Meeting of the UWIDEC Academic Programme Committee
held on Friday, April 2, 2004, at the Mona Campus:
unconfirmed minutes
Professor
Lawrence Carrington Pro-Vice-Chancellor,
Board for Non-Campus Countries and Distance Education
Mr
Tommy Chen Telecommunications
Manager
Mrs
Souzanne Fanovich Site
Co-ordinator, UWIDEC, St. Augustine
Ms
Stephney Ferguson University
Librarian
Mrs
Erica Grainger Administrative
Assistant, Finance
Ms Christine Marrett Campus Co-ordinator, Mona
Professor Stewart Marshall Director, UWIDEC
Ms Vilma McClenan Academic
Programme Co-ordinator
Ms Gloria Morgan Representative
FHE, Mona
Dr Nasser Mustapha Representative,
FSS, St Augustine
Dr
Lawrence Nicholson Representative,
FSS Mona
Mrs Joy Pilgrim Deputy
University Registrar
Mr Carlton Samuels Director,
Information Technology
Dr
Pedro Welch Student
Support Services Co-ordinator
Mr
Matthew William Representative,
Resident Tutors (NW Caribbean)
Mr
E.P. Brandon Secretary
Mr
Michael Thomas Research
Officer, UWIDEC
In attendance:
Ms
Rosemary Jordan Administrative
Assistant, OBNCCDE
Apologies:
Ms
Edith Bellot Representative,
Resident Tutors (E Caribbean)
Dr
Olabisi Kuboni Campus
Co-ordinator, St Augustine (on leave)
Dr Krishna Murugan Curriculum
Development Specialist
Absent:
Dr Majeed Mohammed Representative,
FANS
Professor
W.H.E. Suite Representative,
Faculty of Engineering
Dr
Iyare Sunday Representative,
FSS Cave Hill
1. Courtesies
56. The
Chair introduced and welcomed Professor Stewart Marshall, the new Director of
the Distance Education Centre. He also
welcomed Dr Mustapha who was attending his first meeting of the Committee and
Mr Michael Thomas who had been invited to the meeting.
2.
Approval of agenda
57. The meeting approved the draft Agenda, (Welch, seconded Chen).
3. Confirmation of Minutes of the Meeting
of 22 October 2003
58. The Minutes of the meeting of 22 October 2003 were accepted with the
correction of “Chin” to “Chen” in minute #3 (Welch, seconded Thomas).
4.
Chair’s Report
59. The Chair observed that he had already welcomed Professor Marshall. He expressed particular pleasure at the fact
that Professor Marshall had now taken up office, since it relieved him of much
strenuous activity.
60. The Chair reported that offers had been made with respect to three out of
the four advertised posts, and that interviews for the position of Finance
Officer would be held very soon.
61. In response to a question from Ms Marrett, the Chair observed that the
new Director would be dealing with the implications of the new appointments on
existing staff and their job descriptions.
62. He noted also that discussions were proceeding satisfactorily with the
Cave Hill Campus on providing accommodation for these staff by expanding the
Outreach Building.
Revised membership of the APC
(#4)
63. The Chair observed that he had decided not to make any changes to the
composition of the Committee for this meeting, mainly to allow for
consultations with the new Director. He
had, however, invited the DEC Research Officer to participate in the
meeting. He noted that further changes
were constrained by the need not to become too large, but that it was necessary
to have representatives of those entities with which the DEC was closely
engaged.
Students benefiting from double counting rules
(#6)
64. The Chair noted that Dr Welch had received the information requested from
Site Co-ordinators on students who might benefit from immediate implementation
of the new rules and that he had taken the appropriate action.
Seeking authority for registrations, etc. (#38)
65. The Chair reported that he had discussed the reservations expressed by
the two Boards with their Chairs and it had been agreed that they were not
intended to obstruct the work of the APC.
He had requested the University Registrar to arrange for the necessary
regulations to be formulated.
Regulations for “provisional entry”
(#39)
66. The Chair noted that the Board for Undergraduate Studies had approved
this provision and had written, assuring him that the decision would be
communicated to all relevant officers and that appropriate regulations would be
drafted for implementation in the 2004-2005 academic year.
