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The LCC Knowledge Network is a space where we can foster collaboration and communication within and outside our divisions amongst many different members with various areas of expertise.

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Latest Posts From the Lane Blog Network

September 28, 2023Hi! I’m Jade Wilkerson. I am 18 years old. This is my first year of collage. I lived in Oregon my whole life. I was born in Roseburg then moved to Eugene about four to five years ago. I like being in nature and camping. I did Northwest Youth Coup last summer, traveling around Oregon doing conservation work by fixing trails and getting rid of invasive species by camping for five weeks. I worked at Crater lake, Eagle lake in Portland, the mountains of Gold beach, the Umpqua river, and this tiny island on the Mckenzie River. I have a cat named Ricky Bobby, he’s a black bobtail cat. I have a tattoo of him on my leg. I have a twin sister name Jasmine and two younger step brothers name Chris and Raven. I want to be a animator or a forest ranger. I’m still not sure which one i want to do more. I was also thinking about going into acting. I have been drawing for almost ten years, I’m still practicing. I want to make a cartoons or comics. My favorite type of music is nu metal, My favorite bands are Korn and System of the down. My Favorite shows is What we do in the shadows, and Adventure time. And my favorite movies is Interview with a vampire, Lost boys, and the good son. by: Jade Wilkerson [...] Read more...
September 28, 2023My name is Joseph and I’m born and raised in Oregon. I’ve been up and down the west coast. I’ve been to Washington, California, Arizona, Nevada and well to the Hawaiian Island of Maui for various occasions. I love to play Video Games like Warframe, Sid Meier’s Civilization Six, The Crew Motorfest, and many others. I also have a fascination with animations. I actively watch some animators on YouTube like Crydiaa, Sashley, and DJayeRemixTheFox, and more. This isn’t my first time here at Lane Community College. I started the fall of 2019 but I stopped because of Covid then I tried with Full Sail University but that didn’t last long. Fall of 2022 I called LCC and asked about the in person classes at that time and I was informed that most classes were available in person and more were opening up so I tried joining in the winter of 2022 but I decided to not join that term for financial reasons then I joined in the fall of 2023.  I hoping that after this class I can continue my goal of helping others through rough times as I have had in the past so I’m hoping that with the animations I make or the games that I may be apart of I can help others find a gateway to a happy place to escape reality for while they are in a rough time of their lives. By: Joseph Reiter [...] Read more...
September 28, 2023by JD Rodejo PRODUCER. HOST. PHOTOGRAPHER. ARTIST. Born and raised in the Philippines, I moved to the US from Japan in 2021. My first year in the United States was a little difficult, basically starting from scratch, I tried multiple ways on how I can keep myself both busy and involved in the queer community. That’s when I found drag and my drag persona, Morena.  I started drag a year and a half ago and got really lucky finding groups of people who helped me grow as a person and as an artist. It pushed my creativity and artistic skills to new heights up to the point where I now produce and host my own show, The HotPot, which gives opportunities to new artists, young or old, to showcase their skills in a competition-based setting. It also allowed me to work with multiple non-profit organizations, including Transponder and HIV Alliance, to raise funds and awareness both to the community and its allies. This show also allowed me to further push my marketing and advertising skills as I managed all the posters, photo and video promotions and social media marketing for the show. This year, I also got nominated for Eugene Weekly’s Best of Eugene. Drag also re-introduced me to my first love, photography. Last summer, I started my own photography business, “Lenses with Lashes”, and was lucky enough to shoot multiple events in the downtown area. This allowed me to expand my knowledge about the Creative Cloud. My time here in Eugene is extremely limited, and I cannot wait what the next location will bring or what I’ll be able to bring at the next location. I decided to get back in school to refresh and update my knowledge regarding the current state of multimedia. I will also continue being a student worker and work with the Multimedia Department at Lane Community College. [...] Read more...
September 28, 2023My name is Haley and I am 18 years old. I was born in Tucson, Arizona, but grew up in Oregon. My primary memories were the childhoods I spent in Bend and Florence. Those were both drastically different environments and stages of my life, but I still treasure them the same. I am fortunate enough to have grown up with my family right beside me.  Ever since I was a young child, I’ve loved drawing and everything artistic. After many years of trial and error, ups and downs in confidence, and consistently trying to grow my skills, I’m now a first-year pursuing an art major. My hope is that I am able to turn my education into a career. I picked up various different interests over the years like music, video games, reading, watching a ridiculous variety of shows and movies, etc., but drawing is the one that has remained the most prominent.  I’ve always been invested in doing the best I possibly can in school, even if that’s met with copious amounts of stress and constant uncertainty in my abilities. But I will continue to work hard, and am excited to see the new skills I can learn and grow.  This picture stars my brother and I having the time of our life at the 2023 Nintendo Live event in Seattle. By: Haley Johnson [...] Read more...
September 28, 2023Hi, I’m Bridget, I’m 18 years old and I’m from Eugene Oregon and I’ve lived there my whole life. I like playing video games, listening to music, and making art. I like watching sports like football and basketball. I listen to all kinds of music but I mostly like rock music. I also have 4 cats, 2 dogs and a chicken. This is my first year at Lane, I was doing online school for the past 10 years so this is a big change and a new experience for me. I’m at Lane to get a degree in Multimedia Design. I don’t really have any big dreams or passions that led me to doing Multimedia Design, but I always enjoyed and did well in the graphic design, photography, and intro to video game design classes that I had in high school so this is what I chose. I always felt weird about college and the future because I never had any big interests in things unlike other people. I hope during my time at Lane I find my passion or dream. I hope this Multimedia degree helps me get a job. I’m not quite sure what I want to do for a job, I just hope it pays well and I’m somewhat happy. By: Bridget Holst [...] Read more...
September 28, 2023Greetings, I am Lady Diaz, an aspiring animator studying at Lane Community College. These are some of the things that define me: I am bilingual in Spanish and English and I have an intermediate level of reading comprehension in Korean. However, I cannot speak Korean. I enjoy learning standard French, watching YouTube videos on various topics that interest me, and binging on true crime stories in my spare time. I am obsessed with the “Blue Beard” episode in “Los Cuentos De los Hermanos Grim”, produced by Nippon Animation based on the fairytale adaptations of the Brothers Grimm. I also consider this show as my first introduction into Animation and as the reference for the type of work I wish to create.  I am very passionate about my academic pursuits and I always strive to learn as much as I can. Therefore, I am a perfectionist who seeks a lot of feedback. I used to fear criticism and see it as a conflict, but since I decided to pursue animation as a profession, it has become the thing that motivates me the most. I would appreciate it if you could provide me with some feedback on my blogs that will help me improve.  Thank you. Lady Diaz [...] Read more...
September 28, 2023Hey Everyone! My name is Lisa. As I was thinking about how to write this post, I realized that for one year now, I have been introducing myself by saying that I am a 19-year-old international student from Ivory Coast who came here to follow my passion for making films. I believe that I am more than that, but at the same time, it is a part of me. Growing up, I was always the “artistic” kid in my family. I would constantly come up with new passions and hobbies, causing my parents to spend a lot of money on ballet classes that I gave up on after two days, a piano that I never knew how to play, and a guitar that ended up smashed on the floor and filled with water. After some time, they gave up, and I kind of gave up too. Until I discovered BOOKS. I spent my entire middle school years reading books and writing some of my own in the back of all my copybooks. Fictional characters were better than people and I had finally found how to make something of the chaos that was going on in my head. As the years passed, I got into the wonderful world of doing nothing with my days except binge-watching TV shows and reading books. Then, one day, I had this revelation: I was going to make movies for the rest of my life!  After days, weeks, and months of arguing with my mother (who actually wanted me to become a doctor, as if I had the abilities for that, lol), she gave in, and I flew 7,349 miles to Eugene, where I began this great adventure. I have no idea what I am doing, and I am still very lost after one year here, but as I explore filmmaking and creative work from people around me, I am sure of one thing: I am doing something that I love. By Lisa Kouadio. [...] Read more...
September 28, 2023by Nicole Sherman Hello my name is Nicole Sherman, yes I did only add my last name for more words. Anyway I have been a part time student at lane for about a year now, plus taking the multimedia animation course. I’ve been doing art probably since middle school. Funny thing about it is I only got started doing art because I wanted to show off to this other kid, I can’t exactly remember how it all went because it happened so long ago. First I started drawing on notebook paper sometimes even on assignments basically any paper I could get my hands on. My teacher wasn’t really happy that I was drawing instead of doing the assignments, but I kept doing it. Eventually if I remember correctly my parents got me my first sketchbook book. Then I started drawing in that a lot probably going through one to two a year both pages front and back. That happened all throughout middle school untill I graduated middle school. maybe before or after my first year of high school my grandparents bought me an iPad for Christmas. which I still use to this day and I hope to still use it when I get into the animation industry. [...] Read more...
September 28, 2023By: Jeremy Roman My name is Jeremy. I’m a 35 year old Navy veteran, and spent my time stationed in Norfolk, Virginia onboard the USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55) for 5 years. I was in the supply department, and spent my time rotating between the ship’s store, ship laundry, and the barbershop. I’m originally from Brooklyn, New York, where I lived until I was 16, when I moved to South Florida. I’m also a father of two. I have twin sons who are about to turn 7 years old.  I’ve always considered myself a bit of a nerd. I love franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek, and the MCU. I occasionally like playing tabletop roleplaying games, like Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, and Starfinder. I’m also an occasional gamer, playing things like Rocket League, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Mario Kart (That last game usually being played with my kids on the weekend).  Since I’m a Multimedia Design major, my end goal with this degree is to be able to create my own multimedia company and get to work for myself. I originally chose multimedia design because I have always loved creating. Whether that takes the form of digital illustration, traditional illustration, photo manipulation (via Photoshop), or creating videos online for Youtube or TikTok. I figured since I was already doing these things in my free time, I might as well learn how to do them better and build skills doing what I already love. [...] Read more...
September 28, 2023by: Teresa Share something about fjdfjdksjfalk;jdkljflkjflkasjaljfdaljflkjaajdakjfkjalkjkjjfkljdjfkdjfjsjfkljsljf kjkjhkjhkhlkjhklhlhljklkkhjl [...] Read more...
September 28, 2023Welcome to Intro to Media Arts WordPress Network. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing! [...] Read more...
September 28, 20239/28/2023 [...] Read more...
September 28, 2023My name is Danielle, I am 34 years old. I am an artist. I work in several different mediums, including; Wire wrapping stones, painting, photography and design of all kinds. I love making all forms of art. I love to garden and I enjoy growing many things including eggplant, bell peppers, green beans, cucumbers, lavender and lots of sunflowers. I struggle with mental health issues, finding and making long-term friends is really hard. Sometimes it’s hard just being around people for me. I have a service dog named Charlie who saved my life from addiction and homelessness. I have almost 7 years clean and have lived in my own apartment with my dog for going on 6 years now. Charlie is the best dog ever I don’t think he knows what he saved me from. He just turned 7 in August. I enjoy going on nature hikes with my dog. He really loves to swim and play ball. Charlie brings a lot of joy and happiness to my life. I am a childhood trauma and domestic violence survivor and this is my first term back in college in 5 years. I received my AAOT from LBCC in 2013 and graduated with honors from Phi Theta Kappa. I have been through so many setbacks and traumatic situations, but I am here and ready to make myself a bright and happy future. I plan to have my own photography studio and work for myself taking pictures for people and making edits. I also want to get into making music videos, it’s been something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid. By: Danielle Hilliard [...] Read more...
September 28, 2023Fingers crossed! [...] Read more...
September 28, 2023Welcome to Intro to Media Arts WordPress Network. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing! [...] Read more...
September 28, 2023My name is Erin, and I grew up in Ohio. I was shuffled around… a lot. I went from babysitter to family member to family friend and back again. This is most likely how I developed a deep interest in the human condition at such a young age, and it wouldn’t be until a few years ago that I would learn not everyone is just really good at constantly hiding their continuous existential thoughts. Not everyone lives on that line full-time, and maybe I needed to learn how to relax. Growing up, I was able to see how every household was so different, despite having so many relating factors and crossovers. The only true correlation between all of these homes was the attachment to the media, though every taste was different. And the only consistency in my own life was the media. The movies, to be more precise. Movies with practical effects and puppets and moving dolls. Most of my time was spent doing this or that for others, or it was spent in a state where I couldn’t move or couldn’t exist. Life either went electric fast, or not at all. But one day, I found clay. And over time, I learned how to appreciate myself, and what came from me. And I discovered that it was okay to admit that I had aspirations. So, now I sculpt and dabble in many other areas from tangible art to digital. And the goal is to give back and contribute to the medium that helped me make it through. by: Erin Schooley [...] Read more...
September 26, 2023Welcome to Intro to Media Arts WordPress Network. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing! [...] Read more...
September 26, 2023Welcome to Intro to Media Arts WordPress Network. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing! [...] Read more...
September 26, 2023Welcome to Intro to Media Arts WordPress Network. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing! [...] Read more...
September 26, 2023Welcome to Intro to Media Arts WordPress Network. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing! [...] Read more...
September 26, 2023Welcome to Intro to Media Arts WordPress Network. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing! [...] Read more...
June 14, 2023A couple years back, we looked at how we placed in WebAIM’s top million homepages for accessibility. At the time, we were ranked #242,359, putting us in the top 25% for the first time, and ranking #7 in the state for community colleges and #13 for Oregon public colleges. After the launch of our new website, we’re now ranked #149,013! That ranks us as #4 in the state for community colleges, and #8 for Oregon public colleges! See our entry on WebAIM’s site. One of the really helpful things to come out of the website redesign is the addition of an automatic accessibility checker on every page. As we edit pages now, we’re correcting accessibility issues whenever we spot them, so we’re even more optimistic for our rank next year. [...] Read more...
May 26, 2023In May I participated in Lane’s Teaching and Learning Symposium with colleagues Aryn and Rachel. This is the third year we have used Flower Darby’s Small Teaching Online as an anchor text for making improvements to our online classes. This year I focused on using an equity lens to improve the warmth and sense of belonging in my online classes. The incremental approach that Darby uses is perfect for community college teaching contexts, because faculty at CCs get few extended opportunities to overhaul our courses or pedagogies. But consistent tinkering produces long-term improvement, I think. My slides are here: [...] Read more...
April 24, 2023The Guided Pathways TIPSS Team is pleased to present TIPSS #53.  This TIPSS examines four recent student cohorts on two components of credit accumulation: numbers of credits attempted and rates of successful credit completion.  TIPSS are provided in the hopes of stimulating considerations of, and conversations about, aspects of Lane’s student success data. We encourage thoughtful and reflective discussions with colleagues about various TIPSS topics. [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/guidedpathways/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2023/04/TIPSS53-Credit-Attempts-and-Completion-Rates.pdf” title=”TIPSS53 Credit Attempts and Completion Rates”] [...] Read more...
April 6, 2023My review of Robin Isserles’ important book, The Costs of Completion: Student Success in Community Colleges (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2021) is out in Academe this month. You can read the review here or even better, order the book for yourself or for your college library! [...] Read more...
March 7, 2023The Guided Pathways TIPSS Team is pleased to present TIPSS #52.  This TIPSS is an update to TIPSS #49, which asked if we could retain more students from fall to winter.  TIPSS #52 provides data to show how well we did retaining our fall students for winter term.  TIPSS are provided in the hopes of stimulating considerations of, and conversations about, aspects of Lane’s student success data. We encourage thoughtful and reflective discussions with colleagues about various TIPSS topics. [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/guidedpathways/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2023/03/TIPSS52-Retain-More-Students-Fall-To-Winter.pdf” title=”TIPSS52 Retain More Students Fall To Winter”] [...] Read more...
February 16, 2023The Guided Pathways TIPSS Team is pleased to present TIPSS #51.  This TIPSS examines success rates for students in a new, 1-credit corequisite gateway math course.  In this course, students review math and study skills and are connected with tutoring and other student success resources. TIPSS are provided in the hopes of stimulating considerations of, and conversations about, aspects of Lane’s student success data. We encourage thoughtful and reflective discussions with colleagues about various TIPSS topics.  Past editions of TIPSS can found at: https://inside.lanecc.edu/ir/tipss [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/guidedpathways/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2023/02/TIPSS51-Corequisite-Pathway-Helps-Students-Complete-Gateway-Math.pdf” title=”TIPSS51 Corequisite Pathway Helps Students Complete Gateway Math”] [...] Read more...
January 23, 2023The Guided Pathways TIPSS Team is pleased to present TIPSS #50.  This TIPSS examines completion and retention rates for new students, with pre and post covid ‘lockdown” comparisons. TIPSS are provided in the hopes of stimulating considerations of, and conversations about, aspects of Lane’s student success data. We encourage thoughtful and reflective discussions with colleagues about various TIPSS topics. To view and download this and other TIPSS, go to the TIPSS Library. Also be sure to look at the Guided Pathways Dashboards, which presents Lane’s early momentum metrics.  The dashboards are available to all staff at Lane.  At the above link, open the “Guided Pathways Metrics” tab to find the links to the dashboards. [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/guidedpathways/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2023/01/TIPSS50-Completion-and-Retention-Rates-for-Studentsl.pdf” title=”TIPSS50 Completion and Retention Rates for Studentsl”] [...] Read more...
January 18, 2023Savanna Ferguson came to Lane in 2021 to work on her GED.  She was motivated to come back to school after 11 years to be an example to her three kids.  She wanted to show them that starting something, working hard, and following your dreams will get a person where they want to go in life.  In addition to her kids, she has her family and her boyfriend who have pushed her to stick with her studies even when it was difficult. She sees her success as a “joint effort.” At Lane, she found instructors who helped her persist, cheered her on, and helped her transition to credit classes.  Now a Peer Mentor, she assists students in their transition from non-credit to credit classes.  “No matter how hard it gets, keep trying, ask for help, go see your instructors, and you will succeed,” says Savanna. Savanna is enrolled in credit classes and is working toward an AAOT.  When she graduates from Lane, she will transfer to OSU to study geology with the goal of completing a bachelor’s degree and working as a geologist with the Forest Service or going onto Graduate School.  Let’s all wish Savanna the best of luck as she continues to pursue her dreams!   [...] Read more...
November 14, 2022The Guided Pathways TIPSS Team is pleased to present TIPSS #49.  This TIPSS is a snapshot of department students registered for winter so far compared to department students retained fall to winter last year. [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/guidedpathways/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2022/11/TIPSS49-Can-We-Retain-More-Students-Fall-to-Winter.pdf” title=”TIPSS49 Can We Retain More Students Fall-to-Winter”] [...] Read more...
November 14, 2022[pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/guidedpathways/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2022/11/Guided-Pathways-Student-Profile-Mara-Williams.pdf” title=”Guided Pathways Student Profile – Mara Williams”] [...] Read more...
November 14, 2022The Guided Pathways TIPSS Team is pleased to present TIPSS #48.  This TIPSS examines enrollment declines across Oregon community colleges. [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/guidedpathways/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2022/11/TIPSS48-Enrollment-Declines-Across-OR-Community-Colleges.pdf” title=”TIPSS48 Enrollment Declines Across OR Community Colleges”] [...] Read more...
October 3, 2022  Guided Pathways 2021 – 2022 Annual Summary   This is a summary of Guided Pathways work during the prior AY 2021 – 2022,  and a look forward to ongoing progress in AY 22/23.   Default Academic Plans  Lead: Edgar Rosas Alquicira Faculty members, academic advisors, and curriculum staff built and reviewed default academic plans (DAPs) for transfer programs, 1-year certificate programs, and 2-year certificate programs. Drafts were reviewed by financial aid staff and degree evaluators. This collaboration ensure that DAPs take all information into account and provide an effective tool for students to progress toward their transfer and completion goals. The DAPs for 38 transfer areas and 10 CTE programs were started, meaning that faculty, advisors, and curriculum staff met and created an initial draft. DAPs for 17 transfer areas and 6 CTE programs were completed, meaning all feedback was reviewed, incorporated, and approved by the content faculty member(s) and the plan has been entered into Degree Works for use by advisors and students. During this coming year, we will focus on completing remaining DAPs in transfer and CTE areas, entering DAPs in Degree Works, and supporting advisors and students in developing Individual Academic Plans (IAPs) tailored from a DAP to each student’s interests and goals. We are also looking forward to working with content areas on a second phase to develop DAPs for various student situations, such as part-time enrollment or including development education in the DAP. First Year Math and Writing Team Leads: Steve Selph, Math Faculty,  Ingrid Nordstrom, Writing Faculty During AY 21/22, a team began the multi-year process of working toward the goal of creating an ideal future student experience in which students identify the starting point at which they will be most successful for math and writing through a compassionate, validating, and encouraging process, and are supported throughout their experience completing program-level math and writing. The team engaged in research of options, assessment of current practices at LCC, and developed recommendations to improve placement and program level completion in math and writing. These recommendations seek to improve the student experience for these gateway courses through course-embedded tutoring, curriculum updates, co-requisite course offerings, and a seamless transition from non-credit to credit classes.    In the coming AY 22/23, the recommendations of the team will be vetted through areas of the college as appropriate for the specific recommendation, and implemented to the degree possible. Holistic Student Supports During AY 21/22, a team comprised of members from academic and student affairs members created the following vision statement for Holistic Student Supports (HSS) at LCC:  Honoring and responsive to a student’s cultural beliefs and needs, Lane will provide comprehensive personalized services to them that empower and support all students toward their educational goal. The role of Holistic Supports is for employees to have authentic and meaningful interactions with students to provide comprehensive and culturally appropriate support to them as a whole person. In the coming AY 22/23, watch for information about the implementation and coordination of HSS across areas of the college. Early Momentum Metrics Dashboards The Guided Pathways Data Team, Institutional Research, and the Guided Pathways Core Team researched, designed, and produced a set of publicly available dashboards to illustrate Lane students’ progress in nine critical areas. These metrics, known as Early Momentum Metrics (EMMs), are closely aligned with a student’s ability to persist and complete their course of study at Lane. To view the dashboards please visit https://www.lanecc.edu/ir/data-packages-and-reports and open the “Guided Pathways Metrics” tab to find the links to the dashboards. Timely Information Promoting Student Success (TIPSS) Seven editions of TIPPS were published during AY 21/22. In addition to being linked below, you can find these and previous TIPSS on the IR website. TIPSS are provided in the hopes of stimulating considerations of, and conversations about, aspects of Lane’s student success data. We encourage thoughtful and reflective discussions with colleagues about various TIPSS topics. TIPSS #40 – Re-Updating the Pipeline: Writing        TIPSS #41 – Re-Updating the Pipeline: Math       TIPSS #42 – Completing Gateway Courses during the Student’s First Year TIPSS #43 – Oregon Promise and Lane’s First Year Experience        TIPSS #44 – Student Feedback from Lane’s First Year Experience TIPSS #45 – Transfer Rates        TIPSS #46 – The Lane Index 2.0                                 Engagement During AY 21/22, five profiles of students, faculty, and staff were published in the Lane Weekly and on the Guided Pathways blog. The profiles included: March 3, Francesca Critelli, Student Highlight March 12, Kate Sullivan, Faculty Highlight April 12, Katherine Kaylegian, Classified Staff Highlight. May 17, Dawn Whiting, Manager Highlight June 1, Matt Wakefield, Graduating Student Highlight We are looking forward to continuing these profiles in the coming year. The purpose is to showcase the experiences of students, and student success work throughout the college.   Spring Conference, 2022 During last year’s Spring Conference, four Guided Pathways sessions were delivered: Default Academic Plans at Lane Community College Presenters: Claudia Owen-Earth and Environmental Science Instructor and Faculty Coordinator, Rick Glover-Earth and Environmental Science Instructor and Faculty Coordinator, Edgar Rosas Alquicira-Biology instructor and Guided Pathways and Ted Calcaterra-Academic Advisor. Watch the video of this session here. Early Momentum Metrics at Lane – Guided Pathways Data Dashboards Tour and Discussion Presenters: Jennifer Frei, Cathy Thomas, Edgar Rosas Alquicira. Watch the video of this session here. Humanizing the First-Year Experience: A Conversation with the Guided Pathways First-Year Math & Writing Team Presenters: Ingrid Nordstrom, Writing Faculty and Stephen Selph, Math Faculty — co-leads of Guided Pathways First Year Math & Writing Team. No video available. Understanding, Creating and Utilizing Holistic Student Supports Presenters: Jane Reeder, Potentially: Justin Chin, Ellen Osterkamp, Jenn Kepka, Carl Yeh, and Rosa Lopez. No video available. DOWNLOAD WORD DOCUMENT OF THIS REPORT: FINAL 2022-10-03 Guided Pathways AY 21-22 Year End Summary [...] Read more...
October 3, 2022The Guided Pathways Team is pleased to present the first TIPSS edition for Academic Year (AY) 2022 – 2023: TIPSS #47: It’s Time to End the Trend. This TIPSS illustrates Lane’s enrollment since 1992 and discusses the effect of the most recent decade’s downward trend.  TIPSS are provided in the hopes of stimulating considerations of, and conversations about, aspects of Lane’s student success data. We encourage thoughtful and reflective discussions with colleagues about various TIPSS topics. Also, be sure to look at the Guided Pathways Dashboards, which presents Lane’s early momentum metrics.  The dashboards are available to all staff at Lane.  At the above link, open the “Guided Pathways Metrics” tab to find the links to the dashboards. [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/guidedpathways/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2022/10/TIPPS47-Its-Time-to-End-the-Trend.pdf” title=”TIPPS47 Its Time to End the Trend”] [...] Read more...
June 7, 2022For several years, Lane has been involved with the University of Oregon’s Undergraduate Research Symposium. Honors instructor and Faculty Coordinator for Undergraduate Research, Stacey Kiser, initiated the relationship, and since that time, we have had several Lane faculty and managers on the planning committee and subcommittees at UO. This year, we had a number of students from the Honors Program, Phi Theta Kappa, and the college at large participate in the symposium. Sprout Mahoney (pictured below, closest to the poster) won the award for Best Poster: Community College Division. Honors Student Sprout Mahoney answers questions about her poster. A week after the UO event, Lane held its annual Lane Student Research Days. Posters displays lined the halls of Building 16 while additional events included student work on sustainability in the Learning Garden, an alumni panel discussing the impact undergraduate research had on the panelists’ future education and careers, and a creative works reading. Jordan Coen (pictured below) read original work at the UO symposium and at LSR Days. PTK Member Jordan Coen reads a short story in the Titan Scholars space. Congratulations to all the Lane students who participated in these events! [...] Read more...
June 7, 2022For several years, Lane has been involved with the University of Oregon’s Undergraduate Research Symposium. Honors instructor and Faculty Coordinator for Undergraduate Research, Stacey Kiser, initiated the relationship, and since that time, we have had several Lane faculty and managers on the planning committee and subcommittees at UO. This year, we had a number of students from the Honors Program, Phi Theta Kappa, and the college at large participate in the symposium. Sprout Mahoney (pictured below, closest to the poster) won the award for Best Poster: Community College Division. Honors Student Sprout Mahoney answers questions about her poster. A week after the UO event, Lane held its annual Lane Student Research Days. Posters displays lined the halls of Building 16 while additional events included student work on sustainability in the Learning Garden, an alumni panel discussing the impact undergraduate research had on the panelists’ future education and careers, and a creative works reading. Jordan Coen (pictured below) read original work at the UO symposium and at LSR Days. PTK Member Jordan Coen reads a short story in the Titan Scholars space. Congratulations to all the Lane students who participated in these events! [...] Read more...
