Call for Proposals — Winter 2020 Online Courses
In order to best prepare our instructional capacity and quality for the likelihood of some continuation of remote instruction beyond the Fall, the campus seeks proposals from faculty to develop on a voluntary basis fully online courses to be offered in Winter 2021. Priority will be given to course proposal submissions that address degree completion, have high enrollment, or are for types of courses (e.g., labs, studios) that have presented greater challenges in being offered remotely.
Faculty whose proposals are approved will be provided the following:
Senate faculty — Awardees can select one of the following two options:
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- 1/2 course release;
- 1/2 GSR (25% time GSR for one quarter) to support the awardee’s research in recognition of their potentially lower research productivity while they are developing the course; this 1/2 GSR could be taken in any quarter from fall 2020 through summer 2021, as is most appropriate for the faculty member’s research.
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Lecturers — $4,000 to be paid as a taxable lump sum payment.
Review Process
A committee will review all course proposals, and awardees will be expected to submit a request for online course approval to the Senate Committee on Courses of Instruction (CCI). Courses funded through this award are required to be available to students in an asynchronous mode, although they should include options for synchronous engagement via office hours, Google Doc collaborations, study groups, and other interaction. Faculty whose proposals are awarded agree to share any materials developed through this program upon request from another UCSC instructor who is appointed to teach the same course or one that covers similar material, through the end of winter quarter 2023.
Courses will be developed in cohorts led by an instructional designer, supporting staff, and a faculty fellow. Each cohort will work together for six weeks. The first three weeks will be focused on course design, framed by a UCSC course on designing and developing online courses. The cohort will meet twice weekly in what we expect will be a meaningful learning community. The second three-week period will be used for course production. Equipment will be made available to awardees for recording lecture videos at home, or they will have limited access to filming in studios on campus. The course re-design and development period is from October 15 – November 27.
We are deeply appreciative of your ingenuity and effort in the transition to remote instruction, and we hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to participate voluntarily in a structured process that will result in creating courses that further engage our students and support learning outcomes.
Proposal Guidelines
In no more than two pages, provide responses to the following prompts:
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- Describe your course, including pertinent information such as its sequence in the curriculum, frequency of offerings, enrollment, typical assessments (e.g., papers, exams, quizzes, projects), and any challenges with offering it remotely.
- Explain how a fully online version of your course would positively impact degree completion, have high enrollment, or would help transition a challenging type of course to a fully online format.
- Discuss how an online version of your course may present an opportunity to improve student learning outcomes.
Deadline
Proposals are due by noon on Monday, September 28. You are encouraged to consult with your department or program chair prior to submitting proposals. Submit proposals to vpaa@ucsc.edu, copying your department or program chair, or college provost.
Questions? — contact Michael Tassio, Director for Online Education, at mtassio@ucsc.edu.