Examination regulations for e-mail submission of
coursework (#41)
67. The Chair reported that he had received communications from the Board for
Undergraduate Studies and the Board for Graduate Studies and Research agreeing
to the proposal for e-mail submission of coursework. Mrs Pilgrim reported that a meeting with the Assistant Registrars
for Examinations was scheduled for the 17th May, at which procedures
would be documented.
Access to APC documents (#42)
68. The Chair observed that this decision had been implemented and that all
the Committee’s papers and minutes were now accessible (at http://www.uwichill.edu.bb/bnccde/apc/index.htm).
69. The Chair assured the University Librarian that the meeting to discuss
the use of funds for library staff in the non-campus countries would soon take
place.
5.
Updates
70. The Chair invited Mr Chen to present P. 12. He drew particular attention to the following points:
·
Funds for new hardware and software remain
difficult; the DEC should concentrate on open-source solutions.
·
Lecturers have been pleased with the new
Bridgit software.
·
Migration to frame-relay is proceeding on
schedule; St Kitts is to be connected on April 2, Anguilla in the following
week. Bahamas, Belize and Turks and
Caicos would remain outside this system.
·
The relocation of the Port of Spain hub
would give the DEC access to expertise on the St Augustine campus. The relocation will entail that the entire
system is down for the week of May 24.
·
The proposed Caribbean Knowledge and
Learning Network (CKLN) would provide economies of scale for the purchase of
computers both for institutions and for their students. It would also give UWI access to E-link
Americas, a satellite system that would provide greatly increased bandwidth.
·
There is an urgent need to consider how the
transition to predominantly Internet delivery would be handled; a preliminary
meeting had been held in the DEC the previous day.
·
The St Augustine and Mona campuses had
already begun negotiations with computer companies for discounts for student
purchase; the DEC should become associated with these initiatives.
71. In discussion it was pointed out that the University Director of Information
Technology endorsed the CUPIDE consultant’s recommendation for going with
E-link Americas. Such a system would
probably overcome the disparity in the DEC’s service to the Bahamas, Belize,
and Turks and Caicos. Mr Chen
reiterated that UWIDEC should move quickly to get licences for the necessary
satellite links.
72. The Chair observed that the UGC had reduced the budget requested for
computer upgrading so that internal discussions will be required to make the
necessary adjustments. The UWIDEC has
some funds of its own for these purposes.
73. Mr Chen noted that the UWIDEC is due a refund from Cable and Wireless for
leased lines, but he had not yet received the details. He would follow up the matter.
74. On the question of open source software, it was noted that some such
software may require skills that are in short supply in the DEC or the
University more generally. Mr Thomas
reported that at a conference in Hawaii several universities seemed
enthusiastic about a system called “Desire2Learn” which he suggested be
evaluated. It was also noted that the
University Director had reported (in P. 13) on work in his Unit to evaluate
different learning management systems.
75. Dr Welch raised the question of how the proposed implementation of the
Banner system across the campuses would affect the DEC’s plans. Mr Chen replied that he needed to verify his
belief that, given the possibility of web-access to Banner, there would be no
special requirements for the DEC to implement it.
76. The Chair noted that Mr Samuels had sent P. 13 to the meeting. He pointed out the main contentions in the
paper and invited comments. Mr Samuels
joined the meeting towards the end of discussion on the paper. It was noted that:
·
The University Director of IT indicated that
his Unit’s evaluation of learning management systems had taken cognisance of
the Commonwealth of Learning’s report; it had considered Boddington, despite
low numbers of installations, since the UWI had some knowledge of it. He stressed the need for the use of open
source material throughout the system.
·
The University Librarian reported that data
access in the non-campus countries seemed reasonable; those Centres using local
ISPs had been given password access.
Mona was working on an electronic reserve collection; this would have
implications for students in the UWIDEC.
She also observed that copyright regulations differ from country to
country and consequently from one University campus or Centre to another.
·
Ms McClenan observed that these developments
would affect instructional design – in particular the readings currently
included in most course packages might be replaced by access to digital data
sources.
·
Suggestions for distributed printing would
have cost implications, and would need greater flexibility in the fees charged
to students.
77. Mr Samuels commented that he had been heartened to hear general support
for open source materials. It would be
necessary to upgrade skills in many areas.