May 31, 2022Meet Matt.  This is Matt’s third and last year at Lane and he is graduating with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Computer Programming.  A non-traditional student, he’s spent a good part of his life making art and playing music and found his calling in game development.   He’s completed two internships with companies that produce CGI art.   In his time at Lane, he’s been the Phi Theta Kappa Chapter President and a tutor.  Both of these opportunities allowed him to connect with students whom he wouldn’t have otherwise.  Tutoring allowed him tohelp other students and he enjoyed the emotions students expressed when they figured out a problem or learned how to do something.  This year Matt attended the Phi Theta Kappa Catalyst Conference in Denver.  He felt this was a good way to end his career at Lane by representing Lane Community College and the PTK Chapter.   Matt hopes to find a job somewhere in Oregon so he can stay close to his family.  In his time at Lane, he’s received guidance from more people than he could name.  He especially credited the College Success course and faculty for helping him create a solid foundation for his studies.   Remember that Commencement is Saturday, June 11th. Please come and support Matt and our other graduating students! [...] Read more...
May 26, 2022The Guided Pathways Core team is pleased to present TIPPS #46, The Lane Index 2.0.  We hope you enjoy this snapshot of Lane, with apologies and credit to Harper’s Magazine. [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/guidedpathways/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2022/05/TIPSS46-Lane-Index-2.0.pdf” title=”TIPSS46 Lane Index 2.0″] [...] Read more...
May 10, 2022The Guided Pathways Core Team is pleased to present TIPSS #45, which illustrates transfer rates for Lane students.  The items presented include 10 year transfer rates, transfer and graduation data, as well as the the relationship between transfer rates and early momentum metrics (EMMs). Speaking of EMMs, also be sure to look at the Guided Pathways Dashboards, which presents Lane’s early momentum metrics.  The dashboards are available to all staff at Lane.  To view the dashboards please visit https://www.lanecc.edu/ir/data-packages-and-reports and open the “Guided Pathways Metrics” tab to find the links to the dashboards.   [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/guidedpathways/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2022/05/TIPSS45-Transfer-Rates.pdf” title=”TIPSS45 Transfer Rates”] [...] Read more...
May 6, 2022The Guided Pathways teams are presenting several sessions for Spring Conference this year.  Check back after the conference for a summary of each session, resources, and hopefully recordings of each session. Click the link below to access the presentation for today’s 2:30-3:30 Spring Conference Presentation, Early Momentum Metrics at Lane – Guided Pathways Data Dashboards Tour and Discussion. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-GnpDU7A55sOxaiKxJqMTR6Dbz0HFKGN/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104539996146571292801&rtpof=true&sd=true  (This is a Google Slides link. You will have to copy and past this link into your browser.) 2022-05-06 GP Overview EMMs & Dashboards Spring Conference workshop.  (This is a Power Point link.  This link will download a Power Point file to your computer and Power Point will open.)        [...] Read more...
April 15, 2022On April 15, I had the pleasure of addressing faculty and librarians at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Florida. The Institute for Teaching Excellence there is an impressive facility, and it was a pleasure to be in a room filled with CC faculty who are interested in infusing digital humanities into their curriculum. Thanks to Mia Tignor and all the staff at IRSC for an invigorating discussion. Here’s my PowerPoint presentation from the talk. Assignments to inspire DH infusions and redesign at IRSC: Link for Google Drive here: [...] Read more...
April 12, 2022Meet Katherine Kaylegian. She prefers to go by Kat.  Kat has a BS in physics with a minor in math, and is working toward a master’s degree in physics with a focus in optics. She worked as a research assistant in computational neuroscience and high energy physics for 6 years, and in that time published two papers, and is presenting ATLAS research for the American Physical Society this April. While working as a research assistant she took a position as a tutor in the math department at LCC but was asked to take on an academic coaching role not long after she began. It is a position that excites her because it gives her a chance to provide holistic support to struggling math students. She was a nontraditional undergrad, and when she struggled with life events, she had no place to go and no one to talk to. As a result, she learned a lot about advocating for herself and a lot about working through her math and test anxiety- skills that she passes on to her students. As an academic coach she is the point person when a student struggles. She likes to be a safe place for them to go to talk about juggling life and school, and she get to make sure that students don’t fall through the cracks. Her newest venture at LCC is as part of the GP Math and Writing Group. This work allows her to address one of the most common barriers to math success that she sees: improper math placement. She works with many stressed students who are improperly placed, and is grateful for the opportunity to participate in a program that allows her to actively work to make a change that will help our students succeed. [...] Read more...
April 4, 2022The Guided Pathways Core Team is pleased to present TIPSS #44, which illustrates responses from a survey completed by students enrolled in Lane’s First Year Experience Course. Previously, TIPSS #43 showed that students enrolling in First Year Experience have better first-year outcomes than other new students. Both #43 and #44 are posted together so you can examine both of them. [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/guidedpathways/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2022/04/TIPSS44-First-Year-Experience-Student-Survey.pdf” title=”TIPSS44 First Year Experience Student Survey”] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/guidedpathways/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2022/03/TIPSS43-First-Year-Experience-Student-Success-Metrics.pdf” title=”TIPSS43 First Year Experience Student Success Metrics”]   [...] Read more...
March 3, 2022The Guided Pathways Core Team is pleased to present TIPSS #43, which illustrates student outcomes for those who participate in Oregon Promise and/or Lane’s First Year Experience course.  The examination of the success data shows students who participate in either one or both of these programs have higher success rates than those students who do not.   Also be sure to look at the Guided Pathways Dashboards, which presents Lane’s early momentum metrics.  The dashboards are available to all staff at Lane.  To view the dashboards please visit https://www.lanecc.edu/ir/data-packages-and-reports and open the “Guided Pathways Metrics” tab to find the links to the dashboards.   [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/guidedpathways/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2022/03/TIPSS43-First-Year-Experience-Student-Success-Metrics.pdf” title=”TIPSS43 First Year Experience Student Success Metrics”] [...] Read more...
March 3, 2022Kate joined Lane’s English (now writing) department in Fall 2000. Growing up in a working-class home, she witnessed the power and opportunity of education when her mother attended college and obtained a college degree while Kate was in grade school. One of her mother’s first positions was as the job counselor at the local jail, where she focused her efforts not only on work placement for offenders but also on helping them earn their GEDs.   After coming to Lane, Kate had the opportunity to work with and learn from colleagues in a variety of capacities:  as a member of the composition committee, as a chair of the assessment team, as part of SAGA (Success and Goal Attainment Committee), and now as chair of the academic program review oversight committee (APROC)–all employee groups focused on examining data and building better systems to support students and help them be successful. Informed by this work, she was one of the first people at Lane to explore and suggest  Guided Pathways as a mechanism to create beneficial systems for students to explore and plan their journey, receive support during that journey, and create the life they want to live after the completion of their education. In lieu of a recent photo, Kate shared her favorite book on teaching, pictured left. [...] Read more...
March 3, 2022Francecsca is receiving her AAOT in June and will be transferring to the University of Oregon to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology.  Her goal is to go to Law School or work toward a Master’s degree.  After being unable to finish high school due to medical issues, she had to relearn basic life skills, such as walking.  Her family helped her find her way to Lane Community College, where she was able to complete her high school education through the GED and ABSE program, where the faculty and staff “believed in my success before I did.”   She credits her success at LCC to a compassionate staff and faculty and intense support network provided to students so that they can succeed.  Francesca works as a tutor at Lane helping students in the same way student tutors helped her when she worked toward her GED.   “Having another student who could relate on my level was incredible.  I mostly wanted to give that back to the Lane community.”   Whatever she does she wants to help others.  “If you have access to education you should use it to build a longer table and not a taller fence,” says Francesca.  Let’s all celebrate Francesca’s success!  Best of luck in whatever you do, Francesca. [...] Read more...
February 28, 2022Check out the latest edition of the Lane Honors News, edited by three honors students: Kayley Cook, Hannah Joel, and Rayven Mack. There’s a feature on research conducted by an honors student, an interview with a former honors student, a look at honors students who work in the Tutoring Center, information about upcoming events, and an update on recent activities by our Sigma Zeta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa! [...] Read more...
February 23, 2022This year, Lane Community College has two administrators receiving prestigious awards from Phi Theta Kappa! Congratulations to Lane Community College President, Margaret Hamilton, for winning PTK’s Michael Bennett Lifetime Achievement Award for ongoing support of Phi Theta Kappa campus chapters! PTK explains the award: “Michael Bennett Lifetime Achievement Awards are presented to college presidents/campus CEOs at two-year institutions and state community college system directors who are retiring and have provided consistently outstanding support to Phi Theta Kappa chapters and advisors during their careers. They are named in honor of the late Dr. Michael Bennett, longtime president of St. Petersburg College in Florida. President Hamilton is one of six college presidents receiving the award this year! President Margaret Hamilton Congratulations to Associate Vice President of the School of Arts and Sciences, Jennifer Frei, on receiving the Distinguished College Administrator award! Frei is one of twenty-eight administrators honored this year out of more than 230 nominated administrators. PTK describes this award as one “presented to college vice presidents, deans, or directors serving at post-secondary institutions who have shown strong support of student success on their campus by recognizing academic achievement, leadership, and service among high-achieving students.” Associate VP Jennifer Frei The awards will be presented at PTK Catalyst in Denver in April. We are so proud of our administrators and grateful for their support of our Sigma Zeta Chapter! [...] Read more...
February 23, 2022Congratulations to our four members of this year’s All Oregon Academic Team! PTK explains on its website that the purpose of the all-state teams is to recognize “high achieving college students who demonstrate academic excellence and intellectual rigor combined with leadership and service that extends their education beyond the classroom to benefit society.” Our four student members of Oregon’s team definitely meet those criteria! Melony Burnett belongs to the Lane Honors Program and Phi Theta Kappa as well as participating in my projects at the Gender Equity Center. Volunteer work includes: Eugene Advisory Council, KaiserKaiser Patient PartnerRainy Day Food Pantry, Lane Community College Melony Burnett Jordan Coen is a member of the Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA), Phi Theta Kappa, and the Student Activity Fee Committee. They hold leadership positions as a PTK Ambassador and Social Media Coordinator for the GSA. Volunteer work includes CERCO and interning for a kindergarten class. Jordan is also a published author. Jordan Coen Isaiah Contreras is a member of the Lane Honors Program and Phi Theta Kappa. Isaiah’s volunteer work includes organizing donations for victims of the Holiday Farm Fire in Oregon in the fall of 2021. Isaiah Contreras Autumn Travertini is a member of the Lane Honors Program and Phi Theta Kappa. Autumn Travertini Congratulations to all four team members! [...] Read more...
January 31, 2022The annual DREAM conference, hosted by Achieving the Dream, will be convening from February 14th-17th, 2022.  Like last year, the conference will be virtual.  Scholars, staff, administrators, faculty, and students from around the country will gather to discuss best practices and reforms to improve the student experience at the community college level.   A group from Lane will be attending, composed of a large number of our First Year Math and Writing Team.  One of Lane’s Guided Pathways aspirations for the 21-22 academic year is for this team to redesign first year math and writing to enable students to experience success and close equity gaps.  Success in program level math and writing is a key early momentum indicator for student retention and success.  https://www.achievingthedream.org/event/18008/dream-2022   [...] Read more...
January 10, 2022ARH 209_H History of Japanese Art -Honors (taught by Alexandria Nanneman) Alivia Stiles’ “Visual Analysis of Kōshirō Onchi’s Family of the Field from Poem no. 2“ Kōshirō Onchi, Family of the Field from Poem no. 2, 1937 Showa Era, color woodcut on Japanese paper, 14 7/8 x 14 1/2 in. (37.783 x 36.83 cm), Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, https://library-artstor-org.lanecc.idm.oclc.org/#/asset/ADALLASIG_10313601517;prevRouteTS= 1635624793780  ENSC 182_H Atmospheric Environment and Climate Change – Honors (taught by Claudia Owen) Nick Bernier and John Adair’s Research Project WR 121_H Introduction to Academic Writing – Honors (taught by Eileen Thompson) Katie Sincerbox’s Essay Julia Taylor’s Essay WR 227_H Technical Writing – Honors (taught by Ce Rosenow) The following students wrote reflections on their research process and included links to the comparative analyses they produced in their formal analytical reports: Jecca Arthur’s Honors Reflection Kat Lakey’s Honors Reflection Raven Mack’s Honors Reflection Jeremiah Vandagrift’s Honors Reflection [...] Read more...
January 10, 2022History of Japanese Art -Honors (taught by Alexandria Nanneman) Alivia Stiles’ “Visual Analysis of Kōshirō Onchi’s Family of the Field from Poem no. 2“ Kōshirō Onchi, Family of the Field from Poem no. 2, 1937 Showa Era, color woodcut on Japanese paper, 14 7/8 x 14 1/2 in. (37.783 x 36.83 cm), Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, https://library-artstor-org.lanecc.idm.oclc.org/#/asset/ADALLASIG_10313601517;prevRouteTS= 1635624793780  Technical Writing – Honors (taught by Ce Rosenow) The following students wrote reflections on their research process and included links to the comparative analyses they produced in their formal analytical reports: Jecca Arthur’s Honors Reflection Kat Lakey’s Honors Reflection Raven Mack’s Honors Reflection Jeremiah Vandagrift’s Honors Reflection [...] Read more...
January 10, 2022The Guided Pathways Team is pleased to present TIPSS #42, which presents data about student completion of both first year math and writing, two key early momentum metrics (EMMs).  These and other EMMs are closely aligned with a student’s ability to persist and complete their course of study at Lane.   Also be sure to look at the Guided Pathways Dashboards, which present these and other EMMs.  The dashboards are available to all staff at Lane.  To view the dashboards please visit https://www.lanecc.edu/ir/data-packages-and-reports and open the “Guided Pathways Metrics” tab to find the links to the dashboards.   [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/guidedpathways/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2022/01/TIPSS42-Completing-Gateway-Courses-during-First-Year.pdf” title=”TIPSS42 Completing Gateway Courses during First Year”] [...] Read more...
November 24, 2021In October, we held a workshop for members of the Lane Honors Program and Phi Theta Kappa on how to create a CV and how to present at academic conferences. The workshop took place on our Discord server in the Honors voice channel. Claire Dannenbaum shared information about the University of Oregon’s Undergraduate Research Symposium coming up this spring. Erika Masaki discussed why someone might want to participate in an academic conference and what to expect at conferences. Ce Rosenow explained what a CV is and reviewed how to create one. Use the links in this post to access the materials shared during the workshop. You can also visit the University of Oregon’s website for information about their symposium. We will hold more workshops in winter and spring, including additional mentoring for presenting at conferences and creating ePortfolios. [...] Read more...
November 24, 2021In October, we held a workshop for Phi Theta Kappa and Lane Honors Program members on how to create a CV and how to present at academic conferences. The workshop took place on our Discord server in the Honors voice channel. Claire Dannenbaum shared information about the University of Oregon’s Undergraduate Research Symposium coming up this spring. Erika Masaki discussed why someone might want to participate in an academic conference and what to expect at conferences. Ce Rosenow explained what a CV is and reviewed how to create one. Use the links in this post to access the materials shared during the workshop. You can also visit the University of Oregon’s website for information about their symposium. We will hold more workshops in winter and spring, including additional mentoring for presenting at conferences and creating ePortfolios. [...] Read more...
November 22, 2021This year, we are holding a series of workshops for students in the Lane Honors Program and Phi Theta Kappa, including several on how to present at conferences. The first workshop ran this fall on our Honors Discord server. Honors Librarian Claire Dannenbaum and Honors Political Science Instructor Erika Masaki joined Honors Coordinator Ce Rosenow to discuss why students might want to present at a conference, what the process for submitting a proposal looks like, and what to expect in the various conference presentation formats. We will hold additional workshops in winter and spring to prepare students to present at the Lane Community College Undergraduate Research Fair and at the University of Oregon’s Undergraduate Research Symposium. [...] Read more...
November 22, 2021This year, we have three co-editors working on the Honors Program News, our program’s newsletter. We plan to publish one issue per term in fall, winter, and spring. Work on the fall issue is well underway, and we plan to publish the newsletter at the end of the term. Meet our wonderful new editors: Kayley Cook (pronouns are she/her) is a double major in English Literature and Education. She’s in the Honors Program and Phi Theta Kappa, volunteers with OSPIRG, and is a tutor at Lane’s Tutoring Center. Outside of school, she plays piano, and she loves to read. She plans to go to the University of Oregon once she has finished at Lane, and she would like to study in the UK at some point. Hannah Joel was born and raised in the small city of Ipoh in Malaysia. Now, she finds herself across the world as a first-year student at Lane Community College. Growing up, she was always intrigued by the world of criminal justice, criminology, and psychology. Her penchant for such studies led her to enroll at Lane in the spring term of 2021 and join the Honors Program in the summer term of 2021, where she is currently pursuing an AAOT degree. Hannah was captivated by, and drawn to, the honors program because of the small class sizes and the close faculty mentorship. By taking honors classes, she would not only be more engaged with the content but also have the ability to be involved in discussions and debates that would keep her open-minded.When she saw an announcement to be involved in co-editing the honors newsletter, Hannah immediately jumped at the first opportunity. She had never co-edited anything before, so she thought that it would be an excellent idea for her to experience something new. Hannah also wanted to have a sense of involvement within the community. Since she is not on campus at the moment, co-editing the honors newsletter sounded like a great way to be active in college despite taking classes online.Apart from spending her days working on her assignments and projects for college, she enjoys reading novels, watching movies, and listening to podcasts concerning crime, thriller, and horror genres. Hannah also takes delight in spending time with her poodle Calum and going out for food trips during the weekends with her friends. Raven Mack has been at Lane since Spring Term of ’21 and is studying English. Her goal as of now is to become an editor, though that is subject to change as something else may catch her interest in the future. Regardless, she does intend to work somewhere in the writing field, as writing has always been a hobby of hers. She really enjoys writing short stories, with her absolute favorite genre to write is contemporary fiction. She also loves reading and will read an entire book in a day if given the chance. Her favorite books tend to fall somewhere on the fiction spectrum as well, ranging anywhere from horror to sci-fi or fantasy, and of course, contemporary! [...] Read more...
October 14, 2021The Guided Pathways Team would like to share with you the following announcements and opportunities for involvement with Guided Pathways at Lane.     In this message you will find: 1. Guided Pathways Academic Year 2021-2022 Aspirations 2. First Year Math and Writing Team recruitment  3. Faculty Core Team posting    Please see below for more information on each topic.   GP AY 2021-2022 Aspirations: This document describes the big-picture goals for this year. There are aspirations for Academic Plans, First Year Math and Writing, Foundational Seminar, Data, Retention, and Engagement. The work of project teams will be focused in these areas.    First Year Math and Writing Team recruitment: We are seeking participants for this team. The team’s goal is to create systemic conditions that decrease equity gaps, and guide and support all students toward completion of both program-level math and writing within their first year. Please review the full team description here . To express interest, please fill out this form by noon on Friday, 10/22.   Faculty Core Team posting: The Guided Pathways Core Team seeks a current full-time or pat-time faculty member as a Core Team member. The Core Team is responsible for strategy, planning, and direction of GP work. The team facilitates college-wide implementation of Guided Pathways and gives charge to project teams, including clarification of outcomes and timelines for implementation. Please review the posting here and attached. To express interest, please submit letter of interest and resume/CV to Jennifer Frei by noon on Fri, 10/22.    You may ask why are we seeking a Faculty Core Team member? It is with great gratitude that we say THANK YOU to Jenn Kepka for three years of dedication to launching and leading guided pathways work throughout the college. Jenn’s consistent focus on centering the student experience, equity, and connecting across areas of the college have been highly valued and appreciated. She’s now focusing on supporting students through tutoring.    Finally, if you’ve made it this far, we’ll preview that more opportunities for involvement will be coming soon. Please watch for team recruitment related to additional aspirational areas, including Foundational Seminar and Holistic Student Supports.  [...] Read more...
October 10, 2021Please join us in the Honors Program voice channel on Discord for two workshops this term! If you haven’t joined Discord, contact Ce at RosenowC@lanecc.edu for the link. Workshops: Creating an Academic Resume & Presenting at Conferences, Tuesday, October 26, 4:00-5:00 Publishing Your Work, Tuesday, November 30, 4:00-5:00 [...] Read more...
October 10, 2021Please join us in the Phi Theta Kappa voice channel on Discord for our two chapter meetings and in the Honors Program voice channel on Discord for two workshops this term! If you haven’t joined Discord, contact Ce at RosenowC@lanecc.edu for the link. Chapter Meetings: Tuesday, October 19, 4:00-5:00 Tuesday, November 16, 4:00-5:00 Workshops: Creating an Academic Resume & Presenting at Conferences, Tuesday, October 26, 4:00-5:00 Publishing Your Work, Tuesday, November 30, 4:00-5:00 [...] Read more...
September 8, 2021After many years of supporting the Blog network, Matt Danskin has left his position at Lane Community College and is no longer responsible for maintaining the network. Till additional Information Technology staff is hired, support and requests for new blogs will be handled by system admins at the Academic Technology Center (ATC) and IT will continue to support and maintain the underlying server infrastructure. We are working to catch up with various plugin updates along with testing an adjusted site backup plan/roll-back protection. For those individuals who would like more direct control over their content, themes, and features, it’s recommended that you investigate migrating to Google Sites. Many of the features Google sites supports were not available at the time the blogs network was established and it is now a much easier way for staff, faculty, and even students to share publicly accessible or private content. For questions or concerns, please contact the ATC via email (atc@lanecc.edu) and be sure to include your blog address so that your request can be addressed as quickly as possible. [...] Read more...
September 8, 2021We have three wonderful new officers who will lead our chapter this year: Matt Wakefield, President; Annie Sweet, Vice President of Service; Noni Lundy, Public Relations Officer. Each of them brings excellent skills and a commitment to serving our chapter membership. With their help, we will have an excellent year! Matt Wakefield, President Annie Sweet, Vice President of Service Noni Lundy, Public Relations Officer Thank you to all three leaders for their contributions to our Sigma Zeta Chapter! [...] Read more...
June 14, 2021Hello again everyone! This TIPSS was the last published of this academic year. It looks at data specifically tied to the Title III grant Lane received in 2019. Please review the TIPSS here to find out more! PDF version of TIPSS All of our TIPSS are available on this site any time you’d like to review them. [...] Read more...
June 9, 2021astra.3.5.0 Theme authorizerelementor.3.2.4essential-addons-for-elementor-lite.4.7.1kadence-blocks(1)nextgen-gallery.3.11ultimate-addons-for-gutenberg.1.23.1ultimate-social-media-icons.2.6.7wordfence.7.5.4wp-force-login.5.6.2wp-smushit.3.8.5 [...] Read more...
June 3, 2021There’s a lot going on this summer with teaching and learning! We have something for everyone; workshops, course development projects and expanded support options. Check it out! DTen Virtual TrainingZoom “aLive-Streaming”: Engaging with StudentsCourse Design Intro: Three Sections for Summer 2021Teaching Pairs: Improving Your Online/Hybrid Course: Summer 2021Full Course Development (Create a new course or redesign a course for a new modality)Course Refresh (Improve a current course) For details and more opportunities go to LaneOnline: Course Development and Support Opportunities or visit the ID Services website. [...] Read more...
May 19, 2021WP 5.7.2Kadence BlocksVery Simple Event ListAstra theme [...] Read more...
May 12, 2021Themeastra.3.4.2 Pluginselementor.3.2.3essential-addons-for-elementor-lite.4.6.6kadence-blocks (1)list-category-posts.0.84.2really-simple-ssl.4.0.15ultimate-addons-for-gutenberg.1.22.4wordfence.7.5.3 [...] Read more...
May 6, 2021Accessibility Challenge!Attention all faculty: we’re throwing down the gauntlet and challenging you to up your accessibility game! The object of the challenge is to learn about accessibility and universal design and how to create accessible documents for your courses. You’ll get to chart your own path by choosing a document and making it accessible. There are four challenges and the time per challenge is estimated at 1-3 hours. You may complete as many or as few challenges as you like. Did we mention prizes? For each challenge you complete you will be entered into a drawing for a prize. The Challenge is open now and runs through May 23. Winners will be announced on June 1. To participate login into Moodle and go to Accessibility Challenge. For more information about the Accessibility Challenge please contact Meredith Keene at keenem@lanecc.edu [...] Read more...
April 28, 2021astra.3.3.3elementor.3.2.2essential-addons-for-elementor-lite.4.6.3h5pkadence-blocks(1)list-category-posts.0.84.1nextgen-gallery.3.9.3panoramic.1.1.14really-simple-ssl.4.0.14so-css.1.2.14twentytwentyone.1.3ultimate-addons-for-gutenberg.1.22.3wp-scheduled-posts.4.0.3 [...] Read more...
April 20, 2021This year I am participating in a Faculty Inquiry Group aimed at improving online pedagogy. We are reading Flower Darby’s Small Teaching Online and working to implement some of Darby’s principles. One of the key principles she encourages is that of student engagement, something I’ve been interested in since 2005 when I worked on a Title III grant whose aim was to improve student engagement. Darby encourages incremental changes over time to improve online teaching and student engagement. With that in mind I went online and found that California is intentionally improving student engagement in its online STEM courses. It calls this process “Humanizing” an online course. I’m fascinated by this idea and am working to humanize my own humanities class. The first thing I’ve done is to begin a “Liquid Syllabus” template that I will develop in Fall 2021. More about that here. [...] Read more...
April 14, 2021Pluginsauthorizeressential-addons-for-elementor-lite.4.6.2nextgen-gallery.3.9.2pdf-embedder.4.6.2redirection Themesastra.3.3.2panoramic.1.1.12 [...] Read more...
April 13, 2021Congratulations to Annie Sweet for having her poem accepted for presentation at the Western Regional Honors Conference this month! This annual conference is sponsored by the Western Regional Honors Council and is open to students in honors programs across the country that belong to the WRHC. Annie read “Annie Wildwood,” at the one-day, virtual conference. [...] Read more...
April 7, 2021Pluginsauthorizerdecent-comments.1.10.0essential-addons-for-elementor-lite.4.6.0kadence-blocks(1)nextgen-gallery.3.9.1qubely.1.6.8really-simple-ssl.4.0.13ultimate-addons-for-gutenberg.1.22.2wordfence.7.5.2wp-smushit.3.8.4 Themesastra.3.3.1weaver-xtreme.4.4.7 [...] Read more...
