Page 22 - Annual Report 2012-2013

Academic Affairs. in october, the College partnered with Stony Brook University
and Adelphi University to host international educators for the purpose of professional
development training. education USA is an initiative that is sponsored by the U.S.
State Department and is hosted in cooperation with the institute of international
education. e program provides visiting educators with information that will help
them assist students with enrolling at institutions of higher education in the United States.
Beginning with the fall semester, the College entered into an agreement with Adelphi
University to offer a 2+2 nurse education program (AA degree to BSN degree) at
our Sayville location. Adelphi received a large response to this offering and saw an
enrollment of 60 students enter into the program. is option provides a service to
our students, allowing them to transfer easily and remain close to home while
completing their baccalaureate degree.
e College is approaching the end of its contract with our current learning
management system, Desire to Learn (D2L). Simultaneously, the SUNY system is
advancing the implementation of open SUNY, which will bring all online courses
offered at each of SUNY’s 64 campuses onto a shared online environment, making
them accessible to all of the system’s students and faculty members. in consideration
of these factors, the College’s academic community discussed changing its vendor
from D2L to Blackboard. Numerous campus feedback sessions were held during the
spring semester. Based on the feedback received, analysis of the cost comparisons,
review of the vendor proposals, and the parameters of the Chancellor’s open SUNY
initiative, the decision was made for Suffolk to move to the SUNY Learning Network
and Blackboard. e College will continue to utilize D2L through the 2013-2014
academic year. During this time, Academic Affairs and instructional Technology will
work with College Computing, the Distance education Committee (DeC) and the
faculty Association to ensure a seamless transition and integration.
on March 5th, over 500 members of the college community came together for
Professional Development Day. is year’s theme, “improving Curriculum Design,”
was highly relevant. Discussion centered on curriculum and its connection to our
strategic plan, assessment and Middle States accreditation expectations. Curriculum is
the primary vehicle through which we educate our students. it brings together a set of
carefully crafted and related courses into programs of study, enabling our students to
fulfill the goal of transfer or career readiness.
e SUNY system announced that it is one of ten national partners joining with
Coursera to develop a common platform for the delivery of Massive online open
Courses (MooCs). e partnership will provide all SUNY campuses with an avenue
to offer and use MooCs as part of the SUNY system’s open SUNY initiative.
Coursera, the world’s largest MooC platform provider, has more than 3.5 million
learners enrolled in 374 courses to date. e open SUNY vision seeks to enable
students to earn up to one-third of their college credits from sources outside their
home campus. e new partnership will give SUNY students increased access to the
online courses SUNY faculty offer in New York and worldwide. is approach allows
faculty to experiment with and improve upon existing “blended learning,” which
combines online video lectures and content with active, in-person classroom
interactions to increase classroom engagement.
Modifications were made to various academic affairs procedures this year. e College
adjusted the timing for the annual selection of its incoming nursing class. e cut-off
for applications will now be January 1st each year, with final selections completed
22 ❘ 2012-2013 Review of Accomplishments