UMass Flex
UMass Flex

Charge to Implementation Committee

To:  Flexible Learning Implementation Committee Members
From: Kumble R. Subbaswamy, Chancellor
RE: Office of the Chancellor Flexible Learning Implementation Committee
Date:  October 14, 2021

Thank you again for agreeing to serve on the Flexible Learning Implementation Committee. This committee will provide important coordination and guidance as we begin implementing the recommendations in the Flexible Learning Strategic Plan developed last semester by the Flexible Learning Task Force.  

The Committee membership is as follows:  

  • Jim Kurose, Associate Chancellor, Partnerships and Innovation and Distinguished University Professor, College of Information and Computer Sciences (co-chair)
  • John Wells, Senior Vice Provost for Lifelong Learning and Professor, Operations and Information Management (co-chair)
  • Jenny Adams, Associate Professor, English
  • Carolyn Bassett, Associate Provost for Student Success
  • Jacqueline Castledine Chair, UWW
  • Michelle Goncalves, Deputy Chief of Staff, Chancellor’s Office (Administrative Liaison)
  • Deb Gould, Associate Provost for Administration and Finance
  • Claire Hamilton, Associate Provost and Director, Center for Teaching and Learning
  • Sarah Hutton, Interim Dean, Library
  • Ken Kleinman, Professor, Biostatistics and Epidemiology
  • Mzamo Mangaliso, Associate Professor, Isenberg
  • Anne Massey, Dean and Thomas O'Brien Endowed Chair Operations & Information Management, Isenberg School of Management
  • Chris Misra, Vice Chancellor for Information Technology
  • Key Nuttall, Chief Marketing Officer, University Relations
  • Heather Sharpes-Smith, Executive Director, Online Education Technology, Instructional Design, Engagement and Support (IDEAS)
  • Mary Deane Sorcinelli , Senior Fellow, Center for Teaching and Learning
  • Patrick Sullivan, Registrar
  • Susan Weldon, Senior Director for Employee Engagement
  • Tilman Wolf, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • SGA Representative to be determined
  • GSS Representative to be determined

I charge this committee to undertake the following tasks:

  1. To review the approximately 60 recommendations in the Flexible Learning Strategic Plan and to determine which of these recommendations can and should be implemented in the near term (during the current academic year), the medium term (over the next two or three years), and in the longer term.  
  2. Among those detailed recommendations that I would ask you to consider for implementation in this first year are:
    • (A1) developing a Flexible Learning Fellows program;  
    • (A4) developing a shared definition of what “Flexible Learning” is for instructors, students, and staff;  
    • (A5) working with the appropriate campus units and governance bodies, where applicable, on classroom technology and on a Learning Management System(s) recommendation;  
    • (B1, B2, B3) creating supporting FL resources for staff;  
    • (B2, D4) examine financial structures to break down barriers between UWW and university-session students;    
    • (B4, E1, E2) develop a FL communication and branding strategy aimed at campus stakeholders and the general public; and
    • (C*, D*) continue the work of last year’s FL Task Force Finances subgroup on examining the many aspects of a long financial model, including workload models and incentives, for flexible learning.  

      This list, of course, is meant to be suggestive, not definitive.  
       
  3. To initiate (if not already underway), coordinate, and help guide the implementation of those first-year activities identified by the Committee. Please also consider the appropriate metrics that can be used to track progress towards realizing the unique goals and desired outcomes of the activities undertaken, as well as those planned for the longer term.
     
  4. To report to me, and the larger campus community, quarterly on progress on the items above.

As you pursue the Committee’s work this year, please also keep all of the Task Force’s goals and high-level recommendations in mind, in particular:

  • Our goal is to create a high-quality educational experience, broadly defined, grounded in our identity as a residential campus, additively extending our campus’s excellence in traditional face-to-face teaching to include students who are not physically present on campus;
  • A key focus on ensuring equity, inclusion, access, and diversity in our Flexible Learning programs; viability of revised tuition models; possible expansion of the student body enabled by Flexible Learning; and the financial implications of instructional technology resources and faculty training, as well as providing high quality student support services to off-campus students.

I want to thank you again for volunteering your time, expertise, and perspective in this important effort, as we move our campus towards our collective goals in Flexible Learning.