April 6, 2021Several honors courses included honors-level undergraduate research this term. Students in Stanley Coleman’s COMM 111_H Public Speaking – Honors class completed an honors research project as part of the course requirements. Isaiah Contreras’s Research Paper Casey Nagai’s Research Paper Samantha Wilson’s Research Paper   John Adair and Lille Youngbauer completed ART 115_H Basic Design – Honors with artist and instructor, Kathleen Caprario. From the assignment instructions: “It’s often said that there’s nothing really all that new under the sun. That history repeats itself and that the “new” is actually the old, just dressed up differently to seek out a contemporary audience. So, is that true? And, what are the iterations possible for similar ideas given a different cultural point of view and time? Are there similarities in intention, need and purpose that continue to inform the bulk of what is labeled “new,” with the radical, never-before-seen actually being an exception and anomaly? Begin by researching and selecting two different artists or artistic/cultural movements to compare and contrast. You will be considering these creative and cultural examples, one from the past and one contemporary that, despite different time periods, have similarities based on form, function and aesthetics. Make sure that there is a discernible difference between the two in terms of time period and technologies that will allow for you to fully consider the contrasts and outcomes between the two.” Read their research papers: John Adair’s Research Paper Lille Youngbauer’s Research Paper   In Alexandria Nanneman’s ARH 209_H  History of Japanese Art – Honors class, Perry Wright completed an undergraduate research project.  Perry Wright’s Research Paper    In WR 227_H Technical Writing – Honors, students completed a research project and a reflection on that project. The following reflections were written specifically to be shared on this blog. They include links to the students’ formal analytical reports, where they present their findings as to whether PowerPoint or Prezi is the most appropriate presentation software for various audiences. Noni Lundy’s Reflection Zain Shah’s Reflection Trenton Tomlin’s Reflection Matt Wakefield’s Reflection [...] Read more...
March 31, 2021We are so proud of this year’s members of the All Oregon Academic Team: Deepti Gautam (Engineering), Nora Jackson (Dental Hygiene), and Shawna Staff (Computer Programming). All three students are members of the Lane Honors Program and Phi Theta Kappa. A special shout out goes to Nora Jackson for being selected as one of the featured speakers! Even though the awards ceremony has been cancelled because of COVID-19, Nora’s speech will be recorded and available to view. Congratulations to all three team members!   Deepti Gautam Nora Jackson Shawna Staff [...] Read more...
March 31, 2021Thanks to Georgia May and Kyla Ramsey for another great edition of the newsletter! Please enjoy the features, interviews, and information they have included! [...] Read more...
March 22, 2021Pluginscontent-views-query-and-display-post-page.2.4.0.1essential-addons-for-elementor-lite.4.5.4kadence-blocksqubely.1.6.7subscribe2.10.35ultimate-addons-for-gutenberg.1.21.1weaverx-theme-support.4.4.5wp-accessibility.1.7.7 Themesastra.3.2.0weaver-xtreme.4.4.5 [...] Read more...
March 10, 2021WordPress v5.7 – Esperanza was released this week.  Several very nice new and updated features.  Learn more here…   WordPress 5.7 “Esperanza” Along with the major version update, many plugins and themes were also updated to maintain compatibility. Pluginsantispam-bee.2.9.4authorizercaldera-forms.1.9.4content-views-query-and-display-post-page.2.4.0elementor.3.1.4essential-addons-for-elementor-lite.4.5.3kadence-blocksnextgen-gallery.3.8.0really-simple-ssl.4.0.11regenerate-thumbnails.3.1.5ultimate-addons-for-gutenberg.1.21.0ultimate-social-media-icons.2.6.6wp-latest-posts.4.8.8wp-scheduled-posts.4.0.2 Themesastra.3.1.2panoramic.1.1.11siteorigin-north.1.18.0twentyeleven.3.7twentyfifteen.2.9twentyfourteen.3.1twentysixteen.2.4twentyten.3.3twentythirteen.3.3 As always, if you see any problems with your blog, please contact me here. [...] Read more...
March 5, 2021The Counseling Center is offering Preparing for Finals workshops.   Students can select one of the links below or go to lhttps://www.lanecc.edu/cc to sign up.     Preparing for Finals Workshops: Know what you need to know then apply these action steps:  Make a detailed plan in your planning tools  Organize your course materials and study tools  Develop a study plan  Carry through with your plan  Remember the basics of self-care Preparing for Finals – Mon. Mar. 8th, 8:30 am Preparing for Finals – Wed. Mar. 10th, 3:30 pm Preparing for Finals – Thurs. Mar. 11th, 4:00 pm [...] Read more...
March 5, 2021The Counseling Center is offering Preparing for Finals workshops.   Students can select one of the links below or go to lhttps://www.lanecc.edu/cc to sign up.     Preparing for Finals Workshops: Know what you need to know then apply these action steps:  Make a detailed plan in your planning tools  Organize your course materials and study tools  Develop a study plan  Carry through with your plan  Remember the basics of self-care Preparing for Finals – Mon. Mar. 8th, 8:30 am Preparing for Finals – Wed. Mar. 10th, 3:30 pm Preparing for Finals – Thurs. Mar. 11th, 4:00 pm [...] Read more...
March 5, 2021Consider running for office! We’ll hold elections early in Spring Term for next year’s officers. Holding office is a great experience that builds leadership skills and provides a good line for your resume. It’s also a fun chance to work with other students in our Sigma Zeta Chapter. Review the list of offices and their responsibilities.    You may run for as many offices as you like, but if you are elected to more than one, you will have to choose only one office to hold.   Send Ce Rosenow (RosenowC@lanecc.edu) the office or offices for which you are running along with a single paragraph per office explaining why you want to hold that office and what skills you will bring to the job.   Due: 5:00 pm, Friday, March 12. [...] Read more...
February 23, 2021WordPress v5.6.2 Pluginsauthorizeressential-addons-for-elementor-lite.4.5.1kadence-blocksnextgen-gallery.3.7.0qubely.1.6.5really-simple-ssl.4.0.9ultimate-social-media-icons.2.6.5very-simple-event-listwp-smushit.3.8.3 [...] Read more...
February 13, 2021It’s been a while since we had a blog post! Guided Pathways work has continued this year, though like most campus projects and operations, we’ve been slowed by the pandemic and its imposed limitations. To keep the campus updated, this week the Core Team developed and delivered this presentation for Learning Council. It reviews both where we are now and some aspirations for next year. We invite comments and questions here and through email, and we hope that everyone can find ways to incorporate student-centered information into their work at Lane. [...] Read more...
February 10, 2021Consider sharing your work from a previous or current class at these two events! They are open to a wide variety of projects and presentation types. The University of Oregon Undergraduate Research Symposium takes place May 27. You can be on a panel, read a paper, show an academic poster, share creative work including performances, or share a five-minute data story where you just explain a project you are working on that isn’t finished. Register by 5:00 pm April 12 here: https://undergradsymposium.uoregon.edu/symposium-abstract-submission. You just need to confirm you’ll participate, give the title of your work, and select the type of work you’ll be presenting. The event will be virtual and is free. The Lane Community College Undergraduate Research Fair takes place the week of May 24. You can share an academic poster, read a paper, participate in the ePortfolio Showcase, or present a creative work. Here is the link to the Google form to register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdVAjMj9KuN7Ccmf_uVFl19MFWYp7OP6lIGIyaJ_F-mf1LqYA/viewform. The event is free and will be virtual. [...] Read more...
February 10, 2021There are a lot of events and opportunities coming up that you are eligible for in part because of your membership in the Lane Honors Program! Check them out!   CONFERENCES   These events are excellent lines for your resume and for a variety of applications. Think about projects you have already completed for a class or a project you are working on this term.   1.The Western Regional Honors Conference is having a virtual conference in April. If you would like to present a paper, creative work, or academic poster at this event, you need to submit your proposal here https://www.suu.edu/wrhc2021/ prior to the deadline of February 16th, 2021. Once they group the presentations, you’ll upload your work and just give a short overview of it at your session. Then you, the other students presenting, and members like me in the Zoom audience will have a discussion and ask questions. Registration will open after the proposal deadline has passed. Early registration is $25 by April 1 and $40 after April 1. The conference is April 10. The Lane Honors Program will pay early registration for up to eight honors students! You do not have to present to attend; however, presenting is a good experience to get comfortable try it out! 2.The University of Oregon Undergraduate Research Symposium takes place May 27. You can be on a panel, read a paper, show an academic poster, share creative work including performances, or share a five-minute data story where you just explain a project you are working on that isn’t finished. Register by 5:00 pm April 12 here: https://undergradsymposium.uoregon.edu/symposium-abstract-submission. You just need to confirm you’ll participate, give the title of your work, and select the type of work you’ll be presenting. The event will be virtual and is free. 3.The Lane Community College Undergraduate Research Fair takes place the week of May 24. You can share an academic poster, read a paper, participate in the ePortfolio Showcase, or present a creative work. Here is the link to the Google form to register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdVAjMj9KuN7Ccmf_uVFl19MFWYp7OP6lIGIyaJ_F-mf1LqYA/viewform. The event is free and will be virtual.   POETRY READING BY LENARD D. MOORE This event counts as one of the three academic/cultural events you can attend to fulfill your experiential learning requirement for the Honors Program.   Moore is a renowned jazz poet, the author of six collections of poetry, the former president of the Haiku Society of America, and the 2020-2021 Honorary Curator of the American Haiku Archives. Please attend his reading on February 23 from 4:00-5:00 on Zoom. RSVP to the Honors Faculty Coordinator, Ce Rosenow, at RosenowC@lanecc.edu for the Zoom link!   SUBMIT YOUR WORK TO THE PALOUSE REVIEW   The Palouse Review showcases the literary, creative, and scholarly talents of honors students of the Western Regional Honors Council. They accept short fiction, nonfiction, scholarship, poetry, photography & visual art, music, and digital multimedia. Submit your work to the May 1, 2021 Edition of The Palouse Review. The deadline for the upcoming edition is April 1, 2021. To see the current edition and previous editions, please visit https://palousereview.wsu.edu/.   [...] Read more...
February 9, 2021Corewordpress-5.6.1 Pluginsauthorizerelementor.3.1.1essential-addons-for-elementor-lite.4.5.0kadence-blocks(1)qubely.1.6.4really-simple-ssl.4.0.8so-css.1.2.13ultimate-social-media-icons.2.6.4 Themesastra.3.0.2panoramic.1.1.09 [...] Read more...
February 8, 2021Position: Director, Small Business Development Center Life at Lane: Robert Killen will celebrate his two-year anniversary at Lane in May and has spent his career supporting the growth of small businesses as a banker, consultant, nonprofit executive, and most recently, as the membership development director at the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. Through his work at the Springfield Chamber,  he began working closely with LCC’s SBDC team and that collaboration prompted him to consider a role with the SBDC two years ago. Life Before Lane: Robert spent the first decade of his professional life in art/design and branding, then made the shift to finance, which started him on a path to help small businesses grow. Let’s Get Personal: Robert and his wife have three “mostly-grown boys.” He’s “very proud” of his wife, who is a 4J school administrator and the couple live in Coburg. Robert says while he doesn’t have much time for hobbies these days, he does enjoy playing music. He and his wife met through their mutual appreciation of music while students at the University of Oregon and at one time, they performed in a choir together. Music remains a major part of their lives, though, lately, the couple’s attention has been focused on helping our community in their respective roles during the pandemic.  Q: What interested you in your current position? A: When I found my way to the Chamber of Commerce, I actually thought I was going to retire with chambers because I love what chambers do, but the opportunity to focus my attention on education and training of business owners was too good to pass up. I was excited to take this position. I grew up in a household where my dad had his own business. Even though at the time, I didn’t realize how it impacted me, I gravitated toward positions and opportunities that would allow me to help small business owners. I was 10 years or more into my profession when I realized I wanted to help business owners. I became a business banker and from that point on, in any position I took, I’d try to help small businesses and/or nonprofits that really drive community. They are the heart of community. So for me, it’s exciting to help businesses succeed and help businesses launch new ideas. It’s an absolute joy.   Q: Tell us about your role at the SBDC as director.  A: My initial outreach was not specifically to prospective clients, but partner development and reaching out to entities that serve businesses, because we, the SBDC, should be the first phone call any business makes when they have a question. That doesn’t mean that we may have the answer, but we should know where to send them. Through my work at the chamber, I came to realize that there’s no obstacle that a business faces that there’s not someone who has a job to help them overcome that. The problem is historically, we’ve lacked a good way to connect business owners to the right resources in a timely fashion, so when I came here I made it my priority to make as many connections as I could with organizations. That turned into a product: the Lane Business Link portal. It’s a searchable database for businesses to find an organization to help them with their questions or provide support.  Q: How has that changed in the past year?  A: Once COVID came, then, everything had to change. Businesses were struggling and wanting to learn about these new programs that were coming out. We are the primary resource for information about stimulus programs for businesses. We have a direct relationship with the Small Business Administration (SBA), so they expect that we’ll be the experts. I present to businesses about stimulus programs. I continued with that through the fall and then there were new factors: wildfires, social unrest and new stimulus programs from the State and County. It was our job to make sense of all that and get that information out to business. I am proud of the number of business owners we’ve helped. We’ve also changed how we do business as a team. We moved to telephone or video advising and adapted in positive ways that will serve us well in the future even when this is over. We’ve learned new skills to allow us to reach more business owners and reach into rural Lane County and do our job better for more business owners.  Q: Have you had to alter how you approach your role? A: It’s certainly changed. I can’t say that it’s harder. I think in many cases it’s easier to reach people because everyone is so accessible through video. We’ve become comfortable with that.  Our work has become more efficient, and in some ways, more effective. However, nothing replaces in-person meetings to establish rapport and a relationship, but we can’t do that now and we’re making the most of the situation.  Q: Is there a demand for SBDC services right now? How is the SBDC helping businesses in our community during the pandemic? A:  This is our Olympics. In the history of the SBDC, which turns 41 nationwide this year, there has never been or will be a time that SBDC has been more important. We are small business owners’ connection to federal stimulus and strategies for resilience. Whether it’s a 1099 contractor or a business with up to 500 employees, we’re the first contact about these programs. We saw an extraordinary increase for requests for advising and information in 2020. The recorded impact only represents a third of the total impact we created in helping businesses figure out how to access these resources. We are and we continue to be more necessary than at any point in our history.  Q: What do you think other LCC employees may not realize – or be surprised by – about the SBDC and its services? A: I think a lot of people — a lot of businesses and the public don’t know the breadth of our programming. Even now, what people do know us for now is that we provide information and guidance regarding these stimulus packages, but our core work is free and confidential advising for business owners at any stage from beginning to exit. We talk to them about whatever they want to talk about to help them grow. We offer specialized services with statewide teams for those who want to enter global trade.  We have a capital access team to help them apply for funding. We have ongoing classes, including a brand new course that started in January: a microenterprise course developed in response to a grant at the city of Eugene to help those interested in launching new businesses. Then, at the same time, at the other end of the spectrum, we offer Small Business Management. It’s a three-year cohort model that businesses have been praising for 38 years. We have a lot to be proud of. We also know we have a lot of opportunity to get even better.  Q: Any personal practices you’ve started during the pandemic?  A: I have had to get good at Zoom and I took that a step forward to implement an actual green screen and software that allows me to do more sophisticated video recordings. I do a lot of video recording. We are using this as an opportunity to get good at delivering online training.  Q: What are you most looking forward to when we can use the term: post-pandemic?  A: I miss my team. I enjoy being in the downtown center. Because they’ve made changes to the center, they’ve moved our offices from the third to the first floor, so we have a lot of unpacking to do. That doesn’t particularly excite me, but it will be fun to be back in the office and meet new people since the city offices will be located there. It will be celebratory to go into a live meeting with people again. It will be a fun time when we can do that again. I’m looking forward to that human connection. Some things won’t go back to normal, my team of advisors will likely stick to virtual advising and do face-to-face when needed, but now, we have a different option and we have new tools to make good on our commitment to serve more of Lane County, like our rural areas in Oakridge, Cottage Grove, and Florence.   [...] Read more...
February 1, 2021Our website has nearly fifty pages with the word “Contact” in the title. For us, this has actually been our standard for a long time: we’ve always tried to make the bottom link in a menu a contact page. But, in designing the website, we started to believe this was the wrong approach. First, many department homepages work better as contact pages. Why  make someone click a link, just to see what the phone number for a department is? Second, many of those contact pages ended up reproducing pages in the employee directory. Why have duplicate pages? And, since the employee directory updates directly from Banner, it’s much less likely to be out of date than a manually updated page. On the new site, we’ll be introducing the support block on pages, and eliminating many of those contact pages. Here’s an example of a draft support block on the Continuing Education site: The support block supports a little bit of variation, and we’ll be able to do things like showcase people, include logos, and add additional yellow buttons. We’re hoping this will result in a standardized look and feel for our contact information, while allowing us to substantially reduce the size of the website. Of course, this means we need to fix any data quality issues in the employee directory. Be sure to check out your listing in the directory, and use the edit button at the bottom of the page to make corrections. For extra credit, check your department’s listing, and see if anything is missing. [...] Read more...
January 26, 2021Pluginselementor.3.1.0essential-addons-for-elementor-lite.4.4.0kadence-blocks.zipreally-simple-ssl.4.0.7.zipredirection.zipultimate-addons-for-gutenberg.1.20.1.zipultimate-social-media-icons.2.6.3.zipvoid-elementor-post-grid-addon-for-elementor-page-builder.2.1.8.zipwp-latest-posts.4.8.7.zip Themesastra.3.0.1.zipsiteorigin-north.1.17.19.zipweaver-xtreme.4.4.4.1.zip [...] Read more...
January 26, 2021Work-Life at Lane: Lori began working at Lane in June 1991 as a work-study student in the Financial Aid Office. She was hired as a full-time employee in 1993 as she continued her studies at the University of Oregon, where she completed her Bachelor of Science degree in anthropology. As a UO student, she took a course in HTML coding and development and at the time, did not know just how much it would shape her future at Lane. Lori helped create a great deal of the content for Lane’s first website and continued working on the site as webmaster after a transfer to computer services/IT, providing support and ensuring our website stays relevant, accurate, and helpful for our students and community. She continued in that position for 22 years before the web team was moved to Marketing where she continues in the same role.  Personal Look: Lori and her husband enjoy camping and fishing and a few years ago purchased a fifth-wheel travel trailer that has enabled them to safely enjoy the scenic outdoors during the pandemics. Her husband retired a few years ago and they’re both looking forward to Lori’s retirement at the end of 2022, so they can travel more and enjoy retirement together.  Q: Tell us a bit about your role at Lane. What’s an average day like, is there an average day? A: Because of where we are in the redesign of the website, there isn’t an average day. The part of the current website that will be included in the new website has been frozen and all updates come through me. So each day I take care of any updates as they come in. Then, I continue the work to review, reformat, and organize the pages that have been migrated into the new temporary site while learning how to do all that in the newer version of Drupal that the new site is in.  Q: How has working remotely impacted your work and/or the way you do your work? A: I have been telecommuting quite a bit for years so other than not seeing anyone in person at all, nothing has changed. Q: You’re currently working on our web redesign. What can we expect when that work is done? A: The biggest change most people will notice is that right from the front page, it will be immediately apparent that everything, from the design to the content to the organization of pages is designed with a focus on prospective students. You can follow along on our blog at blogs.lanecc.edu/webteam. We’ll be posting some previews there in the coming months. Q: How has going remote changed any thoughts or practices on how we approach our web design and content?A: It’s made it more clear that there have to be things in place for not going to campus to accomplish pretty much everything. Meeting with people, turning in forms, conducting business with the college — anything that was done with a paper form had to be rethought. We were already focused on mobile-first for our web content display to make sure it was easier for a lot of people to do what they needed to do from wherever. What we worked on for the first couple of weeks was migrating paper forms to web forms so that business could be done digitally and on getting information online as departments figured out doing a lot of things with zoom.  Q: What do you think other LCC employees may not realize — or be surprised by  — about the role of our web team?  A: We coordinate vacations and other time off, so that someone is available 24/7 to make changes to the site, if needed, including in the event of an emergency or a closure. And, not only do we maintain the current website, we maintain old versions in an archive site, so you can see how things have changed, including looking at the homepage from the earliest years we have in the archive. Q: What are you most looking forward to when we can use the term: post-pandemic? A: Seeing people in person. Many milestones have passed by without gathering to be together to celebrate, mourn, encourage, and just be together.    [...] Read more...
January 25, 2021One of the changes we’ll be introducing in the new website is a better integration with 25 Live, our event scheduling system. If you’re hosting and event, and would like to get it on your website, rather than asking us to do it, and going several rounds via email to get something on there, you’ll instead schedule it on 25 Live (which, to reserve a room, you’d do anyway) and tag it so it shows up on the website. That’s it – somewhere around fifteen minutes later, the event will just show up. It’ll look like this: You see the problem: it looks like we only have one governance council. Going forward, if your event is open to the public, it’s going to be incredibly important to make sure to get that scheduled on 25 Live. If you don’t, it simply won’t show up. But here’s one potentially confusing thing: that “More Events” Button takes you to our all events age, rather than taking you to a list of events tagged like in the view (in this case, governance events). That might be something we reevaluate in the future, as we better understand the capabilities of the new integration, but it will be several weeks yet. [...] Read more...
January 19, 2021I’ve had a lot of questions on the content freeze recently, and I’d like to clear one of those up: there’s no end date on the freeze. Part of that is practical: until the website launches, we need to make updates to both the old and new site whenever there’s a content changes. But even after launch, we’re not going to be immediately adding a bunch of accounts. Last time, we had a massive training program where literally hundreds of people learned to use the website to make edits. In retrospect, this was a bad idea: Many people took the training without ever making any changes to the website (only about 1 in 3 accounts on the website is even active anymore, and we’ve deleted dozens of accounts who never made edits) Most people don’t make many edits to the site. Excluding Lori and me, over the last 9 years, the average user has only made about 100 edits – about one per month since launch. There are only 11 people, including 2 retirees, who have made more than 600 page edits since we started. By contrast, Lori has made more than 16,000.* Of course, there are some outliers who have made over a thousand edits – more on them in a minute. Providing web editing access to hundreds of people ensured that our website would never have a consistent voice. Even today, there are sections written in very academic sounding third person, sometimes right next to a more casual 2nd person. If we’re going to provide a good experience to prospective students, this needs to stop. Right now our focus is on launching the website. Once we’ve launched, and have a better handle on how we’ll handle user permissions, we’ll start exploring ways to help get our really frequent website users more involved. But whatever that process, it will be very slow, and very deliberate. * These numbers are actually more complicated than this, since we’ve deleted thousands of pages, and I can’t capture those edits in these statistics. Since those pages were often the least edited pages, Lori’s total edits should be several thousand higher.  [...] Read more...
January 15, 2021Pluginsadmin-notices-manager.1.1.0akismet.4.1.8elementor.3.0.16essential-addons-for-elementor-litekadence-blocks(1)really-simple-ssl.4.0.6wp-accessibility.1.7.6wp-latest-posts.4.8.6wp-scheduled-posts.4.0.1 Themesastra.3.0.0 [...] Read more...
January 11, 2021Join your faculty colleagues and an instructional designer in a five-week online course covering current research and best practices around online teaching. This course is self-paced, asynchronous and paid at 20hrs at CD rate. There will be a non-mandatory open lab offered each week via Zoom. At the end of this training, you’ll have a plan built for your next online course, and perhaps a new understanding of what students experience in the online realm. Please note: If you were previously enrolled in a different session but want to return at a more leisurely pace, drop us a line! Any faculty member teaching online, remote, or hybrid this year is eligible to participate. Questions? Contact IDservices@lanecc.edu. Session: Winter term, Weeks 4-8, Jan. 25-Feb 27, Instructor: Meredith Keene, Session registration: Register here for Winter Term (opens on Jan. 25Session: Spring term, (Dates TBD) Instructor: Kevin Steeves [...] Read more...
January 11, 2021Join your faculty colleagues and an instructional designer in a five-week online course covering current research and best practices around online teaching. This course is self-paced, asynchronous and paid at 20hrs at CD rate. There will be a non-mandatory open lab offered each week via Zoom. At the end of this training, you’ll have a [...] Read more...
January 11, 2021The last few weeks, we’ve been testing every component of the website in every browser, operating system, and device combination we can come up with. Every time we find an issue (like, in Firefox only, a certain menu doesn’t correctly cover another menu), we file a ticket with iFactory, and they get to work fixing it. We’ve also been working on our content. This helps testing, since we’re doing real world tasks with the website as we test. But working on content has made me realize there’s a lot more to do than I thought. For instance, when we build the website back in 2011-2012, our primary focus was on an initial cleanup, and many of our pages were imported from the original website without substantial changes.  Often, that means they were built under the mistaken assumption that no one would scroll beneath the fold.  At the time, we thought most big monitors people had would be 1440 x 900 pixels. The monitor I’m writing this on today has a viewport almost three times that size, and 11 times as many pixels. Many of our pages from our current site simply look empty on the new site.  Some are so short that their content isn’t provided in a context that matters – if you landed on that page from a search, you might not know how what you’re looking at relates to anything else. Reworking all of those by, for instance, moving a page with a standalone Flickr slideshow into a slideshow widget on a page that tells you about what you’re seeing, takes some time. Since, despite the cleanup efforts we’ve made in the last several years, there are still more than a thousand pages on the website right now, it’s going to take us some time to go through those. There’s almost 400 open tasks on our list of things to do before we launch, and those are just the tasks I’ve built – that number should be a lot higher. Consequently, there’s no launch date to announce yet. Hopefully I’ll have more to report next status post.   [...] Read more...
January 5, 2021Several students completed the honors sections of WR 227 Technical Writing. Here are their reflections on their research, written specifically to be shared on this blog. The reflections also include links to their formal analytical reports, where they present their findings as to whether PowerPoint or Prezi is the most appropriate presentation software for various audiences.   Devin Daniels’ Reflection Alicia Foster’s Reflection Deepti Gautam’s Reflection Donald Laskey’s Reflection Hanna McGuinness’s Reflection Jeanna Metcalfe’s Reflection Casey Nagai’s Reflection Ryan Rebello’s Reflection Mariah Vohland’s Reflection Micki Williamson’s Reflection [...] Read more...
January 5, 2021Don’t miss this term’s Honors Orientation and Information Session! We’ll go over program requirements and upcoming opportunities. We’ll also review how to register for the University of Oregon’s Undergraduate Research Symposium! When: January 29, 2021; 4:00-5:00 Where: Zoom (see your Lane email for the link) [...] Read more...
January 5, 2021Since we were still off campus in the fall because of the pandemic, I wanted to provide virtual spaces where the honors students could connect both with the program and with each other. I assumed that Zoom would be the obvious choice since many faculty were using it in their classes and the students would be familiar with it. I held the Honors Orientation using Zoom. Several new students and some students who had been in the program since last year attended. We reviewed  program requirements, discussed publishing opportunities and upcoming events, and then mostly used the time to actually see and talk with one another. Zoom worked really well for this kind of event. It also worked for the reading by New York Times bestselling author, Laurie Notaro. People registered in advance and received the Zoom link. Notaro read from her work and answered questions. Her humor was a welcome relief from the stress of the pandemic, civil unrest, and the wildfires that had devastated parts of Oregon. When it came time to create a virtual honors lounge to substitute for the physical lounge space we had created on campus, I thought Zoom would be fine. The campus lounge served students from the Honors Program, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, and the Sigma Chi Eta National Communication Association. Groups held meetings there, PTK officers held office hours there, and people just dropped by to socialize or ask questions. When I suggested to the PTK officers that we use Zoom for a lounge space, however, Brian and Nadira recommended using Discord instead. Kyla, the Honors newsletter editor, also recommended Discord.  I knew about Discord, but I hadn’t really used it, and I only really understood why it worked better for a virtual lounge when a few of the students helped me set it up. Discord is an instant messaging and digital distribution platform. Everyone who joins the server can communicate in real time using video, voice, or text. It’s also easy to keep everything organized. Sigma Chi Eta didn’t participate in the lounge, but Honors and PTK did, so we set up text and voice channels for both groups. We also set up channels for the student lounge and for upcoming events. We held PTK chapter meetings in the PTK voice channel. Student leaders in the Honors Program and PTK held two hours a week in the student lounge channel to answer questions and connect with other students. At Kyla’s recommendation, I made some of the student leaders monitors, as well, so that they could make sure the communications were appropriate and also move discussions out of one channel and into another if they were accidentally happening in the wrong space. When someone joins Honors or PTK, I send them the link to join the Discord server. So many of the students were already using Discord for socializing and classes that they were already comfortable with it. We are continuing to use it this term, and I would like to find more ways to make it a place to create and support community. I can see Zoom continuing to be useful, as well. I may draw on some of the ideas my colleagues at other honors programs have shared. At the National Collegiate Honors Council’s virtual conference, I participated on a panel about virtual honors spaces. Al Golden (Joliet Junior College, Illinois), Trista M. Merrill (Finger Lakes Community College, New York), Kathleen Sullivan Stephens (Dallas College, Richland Campus, Texas), and I recorded our session on Zoom in September. They offered activities including taking virtual tours of a city, using Smule for karaoke events, setting up honors penpals, and holding virtual dance parties. The session was shared with people who registered for the conference. It is clear to me after my experiences this fall that we need to not only continue with virtual honors spaces but further develop them. They are obviously needed while we are still off campus, but they could also be beneficial as ways to connect students who are only taking online classes or have schedules that prevent them from coming to campus for events. It was a bit of a crash course in creating our first virtual honors spaces, but the benefits are clear and the possibilities are exciting. [...] Read more...