Open source would permit UWI to offer something distinctive. He noted also that at Mona there had been
discussions with Cable and Wireless on cross-network transport so that
community groups and others could get broadband connectivity, which is needed
not just for distance education but for many other purposes. It had been agreed that such provision was
compatible with existing regulations. A
regional role for UWI as an ISP (in particular association with the Tertiary
Level Institutions) would be the logical next step.
78. The
Chair invited Dr Welch, Ms Marrett and Mr Chen to comment on specific issues
identified in their reports (Papers 14a, 14b, and 14c), noting that a large
portion of the Mona paper contained extracts from a consultant’s report that
should be discussed after it had been considered in full by the DEC. The Committee heard that:
·
The UWIDEC is in need of a policy for relevant
research.
·
There is no clear sense of how JITL will be
implemented. Questions of compensation
for staff members involved in producing material also need to be addressed.
·
Library support for distance education should be
included in the topics to be addressed at the workshop planned in
Barbados. The Chair agreed to ask Dr
Murugan to take up this matter.
·
There are problems with respect to Faculty
co-ordinators for the CPA and CBA programmes that are no longer being offered
by the Faculty of Social Sciences. The
Chair noted that he needed more information on the status of students still in
these programmes, but he promised that they would not be left stranded.
·
The UWIDEC should explore with the Ministry
of Education in Jamaica possibilities of extending the B.Ed. Secondary
programme throughout the region and of making its materials available to
on-campus students.
·
Mr Samuels is a UWI representative on the CUPIDE
Advisory Committee.
·
There are some difficulties for students on the DEC
Intranet to access Mona CampusPipeline; these are being worked on.
·
Some lecturers have been reluctant to adopt
Internet technologies.
·
A report on problems relating to SY32E has
been sent to the Deans. The UWIDEC
needs to ensure that the regulations governing it are being followed. It was noted that there are some other
courses with consistently high failure rates.
·
It was also noted that information on delays
in the distribution of materials is not conveyed in a timely fashion, often
only when the examination is imminent.
·
Mrs Fanovich observed that one source of the
mismatch between numbers of students and material is the extensive changes in
course registration that happen after the initial registration period, often
because students need to adjust to the timetable. This might be alleviated if the timetable were available prior to
initial registration. Mrs Pilgrim
observed that the Banner system would require timetables to be established
prior to registration. Mrs Grainger
pointed out that some co-ordinators request different texts at short
notice. Ms McClenan observed that the
whole picture needs to be considered; she suggested she should meet with the
new Director to examine all the factors affecting the distribution of materials
·
The UWIDEC should consider separating the
persons doing the teaching from those examining.
·
There is a problem concerning royalties
since they are possible according to current contracts but do not figure in
Professor Koul’s proposals for the new UWIDEC.
It was agreed that the University Counsel be asked to consider the
matter.
·
It was noted that some co-ordinators decided
on too many coursework assignments, and were not following University
regulations that require notification of the nature of coursework prior to the
beginning of the course.
·
It was observed that staff involved in
distance education teaching were not informed of regulations at the appropriate
times; there is a need for more procedures to be documented and easily
available.
·
Students taking summer school courses they
had previously failed should be given warning letters indicating that they
might be requested to withdraw if unsuccessful again.
79. The Committee agreed to query a decision of the St Augustine Academic
Board concerning verification from employers of a student’s full-time
status. Mrs Pilgrim reported that there
had earlier been agreements with Governments and also with Air Jamaica to
authenticate a student’s status. The
Committee agreed, however, that such a requirement was incompatible with its
aim of permitting students to choose how much they should study at any
particular period. The Chair would
raise the matter with the St Augustine Academic Board.
80. The Committee also agreed to query another decision of the St Augustine
Academic Board concerning exemptions and double counting. Mrs Pilgrim explained the history behind the
decision but it was agreed that the decision was not the way to address a
failure to correctly compute credits and exemptions. Mrs Pilgrim also reported that she was a member of a small group
who were to report to the next meeting of the Board for Undergraduate Studies
on movement from Certificates and Diplomas to degree programmes.
81. Mrs Pilgrim observed that the St Augustine decision to create an Evening
University had not yet gone to the Board for Undergraduate
Studies and the University Finance and General Purposes Committee.
82. Introducing P. 15, the Chair indicated that it contained an erroneous
comment on invitations to participate in the Caribbean Knowledge and Learning
Network workshop. An invitation had
been sent to the Mona Principal, who relayed it to Professor Carrington and Ms
Marrett. The Committee noted the other
contents of P. 15.
