadership Council will be discussing this matter over the next several months.  Campuses whose WebCT hosting is currently handled by METNET (Metropolitan Educational Telecommunications Network) may continue this arrangement through the expiration of the current contracts at the end of August 2004.  METNET’s intentions regarding IMS hosting after this time have not been clarified, but their decision will likely be influenced by metro area campus presidents who serve on the METNET board of directors.    

When will all this happen? 
Some campuses have already expressed an interest in transitioning to Desire2Learn, especially those whose representatives participated in the RFP evaluation process and saw the features, functionality, and ease of use the new platform offers.  As a result, we expect some campuses to transition by January of 2004, while others may wait to transition to Desire2Learn until summer or fall semester of 2004.

What training and support resources will be provided for a Desire2Learn transition?
As soon as a contract has been negotiated, several implementation teams will be formed to provide training, technical support, course conversion support, help desk support, and so on.   More information will be available on the web site after we have negotiated these items with the vendor.  We welcome campus involvement in these teams to ensure as smooth a transition as possible. 

What about all the time spent learning the current system? 
It would, of course, be a mistake to say that change of this scope is going to be overly easy.  However, there are reasons to be very optimistic about Desire2Learn--especially since having learned one IMS system will make learning a new system easier.  Moreover, Desire2Learn has the reputation of being easier to learn than most other IMS systems; in fact, it was consistently top-ranked by campus evaluation team members for ease of use for faculty and students.  What faculty have learned about effective online teaching will be knowledge that is readily transferable to a new platform. 

What about converting my current courses? 
When it comes to converting to Desire2Learn from other platforms, the company will provide tools to make the conversion relatively quick and easy, with current courses converted by technical staff for faculty.  It is likely that some modest amount of faculty time may be required to fine-tune converted courses.  However, the experience with the Wisconsin system, which is converting 17,000 courses in a few months, has been very positive in this area.  We hope that the conversion of courses will provide a welcome opportunity for faculty to consider rethinking and redesigning courses—especially using additional features and functionality of Desire2Learn that so impressed faculty evaluators.   It is worth noting that time spent “cleaning up” courses before they are converted will make the conversion more successful. 

While decisions are made on my campus, what do I do about material I’m developing now? 
It has always been a recommended best practice to develop as much as possible outside of the IMS system, and this is one way to make sure time spent in development now is best spent.  For example, instead of developing a course assignment in WebCT, Blackboard, or Anlon, it would be ideal to develop the material in with other applications (Dreamweaver, Front Page, or even Word, Excel, or PowerPoint).  After all, material that is “delivery system independent” will not require conversion.

How can I see what Desire2Learn can do? 
Once a contract has been negotiated and signed, we will expedite making training, training materials, and accounts available to begin working with the product. 

If you have questions about this important initiative, please contact Dick Johnson (IMS RFP Manager and System Director for Instructional Technology) at dick.johnson@csu.mnscu.edu or John O’Brien (Associate Vice Chancellor, Instructional Technology, and Deputy Chief Information Officer) at john.obrien@so.mnscu.edu. 

Remember, your best first stop for updated information should be the IMS Questions and Answers page at http://www.oit.mnscu.edu/ims/IMSQA.htm.

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