January 4, 2021Lots of updates to start the new year. Version 5.6 Pluginscaldera-forms.1.9.3elementor.3.0.15essential-addons-for-elementor-lite.4.3.9kadence-blocksnextgen-gallery.3.5.0page-links-to.3.3.5qubely.1.6.3so-css.1.2.12tinymce-advanced.5.6.0ultimate-addons-for-gutenberg.1.19.0ultimate-social-media-icons.2.6.2very-simple-event-listvoid-elementor-post-grid-addon-for-elementor-page-builder.2.1.7wp-accessibility.1.7.5wp-smushit.3.8.2 Themesastra.2.6.2panoramic.1.1.08siteorigin-north.1.17.18twenty-nineteen.1.9twentytwentyone.1.1weaver-xtreme.4.4.3 [...] Read more...
December 21, 2020Since we first announced the freeze, most of the questions we’ve received have been about webforms. That’s understandable, since forms are complicated, but often critical to our workflows. They need to just work. This post is going to try to provide some clarification. Moving our forms into the new website Unfortunately for all of us, the migration scripts can’t move webforms from the old to the new website. That means we’re going to need to rebuild each form individually. How we do that depends on if a form only contains transient data and the form is part of a workflow. When we get to a point where we’re starting to build forms, our first step will be to disable form editing across the site, to make sure none of the forms change while we’re moving them. This will only impact form editing: you’ll still be able to view form results, people will still be able to submit forms, and you’ll still be able to edit form submissions (if that’s something you do). The simplest cases are forms that only contain transient data. Often these are contact forms, like the advising contact form or the Board contact form. Submissions to those are relayed to an email address as soon as someone hits submit, and then the submission can essentially be forgotten. For these forms, we’ll build them on the new site, and they’ll go live at the same time as the new site. On the other hand, you may have a form that collects submissions for a period of time, and then you download them all at once and don’t use the form for another year (e.g. an event registration form). For these, we’ll rebuild the form, but not take it live until we know you’ve been able to download your responses (if applicable) and are good with us switching over. The most complex forms are the ones that have hidden fields that you use as part of a workflow. An example might be a form where someone submits it, and then you edit a hidden field to note that you’ve reviewed the submission and approved it. For these, we’ll rebuild them, but again work with you to make sure you’re good with us switching them over. We don’t anticipate any interruptions: forms should continue to function and be available throughout the entire process. Old submissions Unfortunately, there’s no way for us to migrate form submissions from the old site to the new site. In some forms, this doesn’t matter. But if you do want to save old submissions, at some point you’ll need to download them to your computer. But there’s no hurry yet: we’ll send out reminder emails in the spring. Drupal Webforms vs Softdocs I’ve been asked a lot of questions about if a certain form should be moved to Softdocs, if Softdocs is more secure, if Softdocs is going to replace Drupal, and if Drupal webforms are going to go away. Softdocs is an authenticated form and lightweight workflow solution. Drupal is a generalized content management system, with a bunch of plugins that can be used to make it do almost anything. While, superficially there’s some overlap, in reality they solve different problems. We need both. Softdocs will hopefully replace a lot of the PDFs we have on campus, and  lead to more efficient workflows since it directly integrates with Banner. It provides authenticated forms, which legally meet the requirements for an e-signature. If you have a form where you need to verify the identity of the person submitting it, and you’re certain anyone submitting the form will have an L Number, you want to use Softdocs. Drupal will continue to have a webform component. It will never integrate with Banner. There’s a limit to how complicated the forms can be (Softdocs allows you access to the HTML, so you can do much more). But since the forms are branded, integrated into your website, never require authentication, and are quick to create or edit, they’re very appropriate for collecting information from people not yet affiliated with the college. Neither one is really more secure than the other – one just provides identity verification. If you have a form that requires identify verification, is more of an internal process, or a form which would be improved by integrating with Banner, then you should move it to Softdocs.   [...] Read more...
December 14, 2020Last week, we finally got a glimpse at the new website, live and working in browser. Things look great! This first look was just to make sure there wasn’t anything on the backend that would keep us from being able to work on content throughout the rest of December. We’re looking forward to having greater access later this week. Please continue to email us any updates to your website. [...] Read more...
December 9, 2020A major revision update has been released for WordPress (v5.6) but I am holding off on updating the blog network for a week. With major revision updates often come surprise problems that get fixed fairly quickly. v5.5.x that we are running is stable and secure, so I will likely wait for v5.6.1 to update. Pluginsbetter-search-replacecontent-views-query-and-display-post-page v2.3.4kadence-blocksqubely v1.6.2really-simple-ssl v4.0.5very-simple-event-listweaver-xtreme v4.4.1wordfence v7.4.14 Themestwentyten v3.2twentyeleven v3.6twentytwelve v3.3twentythirteen v3.2twentyfourteen v3.0twentyfifteen v2.8twentysixteen v2.3twentytwenty v1.6 [...] Read more...
December 8, 2020Last Friday night I officially locked out edits on most of the pages mentioned in our previous post, and then Sunday night I shipped all the locked nodes off to be imported into our new site. Here’s our timeline right now: 12/4 – Site Frozen 12/6 – Database sent off to development 12/7-12/8  – Database migrated into the new site 12/9 – Initial training in the new site, and the start of the QA process 12/18 – Second training in the new site, finalize QA Early January – Migrate the site to the campus data center For us, one of the most intense parts of the web design process starts this upcoming Wednesday. When our content is migrated into the database, it’ll be stored close to how it is now. For each of the 2061 pages we’re migrating in, Lori and I will need to reformat them using the design components we’ve been provided, rework the content, add media, and appropriately add them to our menus. I’ve been asked a number of times this last week when we expect things to go live, and right now the answer is: we don’t know. That will depend entirely on how quickly we can get that content work done. The last few days last week were one the busiest periods of edits we’ve ever had. Thank you to everyone that helped squeeze those in, since they saved us from double entry! [...] Read more...
December 7, 2020Current position: Success Coach since September 2019 Work Life Before Lane: Glenda is a lifelong educator and prior to joining Lane was the site administrator for an adult education program that served more than 12,000 students in southern California. She holds a Ph.D. in human development.  Prior Work at Lane: Glenda has worked at Lane for nearly seven years and previously was an adjunct faculty member for ABSE and ESL. She also has assisted with qualitative data analysis work in support of student success. Personal Look: Her second grandchild (a granddaughter) was born recently. She has three adult children and a 3-year-old grandson. “I’m a happy mom and grandma.” She plans to retire at the end of December. Q: What interested you in your current position?  A: It was my dream job to be able to work one-on-one with students. That was my sole purpose to help them. When you teach, you’re helping them, but you have multiple students. As a coach, i feel like I can interact more and find out really how I can help and share the resources. A lot of them don’t know what’s available at Lane. Lane is crazy full of opportunities for them and the community.  Q: Tell us about your role as a success coach. What is it and do students find you … or do you find students?  A: Prior to this year, I was more involved with counselors and students who needed help meeting Academic Progress Standards. I’d be a liaison between the counselors and students. If they were having academic challenges. I’d set up appointments for them to meet with the counselor and help them navigate resources and identify solutions. My role has evolved since we’re not putting students on alert now while we’re in our remote environment. Now, I’m working primarily with First Year Experience students and providing support as they navigate the Moodle course. I still get referrals from Early Outreach, tutors, retention counselors and financial aid as I have built up rapports with them and am eager to help our students. Q: Have you had to alter how you approach your job as a success coach during the pandemic? If so, how?  A: We’re now working largely through email and I think a lot of our students aren’t used to communicating or focusing on email. So, when I learned I could request a phone, I decided to get one. I love having it because going back and forth on email with a student, it takes a little longer because they don’t always immediately respond like some of us to email. Sometimes, it could take a few days or longer to get their issue resolved just by email. Before, students also would come to our office. There’s something to be said by talking to someone face to face. You can tell by their body language if they’re anxious or nervous and through email, you can’t tell. Phone is tricky, too. I miss that authentic way of communicating. We have to adapt to that. Like everyone else, we need to be more patient. The empathy is certainly still there. I feel for them. This is tough. Also, just being in the same workspace is helpful. Cheryl (Shaw) and I worked well together and with the part-time coaches. If there was a student that had an issue that we didn’t know how to deal with it, we had the other coaches there and we could bounce ideas off each other. Or, I could walk over and bring in a counselor. Now, I have to text or email them and it’s a slower process. I’m afraid that we may lose some students in the process. I think younger people want immediate results or immediate solutions and that’s hard. We’re all doing the best we can. I also miss the camaraderie and support of counselors and success coaches.  Q: Are you receiving questions that you didn’t hear/read prior to the pandemic? If so, what are some of them?  A: Yes. Some of the things I hear: I’m fine but my teacher has no idea what’ he’s doing (technology-wise). My friends and I decided we’re just going to be patient with him. That’s not very often, but it just goes to show that everyone, regardless of one’s role, is struggling with this new normal. We have students who have Internet access challenges. I refer them to the SHeD. I just had a student who was having problems learning chemistry remotely, so I referred them to the tutoring center. Most of the students we’d see are new students, or those that are not necessarily resourceful. In the past, we were able to walk them to resources. Now, if it’s through email, you have to send them a link or a screenshot. It’s hard to have a warm hand-off remotely. Now, students face new challenges staying at home with parents, grandparents, and/or children 24/7 while juggling work and school. The vast majority of students I communicate with are first year students.  So, in addition to dealing with the new role of being a college student, many are suddenly thrown into working full-time as well, helping their parents with childcare, or even being caregivers for family members at home.  This all on top of adjusting to remote learning and using technology in newly discovered ways. Q: What do you think employees may not realize about the needs of our students who reach out for success coach support?  A: In the beginning, when I started this job, I was surprised myself because just because they’re younger and know social media does not mean that they check their email and know how to check for links. We can’t assume that they know how. Emails are seen as an archaic form of communication to many students, so LCC needs to acknowledge that students are not necessarily email savvy. Even just navigating Moodle, they’re not aware of all the possibilities or how to access all the information in a shell.. Also, that they have amazing struggles. We need to acknowledge that. I think we need to just know that if it’s hard for us, it has to be hard for these students, especially first time students who may or may not be supporting families, or even their parents during this time.  Q: Have you started any new work practices to help you better adapt to our remote work environment? A: I have a white board that I glued onto my back door because there’s a lot of new information that I want in front of me: changes in CRNs and due dates. There are some adaptations I’ve had to make because the FYE has a few different expectations. I set up an office space. I originally would work in my kitchen, but found that it was not as effective. I moved things around and I have a work space now and I actually “go” to work. I have coffee in the kitchen and then I go into my work space room.  Q: What are you most looking forward to when we can use the term: post-pandemic?  A: Being face to face with students and colleagues. Absolutely. Being able to walk students to where they need to go and introduce them. Laugh with people.  Q: Since you are retiring, what will you miss most about Lane and your work?  A: I hope that I’ll be able to help continue to serve, help people. I think I will. I’ll miss that. Selfishly, hopefully, people will give me feedback. That makes my day when students do that. When we had furlough days in summer, I volunteered to deliver Meals on Wheels, it was so great. People were so appreciative. I didn’t know what to expect, they were so kind. I may continue that. I need to figure out next steps. The idea of retirement is still new to me. Hopefully, I’ll find something. I have an immigrant Zoom group that I started with my ABSE/ESL students. When I was teaching we’d meet every other week, and now we do a (Zoom) book club. Most of them were students at Lane and from Iran, China, Taiwan, South America, Hungary. Hopefully, i’ll be able to devote more time to that.  [...] Read more...
December 2, 2020Thank you to those of you who attended the Center for Teaching and Learning’s Grand Opening last Friday! For those who could not attend or would like to revisit some of the activities and information: Watch a video overview of the CTLComplete a scavenger hunt about the CTL website Share your vision for a CTL (Note: don’t press “enter” until you are ready to submit! Use the tab key to add new phrases.)Share your interest in the CTL. Finally, thank you to Ian Coronado, Laura Pelletier, and Tammy Salman, who helped to plan the Grand Opening and facilitate the breakout sessions!  Door prize winners are announced! Thank you all who participated in the CTL Grand Opening event!! These lucky ducks are the winners of a personal neck massage! Highly recommended by Kevin Steeves 🙂 [...] Read more...
December 1, 2020Current position: Fabrication and Welding Faculty   Work Life Before Lane: Spent earlier career in kitchens and was a chef when he decided to change careers. He was a student in LCC’s welding/fabrication program and is a certified welding inspector and certified welding educator through the American Welding Society, the organization that sets the global standards for structural steel and piping.  Prior Work at Lane: In 2015, joined college as an aide/instructional specialist in the welding and fabrication program and has been a full-time faculty member since 2018-19. Personal Look: During the pandemic, Doug has spent more time on his art. He’s an abstract painter and enjoys painting with acrylics to explore colors and forms.      Q: How did you get into welding/fabrication and what drew you to becoming an instructor? A: I needed to change what I was doing for my life. There’s not a lot of upward mobility or insurance working in the restaurant industry. It’s great money and stable money and pre-COVID, there was always a job and the ability to travel. But, I was ready to settle down and that meant focusing on my education and going back to school. The reason welding? It’s working with your hands and it seems silly but it kind of seems like wizardry because you have electricity that you’re using to fuse metal together. It’s like magic really. It’s fusion. You take two pieces of metal and make them one piece and you can’t tell the difference. It drew it to me, electricity, the heat, the fire, the flames. All the different facets of welding. There are so many different genres you can get into. Everything is welded unless it’s made with wood. It’s like the magical glue that holds the world together and I was interested in being a part of that.  Q: Welding. Fabrication. What’s the difference?  A: Welding is fusing two pieces of metal together. Fabrication is being able to read a blueprint and create something. You could become a parts welder and never see the final product. A fabrication welder would be able to read the blueprint and understand it. It’s like learning another language. When I teach blueprint reading, I let students know that it is a new language of symbol and numbers. Fabrication is learning a different language of symbology to read from a blueprint. A welder would weld parts of the box. The fabricator would build the box. Q: Have you had to alter how you approach your job/instruction as a welding and fabrication instructor during the pandemic?  If so, how?  A: We had to make it happen. I used some of the big hitters in the industry’s  training videos. The training videos have benefited the student because there is a lot of trial and error and hand eye coordination with welding. The traditional way is: let’s get in a welding booth and go for it. This way, I can pause the video and let them see a weld-pool close up. With a weld pool or puddle,  you’re noticing 15 to 20 things at the same time, and with the video I can hit pause and blow it up on the screen and point out details that might be missed otherwise. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of it and really helps get into a student’s head so they can see what the puddle is.    As far as transition to hybrid style and teaching online, it is propelling us into a new way of teaching that wouldn’t have existed otherwise, at least not for a while. It’s worked out really well. I see the students coming and being further along sooner with this hybrid style of teaching, rather than the traditional style of teaching, because I’m able to pinpoint what I’m talking about on the screen. Q: What do you mean by pool and puddle?  A:  The weld puddle is the small area of molten metal that is present for a just a second while the electrode is directly over the spot being welded. Once you take the welding arc off of it, there’s a brief amount of time when the pool is liquid. We’re dealing with a lot of unseen forces, magnetism, gravity and it could start to droop on you. If it’s not hot enough the toes of the weld aren’t welding in. There quite a few things they need to consider: the right angle, the right travel speed, right parameters on the machine. I need to be sure that they can see that weld puddle correctly. I can’t see through the eyes of the pupil, but I can see what they did because it’s frozen in the weld pool. You can read the welds. I can tell if a student was holding their breath, the angle they were using, I can tell what they did each step.  Q: How have students adapted to the hybrid model? A: The practice of welding, it’s almost impossible to teach online, but you can get the basics online. How to position yourself, wear all your clothes correctly, set your shade (different shade numbers for lenses). Some people haven’t had much hand-eye coordination, so we’re doing training techniques that we wouldn’t have used otherwise. We wrote out COVID protocols early on and ordered PPE, printed out signs for the floor and were able to reopen the last three weeks of spring term and all summer and now, fall. The nature of the welding booths, they’re already sectioned off and each has its own ventilation system. You’re not breathing in anyone else’s air and the booths are already six feet apart. We were already 90 percent there to be able to bring students safely back into the space.  Q: Is there a demand for welding/fabrication jobs during the pandemic?  A: We’re continuing to grow our committee advisory through this pandemic. Most of the fabrication shops in this region are still rolling. We added four new folks to our advisory group. We just met with a boat fabrication company that needs people. There’s a steel fabricator on Mohawk and they’re just crushing it and growing exponentially. There will also be needs in the community related to rebuilding after the wildfires. We can place everyone of our students locally who finish this year and next year. I don’t have any concerns about that at all. There’s also the boomers who will be retiring, so it’s an in-demand trade. If they want to travel, it’s even more money.  Q: What do you think other LCC employees may not realize about the needs of our students during this time?  A: Kindness. Courtesy. Just understanding that our students right now are under a whole lot of pressure and they may not always understand where that pressure comes from. They don’t have a lot of experiences. They grew up in the cell phone era. There are these anxieties that we need to have compassion with. Caring, kindness and compassion. That’s what I try to do without degrading their instruction. Flexibility when ushering this new era of technology and instruction.  Q: Have you started any new work or general practices to help you better adapt to our remote work environment?  A: Yes, because I can’t get as close or do as many demonstrations or go back and forth and be in the booth with the student. I’m focusing more on terminology and articulating what I teach. So that when we talk to each other they understand exactly what I want rather than me showing them what I want. I’ve also had to train myself. I really got on the ball with training myself to become more efficient and run online classes. Half of my students when I started were more adept then me at computers. In a way, it creates a bond, when one of your students tells you: ‘you know you can save time if you do it this way.’ I’m learning from them, too.  Q: What are you most looking forward to when we can use the term: post-pandemic?  A: (Laughs) There’s not going to be a post-pandemic. Our department didn’t miss a whole lot, but I really miss being able to be more hands on and getting into the booth with the students and work with them a bit more closely. I’m looking forward to more hands-on mentorship.  [...] Read more...
December 1, 2020As we enter December, we’re also entering a new phase of our website redesign. Very soon – possibly the end of this week – we’ll be entering into a content freeze. Editing privileges to the sites listed at the bottom of this post will be suspended as soon as we enter the freeze. I’m really, genuinely sorry I can’t provide an exact date here. Some difficulties unique to 2020 has made that impossible. I hope to know the exact date a little later this week. Where we are and what’s next Our redesign firm is putting the finishing touches on our website. Next they’ll import our current content, and we’ll start testing. Lori and I will try to test the new website on every possible combination of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari on Android, iOS, Mac OS, and Windows. We expect that testing to last for a few weeks, as we go back and forth fixing problems and testing again. While we test, we’ll be working on reformatting the imported content. Our current website is built around one giant text area (the “body” field), with things like pictures or videos inserted in it. The new website will be built around reusable content blocks, like accordions, videos, or image galleries. It will take some time to reformat into the new system, but once we’re there, we should be a lot more flexible and consistent across our pages. As part of the redesign process, the firm identified some areas where we’re lacking content. In addition to reformatting and rewriting existing content, we’ll also be doing some content development. And of course, we’ll be hunting for images to use all around the site. Don’t be surprised if we reach out looking for a higher resolution image from your pages! While this process is a lot better than the last time we did this (when we had to hire someone to copy and paste, full time, for over a year. She was bored out of her mind!), it does create a problem: after we import all the current content into the new website, there’s going to be a multi-week period where if you make an edit to your current site, it won’t automatically be moved into the new site. That brings us to the freeze. The freeze Possibly as soon as the end of this week, we’ll be turning on a new module which disables edits on the list of sites found at the bottom of this post. If your site is in the list, and you absolutely must make a change to your content, reach out directly to Lori instead of doing the edit yourself. She’ll make the change on both the old and the new sites simultaneously, so we don’t lose any of the changes. This will significantly increase Lori’s workload, so please try to limit changes to what’s absolutely essential. One question we’ve had already is forms. There are a number of departments with a critical form they need to access. If your site is frozen, you will still be able to log in and use your forms. This freeze only impacts the ability to edit your page content. For now, we’re keeping the ability to edit your forms, but may need to disable form editing when we reach the point where we’re migrating forms into the website. Unfortunately, the migration process cannot move forms, so we’ll be recreating those manually. If your form will eventually be moved to SoftDocs, it will not be migrated to the new site, even if it isn’t ready in SoftDocs when we launch the new site. The old form will continue to work for some time in the old site, but I encourage you to move it to SoftDocs as soon as possible. If your site isn’t in the list below, then nothing in this post applies to you. We’re only migrating student and prospective student oriented content to the new website, and if your site is primarily staff oriented (ATC, FPD, PD, etc) or is largely administrative (COPPS), then we’ll probably be leaving it in the current website for now. You’ll continue to have access, and continue to be able to make changes as normal. Sometime next summer we’ll hopefully start adding functionality to that site, and work toward having a true intranet. After Launch While we won’t be able to nail down the exact launch date for the new site until after we’re in there reformatting and redeveloping content, we expect it to be some time late in winter term. Since we’ll be doing double entry for all website changes, it’s in our interest to get there as fast as we can. When we launch, we plan to very slowly add new users to the site. There’s a number of reasons for this caution. Some are technical, like the all new permissions structure. But we’re also trying to create a more consistent voice on the new website, and think that’s going to be very hard to do if we bring in all 148 current website editors. Details to come as we get a little closer. Thank you for being understanding of our need to keep everything somewhat flexible this year! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out via email. The List There are some sites on here which are hybrids. For instance, Academic Technology’s site has some student pages, like the SHeD, but is mostly employee oriented.  We’ll be working with those sites  to try and unfreeze parts of them midway through the process. While this list should not be considered final, here’s the list of sites we’re planning to freeze right now: abse academictechnology (LETS and SHeD pages) accreditation admissions advising advtech als alumni apprenticeship artgallery arts Arts and Humanities aslcc aviationacademy bond budget business calendars cc ce cec cfe & lcfc cit collegenow commencement cooped cottagegrove covid19 ctecc culinary dentalclinic disability diversity downtowncenter engineering eorp esfs (not the document submission form or degreeworks FAQ pages) esl español (undocumented students pages) facilities transportation (excluding motor pool) and event scheduling pages fec financialaid firstyearexperience florence food foundation gec governance healthclinic healthpe honors hp hr (employee recruitment and affirmative action pages. hr sub-terms, such as employment classifications may not be impacted) hsconnections information technology student computer labs pages international laneonline leadership learningcommons llc longhouse math mcc mediaarts mhwc mpr/success newsroom pathways perarts pie psd ptk qcc rtec safelane schedule scholarships science scp seniorprogramming sexualrespect socialscience speaker-series sss studentconduct studentemployment studentlife sustainability testing trio tutor va wc 12/6 – This post was edited to add accreditation and budget to the above list, and to add notes to the esfs, español, facilities, it, and hr sites. [...] Read more...
December 1, 2020Pluginselementor.3.0.14essential-addons-for-elementor-lite.4.3.7kadence-blocks(1)nextgen-gallery.3.4.7qubely.1.6.1really-simple-ssl.4.0.3ultimate-addons-for-gutenberg.1.18.2ultimate-social-media-icons.2.6.1weaverx-theme-support.4.4.1wp-smushit.3.7.3 Themesastra.2.6.1panoramic.1.1.06 Removed Unused ThemesOceanWPTwenty Eleven/webteamTwenty NineteenTwenty Seventeen [...] Read more...
November 24, 2020Welcome to Georgia Mae, our new co-editor of the newsletter! She has been at LCC for a year and joined the Lane Honors Program at the end of her first year. When asked why she joined Honors, she said, “I joined Honors because I had a goal to open as many doors as possible. My professor, Angie, recommended me for the Honors Program and I couldn’t say no!”   Georgia Mae is still deciding on a major because she has so many interests including: nutrition, law, business, and design. Her career goals include becoming an interior designer, a doula, and a nutritionist. In her free time, she enjoys indoor gardening, walking her dog, yoga, baking, learning, journaling, and binge-watching TV shows from the early 2000s. We are so lucky to have another amazing editor to work with Kyla Ramsey on this newsletter! [...] Read more...