6.
Issues for consideration and
endorsement
83. The Chair asked Mr Brandon to present P. 16, on proposed policy with
respect to partners and sites that do not belong to the University.
84. Mr Brandon indicated that the paper arose out of work in the Office on a
Memorandum of Understanding for the Nevis site, which had been raised at the
previous meeting. It argued that,
instead of accepting offers of space and facilities at which the University
would try to reproduce what it did at its own sites, the University should
encourage others to supplement a basic core of material that it made available
to all students. Such an approach would
require a disaggregation of our services, and consequently more nuanced fees
for all types of student.
85. In discussion, it was noted that there was a danger in relinquishing
responsibility for the quality of tutorial support, and that in some
jurisdictions it would not be allowable.
But on the other hand it would be consonant with the Board’s aim to
reconfigure affiliation arrangements with Tertiary Level Institutions in the
region. It was also noted that private
institutions might want to supplement UWI programmes in the same way as they currently
support University of London external programmes. The Committee agreed that a pilot might be desirable, possibly in
some parts of Jamaica that have been asking for new sites.
86. It was agreed that a more comprehensive paper should be prepared in consultation
with various interested persons to explore the implications of moving in the
suggested direction and how it might fit in with other initiatives in the Board
and the School of Continuing Studies.
87. The Chair invited Mr Brandon to present P. 17, which contained three
proposals for giving a greater role to the Internet in the University’s
practice: digital presentation and examination of theses; explicit
acknowledgement and encouragement of work on Internet support materials for
courses; and requirements for open access publication of research and
scholarship, particularly such work that is funded by the University.
88. Mrs Ferguson reported on developments at Mona and elsewhere to have
theses presented and examined in digital form.
She noted that there were outstanding issues relating to intellectual
property. Work was progressing on
revising the Thesis Guide to accommodate these developments.
89. Other members of the Committee noted the revolutionary developments in
the area of open access, including MIT’s commitment to make its courses
available. Mr Samuels remarked that the
Mona website receives over 1 million visits every month. It was also noted that the West Indies
Medical Journal was moving to an on-line presence.
90. The Committee endorsed the proposals in principle and agreed that they
should be sent on, appropriately adjusted, to the relevant bodies.
91. The Chair asked Dr Welch to present P. 18, on how distance education students
should be represented within the University.
It was agreed that the Guilds be asked to consider the issue of distance
education students since at the moment all students should be members of the
Guild at their campus of registration.
The UWIDEC would need to consider forming a Guild once it takes over
registration of distance education students.
92. Mrs Fanovich reported on meetings with students at St Augustine that
showed very clearly that distance education students wanted representation.
93. The Chair suggested that Dr Welch arrange a meeting with the three Guild
Presidents during the May meetings and suggest that they undertake a project to
find a way of representing UWIDEC students.
The Chair undertook to consult Professor Carnegie on the matter as well.
7.
Projection of future work of the
APC
94. The Chair indicated that this issue would be
deferred to allow the new Director to consider matters more fully. A document would be prepared and circulated
for comments at a later date.
8.
Matters from other Boards
95. The Chair introduced P. 19, matters from the last meeting of the
Board. He reminded the meeting that the
question of representation from the Faculties on the APC remained outstanding. The Committee noted the contents of P. 19.
9.
Matters arising from the Minutes
not otherwise taken
96. There were no items to be taken here.
10.
Arrangements for the next
meeting
97. The chair reported that he was in consultation with Mrs Rose-Parkes on
the Calendar for next year. The next
meeting of the APC would probably be in October; the campus would be determined
by contemporaneous activities.
11.
Any Other Business
Retirement of University Librarian
98. Mrs Ferguson indicated that she expected a new University Librarian to be
attending the next meeting of the Committee and expressed her pleasure at
having worked with it. The Chair
thanked her for her contribution.
Research on distance education
99. Dr Nicholson informed the meeting that he wanted to engage in some
comparative work on the performance of distance education students. It was suggested that he liaise with Mr
Thomas.
Evaluation of local tutors
100.
Ms Marrett indicated that there was a
problem with the evaluation of tutors at the intra-Jamaican sites.
Office of the Board for Non-Campus Countries and
Distance Education
April 15, 2004,
revised 9 November 2004.