November 24, 2020Spend a few minutes this week learning more about Dawn Barth and the work she does to keep our campus and greater community safe.  Current position: Interim Manager of Risk and Environmental Health and Safety Programs and COVID-19 Compliance Officer  Work life before Lane: Holds a master’s degree in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation and worked as a rehabilitation specialist.  Prior work at Lane: Began as an hourly employee in November 2007 as a data entry clerk assisting with conversion of credit lines to electronic recordkeeping and eventually, landed in a health and safety specialist position in 2004-05. That position evolved over the years and now includes her current position.  Personal look: Dawn’s husband works at OSU and they have four children: a daughter, who is an LCC grad; a son, who is a current LCC student; a son who lives in Salem: and a son who is a first grader. She also has her own photography business and enjoys portrait and sports photography. Q: What interested you in your current position? A: The position has evolved a lot. I think that’s what’s most interesting. It’s always changing because what I work with in risk management is never the same thing. You’re planning and then something different comes up, like a pandemic or wildfires. One of the most interesting workshops I’ve attended was in Florida about hurricane response and preparedness and what they’ve learned. They have to be prepared every year. Even though we don’t have hurricanes here, there’s so much we can learn and apply from people who are preparing for similar responses to a disaster. Q: What does a risk manager do when there’s not a pandemic? A: The risk manager’s job is to evaluate programs and processes on campus to make sure we’re doing the best we can to work and learn safely. My goal is to be proactive rather than reactive. I want to try to identify potential problems and fix them before we have an accident or an injury. I work with the safety committee and emergency planning team to identify those items. Sometimes I do have to react. If we have property damage or if someone wrecks a (college-owned) car, I am the liaison with the insurance company to get claims processed and investigated. Since December, that has included workers’ compensation, as well as property and students. Q: How have you had to alter how you approach and do your job in the remote work environment? A: It’s a little bit different and it’s looking at things differently. When you’re in this little bubble of our campus, you look at how to keep this safe but now, I’m looking at how we keep safe at a bigger level. With the pandemic we can’t just look at our campus. We have to look at what we are doing to contribute to the overall health and wellness of Lane County. Also, in addition to risk manager, I’ve been appointed by President Hamilton as the COVID Compliance Officer. There’s where a lot of my time is going. In that role, my job is to ensure compliance with what the reopening committee puts in place. Any department that has submitted a reopening plan, I’ve had to go in and inspect those plans and make sure plans are safe for employees and students. I’m also LCC’s liaison for Lane County Public Health anytime there is an exposure with one of our students or employees. I also work with other agencies including officials from Eugene City, UO, the hospitals and Public Health to determine the threat level. Right now, COVID Compliance is at least 95 percent of what I do day to day. Q: What are some ways that risk management and planning directly impact our campus(employees/students/community)? A: It’s important that we are proactive in what we’re doing. I like to know about things before they become a problem because I can’t be everywhere all the time. If someone sees something: stairs crumbling for instance, I need to follow up on that and get that repaired. We do have routine building inspections, but something could happen after an inspection that we need to know about. Risk management takes all of us because anybody could see something is a concern and bring it to my attention. That is how we work together to be part of a solution. Q: What do you think people may not realize about your role/risk management on campus? A: Not everyone realizes the resources they have available to them about educating themselves on safety. People are surprised when they find out about the Safe Colleges online software. You have access to that full library of training all the time. It doesn’t have to be assigned to you. It doesn’t cost us anything extra. There are some great topics on there: first aid, CPR, AED use. When we’re all at home more, wouldn’t it be great to know or refresh your CPR and first aid skills or learn how to use a fire extinguisher. Some of these are less than 10-minute videos and that training is at your fingertips. It’s helpful for you not just at work. We want you to feel safer at home because that affects your work life now more than ever. To find the Safe Colleges, type in the Lane website: lanecc.edu/SafeLane. You’ll find a whole list of resources. Q: As you talk about the work you do, there’s passion in your voice. Where does that passion come from? A: I’ve always been one to want to know more. I will say the world looks a lot different to me since I started doing risk management. I notice people on roofs without safety equipment and notice a lot of other things I don’t think I’d notice before. For instance, I was out at the coast at a glass blowing place and they made people wear safety glasses, but they let people wear flip flops. It was unreal that they didn’t make people wear actual shoes. When you’re in it day to day, that’s the stuff that jumps out at you and it drives my family crazy. They say: ‘Mom, only you!’ But, I see what happens when you don’t take precautions and I see the value when you do. Q: Have you started any new work practices to help you better adapt to our remote work environment? A: Other than becoming a zoom expert and finding better angles and appropriate backgrounds, not really. (Laughs) Q: What are you most looking forward to when we can use the term: post-pandemic? A: It’s going to be nice to be with people again. For a lot of years in my position, I was a department of one. It was just me. I had a boss, but there was really no one else that did anything else that had to do with what I did. When good things happened, I didn’t have anybody I could celebrate with. When they added workers’ comp to my position late last year, I moved to HR, so I’m now part of a work team, and it’s been nice to have that camaraderie. In this remote world, we’re missing out on that camaraderie or that feeling of accomplishment and being able to do things together. I was just feeling that and then, we went remote. I will enjoy being able to walk down the hall and say something funny or have watercooler talk and just to be able to share with people and get to know people outside of work. [...] Read more...
November 23, 2020Welcome to a new Lane Blog, “A Few Minutes With …” — a short Q&A feature to help employees meet or reconnect with colleagues and learn how different roles on campus help fulfill our institutional mission. During these remote work times, the blog will also provide an opportunity to share how colleagues are adapting in our remote campus environment and to share ideas and resources.  New employee Q&A features launched late fall 2020 and will be shared on Tuesdays during the regular term. Spring Term 2021 Read this week’s Q&A, featuring Robert Killen. Q&A, featuring Lori Brenden. Fall Term 2020 Read Q&A, featuring Glenda Izumi.  Read Q&A, featuring Doug Ford.  Read Q&A in the series, featuring Dawn Barth.      [...] Read more...
November 23, 2020In a word: no. As stated by the WAI, new links can be “…disorienting for people, especially people who have difficulty perceiving visual content”. As with anything else on the web, there’s always an exception, and you should definitely check out the link above to read about some specific scenarios where opening a new tab/window can be appropriate. But those scenarios are rare. People know how to use the back button. Depend on that, rather than a new tab/window.   [...] Read more...
November 21, 2020Each spring, PTK chapters hold an induction ceremony for their new members. With the pandemic, these ceremonies couldn’t happen. Thankfully, PTK Headquarters has created a virtual induction ceremony for everyone who joined in 2020! Registration Deadline: Friday, December 4, 2020Induction Ceremony: December 10, 2020; 6:00 pm Pacific Standard TimeHere is the link to register: https://www.ptk.org/virtual-induction/ Your family and friends can watch on Facebook Live so that they can celebrate with you! [...] Read more...
November 17, 2020antispam-bee v2.9.3essential-addons-for-elementor-lite v4.3.6wp-force-login v5.5wp-smushit v3.7.2very-simple-event-listvoid-elementor-post-grid-addon-for-elementor-page-builder v2.1.6wp-scheduled-posts v3.3.3 oceanwp v2.0.0 theme I also gave the blog network an updated look so it’s more in line with Lane’s marketing guidelines.  Hope you like it. [...] Read more...
November 16, 2020Today’s post is a quick one, to share this awesome captioning style guide from Humber College, which I found while trying to figure out the appropriate way to caption a choir singing a round acapella (I still don’t know the answer). In addition to the most helpful information I found on captioning music, also included are suggestions on timing, dialog, sound effects, and accents. Since we need to caption almost every video on our website, it’s worth a quick glace to get an idea of how it should be done. [...] Read more...
November 13, 2020The regional officers are holding a scholarship workshop! Here is the information from our regional coordinator: Have questions about the PTK scholarship? Need a little push to get your application started? Need tips about writing a scholarship essay? Come spend the night with the RMC region and apply for scholarships. Our goal with this scholarship night is to all work on the PTK application at our own pace, but have an environment where you can ask questions as they come up during the process.Tuesday November 17th, 6:00 pm-8:00 pm PST / 7:00 pm-9:00 pm MSThttps://clackamas.zoom.us/j/94975124080 [...] Read more...
November 12, 2020We have learned in the Inclusive Teaching at Lane series that “course policies should be flexible and welcoming for all students, allowing for mistakes, external challenges, learning, and growth”. Assignment > User Override Within your activity or quiz you will see user overrides. Allow extended deadlines for specific students or a group of students. Quiz > User Override Require a password, extend deadlines, and/or adjust a time limit. Moodle Philosophy and UDL Moodle is built on a “Social Constructionist” pedagogy, where participants can be encouraged to construct something for other classmates to use and experience. This pedagogy in the core of Moodle offers a lot of resemblance to Universal Design for Learning. UDL allows students to express their knowledge in many different ways. Here are a couple of ideas we can use in Moodle: Choice: Ask a question and allow your student’s responses to build a graphic (anonymously or not).Database: participants create and maintain a spreadsheet of student entries.Forum: Provides a place for student-to-student discussionTip: Assign students to moderate or even create the discussions prompt and directions.Glossary: (a personal favorite) use this in a number of different ways:students create a list of definitions Tip: These pages can include images, videos, links, text – essentially everything you find in the ATTO editor. Not limited to definitions!Quiz: Allow students to receive instant feedback.Tip: changing the local role in the quiz activity to allow students to create quiz questions. Then let students take each other’s quizzes. The best questions might be found on midterm/final.Wiki: An oldie, but still a goodie – similar to glossary individuals or groups of students can create and maintain pages.Tip: If interested in using Wikis – consider using Google suite instead.Workshop: One of the most robust tools in Moodle to allow for student-to-student collaboration. The workshop is like a 3 phase assignment that includes a phase of peer review.Tip: Not for a beginner. What are your ideas? How do you allow for flexibility in your course? [...] Read more...
November 10, 2020Elementor v3.0.13Kadence BlocksUltimate Addons For Gutenberg v1.18.1Void Elementor Post Grid Addon v2.1.5 SiteOrigin North theme v1.17.16 [...] Read more...
November 9, 2020Recently I found a post which explores some of the limitations of automated website accessibility checking tools by building a site that scores a 100% on Google’s accessibility checker, while being completely inaccessible. That post explores the very real limitations of automated tools. Tools like that can be useful, and help us by checking some of the low hanging fruit. But they never do a great job. For instance, just to highlight one obvious example mentioned in the post, here’s some examples of alt text on a logo which links to the homepage which would pass an automated check, but are really terribly inaccessible: alt=”logo” alt=”logo.png” alt=”Picture” alt=”The Lane Community College Logo” alt=”Lane Community College” You know what some good alt text would be? “Visit the LCC homepage” – it’s a linked logo, so provide the purpose of the link. When it comes to automated accessibility tools, use them to give you an idea of the overall accessibility of a page, but always double-check some items yourself – particularly ones that are difficult to for a computer to check, like link purpose. Looking for more on alt text? Check out a decision tree for alt text [...] Read more...
November 5, 2020My question: how to get online students to read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and not just read an online summary of the novel. My solution: assume that students will encounter Spark Notes or some similar website in an era of “No Fear Literature.” Instead of trying to replace Spark Notes encounters, I extend those encounters by leading students back to the original and guiding them through a process of improving upon the notes by observing what is left out of them. Who knows if they still read the whole novel to get there, but my experience has shown me that they do encounter Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein with a fresh appreciation of the language and complexity of the original.  Here’s the assignment. [...] Read more...
November 5, 2020This fall in Oregon, we were trapped inside for 11 days while wildfires destroyed forests and towns all around us. It was a bleak time and I wanted to use the time in some positive way. So I researched poetry readings online to include in my Women Writers class. Each week, students watch a very short poetry reading by an African American poet. Then they complete an “exit ticket” to reflect on what they heard and saw. My modest goal was to open a space in my course for Black Women Poets to speak without my commentary and with a modest apparatus–just enough to prompt my students to reflect but not enough to guide their response.  So far the response has been very positive.  Here’s the file with links to the poetry readings the exit tickets.   [...] Read more...
November 3, 2020Quick update to WP5.5.3 to patch a couple minor issues. While I was here I also updated the Essential Addons for Elementor to v4.3.5 [...] Read more...
October 30, 2020Updated WordPress to v5.5.2 to have the latest security patchesAlso updated Void Elementor Widgets plugin and Weaver X theme Removed an empty folder left over from an old analytics plugin that became unnecessary. Also removed the Hello Dolly plugin that comes with wordpress because it’s stupid. [...] Read more...
October 29, 2020Laurie Notaro is a very funny, smart writer who has published twelve books and is a New York Times bestselling author! She is reading on November 6, 2020 from 3:00-4:00. Contact Ce Rosenow at RosenowC@lanecc.edu for the Zoom link to this event!   Learn more about Laurie Notaro before the reading! [...] Read more...
October 27, 2020Pluginsakismet.4.1.7elementor.3.0.12essential-addons-for-elementor-lite.4.3.3qubely.1.6.0regenerate-thumbnails.3.1.4so-css.1.2.11ultimate-social-media-icons.2.6.0void-elementor-post-grid-addon-for-elementor-page-builder.2.1.3wordfence.7.4.12 Themesastra.2.6.0siteorigin-north.1.17.15 [...] Read more...
October 26, 2020I know, I know, we’re in week 4, and I’m finally putting out my first post of the year. But it’s 2020. It’s that kind of year. Last week the web team attended the 2020 HighEdWeb annual conference. This is one of my favorite conferences, and it was even better this year because it was absolutely free online (though in central time, which made for some early mornings). Here’s some gems: Plain Language Matters. It’s an accessibility issue. It’s an equity issue. People skim online. If we make that hard for them, they leave. Take a look at our previous plain language post. Resource pages & emails don’t work. One of the groups at Miami University did a lot of extensive testing. People don’t self serve. If you have a lot of links and resources that you want to put out there, consider a drip campaign to slowly provide those links at a pace people can digest. Use social to highlight different resources at different times. Include titles that highlight the problem the resource solves (“Looking for a tutor late on a Sunday night before class? Look no further!”). Track what you do to see what works (and reach out if you’d like help setting that up!). Rather than a resource page, consider a blog, where those resource links can be provided in context, and do some content marketing for you. We’ve also covered resource pages in the past. Stop posting flyers and event posters online. Especially now, when we’re not going to see them in person. Flyers and posters are designed for print, and don’t translate well to digital. If you’re considering putting a flyer or poster online or on a digital sign, reach out – we’ll connect you with some graphic design resources, and help design for the medium you’ll be promoting on. The college website is for prospective students. And those students know when they’re being marketed to. Carlton did a great session where they detailed extensive user testing before their homepage redesign. They found things like: prospective students (particularly Gen Z) think the entire website is for them. Even the section clearly labeled “Alumni”. But your homepage should be for them before any other audience: most other audiences search for something, then land on some other page. Prospective students are the most likely, by far, to land on the homepage. they know when pictures are staged. They want to see people in place: shots that show what students actually do some place on your campus, and how that sets you apart. Person under a tree reading a book? Clearly staged. Dining hall shot? Every college has a dining hall. Candid shot of a class outside? Student learning to machine something? Much better. Carousels don’t work. I think one possible exception is a photo gallery, but that’s tricky. The large hero image on a program’s website sets the tone and creates a greater impression than all the text there. From one of their slides: “Students want #nofilter, but we’re giving them #fellowkids” FAQs don’t work. While we may think splitting our content up into questions is easier for the student, it actually makes things harder to understand. Read your entire FAQ page, make groups out of the content and write a header for each one, and then rewrite the content in each group to paragraph form. It’ll work better for everyone. Here’s a page with the slides, a sample FAQ with real life before and after examples, and some other resources for why we should stop using FAQ pages. You can also review our previous post on FAQs. [...] Read more...
October 22, 2020Pop-quiz! Answer the following: Are you trying to keep up with student reports so that you can message at risk or failing students and encourage them to attend office hours or seek tutoring? Are you watching your participants list to find and reach out to students who have not logged into the course or participated recently? Are you trying to make sure students with an excelling grade have additional opportunities to further challenge them? Are you wanting to find a way to get back a few hours of your life each week and let the PLD do some work to help you? The PLD can provide differentiated instruction that is more personalized to the student. Many of the essential steps in helping your students succeed take a lot of TIME!  The Personalized Learning Designer (PLD) will help you by completing these tasks for you, thus giving you back this time to focus on your teaching! Give some of these rules from our PLD Cheat sheet a go: A student has not logged into the course in the previous x days.Event: Recurring Event (daily)Conditions: User role check (student) & Course login (has NOT logged into course, x)Actions:  Send emailQuiz or assignment not submitted (*note this rule uses course completion settings)Event: Quiz or assignment submitted Conditions: Activity completedActions: Send emailStudents with 69% and below after midterm EMAILEvent: Specific date and timeConditions: Course grade rangeActions:  Send emailSend students to the syllabus when the FIRST enter the courseEvent: Course start dateConditions: Course login (NOT logged in / 30 days)Actions: Go to activityThe PLD can be found within your Course Administration menu. Want to learn more or see it in action? Come to our PLD Workshop on 10/29 at 11am. Upon completion of this workshop, you’ll be able to: Design automated interactions with students and personalize their learning.Create rules using the Personalized Learning Designer to assist with course management strategies. Do you have PLD rules that you found helpful? Tell us about them in the comments! Keep an eye on the CTL Calendar for upcoming workshops. The next one will be 10/29 @11am on the PLD. If you can not make the live workshop – it will be recorded AND/OR I have an online version of the PLD workshop in Moodle for you! [...] Read more...
October 22, 2020Pop-quiz! Answer the following: Are you trying to keep up with student reports so that you can message at risk or failing students and encourage them to attend office hours or seek tutoring? Are you watching your participants list to find and reach out to students who have not logged into the course or participated [...] Read more...
October 18, 2020The application for PTK scholarships is now open. The deadline this year is December 1. Be sure to apply! [...] Read more...
October 14, 2020Congratulations to Jordan Coen. Their story, “Esmerelda’s Journey,” was one of 25 works accepted by PTK’s anthology, Nota Bene, out of the 370 submissions received! The anthology will be available online this winter. See the full press release! [...] Read more...
October 12, 2020There are two important PTK events this week: 1. Webinar: PTK Scholarship Insights for Students Wednesday, October 14th @ 11am Central Time (9:00 Oregon Time) Click here to join. Can’t make it?  All webinars will be recorded and saved in PTK’s Scholarship Support Library.   2. Sigma Zeta Chapter Meeting Wednesday, October 14th, from 3:00-4:00, in the PTK voice channel on Discord. Note: The link to join us on Discord was sent to Sigma Zeta members’ email addresses.   [...] Read more...
October 7, 2020Jenn Kepka with her “co-worker” Jenn Kepka is an instructional designer at Lane Community College. She is currently teaching “Course Design Introduction,” a learning experience for faculty that delves into research and OSCQR-aligned best practices for backwards design, online support, planning engaging activities, and aligning course goals. The next class begins during Week 3 and runs through Week 8; faculty can receive up to 20 hours at the curriculum development rate for participation. Sign up through this Google Form. Jenn is available for questions at her email: kepkaj@lanecc.edu. How did you come up with the idea for the course? This is built on the back of the excellent Lane Online Teaching Overview that Kevin Steeves, Meredith Keene, and Meggie Wright ran last winter. We needed a course that could be open-ended and flexible, but would also provide faculty with a chance to interact with each other, with an instructional designer, and with content about current research into online pedagogy. The CDI was born from that — and from my own too-online presence as an instructor and educational technology student, combined with 70 to 80 cups of coffee. How can we give everyone an introduction to first steps into online learning? What approach are you taking to course design? The CDI is built around principles from major course design models: backward design, outcomes and assessment alignment, and most generally, the social constructivist and connectivist theories of learning. (I mean, we can get started on my radical constructivist ideas, but someone better get me a drink). There’s a little mixture of the adapted Technological-Pedagogical-Content Knowledge model wedged in, too, just because I like to poke at TPACK whenever I get the chance. What should instructors expect if they take the course? I’m not kidding about the 20-hour time commitment: I built this like I’d build 2-3 weeks of a graduate seminar for those interested in Instructional Design. Each module has current readings, research-based practice recommendations, a chance for self-reflection about applying these practices in one’s own course, and an applied “planning” section where faculty can start sketching out what a future online course would be like. At the end, I hope everyone leaves with a clearer picture of what quality online teaching can be and a plan for starting to implement new ideas in their own course. Having said that — it’s not about perfection. I change something in my own teaching and design every time a new term starts! It’s part of the fun. What is the best part of the course?  For me, it’s getting to hear about others’ amazing plans for their courses. There’s so much creativity in how faculty approach what they teach, and so much passion toward their subjects, that it’s inspiring. Learning to teach online is stressful, but there are so many opportunities now for people to share, connect, and really let their expertise in their subject matter shine! I hope for others some of it is seeing their colleagues are thinking through the same problems they are. There’s a real sense of us all being in this together. Do you have any time management tips for faculty? Tip 1: Someone please invent time travel. Tip 2: I think more about attention management than trying to manage time in 2020, since time seems pretty weird. I pay attention best when I can focus without feeling I’m giving up or neglecting something else, whether it’s other work or family. I set firm off time each day and all weekend, and I communicate honestly about those boundaries with students and colleagues. I also spent a few weeks relentlessly tracking my time and attention so that I could figure out why some days felt so much longer and harder than others (hint: too much Zoom), and now I try to anticipate where I’ll have attention divisions or bottlenecks. There are a million pieces of tech to help with this. For me, it’s the Forest App (locks my phone when I need to concentrate); disconnecting my work Google account from all but my “work” computer at home; using the schedule-send feature in Gmail if I want to write a message out of hours, so that it’s not really sent until the next work day (so I don’t start checking for a reply later in the evening); and even using a separate browser for work and non-work, so that I don’t get a shiver of dread when I open a new email window. What do you do to manage stress? I have to have at least thirty minutes of writing time for myself every day, completely unconnected to work. I buy ridiculous amounts of pens and paper to make lists that I can check off (so satisfying). I also have an 8-year-old co-worker at home these days, and she manages to give me pointed reminders of what’s really important (I’m told it’s cookies and Minecraft). Thanks, Jenn! [...] Read more...
October 5, 2020We’re looking at another term — and maybe more — of learning and assessment that happens predominantly through online means. This can make instructors nervous about maintaining academic integrity for their assignments and exam materials in particular. It also poses some thorny ethical questions for those presenting and grading tests, which I think we need to take a few minutes to unpack. I’ll provide my own views here, and I’d welcome further discussion! The Risks… Test proctoring through remote technology is imperfect at best and can be threatening in some forms: It requires surveillance of students in their homes. Many of the technological solutions to replacing traditional in-person test taking come with a host of privacy and access issues. For example, some proctoring services require eye-motion tracking; others require students to show their entire room to the camera; still others will invalidate tests for any interruption, leaving students with little recourse over infractions as minor as resting their chin on their hand or reaching out to move an interrupting pet from the desk. If you’re working from home right now, you can imagine what might be shown — or what might interrupt — you at any moment. Now, put yourself in the position of a student being asked to take a high-stakes examination, while also concerned that a child or roommate might come in at the wrong moment. In addition, using proctored testing services for students can set up an atmosphere of distrust from the start. I’ll admit, when first reading this critique a few years ago, I felt automatically defensive about the accusation that my use of anti-cheating technology was inherently discriminatory. In the intervening years, watching not only the discussion among faculty about these practices but also hearing from my own students, I’ve come around to the ideas that Jesse Stommel and Sean Michael Morris, heads of the Digital Pedagogy Lab, support and espouse. …Outweigh “The Rewards” There’s not much evidence that online proctoring services or technology have any impact on improving student learning or preventing cheating. In fact, they may do the opposite, while having a negative impact on student success. Josh Eyler, director of faculty development at the University of Mississippi, summed this up nicely in a blog post today. Here’s a key excerpt: There will always be those who have planted their flags of resistance firmly on the hills of rigor and standards. These are not bad things in an of themselves–I believe in having standards for our students and helping them to meet those standards–but when they conflict with students’ ability to do their best work or even serve as an obstacle to students’ emotional wellbeing, then we need to look closely at why the commitment to rigor and standards is so rigid… Those who are not persuaded by the ethical and empathetic position should know that proctoring software fails miserably when checked against the science of learning too.Josh Eyler, “The Science of Learning vs. Proctoring Software.” Little research exists into whether online proctoring has an impact on student test-taking behaviors. Are students less likely to cheat when being monitored? Maybe. Are students who would have done well (and never considered cheating) more likely to struggle because they are being monitored? That result seems clear. What’s the alternative? Put succinctly, the alternative is to trust that students are enrolled in courses because they want to learn, and then to provide them with the best opportunities to demonstrate what they’ve learned (and support to make sure they’ve learned it) throughout the course. Project-based learning presents likely the best alternative to high-stakes testing in general. In courses where this seems impossible, restructuring exams to make sure that they assess the skills necessary in the course — not memorization of facts but the ability to demonstrate learning — can still be done through standard quiz methods. Lowering the stakes for some tests by offering multiple attempts and promoting recursive learning is another strategy that has promise. Most importantly, talk to your students about whatever path you want to take. Showing that you value their learning and trust their integrity will go a long way toward building a learning community and a culture of honesty. Students are talking about these practices among themselves, and the reviews for this type of monitoring are overwhelmingly negative — and often very public. Students are experts in their own situations, and involving them in the decision of how to assess and monitor learning can be a rewarding experience for everyone! Further Reading: Thomas J. Tobin, “Student Agency in Uncertain Times,” from Inside Higher Ed. This piece links to an earlier white paper that provides three “paths” in degrees of intrusiveness for assessment of originality. It’s a great starting point for discussions of what we mean by “integrity” and “observation.”Shea Swauger, “Our Bodies Encoded: Algorithmic Test Proctoring in Higher Education,” in Hybrid Pedagogy. This provides examples of specific harms observed in proctored online testing situations; a response was later published by one of the companies, Proctorio, in Inside Higher Ed. [...] Read more...
October 5, 2020We’re looking at another term — and maybe more — of learning and assessment that happens predominantly through online means. This can make instructors nervous about maintaining academic integrity for their assignments and exam materials in particular. It also poses some thorny ethical questions for those presenting and grading tests, which I think we need [...] Read more...
October 3, 2020We have two meetings this term: Wednesday, October 14, 3:00-4:00 Wednesday, November 18, 3:00-4:00 The meetings will be held in the PTK channel on the Lane Honors Groups Discord server. The link will be sent out soon to PTK members’ email addresses. [...] Read more...
October 1, 2020Pull up a virtual chair and a real coffee (or drink of your choice) every Friday this fall for a check-in and chat hosted by your Instructional Design Services colleagues. There’s no formal agenda! Just drop in to talk through what’s on your plate and your mind. We’ll have a chance to check-in if there’s a goal you’d like to accomplish: sometimes saying it out loud can help, and maybe so can the colleagues around you. Just want to converse? Missing the hallway/watercooler/coffee shop line? We have space for that, too. Add this meeting to your calendar for a reminder every Friday (including Zoom link), and we’ll see you there! [...] Read more...
September 24, 2020One critical factor in building a sustainable online course is deciding how and when to set limits on your own work and interaction time with the course. In-person classes have the advantage of a clear end time: You walk out of the classroom. This fall, for many of us, the classroom will go with us wherever we are, in our pockets on the internet-connected smartphones we may be carrying around. At the furthest, class is but a few doors down in most households. That can be exhausting. If you’re feeling a need to reply to student email in the middle of the night (or dinner, or during TV breaks), consider whether you’re able to provide thoughtful and quality help in these situations. Then think about whether you can sustain the always-on work mode for the rest of the year. Ready to set some limits now? Try this: Communicate clearly from the start of your class when you will be available. This includes office hours (synchronous video? phone?), class times, and other by-appointment times, and the hours when you’re available by email or other contact methods (if you provide a texting number or use an app).Stick to those times.If you can’t stop yourself from replying to email at 2 a.m., consider using the Schedule Send feature in Gmail to make that message appear within your scheduled work hours.Explain why you have these policies, and what students should do if an issue comes up when you’re not available.Technical problems can be referred to the Student Help Desk (SHeD).Tutoring and academic questions can go to Academic Tutoring Services, where they can find appointments at many hours of the day.I offer automatic extensions on deadlines if students contact me in advance of a due date. If their printer explodes or their understanding of citation evaporates between Friday afternoon and Monday morning, they can ask for an extension, know that they’ll have one, set up an appointment with me, and be ready to work as soon as I’m back on Monday.Don’t feel bad about being less than always-on.Taking time off is not a disservice to your students. It is vital to your own survival.Being clear about how soon you’ll respond lets students know that they aren’t screaming into the void, which can reduce some anxiety. Other things to consider (not recommendations, just ideas): Add an autoreply message when you’re not available to remind students (and colleagues) that you’ll get back to them at X time, and also to show them their message has been received.Poll students to find out when they plan to complete their work, and schedule your available time to match up with these hours. Do you have a way of dividing work and non-work time that’s, um, worked for you? Let us know in the comments, or join us at an upcoming Friday morning Coffee Check-In with Colleagues to talk about it. [...] Read more...
September 24, 2020One critical factor in building a sustainable online course is deciding how and when to set limits on your own work and interaction time with the course. In-person classes have the advantage of a clear end time: You walk out of the classroom. This fall, for many of us, the classroom will go with us [...] Read more...
September 17, 2020As members of the Lane Honors Program, you are eligible to submit your work to these publications! Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity The National Collegiate Honors Council’s Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity provides students the opportunity to have their academic and creative pursuits published alongside the work of some of their brightest and most dedicated peers. We receive submissions from schools both in the United States, as well as from institutions overseas, and each of our associate editors studies at a different NCHC-affiliated university. We strive to show the power of undergraduate work by transcending the boundaries of state, region, and discipline.  Submissions deadline: October 16, 2020 Website link: https://nchcureca.com/  The Palouse Review We invite your students to submit their creative work to the December 1, 2020 Edition of The Palouse Review. We accept short fiction, nonfiction, scholarship, poetry, photography & visual art, music, and digital multimedia.This is an excellent opportunity for students to publish their work!  Submissions deadline: November 1, 2020 Website: https://palousereview.wsu.edu/ Scribendi We accept submissions in a variety of categories, including poetry, creative nonfiction, short fiction, foreign language, visual art, photography, and open media. As our staff begins the production process for this year’s edition, we would like to invite the students in your honors program to submit their work for the chance to be published! To further celebrate the accomplishments of submitting students, the top submission in each category will receive a $250 award from the WRHC.  We’re seeking innovative and imaginative works—anything and everything from choreographed dance pieces to architectural sketches, from film to music, from pottery to performance art, from fashion to graphic novels. Submissions deadline: October 9, 2020 Website: scribendi.unm.edu [...] Read more...
September 17, 2020Jordan Coen is running for the position of Secretary. This position remained open after our spring elections. When Jordan offered to serve in this capacity, the chapter officers agreed that we should hold a special election. Please check your Lane email for a link to the voting poll. [...] Read more...
September 14, 2020Zoom is the new dog park. If we like it or not, Zoom and other online web conferencing (Google Meet) is here to stay and the “easy” days of normal may never be “normal” again. How do you replicate what we did in the classroom in zoom? A: You can’t. If you are expecting to fully engage your students with your live lecturing performance you will be sorely disappointed with the level of participation. Students most likely will have their webcams turned off. They may not have a private space or many other reasons why it is uncomfortable for them to allow you (and ALL their classmates) into their home/car/porch/tent/etc… Because their webcam is turned off, you can not see their face or read their reactions to the discussion. Crickets chirp when it’s silent. Have you tried asking an open question in zoom only to be answered with silence ? Students may not be paying attention or know how to interact in this new classroom. Building class-community and connections with students from the start may help easy their tensions when trying to interact with their instructor and classmates. Give students a chance to use Zoom reactions vs verbal responses. Then WAIT…until ALL students have responded in some way. You may have also heard about Zoom fatigue. Imagine a student who has 3 lectures on zoom in one day. Now imagine having three 1-hour to 1.5-hour long meetings in one day via Zoom. YUCK is right! Only ask participants to turn on webcams if it is absolutely needed. So how do we teach inside of Zoom? I fall on the side of using Zoom to support the content, rather than deliver the content. Zoom makes it really easy for us to create, edit, and link in Moodle a screencast of our content. We use Zoom to screencast our content into micro-lectures, then use our live class sessions in Zoom to discuss, reinforce, and expand upon concepts. Sounds like a new type of flipped-classroom! There are hundreds of tips and tricks to use while teaching in Zoom. The best advice we can give is to practice – practice – practice. All of the reactions, filters, polls, screen-shares, etc are only great if you know how to use them and seamlessly transition from one to another. We can help you get started in the ATC! Need to talk through your course plan with an Instructional Designer? Post UPDATE: Learn Zoom through LCCs Linked-in Learning platform. [...] Read more...
September 14, 2020If we like it or not, Zoom and other online web conferencing (Google Meet) is here to stay and the “easy” days of normal may never be “normal” again. How do you replicate what we did in the classroom in zoom? A: You can’t. If you are expecting to fully engage your students with your [...] Read more...
September 12, 2020In ENG 104_H Introduction to Fiction – Honors, the students in the honors section and the students in the non-honors section were in the same class. The honors students, however, produced a final literary analysis project that included a multimedia presentation and a final essay on a graphic novel of their choice. John Adair’s Presentation Jessry Smith’s Presentation In WR 227_H Technical Writing – Honors, students participated in the regular section of the class, conducting individual research to determine whether Prezi or PowerPoint was the best presentation software for technical writing students at Lane Community College. The primary differences in their assignments were an extended annotated bibliography and a reflection on their research experience. Below are the honors students’ reflections: Sophia Brownlee’s Reflection Damian Carreon Ilboa’s Reflection Isaiah Contreras’s Reflection Natalie Ferguson’s Reflection Grace King’s Reflection Vi Truong’s Reflection [...] Read more...
July 6, 2020While I know I’d promised to put most blog content on pause, I wanted to make a quick post about the availability of our new site archive. Every once in a while, we create a snapshot of the entire www.lanecc.edu website. There’s a couple limitations to that. We can’t capture: Files that aren’t linked from a page somewhere Pages that aren’t linked from another page Pages that are password protected Some of the dynamic content (for instance, all the forms are disabled) All of the changes that have happened since the last archive. corrections to broken links (there were about a dozen internal links that are broken) This type of snapshot, created using httrack, creates a standalone site that isn’t dependent on a content management system, meaning it’s very resistant to security problems, and is the only real option for creating a semi-permanent archive. I say semi-permanent, because while I intend to keep this archive up as long as possible, it’s possible, if not likely, that changes in browser rendering  will eventually make this archive difficult to view as intended. This year’s archive will allow us to remove a bunch of old  content from the website, to further prepare for our new website. It also sets us up for splitting all the employee content out of the website: the current Lane website is monolithic, but under the new site, we’ll have audience specific websites. Check out the 2020 Site Archive Looking for an older archive? (you should! There’s some gems in there) 2016 Archive 2011 Archive Older, partial archives (look at “Historical Sites” in the menu)     [...] Read more...
June 16, 2020Congratulations to Brian Janisch on receiving the first Sigma Zeta Paragon Award! This award is given at the discretion of the advisors to the officer or member who best represents PTK’s values and goes above and beyond in service to the chapter. Brian is the outgoing vice president and incoming president. His work during the last year to help bring back Sigma Zeta, create an honors lounge, and encourage others to join PTK was instrumental in our chapter’s growth and success. Thank you, Brian! [...] Read more...
June 15, 2020Today’s helpful resource is the Plainlanguage.gov’s web language guidelines. While the whole thing is worth at least a skim, we’ve already covered a lot of the content in depth (see, for instance, the content redevelopment series). But I want to just briefly dive into the section labeled Follow Web Standards. There are four items that get their own subsection: Avoid FAQs: We’ve talked about this before, but it’s worth revisiting. FAQ pages tend to be disorganized and hard to process. Try to eliminate them where you can. Write effective links: We’ve also mentioned this in the context of accessibility, but it also makes a lot of sense from a usability perspective. Clear links are easier to use. Repurpose print materials for the web: I think there’s some text here that’s worth quoting: Don’t cut and paste the text of print documents to create web content. People are more likely to leave your webpage, potentially costing you time and money, because they will not take the time to find what they are looking for. Print writing is different from web writing. If you’ve created print materials, you’re going to need to rework them if you want them to be effective on the web. Make sure you’re speaking directly to the page visitor, and using conversational, but clear language. The purpose of print content is different than the purpose of web content. Avoid PDF overhead: Here’s another quick quote: The Nielsen Norman Group has done multiple studies on PDFs and has consistently found that users hate them and avoid reading them at all costs. That should speak for itself. Avoid posting PDFs unless there’s no other option, or unless you need a document to print a certain way. That’s it for this week, and also this year! Summer starts next week, so I’ll be taking a long break from blogging. Lots more to come this fall, along with lots of detail on the new website! [...] Read more...
June 14, 2020The Lane Honors Program now has a newsletter! Edited by honors student, Kyla Ramsey, this newsletter will come out a couple of times a year to update the college on the program. Check out the first issue of the Honors Program News! Kyla did a great job! [...] Read more...
June 9, 2020Course Description Have you taught online but could like a refresher on best practices?  Maybe you have never taught online, but are planning to do so in the future?  This course is perfect for you!  The LOBP in Course Design using OSCQR will introduce you to teaching online at Lane and spend time reviewing best practices in online course development and design found within OSCQR (OPEN SUNY Course Quality Review/Rubric).   This course is designed for new or experienced online instructors who are new to OSCQR or teaching online at LCC.  General Course Outcomes The participant will be able to identify and design online experiences using best practices in student success.The participant will be able to identify and design engaging courses with designed interaction that is appropriate for the course modality (remote/hybrid or online)The participant will develop an action plan on how they will integrate best practices into their online teaching. Workshop Syllabus for more detail on LaneOnline Best Practices in Course Design using OSCQR. LOBP in Course Design using OSCQR self-enrollment is currently open. [...] Read more...
June 9, 2020Course Description Have you taught online but could like a refresher on best practices?  Maybe you have never taught online, but are planning to do so in the future?  This course is perfect for you!  The LOBP in Course Design using OSCQR will introduce you to teaching online at Lane and spend time reviewing best [...] Read more...
June 8, 2020It’s been a while since our last redesign post, but don’t think we haven’t made some progress. We’ve been averaging about one video call per week, and are getting closer and closer to development work.  Some of the things we’ve done: Developed Batch 1 Designs Our first batch of pages included the homepage, a career community page, and a program page. Our assumption is that these are some of the first pages most prospective students are going to look for, so we wanted to dive right into them. Our homepage is definitely going to shift direction, and be focused very narrowly on prospective student. User Tested Batch 1 To be certain that we were on track with design and the information architecture, we did some intensive testing with some real prospective students. Users were asked to perform specific tasks, with people watching exactly what they did and seeing where they struggled. Finalized Batch 1 Designs We made some changes to the designs to address issues uncovered in user testing. Some were easy to address, but one has been a particular thorn. Lane has a lot of different offerings, and people are confused by them. We have degrees, 2 year certificates, 1 year certificates, less than 1 year certificates, career pathways certificates, and non-credit credentials. There’s even more variety within the certificates. Some are financial aid eligible, some are not. Some are stackable with a degree, some are independent. Some are stackable, but you choose between multiple options. Some are technically stackable, but are marketed to a different market segment than the degree. We’ve gone several rounds with trying to balance standardization of design (to reduce confusion) with the flexibility to accommodate all our programs (to stay accurate). We’ve landed on a layout we think will work, and we hope to test it again, but it’ll be difficult to know if it’s worked for all programs until well after launch. Reviewed Batch 2 Mockups Our batch 2 pages included some Registration and Tuition related pages. While we’re pretty happy with the design of these pages, they’ve helped highlight a problem for us: our internal organization doesn’t always match how people think about us. For example, consider how students pay for college. We have a lot of departments that deal with money: a Financial Aid office, a scholarship and student employment office, a veterans benefits office, a bursar, and several people that work with sponsored accounts. There’s probably more. There’s really good reason for splitting them apart, and each requires a ton of very specific expertise. But if I have a question, and I’m not sure which of those areas can answer my question, who do I call? Started Batch 3 Our Batch 3 designs relate to the application sorter and steps to enroll pages. We’ve done quite a few versions of these since our last redesign in 2013. For instance, our sorter page swapped from being person type oriented to goal oriented. Yet, despite all those changes, our sorter continues to be one of the least liked pages on the site. Our new design is going to try to leverage some of that experience, and include information that can help you navigate either way, while simultaneously emphasizing the most commonly used enrollment pathways. Content planner Our greatest amount of work has been the content planner. This maps content on our current website to the new website, and identifies where the gaps are. We’ve got a bunch of folders and empty documents set up in google docs right now where we’ve been starting to develop new content and rewrite some old content. There were more than a hundred pages which we need to keep, but which don’t have an obvious home in the new website, and I’ve been slowly making my way through. Some of the rewritten content will be launched before we launch, while most of the new stuff won’t be launched until the whole site is ready. Meanwhile, as we continue our review of every page on the website, Lori’s been aggressively working on some of the recommended page merging and deletion. Thank you to the dozens of you that have helped us delete old pages! What’s next? After we finalize batch 3 this week, we’re hoping to do another round of prospective student testing. Very soon development will start, and while the site is being built, we’ll continue our work on content. One of our big challenges will be photography. Normally for a website redesign you’d schedule a couple of professional photo sessions on campus, but due to COVID-19, that’s tricky. Before launch, it’s unlikely campus will look quite as busy as it would normally, we won’t see groups of people together, and the people we do see may be wearing masks. I’ve been trying to make it out to campus once in a while to get some photos, but there’s only so many empty shots of campus we can use. If you have any amazing photos – ideally where everyone in the picture has signed a photo release – and you’d be willing to let us use them, send them our way! [...] Read more...
June 5, 2020June 5, 1pm-2pm Recording. Does your course offer access to a variety of engaging resources and activities that facilitate communication and collaboration, deliver content, and support learning and engagement? OSCQR: Content and Activities Category  Upcoming options LaneOnline OSCQR Top 15 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Cvto7EL4oOvqzVZv1HBNKu0FTTN53SB716V9S6u_pmM/edit OSCQR in focus: 29. Course offers access to a variety of engaging resources that facilitate communication and collaboration, deliver content, and support learning and engagement. Why it matters: Students learn more by doing than by listening/consuming content.All content and activities should be aligned with module, course, and program objectives.WHY do students need to do this?  Do you tell them why? What it looks like: Tell them WHY and HOW they should be engaging with course resources.Meet with a librarian to help find more engaging materials.Explore OERCommonsCourse share with other faculty – meet and show what you do and why. (teaching-pairs?)Don’t lecture.  (50 alternatives to lecturing) – small chunks w/ interaction/assessment.Using the features within zoom to keep students engagedGoogle doc – reactions while learning – used as prompts for future discussionBreakout rooms in zoom for discussion 30. Course provides activities for learners to develop higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills, such as critical reflection and analysis. Why it matters: Individual and group reflections – sustained critical thinking and reflection allow the students to construct knowledge, inquiring, exploring, and thinking. What it looks like: Reflection – what did you learn?  Why is it important to you?  How can you apply this today? Etc..Peer review groups – when assigning groups encourage (or assign?) students to meet via Google hangouts as a group.Use anonymous posts in a course forum.  Assign students a role in live zoom sessions (moderator, class spokesperson (filters/proposes all student questions, etc.)Allow students to create course content. 31. The course provides activities that emulate real-world applications of the discipline, such as experiential learning, case studies, and problem-based activities. Why it matters: These activities engage learners by having them establish what they know and don’t know, work together to come up with real-world solutions, share those solutions, and review possible results. According to Kolb (1984), experiential learning relies on four elements: Experience;Critical reflection;Abstract conceptualization; andActive experimentation in a new situation. What it looks like: Explore MERLOT for case studies that you can integrated into your course.Create scenario-based discussion forums for learners to interact in. Establish and assign roles for learners within those scenarios.Use mini-cases as pre-lab work where learners can see what might go wrong before they are actually immersed in an online lab.Have learners create and facilitate course related scenarios.Have learners turn in reflective essays along with applied learning activities to measure critical thinking and reflection stages of the process.Assign “offline” activities to learners, and have the learners “debrief” in the online environment.Require foreign language learners to interact with native speakers (online) and summarize their experiences.Have learners document their real-world experiences through digital storytelling tools. [...] Read more...
June 5, 2020June 5, 1pm-2pm Recording. Does your course offer access to a variety of engaging resources and activities that facilitate communication and collaboration, deliver content, and support learning and engagement? OSCQR: Content and Activities Category  Upcoming options LaneOnline OSCQR Top 15 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Cvto7EL4oOvqzVZv1HBNKu0FTTN53SB716V9S6u_pmM/edit OSCQR in focus: 29. Course offers access to a variety of engaging resources [...] Read more...
June 1, 2020We’ve talked about why we get backlink requests, but what do they look like? So glad you asked. Let’s talk about my dog. Five years ago I tried to take my dog hammock camping. She got cold overnight, and I had to put her in the car to get warm. When I wrote up the trip on my personal website, I linked to a dog sleeping bag manufacturer, since I naïvely thought my dog would sleep in one and keep warm (spoiler alert: she will not). A couple weeks ago, I got a backlink request from a website that wrote up a guide to buying a dog sleeping bag. This request fit the form of a standard backlink request template so well that I based a fill in the blank backlink generator request on it: Having trouble? View this embedded page on its own. This isn’t the exact email I got, but it’s close enough to get an idea of the structure of a request.  They try to include a little information about you, which they can look up online (like your job title). They include something vaguely complimentary (like calling your post “amazing”). Then they explain how their site would fit perfectly in with your content before wishing you well. I think the process goes like this. Someone writes a vague template, based on a script available on some SEO website. Then they search for some term like “College scholarships” or “Student Resources”, and go through the top 50 or 100 pages, emailing the site owner with an email customized just enough that it won’t feel generic, unless you get a lot of backlink requests. So how do you respond? Consider not responding at all. There are ways to automate gathering contact information (using a WHOIS record or various screen scraping techniques), so it’s entirely possible that your request was sent by a script, instead of a person. Don’t feel bad about ignoring a computer. Definitely don’t click on the link they sent you. If someone sends you an unsolicited link, never ever ever* click on it. If you’re really curious, at least Google the url first. See what you can learn about the page. Don’t just trust the text of a url – there’s ways to spoof that too.  You can also just forward those requests to us. Believe me, we get a lot of them. Our general rule is to not respond to backlink requests for commercial websites, and to avoid including links to commercial websites in our pages. We sometimes make exceptions for  local, non-profit organizations. But since those organizations are part of our community and usually know someone at Lane, they tend not to reach out using a form email. Remember, linking to a website from your page can provide an implicit endorsement of that page.  Make sure you trust what you’re linking to. * ever ever ever ever ever ever. [...] Read more...
May 27, 2020This post is continuation of the original 10 Steps to Build a Remote/Hybrid/Online Course. Wondering where to start? Just as we normally tell our students – start at the top and work your way down. The development checklist and all other guides on course development are designed to help you chunk the course development into easy to digest chunks. Taking the course development overall process step-by-step will help take a massive project and turn it into doable steps. Step 6: The course development checklist is designed to walk you through setting up your course – starting with providing directions on how students should start the course (getting started) through the first week or module of the course. Key points in step 6 are to make sure you have a welcoming introduction, all your essential course information is clear, students and instructor begin to build class community from the very first student entry into the course. Step 7: Consult with an instructional designer! Once you have completed your getting started material, course orientation, syllabus, introduction materials, and week 1 –> STOP! Meet with an ID to review your work and gather feedback on how to progress with the remainder of your course development. Step 8: Following your format of week 1 – develop weeks 2, 3, …. Following OSCQR top 15 as a guide.  It’s ok if your course is not 100% complete before week 1, as long as week 1 is ready by week 1!  ? Stay tuned – step 9, 10, and 11 are next week! [...] Read more...
May 27, 2020This post is continuation of the original 10 Steps to Build a Remote/Hybrid/Online Course. Wondering where to start? Just as we normally tell our students – start at the top and work your way down. The development checklist and all other guides on course development are designed to help you chunk the course development into easy [...] Read more...
May 27, 2020Session Recording from May 22 How do we build critical pieces to our online, hybrid, or remote courses? How can my teaching be as effective as I was in the classroom? How can my students feel like they belong to the class and establish a community and trust amongst all participants? OSCQR [Interaction] best practices in focus during this topic:  *40. Learners have an opportunity to get to know the instructor.[Syllabus / Instructor Bio, Introductions Forum] *41.  Course contains resources or activities intended to build a sense of class community, support open communication, and establish trust (i.e. Ice-breaker, Bulletin Board, Meet Your Classmates, Q/A Forum)[News and Announcements, Introductions Forum, Course Q/A forum, Various activities through the course.] *42. Course offers opportunities for learner to learner interaction and constructive collaboration. *43. Learners are encouraged to share resources and inject knowledge from diverse sources of information in their course interactions. Future Friday Sessions: May 29 Completion Conference (Full) June 5 Creating Engaging Content and Activities June 12 Online Assessment [...] Read more...
May 27, 2020Session Recording from May 22 How do we build critical pieces to our online, hybrid, or remote courses? How can my teaching be as effective as I was in the classroom? How can my students feel like they belong to the class and establish a community and trust amongst all participants? OSCQR best practices [...] Read more...
May 27, 2020Gmail has been in use for one year as of July 2020. As communicated during the Gmail rollout, it is time for GroupWise access to end. Please make sure you have verified that all of your email has been migrated to Gmail and there is nothing remaining in GroupWise that you need anymore. If you have a GroupWise archive that you would like migrated to Gmail, please contact the GroupWise Migration team via the helpdesk at helpdesk@lanecc.edu or by calling 541-463-4444. [...] Read more...
May 26, 2020Back in the resource pages post, I briefly mentioned backlink requests. Since if you don’t get these regularly they can be difficult to identify and understand, I thought we could dig into them. Backlink requests aren’t evil, and getting backlinks can certainly help your Search Engine Optimization (SEO). But the people making the requests don’t necessarily have the interests of our students in mind, so you should know how to spot requests and why they’re sent. A quick refresher. Search engines mostly work by looking at how pages link to each other. Pages that get linked to a lot (that have a lot of inbound links) are considered more authoritative. Links from those pages are worth more than links from sites with fewer inbound links. If you have a website that you’re trying to get to rank higher in search, getting other sites to link back to yours will help. One way to make that happen is to ask. You can do that many different ways. For instance, you could find a website with a broken or outdated link, and suggest to the website owner that they link to your site instead. Or there’s the testimonial strategy, where you write a testimonial and offer it for free to another website, with an expectation they’ll attribute your testimonial to your site. Offering a guest blog post is another. The most straightforward is to ask directly. And the easiest place to ask for your link  to be included? A resource page. College websites are particularly attractive targets. While as mentioned above, Google certainly provides a lot of search engine weight to links,  there are all sorts of other factors they consider. One of those is domain name. Not every domain is easy to get. Anyone can purchase a .com, a .org, or dozens of others. But some, like .mil, .gov, and .edu are very hard to get. If you want an .edu domain, you need to be an accredited post-secondary educational institution. And you can only have one.  Because an external agency has guaranteed the validity of the domain, Google is thought to give .edu sites a little boost over sites with more open domains (part of why you probably don’t want a .com for your department!). When someone sends you an email, requesting you put their link on your site, ask yourself if they stand to gain financially from an increase in traffic on their website. The link they’re sending you might not sell anything directly. But that page might link to something that does or to a page with advertising – linking to a page on a site provides a boost to that page’s rank, which in turn provides a smaller boost to all the pages that page links to. We should also remember that linking to a site provides something of an endorsement of that site. Particularly on resource pages we’re effectively promising students that we’ve validated these resources as good and trustworthy. Make sure they are. Next post we’ll look at the structure of a backlink request and how to respond. [...] Read more...
May 20, 2020Many of you are engaged in undergraduate research in your classes, and you may be presenting some of that work at the college’s Undergraduate Research Fair and/or at the University of Oregon’s Undergraduate Research Symposium. Many of you are also wonderful fiction writers, painters, photographers, poets, song writers, and other types of writers and artists. It’s time to start publishing your work! This publication workshop covers several aspects of the publication process: where to find places to submit your work, how to submit it, what to expect in response, and how to track submissions and publications. Don’t forget that Lane Community College has its own journal, Denali, where you can send work! When you do have work published, be sure to add that information to your CV and resume. See this Curriculum (CV) Workshop for more details. [...] Read more...
May 20, 2020Many of you are engaged in undergraduate research in your classes, and you may be presenting some of that work at the college’s Undergraduate Research Fair and/or at the University of Oregon’s Undergraduate Research Symposium. Many of you are also wonderful fiction writers, painters, photographers, poets, song writers, and other types of writers and artists. It’s time to start publishing your work! This publication workshop covers several aspects of the publication process: where to find places to submit your work, how to submit it, what to expect in response, and how to track submissions and publications. Don’t forget that Lane Community College has its own journal, Denali! When you do have work published, be sure to add that information to your CV and resume. See this Curriculum (CV) Workshop for more details.   [...] Read more...
May 20, 2020We had a great Friday Discussion last week that centered on course design and layout. 40+ people were in attendance! Up for discussion–One of the regular themes in online student feedback is that consistent course design across online courses is essential to their success.  We jumped right into the thick of things and took at look at the ID Services OSCQR course templates in action. Several instructors so kindly shared their courses with us and we were able to address the following questions: Is the course design intuitive and easy to navigate?  Is the course cluttered with a lot of various files and links?  Are the instructions on what the student is to do clear?  Do all the links in the course work and provide for easy navigation back to the course?  As promised, here is the link to the Session 3 presentation Note: We cannot provide links to the courses that were used in the demo. Other resource links from the presentation: OSCQR Top 15 Our guide to the top 15 best practices for online, hybrid and remote course building and improvementInstructional Design Intake (form) Let us know how we can support you with your summer and fall term course development needs.Take a closer look at the IDS Template (OSCQR) ATC (Academic Technology Center) Support Hub Be sure to join us this Friday, May 22, 1-2pm, for Session 4: Building Interaction in Your Course. You can also join us for our Instructional Design OPEN Office Hour. Join the Zoom Meeting https://lanecc.zoom.us/j/93310264545 [...] Read more...
May 18, 2020WebAIM’s analysis of the accessibility of the top million homepages came out the other day, and we made the top 25% for the first time. That puts us as #7 in the state for Community Colleges, #13 for Oregon public colleges. Well done SOU for being the highest ranked college in the state! That’s two successive improvements to our rank. Hopefully we’ll move up quite a bit post redesign! See our entry on WebAIM’s site. [...] Read more...
May 17, 2020This weekend, members of our chapter participated in the PTK Rocky Mountain-Cascade Region’s first time ever virtual Spring Convention. The event was organized by Regional Coordinator Michelle Gietl and the regional team. Regional officers provided a wide range of presentations and evening fellowship opportunities. At Saturday’s Awards Gala, our chapter received several awards! In addition to being recognized as a three-star chapter, we also received a Rising Star Award for our chapter activities and development; a REACH Award for recruiting; and a Horizon Award for chapter advising. Our award slide from the awards slide show! Next year’s convention will hopefully be in person. If it is, it will be at Umpqua Community College, where this year’s convention was supposed to have been held. Our members will be there, and we plan to be a four-star chapter by then! [...] Read more...
May 14, 2020Our Regional Coordinator, Michelle Gietl, and the regional officers have done an amazing job creating a virtual Spring Convention! May 15 and 16 are packed with presentations and workshops with topics ranging from scholarships to public speaking to what to do once you are a chapter officer. There is also an awards gala on May 16 from 5:00-7:00 PST. If you’ve registered, you’ll receive the schedule in an email message. You can still register for this free event: registration form Follow our region on Facebook for fellowship opportunities during the convention! [...] Read more...
May 13, 2020This post in continuation of the original 10 Steps to Build a Remote/Hybrid/Online Course Have you ever thought to yourself any of the following: My course is a mess!I worked so hard on all this content and activities, but my students seem so lost!I am new to online/remote teaching and have no idea how to even start! #IfIhadadollarI wish I had a place to at least start from.I wish our department had a starting point for a shared course experience. Have students ever asked: How do I get started, navigate, and work through your course?What are we doing this week?I can’t find this weeks work, can you help me?Why do we have to do this? (one of my personal favorites) How do I submit this assignment?When is our midterm? Finals? This week’s assignment?I’m confused about what to do when to do it, and how I’m supposed to submit it to you. Can you help me? Well, have we got an answer for you! The Instructional Design Services has developed a Moodle course shell template, IDS Template . $ $ Free of charge and 100% openly licensed to share and share-alike with your friends! The IDS template will provide you with a solid start to a course (remote or online) design that is student-centric and based on research best practices as outlined in OSCQR. Use all or just a few pieces of the course template – a la carte model of sharing the love. Act fast to get yours! Email the atc@lanecc.edu and just ask for an import! DONT WAIT! ACT NOW! Ok..enough of the cheesy infomercial…my sales career lasted only a couple very miserable weeks in college. If interested all you need to do is email the ATC and ask for an import of all or pieces of the template. Have questions about how to use the template or what parts make sense to bring over to your course? Inquire with an instructional designer. Review of steps to Course Dev so far covered:STEP 1: Brush up on my Moodle skills.STEP 2: Review and spend time with the IDs OSCQR Top 15 best practices in course design.Step 3: Meet with an instructional designer to develop a Personal Development Plan (PDP) on course design and training needed to teach.Step 4: Complete a course planning worksheet (note this can be used in your syllabus).Step 5: Ask the ATC to import the IDS Moodle course template.  Use the template material and fill in the blanks where needed. next post in series of 10 steps to course dev (coming soon): Step 6: Complete Getting Started Course Development checklist and follow the steps on building introduction through week 1 of course.Step 7: Meet with an instructional designer to develop a Personal Development Plan (PDP) on course design and training needed to teach. Google doc in action (steps 1-5) Questions / Comments / Feedback – comment in discussion below! [...] Read more...
May 13, 2020This post in continuation of the original 10 Steps to Build a Remote/Hybrid/Online Course Have you ever thought to yourself any of the following: My course is a mess! I worked so hard on all this content and activities, but my students seem so lost! I am new to online/remote teaching and have no idea how [...] Read more...
May 12, 2020Congratulations to Jeremiah Vandagrift! His photograph, “Under the Cloud Veil,” appears in the May 2020 issue of The Palouse Review! The journal is published by the Washington State University Honors College. [...] Read more...
May 11, 2020As mentioned in the broken links post, there are a lot of pages on the Lane website that are what I’d call “Resource pages”. These pages don’t necessarily provide a lot of content on their own, but have a lot of links on them to help visitors find useful resources on other pages. I’ve heard some conflicting opinions on resource pages, so I wanted to dig into if these pages are problematic, or generally helpful. Our resource pages are often full of broken or moved links While we’ve made some progress on how many broken or moved external links there are still thousands of broken links on the site. Because resource pages tend to be full of links to external sites, they naturally collect bad links. I’ve spent a lot of time during the last week fixing pages, and I keep coming back to resource pages, just because they have so many links. It only takes a few bad links on a page before visitors start to wonder if the other links are any good. If I’m on a page with a couple bad links, for me it’s an immediate indicator that this page hasn’t been reviewed in a while, and I probably shouldn’t trust it. They’re only helpful sometimes Resource pages are usually put together out of a genuine desire to be helpful. But they’re not as well used as you might think. Here’s some data for the last year on 5 different pages I’d consider to be resource pages: Page External links on page % of external links clicked 1 17 47% 2 133 19% 3 27 19% 4 12 42% 5 25 52% At best, only about half the links on a resource page are even clicked. And sometimes, that number is a lot worse. There’s also a whole set of people who are never even going to see your resource page. In user experience discussions, we sometimes talk about searchers (who use the search box) and browsers (who explore the site using navigation). While obviously you can be both at different times, finding a resource page as a searcher feels like a long shot to me. More likely, you’d just perform a search on Google itself and not look for anything on our site. To me, it feels like resource pages are for browsers. People who came to the site for something else, and then stumbled on these pages and have time and interest in what was is them. Of course, that’s just my conjecture. So I thought I’d check the data. Page  Views Entrance Exit % Bounce 1 774 30% 27.39% 38.2% 2 222 45% 38.74% 60.61% 3 93 5% 5.43% 0% 4 78 5% 17.95% 0% 5 410 14% 11.19% 64.29% This surprised me. While pages 3 and 4 certainly match my thinking, pages 1, 4, and 5 don’t. 1 and 2 actually have a higher than average entrance and bounce rates – an indicator that these pages are being found via search and attracting traffic. But the higher than average bounce rate is an indicator that we’re not retaining that lands on those pages. The people who find those links aren’t staying around. I did a quick check on Google Webmaster Tools to see what people were searching for. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough queries listed for Pages 2 or 4 to learn much, but Page 1 stood out. There were a lot of queries referencing a specific service that actually has a page of its own, but was linked from this page. That’s a potential issue: it means that searchers aren’t finding the page they’re looking for, but instead have to land on the resource page first, then figure out what link to click. That said, at least page 1 provided context for the links. Some resource pages are literally just collections of links, without even headers, making it very difficult for people landing on the page to find what they’re looking for. Can hurt us in SEO To understand this one, you’ve got to know a little bit about how Google works. This will, of course, be a gross oversimplification. If you’re interested, the wikipedia page has considerable detail. Here’s a simple directed graph: Pretend each one of those circles is a web page, and each arrow represents a link from one page to another. Google uses those links to infer importance, and gives each page a score. If we start with each page having a score of 1, and we allow each page to transfer a third of its score to a linked page, we get something like this: If each page has a base score of 1, and gives a third of that rank across every link, you end up with A and B keeping their scores (no one links to them), C having a score of 1.66, and D a score of 1.55. So if there’s a search, and these 4 pages are in the result set, they’ll end up with C first, and D second. Links from C are more valuable than other links, but can still be beat out by lots of low value links. You can likely predict how people try to game this: link farming. If you get a bunch of websites to link to your page, you’ll get ranked higher. For a while, you could even pay for links to your page. Google has since adjusted their algorithm to account for that and now, if they see your page as a link farm, they’ll bump it down in the rankings. So how do they know if you’re a link farm? We’re not entirely sure. But we think one way has to do with the ratio of outbound to inbound links – that is, links to other sites vs links to your own. If we have a page with a few dozen outbound links, like on some of our resource pages, then suddenly that ratio isn’t so good. There’s no strict rule about what that ratio should be, and since Google doesn’t publish either its actual algorithm for ranking pages, or what your score is, we can’t really know if our resource pages make Google see us as a link farm. But it’s something to keep an eye on. You should also be alert to backlink requests. These often show up as an email, where someone will ask you to include a link to their page on your page. It’s possible that their site is actually helpful, but more likely they’re reaching out trying to capitalize on your page’s score to improve their own. Internal resources are just as bad Of course, that doesn’t mean you should just start packing your page full of internal links either. There are a number of pages on the site that are entirely internal link resources pages, often including an abbreviated steps to enroll or a subset of our one master resources for students page. As previously mentioned, the intent is good, but if enough people add pages like that, we’ve just added more pages for our visitors to sort through, and set up a circumstance where pages can be out of sync (that is, content doesn’t match, and we tell students potentially conflicting things). What starts out as an attempt to fix a broken navigation on our site can end up exacerbating the problem. There’s a place for resource pages For instance, here’s a budget page. If I do an analysis like with the pages above, the numbers will look terrible. And this page definitely doesn’t provide any links in context. And compared to some of our pages, I can’t imagine it gets a lot of traffic. But that isn’t the point. This page gets used a lot in the budget planning cycle, as emails and presentations refer people to this site as a place to find specific resources. While it may be one of the most plain pages on the site, the headers make it quite functional. Sometimes a resource page is the right choice. So what’s the conclusion? As with anything else complicated, it depends. There’s a place for resource pages, but if you’re thinking about putting one together, you should think long and hard about if that’s the best solution. For instance, if you’re putting that page together because you genuinely think it’s important students learn about each of those links, you might be better off communicating a few resources every so often with a targeted population, or regularly posting resources to social media, or you might be better off working resources into each of your other pages, surrounded by related content. If you absolutely must have a resources page, then make certain to put some context with the links, so that page visitors know why you’re bothering to put this link on a page. Be sure to revisit your links once in a while, and fix any broken or moved ones. And watch out for backlink requests! If you have a page and you’d like to know if it’s working, reach out! We can dig into how people are finding it, what they’re clicking on, and if they go on to other pages.     [...] Read more...
May 8, 2020UPDATE 5/12: Recording of this session available What are some top student success strategies when starting an online course? We will talk about these and what essential components need to be in place in your course for the greatest chance of student success. OSCQR best practices in focus during this topic:  *1. Course includes Welcome and Course Orientation Content that establishes instructor presence and guidance. *2. An orientation or overview is provided for the course overall, as well as in each module. Learners know how to navigate and what tasks are due.*40. Learners have an opportunity to get to know the instructor. Outline and resources [...] Read more...
May 8, 2020UPDATE 5/12: Recording of this session available What are some top student success strategies when starting an online course? We will talk about these and what essential components need to be in place in your course for the greatest chance of student success. OSCQR best practices in focus during this topic:  *1. Course [...] Read more...
May 8, 2020Congratulations to Jeremiah Vandagrift! His photograph, “Under the Cloud Veil,” appears in the May 2020 issue of The Palouse Review! [...] Read more...
May 8, 2020Step 4: Complete a course planning worksheet (note this can be used in your syllabus). This post in continuation of the original 10 Steps to Build a Remote/Hybrid/Online Course The course planning worksheet has gotten a lot of positive feedback from instructors who have worked with it.  When completed BEFORE you dive into Moodle and start adding all kinds of cool stuff to your course.  The planning worksheet is designed to help you outline or draft your course before you take the time to add / remove / change / move / delete / re-add / pull hair out.  Do this as paper and pencil – or draft through Google docs.  Eventually, you can integrate this into your syllabus to provide a one(ish) page “snap-shot” of your course. Don’t have 100% of the course figured out yet?  Yeah – me either!  No course will ever be 100% developed – it’s like remodeling a house.  Many first time courses have instructors who do their best to stay one week ahead of the students.  This is okay!   One of the most difficult parts of teaching online is I can’t just “wing-it” like I used to in the classroom.  Many of my best lessons were those conceived on the drive into campus.  Or those ad-hoc discussions when the students and I would go down the rabbit hole on a cool concept (actually I have much richer discussions online now).   That all said, complete the course planning worksheet to the level of detail you feel your pedagogy has tolerance for.  It will help you, trust me.  Share a solid outline of your course with your students to provide a course format, but allow for flexibility and adaptation of your instruction per your student response and interactions with the course…just like in 2019! [...] Read more...
May 8, 2020Step 4: Complete a course planning worksheet (note this can be used in your syllabus). This post in continuation of the original 10 Steps to Build a Remote/Hybrid/Online Course The course planning worksheet has gotten a lot of positive feedback from instructors who have worked with it.  When completed BEFORE you dive into Moodle and [...] Read more...
May 7, 2020The Scribendi publication window is now open! Don’t miss this chance to submit your work to a great journal published by the University of New Mexico Honors College! Honors students who are going to be enrolled at Lane next fall are eligible to submit work. See the Scribendi website for more information: [...] Read more...
May 7, 2020Each year, our Rocky Mountain-Cascades Region of Phi Theta Kappa holds its Spring Convention. This year, the event was to be held nearby at Umpqua Community College. With the current stay-at-home orders in place, the event will now be virtual on the weekend of May 15, with the awards ceremony being held at 5:00 on Saturday, May 16. More details about the days/times/schedule will be coming soon! Register now for this free event and represent our Sigma Zeta Chapter at Spring Convention! Here is Registration Form!   [...] Read more...
May 6, 2020I really like simple lists.  Maybe a way oversimplified list with links for additional details if I would like to venture down that path and learn more.  I don’t have to click all the links – just the ones I want.  I have not found much in the “simple” category lately, so I guess we try and build our own!  You may not be developing an online course, however, you are developing online components of your course regardless of modality.   What’s the difference between a remote, hybrid, and online course?  IMHO: Interaction. Best practices in teaching don’t change based on modality – they are still the same.  How you achieve them might differ based on modality.  With this in mind when you review online course design best practices, read them with a lens for your modality.  Do the recommendations make sense for your course?  Not sure – let us help you decide. Remote/Hybrid/Online Course Development in 10 steps: STEP 1: Brush up on my Moodle skills.STEP 2: Review and spend time with the IDs OSCQR Top 15 best practices in course design.Step 3: Meet with an instructional designer to develop a Personal Development Plan (PDP) on course design and training needed to teach.Step 4: Complete a course planning worksheet (note this can be used in your syllabus).Step 5: Ask the ATC to import the IDS Moodle course template.  Use the template material and fill in the blanks where needed.Step 6: Complete Getting Started Course Development checklist and follow the steps on building introduction through week 1 of course.Step 7: Meet with an instructional designer to develop a Personal Development Plan (PDP) on course design and training needed to teach.Step 8: Following your format of week 1 – develop weeks 2, 3, …. Following OSCQR top 15 as a guide.  It’s ok if your course is not 100% complete before week 1, as long as week 1 is ready by week 1!  🙂Step 9: Meet with an instructional designer to seek feedback and assistance.Step10.  Ask students for feedback in course design (maybe weeks 2, 5, & 9) “How-to” do steps 1-10 – current how-to steps 1-3.  4+ coming soon Step 11 (after the dust settles): Improve!  Connect with FPD for local and national PD opportunitiesInquire about Online Learning Consortium (OLC) institute training Connect with other faculty and share coursesConnect and participate with the CTL! What do you think?  Interact with us in the comment options below! [...] Read more...
May 5, 2020Lane has moved away from using Netstorage in favor of a more modern application called FILR.  When you try to visit netstorage.lanecc.edu to interact with your network drives, you will now be automatically redirected to filr.lanecc.edu.  You should update any shortcuts or favorites you have saved in your browsers to be sure you always have quick access to your files. Netstorage and FILR are both simply portals to the network drives that you have access.  None of the files you have saved through Netstorage have been lost due to this change. Logging into FILR uses the same username (last name first initial) and password as Netstorage.Once logged in, you can see all your network drives under the “Net Folders” link at the top of the screen. Please contact the helpdesk @ x4444 or helpdesk@lanecc.edu for further assistance. [...] Read more...
May 4, 2020We’ve getting to the stage of the web redesign where it’s time to think about content. And our website has a lot of content. Even though our website is  smaller than it’s ever been, it still has more than 3000 pages and some 10,805 external links. While I’m pretty good at clicking links, I can’t possibly click all of those. Instead, the website has a service which checks some links every fifteen minutes. Right now, every external links on the site gets checked every 3 days. Here’s a terrifying statistic: about 1 in 4 external links on our site needs to be updated somehow. The vast majority of those are 301 errors. The page isn’t really broken, it’s just moved. Much of that is due to Chrome’s move to mark HTTP pages as not secure. But even though those links still work when we click on them, it’s important that we update them. Eventually, server redirections stop working, and if we don’t update the link before then, the link will eventually turn into a 404. 404 links are pages that can’t be found. Those are the next biggest category of broken links on our site. A 404 is the worst. We’ve all encountered them. You think you’ve found a helpful link, but when you click it, you’re left guessing about what was there. And they make us look bad, like we dont’t even have the decency to keep our pages updated. Here’s another terrifying statistic: out of the 3439 nodes on our site, only 1 in 3 has no problematic links on it. We need to do better. Lori and I are going to spending a lot of quality time over the next few weeks trying to fix some of these. I’m afraid this is another place where you can expect some nagging emails from us: if a page 404s, we may not have any idea what we should link to instead, and we may be asking you for help. There’s one particular type of page which tends to have a lot of links with errors: resource pages. There’s a few dozen pages on the site which are little more than collections of links to other sites. While these page are often well meaning – they’re trying to help students find resources we’ve verified as being helpful – they’re sometimes misguided. We’ll dig into those pages deeper in a later post, but for now, when Lori or I find broken links on these pages, we’re just going to remove the link and move on. Our new goal is to cut the number of links with errors in half before Fall term. Wish us luck!   [...] Read more...
May 1, 2020We have shared the slides from the Friday, May 1 Discussion, where we talk about external definitions of online, remote, synchronous, asynchronous, and really every other buzz word we could find related to our current moment! If you want to join the discussion — even asynchronously — you can jump into the shared Google Doc. [...] Read more...
April 27, 2020You’ve likely already seen this on our Web site or thrilled to the news in the Lane Weekly, but in case you’re a blogs-only kind of person, ta-da! We are announcing an upcoming series of Friday discussions/webinars to help faculty think about the different ways we’re handling online teaching and learning in these weird times. We’ll meet online from 1-2 p.m. every Friday, starting this week (5/1) for these discussions. Bring your lunch! Or your pet! Or your pet’s lunch (maybe keep that one off camera)! You’ll see a preview post before each session here, including some good reference material for the topics we’ll cover. If we have slides to share or other content that gets collected during the discussions, we’ll also use this as a place to post those. We’ll be talking about: Remote Teaching (what does it mean, and how is it different/the same)First week/getting started strategiesDesign and layout to promote student successBuilding interaction into your courseCreating engaging coursesCrafting online assessments So sit back, relax (and if you manage this, let us know how!), and get ready to chat every Friday during Spring term. Check out the ID services site for Zoom information and the full schedule of events. [...] Read more...
April 27, 2020Hello again everyone! This TIPSS was delayed slightly by, well, everything that’s happened in the past month or so. Luckily, the news it’s delivering is that students have been experiencing fewer delays in graduation over the past few years. Please review the TIPSS here to find out more! PDF version of TIPSS While Guided Pathways meetings are on a pause during spring term as the college moves swiftly to respond to the pandemic, our thinking and work will continue. We hope you can review this TIPSS when you have a moment, and please let us know your comments or questions below. [...] Read more...
April 24, 2020BCM – Sending a Message A step-by-step guide to using BCM to send messages to Banner populations.   BCM User Guide v9.4 – July 2018 Ellucian’s user guide to using BCM. [...] Read more...
April 22, 2020As the new term began, I noticed an increase in messages from students in the Honors Program and Phi Theta Kappa. I also noticed more students joining both groups. Given that everyone is studying and working from home, the physical college is closed to everyone but the few employees who must be on campus to do their jobs, and all spring events have been canceled, it’s not surprising that students are looking for ways to connect. So far, I’ve taken several steps to support the students and help them feel less isolated and more focused on their goals: starting a new Lane Honors Program blog and a new Phi Theta Kappa blog; using blog posts, email, and social media to share information about publication and volunteer opportunities; working with students to research their transfer schools, curate their ePortfolios, and polish up their resumes; and developing with Casey Reid a short workshop on building their first CVs based on an earlier workshop that Casey had created. Later this term, we will hold an online orientation for new honors students, as well. I’m so impressed with these amazing students. Regardless of sheltering at home, losing jobs or working new shifts, and moving to a remote instruction learning environment for all of their classes, they are persevering. They are, as always, inspiring! [...] Read more...
April 22, 2020This spring, the Honors Program will publish its first newsletter, and we have an outstanding editor in charge of the project! Kyla Ramsey is from Cottage Grove, Oregon. She is finishing her first year at Lane, and she joined the Honors Program in winter of 2020. Kyla is an English major with plans to transfer to the University of Oregon to continue her studies in English. She is an avid gamer and dedicated writer, spending her free time playing games with friends, writing D&D campaigns, and pursuing her passion for creative writing.   Kyla Ramsey, Editor, Honors Program Newsletter [...] Read more...
April 20, 2020Check out this short workshop by Casey Reid and Ce Rosenow, and start building your own expanded resume known as a curriculum vitae CV! Here’s the workshop and here’s the handout used during the workshop. Contact Casey (ReidC@lanecc.edu) or Ce (RosenowC@lanecc.edu) if you have questions or would like more help with your CV! [...] Read more...
April 17, 2020Are you looking for a way to connect more with Lane’s EMS program?   Maybe you want to refresh some knowledge, get a jump start on classes you sign up for, or maybe just get to know the faculty a little better?   Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we have become creative in the way we are teaching lab skills for courses, and have created a new Lane EMS Program YouTube channel. There are already a lot of videos uploaded, and we add new videos each week. Lately the focus has been on EMT skills, but AEMT/I and Paramedic skills will be posted in the next couple of weeks, as well as some lecture topics.   Please check out our (new) Lane EMS Program YouTube Channel, and consider SUBCRIBING! It would be a great help to us, and perhaps also a great help to you.   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE1RXCeGmPEaLv7y3hm6Pcg     [...] Read more...
April 6, 2020Are you interested in finding leadership opportunities, ways to connect with others during this stay-at-home time, and additional elements to add to your resume and scholarship applications? OSPIRG is looking for student volunteers. Learn more! [...] Read more...
March 30, 2020Dr. Richard Glover “In teaching environmental science I enjoy helping students explore the bioregion surrounding them, partner with campus stakeholders to do scientific research in my classes to help build their identity as a scientist and treat the campus as a living lab. Additionally, I work with students and sustainability groups to incorporate sustainable practices across campus, aligning campus policy/practice to external benchmarks (like the UN SDGs), and promote food security. I began teaching Environmental Science courses at Lane in the Fall of 2019. Prior to that I was an Environmental Science and Chemistry faculty member at Bellevue College, in Bellevue, Washington for 6 years. In my free time I like to be outside whether biking, skiing, hiking, or camping. Additionally, I am an avid gardener and like to grow (and cook) open pollinated vegetables (ask me about the Learning Garden Club).” [...] Read more...
March 30, 2020If you are following this blog about the Lane Honors Program, consider these other honors-related blogs, as well: The Honor RollHonors Undergraduate ResearchPhi Theta Kappa [...] Read more...
March 27, 2020What do you want to do? Please select the option that is right for you: I will be on campus some days and working at home other days. I will be working from home all work days. I prefer to just use a greeting on my office phone that instructs callers to leave a message, email me or call another number to reach me. If you selected 1, then you probably want to use the Call Forward – No Answer option. This option will ring your campus phone 5 times and then forward the call to your home or cell phone.  If you don’t pick up, the call will be sent to your home or cell phone voicemail. If you selected 2, then you probably want to use the Call Forward – All  option This option will forward all calls directly to your home or cell phone without ringing your campus phone.  If you don’t pick up, the call will be sent to your home or cell phone voicemail. If you selected 3, you will leave your phone the way it is and record the appropriate greeting.  Please be sure to check your voicemail regularly, check email regularly, and answer your home or cell phone.  If you don’t pick up, the call will be sent to your Lane voicemail. If you choose to forward your calls: NOTE: You must forward calls before you leave campus and use your campus phone to do so. NOTE: You must cancel existing instructions (such as forward to voicemail (3535)) before you can set a new instruction. NOTE: Remember * is used to set and # is used to cancel. To Set Call Forward – No Answer (Option 1)         Lift handset Dial #3, wait for beep, then 3535 to cancel forwarding to voicemail Dial *3, wait for the beep Dial phone number to forward to Example1: 3535 to forward back to Voicemail Example2: 9 541-XXX-XXXX to forward to a cell or home phone Example3: 9 1 XXX-XXX-XXXX to forward to a non-541 area code number Wait for the tone, then hang-up.        To cancel Call Forward – No Answer, dial #3 To Set Call Forward – All (Option 2)         Lift handset Dial #3, wait for beep, then 3535 to cancel forwarding to voicemail Dial *2, wait for the beep Dial phone number to forward to Example1: 3535 to forward back to Voicemail Example2: 9 541-XXX-XXXX to forward to a cell or home phone Example3: 9 1 XXX-XXX-XXXX to forward to a non-541 area code number Wait for the tone, then hang-up To cancel Call Forward – All, dial #2 To record a Voicemail Greeting and access your Voicemail (Option 3)  Call the external or internal voicemail number, 541-463-3535 or ext. 3535 NOTE: If you are off campus, press # when the voice prompt starts Enter your mailbox number Enter your security code Checking Messages Press Listen to new messages 1 Record a message for another subscriber 2 Delete a message 4 Save a message or listen to saved messages 5 Review, forward, delete, or save messages you’ve selected 6 Listen to and recover messages you’ve marked for deletion (in this session only) 7 Recording Messages Press Follow the recorded prompts to record your message: To stop recording 2 Approve for sending # Discard and start over 4 Review 6 Set routing options 0 -Future deliver options 1 -Set urgent status 2 -Restrict forwarding 3 -Request a receipt 5 -Return to recording options * To make changes in your mailbox NOTE: You must be in your mailbox to make these changes Press From the voice prompt-PHONE MANAGE FUNCTIONS: Change your standard greeting 3 1 3 2 Change your out-of-office greeting 3 1 3 3 Change your recorded name 3 1 5 Change your security code 3 1 4 [...] Read more...
March 25, 2020From off campus:  Dial 541-463-3535 When it answers, press # and enter your mailbox number  Enter your password From this point on it should be the same as sitting at your desk. [...] Read more...
March 24, 2020With the pandemic impacting people around the world, the college moving all spring instruction online, and the people of Oregon being ordered to stay home to prevent the spread of the virus, it seems like a good time to reflect on some of the positive things that happened for students in the Lane Honors Program this winter. We added two new classes: ENSC 183_H Aquatic Cultures (fulfills a lab science requirement) PS 297_H Environmental Political Science. We also plan on at least three new classes next year: CH 243_H Organic Chemistry MATH 243_H Introduction to Probability and Statistics PSY 201_H General Psychology. We renewed our transfer agreement with Portland State University’s Honors College. Southern Oregon University’s Honors College will work with us unofficially while they try to build capacity to accept more transfer students. The agreement is on hold while they work on how to accommodate a much larger cohort than they currently have. University of Oregon’s Clark Honors College continues to work on ways to admit transfer students. Their restructuring will be complete in fall and will provide ways for students to transfer in as sophomores. I’ve asked them to find ways for our students to transfer in as juniors rather than paying UO tuition for three years instead of two. We also held an orientation this term with 13 students attending. Claire Dannenbaum, the Honors Librarian, joined us to discuss the many ways she supports honors students through the library. We took a wonderful field trip to UO’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and then to Noisette Bakery for lunch and to see Claire’s art exhibit. After many years, I’m happy to say we are now planning on circulating an honors newsletter! Honors student Kyla Ramsey has accepted the position of editor, and publication is set for later in spring. More posts coming soon. In the meantime, stay safe and stay well! [...] Read more...
March 21, 2020As the COVID-19 virus spread and the college community faced the reality of a pandemic, honors students and faculty finished the Winter 2020 Term via remote instruction. As part of that final effort, students in WR 227_H Honors Technical Writing reflected on the research they engaged in during the term. Here are some of their reflections: Laney Baehler’s Reflection  Kamaya Deville’s Reflection Carter Kittell’s Reflection The college will continue remote instruction through the Spring 2020 Term, and faculty and students will find innovative ways to collaborate on undergraduate research. Results will be shared here!   [...] Read more...
March 21, 2020As the COVID-19 virus spread and the college community faced the reality of a pandemic, honors students and faculty finished the Winter 2020 Term via remote instruction. As part of that final effort, students in WR 227_H Honors Technical Writing reflected on the research they engaged in during the term. Here are some of their reflections: Laney Baehler’s Reflection  Kamaya Deville’s Reflection Carter Kittell’s Reflection The college will continue remote instruction through the Spring 2020 Term, and faculty and students will find innovative ways to collaborate on undergraduate research. Results will be shared here!   [...] Read more...
March 19, 2020As soon as possible — before Spring Break if you can! — it’s helpful to let Spring term students know what they will need to succeed in your upcoming remote course. You can link to this Minimum Technical Requirements document in an announcement to your course, or build your own statement using the sections below. All courses making use of online resources require: Consistent, high-speed internet accessIf you have assignments due once a week, consider whether once-a-week access is enough, or whether multiple days will be required, and state this requirement clearly as soon as possible! For instance, a discussion board that requires both a post and replies will require either multiple hours on one day or shorter time over multiple days. Other hardware requirements:   Requiring Use of: Students will need: Moodle only (assignments, forums, messages, etc.) Modern computer (<5 years old); Modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari); Moodle with multimedia (videos or recordings) All of the above, plus: Headphones or speakers Video conferences (Zoom) Webcamera or smartphone Online homework platform Modern computer, modern browser; smartphones and tablets may be less reliable for this type of homework Written homework Modern computer, or tablet with a keyboard, or smartphone with dictation capability Google Apps Modern computer or tablet or smartphone; modern browser Other software requirements: Software is less predictable because you may already have required/preferred programs. Here are some possible requirements. Type of AssignmentType of software neededWritten homeworkWord processing software: Microsoft Office (free download); Google AppsPresentations: building slidesMicrosoft PowerPoint; Google SlidesPresentations: filming or presentingScreencast-o-matic (free), Zoom (if offering live)Attending or participating in web conferencesZoom Turning in large filesGoogle DriveUploading/sharing videosGoogle Drive or YouTube (both available with Lane email account Google access) [...] Read more...
March 2, 2020[gdoc link="https://drive.google.com/a/lanecc.edu/file/d/1ws-h9DDzHZHQNhHmsmctPMFSF2q2lHnG/view?usp=sharing" type="other" height="800"] [...] Read more...
February 25, 2020On Friday, February 21, we headed out on an art field trip. Students met on campus and then we carpooled to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon. The museum had several excellent exhibits, including “By Looking Back, We Look Forward,” by Roger Shimomura and “The Usual Suspects” by Carrie Mae Weems. After spending time at the museum, we went to Noisette Bakery to see an exhibit by Honors Librarian Claire Dannenbaum. Claire joined us for the field trip. While we ate, she shared information about her work and answered questions. You can follow Claire on her blog! [...] Read more...
February 5, 2020Avoiding the “Cool-out”: Concerns about Equity in Tracking Graduate Students for Community College Careers [...] Read more...
February 1, 2020Visit the Honors Undergraduate Research Blog for new posts: Student reflections on their research in WR 227 Technical Writing from fall 2019 University of Oregon’s upcoming Undergraduate Research Symposium   [...] Read more...
February 1, 2020The University of Oregon celebrates the tenth year of its Undergraduate Research Symposium on May 21, 2020. Once again, we are preparing Lane students to participate! UO has created a special abstract submission process for Lane Community College students and visiting McNair Scholars. The symposium organizers are also working on a video of Lane students presenting last year. Honors faculty will work with students this term and next so that they can share their research at the symposium. [...] Read more...
February 1, 2020The following students took the honors section of WR 227 Technical Writing in fall of 2019. As part of their honors work for the term, they reflected on the research projects they conducted in the class and uploaded the reflections to their ePortfolios. Annie Taylor is a student athlete who runs cross country and track. She chooses to challenge herself academically through honors coursework. Read her reflection. Daezhane (Dae) Day joined the Lane Honors Program in fall of 2020 as part of her goal to get as much as she can from her educational experience. Read her reflection. Jessry Smith joined the Lane Honors Program in 2018 and has completed several honors courses. You can read one of Jessry’s earlier reflection from the spring of 2019 (shared in an earlier post on this blog) and her reflection from WR 227. [...] Read more...
January 27, 2020A faculty member brought a concern to Faculty Council in January after finding that some web sites are now blocked or filtered because of their content. This follows a recent update to the campus security software, FortiClient. In the past, this software has been described as one that may temporarily block sites based on their potential security threat to campus, but it appears that sites are now blocked based on their material, specifically whether they include nudity, pornography, or “other adult content.”   Our concern is that many web sites used for learning purposes could be blocked under these headings. We’d like to find out more about the impact of this practice.   If you try to visit a web site from a campus computer OR from any device while using the campus network and receive a message that it has been blocked, please record your experience on this anonymous web form. We also encourage staff to pass along reports they may hear from students (for instance, from library computer use).    You can also reach out to your faculty council representative or chairs (at this e-mail address) if you have further concerns or questions about this matter.   [...] Read more...
January 22, 2020 Read more...
January 22, 2020Thanks to everyone who participated  [...] Read more...
January 8, 2020Draft Essay: McGrail A New Boundary Object DH at 2 Year and 4 Year Colleges Published in ADE Bulletin Fall 2020 (paywall) [...] Read more...
December 2, 2019Congratulations to Meg Strout on having her essay, “When the Lilacs Bloom,” published in The Palouse Review! This arts and academics journal is published biannually by the Washington State University Honors College. Well done, Meg! [...] Read more...
September 30, 2019[gdoc link="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nteTyMIATDk1mG1puN_04z9xPYbTiKML/view?usp=sharing" type="other" height="600"] [...] Read more...
September 18, 2019In Spring 2019, several students took the honors versions of WR 122 and WR 227. As part of their work, they were required to write final reflective essays on the research they conducted during the term. Use the following links to read their reflections. Many of the links go to their ePortfolios where you can also see samples of their research! Sadie Baker’s Reflection Danyka Bratton’s Reflection Bayli Case’s Reflection Max Graf’s Reflection Alex Heintz’s Reflection Finn Mifsud’s Reflection Olivia Morris’s Reflection Arjun Singh’s Reflection Jessry Smith’s Reflection Maddie Smucker’s Reflection     [...] Read more...
August 28, 2019This year’s Undergraduate Research Fair took place May 29-31, 2019. The event included poster sessions, an ePortfolio showcase, presentations, and a poetry reading, and honors students participated in everything! Stacey Kiser and other members of the Science Division faculty created the fair, which began as SUGR Day (Science Undergraduate Research Day). As the event grew, it developed into the current three-day fair with student research findings being shared in multiple locations. The posters line several hallways in the Science Building. The large space outside the library offered the perfect venue for passersby to see the culmination of student research projects.  It also served as the venue for the poetry reading. The Academic Technology Center (ATC) continues to be a strong supporter of student research. Students displayed their ePortfolios in the ATC classroom across from the library, explaining their various projects and how their process and findings were incorporated into their portfolios.   [...] Read more...
July 18, 2019Beginning on July 22, 2019, Gmail is the email system used by Lane Community College. Gmail is only accessed through the web (https://mail.google.com/a/lanecc.edu) using a web browser. Login using your full email address and your LCC G Suite password. Your email address is not changing. You will use the same email address you used with GroupWise when logging into Gmail. If you have not activated your LCC G Suite account, or don’t know your LCC G Suite account password, open your web browser to https://lanecc.edu/gsuite and login with your L# and password. This will activate your LCC G Suite account if has not been activated before and it will push your L# password to your LCC G Suite account. GroupWise will continue to be available as an archive only. After the transition on July 22, 2019, it will not be possible to send email using GroupWise and no new email will be delivered to GroupWise. If you have specific questions about the migration that are not answered on this blog, please send an email to the Gmail Migration Team at: GmailMigrationTeam@lanecc.edu.   [...] Read more...
July 9, 2019If you were using the GroupWise Mobility Service or IMAP to access GroupWise email and calendars on your mobile device(s) (e.g. iPhones, iPads, Android phones, Android tablets), you will need to reconfigure your device(s) to access your G Suite account after the migration on July 22, 2019.  You can add both Gmail and non-Gmail accounts to the Gmail app on your mobile device(s) by following the instructions at https://support.google.com/mail/answer/8494?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS&hl=en&oco=0 IMAP access can be configured on your mobile device(s) by following the instructions at https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7126229?hl=en After the migration on July 22, 2019, the GroupWise Mobility Service will be shut down and will not be available.  If you have questions about using your G Suite account on your mobile device(s) after the migration, please send an email to the Gmail Migration Team at GmailMigrationTeam@lanecc.edu. [...] Read more...
June 26, 2019Many people at Lane have access to GroupWise resource accounts in addition to their own user account. In GroupWise, resource accounts are owned by a single person, identified as the account owner. The account owner can grant other people access to the resource. Gmail resource accounts work in a similar way. Gmail resource accounts have a password assigned by the account owner. The account owner can share the password to allow others to access the account, provide Delegated Access for Gmail, or set access permissions for other users on Google Calendars. Unfortunately, Google does not have a way to share contacts or contact lists with other users. The best way to accomplish contact sharing within the G Suite of tools is to create a Google Sheet that contains the list of contacts and share that sheet with other users.  The good news is that all of the resource accounts in GroupWise will be migrated to Google G Suite. The bad news is that the sharing has to be recreated using Google Gmail Account Delegation or Google Calendar Sharing. You can find more information about using Google Gmail Account Delegation or Google Calendar Sharing in the Google G Suite learning center. Early in July, before the July 22, 2019 migration date, the GroupWise Migration Team will be emailing additional information to GroupWise resource account owners.  This information will include account credentials for the new resource accounts on Google and instructions on sharing the resource with other users.   For answers to specific questions, you may also send an email to the Gmail Migration Team at GmailMigrationTeam@lanecc.edu. [...] Read more...
June 26, 2019Many GroupWise users utilize rules to automate message handling. Gmail also allows use of rules to manage messages. Unfortunately, GroupWise rules (like vacation rules) will not automatically migrate to Gmail. If you’re using GroupWise rules to automate handling mail in your account, you will need to recreate the rules in Gmail after the migration. For example, if you use a GroupWise rule to automatically move messages to a folder and you want this to continue in Gmail, you will need to recreate the rule in Gmail after the migration has occurred on July 22, 2019.  If you have questions about rules in Gmail please visit the Google G Suite Learning Center at https://support.google.com/a/users#topic=9296556.  Information about adding rules to automate Gmail can be found at https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6579.  Information about setting an out-of-office message in Gmail can be found at https://support.google.com/mail/answer/25922.  You may also email the Gmail Migration Team at GmailMigrationTeam@lanecc.edu if you have additional questions. [...] Read more...
June 21, 2019ADE Summer Institute Midwest Presentation June 21, 2019 ADE Presentation Writing CC Students into the Digital Landscape Slides are Here ASSIGNMENT SAMPLES LINKED TO “WHOLE GAME” AND EQUITY APPROACHES: Play the Whole Game: Using Voyant Tools Make the Game Worth Playing : Critical Language for Understanding New Media Rhetorics Work on the Hard Parts: Rhetorical Element Inventories Play Out of Town: Mapping Emotions in America Play the Hidden Game: Scientific Controversy and “Alternative Facts” Learn from the Team: Collaborative Annotations Learn the Game of Learning: Metacognitive Confidence Self-Checks: Prechecks Postchecks   [...] Read more...
June 11, 2019If you are planning on setting an out-of-office message on your email for the summer, please remember that you will need to recreate it in Gmail after the migration on July 22. For more information about setting out-of-office messages in Gmail, see the Google G Suite Learning Center https://support.google.com/mail/answer/25922 or contact the Gmail Migration Team at GmailMigrationTeam@lanecc.edu. [...] Read more...
June 11, 2019If you are using shared folders in GroupWise, it’s important to note that sharing works differently in Gmail. Gmail relies on labels instead of folders, but they work in a similar way. Unfortunately, there is no way to simply share a single label or set of labels with other Gmail users. It is possible, however, to use Gmail Account Delegation to share email and associated labels with other users. Learn more about Gmail Account Delegation here https://support.google.com/mail/answer/138350?hl=en. One disadvantage of  Gmail’s Account Delegation feature is that the users with delegated access to your account are granted full access to all of the email and contacts in your Gmail account, and access cannot be limited to a single label or selected set of labels. Additionally, there is no “read-only” option in Gmail, so users with delegated access can send and delete email in your account. If you are using shared folders in your GroupWise account, you may want to consider creating a new Gmail resource account for some (or all) of those shared folders. Then, use Google’s Account Delegation to grant other users access to the new resource. Please contact the Gmail Migration Team if you are interested in converting a shared folder to a resource account so you can share access to those messages with other Gmail use [...] Read more...
June 10, 2019 Read more...
June 9, 2019Color 1: GreenShutter 1/1250, F/4.5, ISO 1600 Color 2: GreenShutter 1/1250, F/4.5, ISO 1600 Color 3: WhiteShutter 1/1250, F/4.5, ISO 200 Portrait 1Shutter 1/1250, F/4.5, ISO 200 Portrait 2Shutter 1/20, F/5.6, ISO 1600 Portrait 3Shutter 1/20, F/5, ISO 1600 [...] Read more...
June 9, 2019ƒ/8 1/80 49mm ISO400 ƒ/5.6 1/50 18mm ISO400 ƒ/5.6 1/400 55mm ISO400 [...] Read more...
June 9, 2019f/4 1/640 28mm iso3200 f5.6 1/25 24mm iso400 f/4.5 1/1600 28mm iso3200 [...] Read more...
June 9, 2019f/4 1/640 28mm iso3200 [...] Read more...
June 3, 2019For the second part of the final project I decided to work with the color red. Red can be a very confusing color as it can mean anger, love, and more. I wanted to do 3 distinctive items that encapsulates a different feeling of the color red each time. Through these photos I hope to see different reactions to each photo and of course, the color of red itself. -Alex Red Orb.Fstops: F5.0 Shutterspeeds: 1/200 ISO: 6400 Red Heart.Fstops: F5.0 Shutterspeeds: 1/200 ISO: 16000 Red Flowers.Fstops: F5.6 Shutterspeeds: 1/250 ISO: 100 [...] Read more...
June 3, 2019During these photo sessions I realized that I need more time to study my macro lens. While the quality of this photos are lovely I believe with better resources out of my reach at the moment, they could have looked even better. With that said I am extremely proud of my food photography macro shots and I hope you enjoy them as well. -Alex Cake.Fstops: F5.6 Shutterspeed: 1/200 ISO: 12800 Blueberry.Fstops: F4.5 Shutterspeed: 1/4 ISO: 1250 Strawberry.Fstops: F5.0 Shutterspeed: 1/4 ISO: 8000 [...] Read more...
May 31, 2019Training on using Google Gmail and Calendar is being offered by IT on the following dates and times. This one-hour training will help prepare you for the upcoming email and calendar transition from GroupWise to Google G Suite. All trainings will be held in the Center Bldg ATC Computer Lab Classroom (CEN 219). Registration is not required but you can reserve a seat by emailing the Gmail Migration Team at GmailMigrationTeam@lanecc.edu. Drop-ins welcome but limited to available space. Wed, 6/5/19 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Fri, 6/7/19 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM Tue, 6/11/19 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Thu, 6/13/19 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM Mon, 6/17/19 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Wed, 6/19/19 1:00 PM-2:00 PM Mon, 6/24/19 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Wed, 6/26/2019 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM [...] Read more...
May 28, 2019Post feedback here from the May 23rd Forum in the Ragozzino Performance Hall. View the Governance Diagram the GSC proposed as a starting point for future conversation that was presented at this forum. [...] Read more...
May 27, 2019Henri Cartier-Bresson inspired Shutter 1/1000 f5.6 ISO800 135mm Shutter 1/1000 f5.6 ISO640 135mm Shutter 1/1000 f5.6 ISO800 135mm Shutter 1/500 f8.0 ISO800 29mm [...] Read more...
May 22, 2019On May 20, 2019, the Honors Program sponsored a poetry reading by Diana Arterian.  The event was held from 3:00-4:00 in the Haugland Commons on Lane’s main campus. Students who attended received a free copy of Diana’s book, Playing Monster : Seiche. Diana read many poems from this collection followed by some poems from her current project, a manuscript of poems about Agrippina the Younger. She described the research she conducted for this project, including a trip to Rome. After the reading and Q&A session, students stayed on to have their books signed and to talk with the poet. [...] Read more...
May 21, 2019Queer slam poet, Kit Yan, brings their performance and workshop to Lane! Slam poet Kit Yan performs their award-winning show, “Queer Heartache” from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 22 in the Blue Door Theatre, Building 6. See this week’s Titan Times for a link to free tickets! Seating is limited. Yan will also provide a free slam poetry performance and writing workshop on Thursday, May 23, Building 19, Room 119. No registration is necessary for the writing workshop opportunity. Yan is a queer, trans, Asian-American who was born in Enping, China, and raised in Hawaii. Yan’s show has won 5 awards at the Chicago and SF Fringe Festivals. Please join the Gender Equity Center for this event celebrating the beauty of queerness, as well as Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! https://www.lanecc.edu/gec/calendar-events [...] Read more...
May 21, 2019We’ve heard from several individuals that they would prefer to NOT have their GroupWise email and calendar migrated to Gmail and G Suite. Instead, they’d like to “start fresh” with an empty inbox and an empty calendar. This option is available on request – just ask! It’s also possible to migrate only the GroupWise email or only the GroupWise calendar. If you would prefer to start fresh, or to migrate only part of your GroupWise account, please send an email to the Gmail Migration Team (GmailMigrationTeam@lanecc.edu) and let us know your preference. [...] Read more...
May 20, 2019While working on this assignment I have learned one thing about myself. I am mediocre at photography. While I might have the most simple of basics down, I still have a lot to learn. Looking at Irving Penn’s style has a been a joy and one of education. By looking towards his style I can hopefully find something that really says “me”. Please enjoy and thank you. Teapot.Fstops: F5.0 Shutter Speed: 1/80 ISO:25600 Hanging basket.Fstops: F5.0 Shutter Speed: 1/80 ISO: 640 Hearts and roses.Fstops: F5.0 Shutter Speed: 1/80 ISO:25600 Eggs.Fstops: F5.0 Shutter Speed: 1/80 ISO:25600 [...] Read more...
May 15, 2019The Gmail size limit for email attachments is 25MB (https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6584). GroupWise attachments smaller than the Gmail limit will be migrated and remain attached to messages in Gmail. Attachments larger than 25mb will not be migrated. During the migration to Gmail, attachments larger than 25MB will be extracted to a folder that will be accessible to the user. There won’t be a notation or link to access the detached files within an affected message in Gmail. For that reason, the best course of action for users is to save large attachments outside of GroupWise before the migration. Once files have been saved, they can be deleted from GroupWise. The links below provide instructions to find and save attachments larger than 25MB (or any size, really) in the desktop GroupWise client. Note that the instructions apply only to the desktop client. GroupWise webmail is not capable of performing these functions. Click the link to the view instructions that match your operating system: GroupWise desktop client for Windows Groupwise desktop client for Mac [...] Read more...
May 13, 2019Motion BlurF/4.5, Shutter 1/60, ISO 1600 Motion FreezeF/4.5, Shutter 1/200, ISO 1600 Motion PanF/20, Shutter 1/60, ISO 1600 [...] Read more...
May 13, 2019Freezef/8 1/500 ISO800 18mm BlurF22 1/20 ISO400 18mm PanF22 1/20 ISO400 18mm [...] Read more...
May 13, 2019Things are on the move! 24 students attended a joint Honors Program Orientation and PTK Meeting. Huge thanks to Casey Reid for joining me as a PTK advisor when she already has a long list of responsibilities at the college in her role as Writing Center Coordinator. Together, we facilitated this event.  With plenty of food set out in the Haugland Commons, we reviewed the criteria for completing the Lane Honors Program. A key point was the new option for attending three academic/cultural events as a way to fulfill this requirement. Then we discussed the newly reopened Sigma Zeta Chapter of PTK, our need to elect officers for next year, and the importance of raising campus awareness about PTK. Due to the shut-down of the chapter for a couple of years and the general lack of visibility, many students receiving the email invitation to join PTK think it is a scam. We are recruiting students to serve as PTK Ambassadors to help let people know that this is a legitimate and beneficial organization to join. Students had until Friday, May 10, 2019 to submit paragraphs expressing their wish to run for office and their qualification to hold office. Casey and I will create a ballot this week and then hold a meeting to announce the election results. [...] Read more...
May 13, 2019The All-Oregon Academic Team (AOAT) Awards Luncheon was held at Chemeketa Community College; however, the day didn’t start there! Our two students, Holly Kolodziejczak and Sabrina Piccolo, started their day at the State Capitol Rotunda for a photograph with Governor Kate Brown. Then they travelled over to Chemeketa CC for the lunch, and  I met up with them there. President Marge Hamilton, Vice President Paul Jarrell, Board of Education Member Susie Johnston, and Director of Public Affairs Brett Rowlett all attended the event. The awards luncheon is sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa and the Oregon Community College Association. It began with a buffet lunch followed by the presentation of the AOAT members who came to the stage one college at a time. President Hamilton presented Holly and Sabrina with their medallions. We then listened to three amazing student speakers. Finally, we wrapped up with a few closing remarks and headed back to Eugene. Lane Community College was well-represented by these outstanding students! Thank you, Holly and Sabrina! [...] Read more...
May 12, 2019Motion BlurFstops: F29 Shutter Speed: 1/20 ISO: 160 Motion FreezeFstops: F29 Shutter Speed: 1/320 ISO: 2500 Motion PanFstops: F32 Shutter Speed: 1/8 ISO: 125 [...] Read more...
May 12, 2019f36 – 1/5 – 135mm – ISO100 1/125 – 18mm – f3.5 – ISO400 1/15 – 30mm – f4 – ISO100 [...] Read more...
May 8, 2019Symmetrical Balance a. Horizontal Shutter 1/250 f7.1 ISO100 b. Vertical Shutter 1/80 f4.5 ISO100 Rule of Thirds a. Horizontal Shutter 1/40 f10 ISO400 b. Vertical Shutter 1/40 f10 ISO400 c. Contrast –Red Crane Shutter 1/30 f5.6 ISO200 Intentional Imbalance Shutter 1/125 f22 ISO100 Diagonal Composition a. Horizontal Shutter 1/15 f4.5 ISO200 b. Vertical Shutter 1/40 f 14 ISO100 Radial Balance Shutter 1/250 f4.0 ISO800 P.S. sorry for the overdue post [...] Read more...
May 6, 20191a- Symmetrical Balance – Horizontal Orientation f7.1 – 1/400 – ISO400 – 18mm 1b- Symmetrical Balance – Vertical Orientation f7.1 – 1/800 – ISO400 – 44mm 2a – Rule of Thirds – Horizontal Orientation f7.1 – 1/800 – ISO400 – 135mm 2b – Rule of Thirds – Vertical Orientation f25 – 1/20 – ISO400 – 37mm 2c – Rule of Thirds – Horizontal Orientation Focal Point f5 – 1/2500 – ISO400 – 50mm 3 Imbalance f7.1 – 1/160 / ISO400 – 24mm 4a Diagonal Horizontal f5 – 1/1250 – ISO400 – 45mm 4b Diagonal Vertical f4 – 1/20 – ISO400 – 18mm 5 Radial f8 – 1/40 – ISO400 – 18mm [...] Read more...
May 6, 2019Horizontal Symmetrical BalanceF/20, Shutter 1/50, ISO 200 Vertical Symmetrical BalanceF/20, Shutter 1/50, ISO 200 Rule of Thirds HorizontalF/20, Shutter 1/25, ISO 200 Rule of Thirds VerticalF/20, Shutter 1/50, ISO 200 Rule of Thirds Focal Point by ContrastF/20, Shutter 1/50, ISO 200 Intentional ImbalanceF/36, Shutter 1/8, ISO 200 Diagonal Composition HorizontalF/5, Shutter 1/40, ISO 200 Diagonal Composition VerticalF/20, Shutter 1/25, ISO 800 Radial BalanceF/20, Shutter 1/25, ISO 400 [...] Read more...
May 5, 2019Symmetrical balance Horizontal ƒ/25 1/30 27mm ISO3200 Symmetrical balance Vertical ƒ/4.5 1/4000 29mm ISO3200 Rule of Thirds horizontal ƒ/5.61/400055mmISO3200 Rule of Thirds Vertical ƒ/4.5 1/4000 30mm ISO3200 Focal point emphasized by contrast ƒ/4 1/4000 18mm ISO3200 Intentional imbalance ƒ/5.6 1/3200 29mm ISO3200 Diagonal Composition Vertical ƒ/4 1/4000 27mm ISO3200 Directional composition Horizontal ƒ/5.6 1/3200 29mm ISO3200 Radial Balance ƒ/4.5 1/4000 27mm ISO3200 [...] Read more...
May 4, 2019Vertical Symmetrical Balance shutter speed:1/800 ISO:300 F5.0 Horizontal Symmetrical Balance shutter speed:1/600 ISO:400 F5.0 Horizontal Rule of Thirds shutter speed:1/1000 ISO:400 F5.6 Vertical Rule of Thirds shutter speed:1/1000 ISO:400 F5.6 Focal Point Emphasized on contrast shutter speed:1/800 ISO:500 F4.5 Intentional Imbalance shutter speed:1/30 ISO:200 F5.6 Horizonal Diagonal Composition shutter speed:1/1000 ISO:400 F4.5 Vertical Diagonal Composition shutter speed:1/1000 ISO:400 F4.5 Radial Balance shutter speed:1/640 ISO:200 F4.0 [...] Read more...
April 29, 2019 Read more...
April 26, 2019We are pleased to announce that LCC is partnering with Google G Suite for Education to provide employee email and calendars, beginning in summer 2019. G Suite for Education is a suite of hosted communication and collaboration applications designed for schools and universities. Google provides these applications as a “service,” rather than software to download and install on individual computers. Users access G Suite applications using a web browser on a device that’s connected to the Internet. Key benefits of G Suite for Education: ability to access email and calendar services from any Internet-connected device much more storage capacity than currently available robust and innovative collaboration and communication tools Google’s G Suite for Education includes: Gmail (webmail services) Google Docs (word processing, spreadsheets, presentation slides, and form creation and sharing) Google Calendar (shared calendaring) In the coming weeks, look for additional announcements as we prepare to migrate GroupWise accounts to Gmail and G Suite. Lane’s IT department is working to make this transition as seamless and simple as possible. Your email address won’t change, and you won’t lose any data or saved messages. We’ll be migrating all existing GroupWise email messages, appointments, contacts, and tasks to G Suite. Your Lane email will continue to be the primary method of communication used by the college to send information and updates. If you’re an employee and have already activated your Lane G Suite account, you’ll access email and calendars using the same account you currently use to access other G Suite products such as Google Drive and Google Docs. If you are an employee and haven’t yet activated your Lane G Suite account, you can do so now by opening your web browser to https://lanecc.edu/GSuite. Your Lane G Suite account will use your existing Lane email address, and will default to the password associated with your L#. If you do not activate your Lane G Suite account prior to migration, we’ll do it for you.     More information about G Suite for Education at Lane: Read the FAQ: https://docs.google.com/document/d/172cSBdsTm42roTfa2T4Fpo6qHB03CaiBeAfobEKTyag/edit?usp=sharing Check the G Suite Learning Center: https://gsuite.google.com/learning-center Read and post questions on the Lane G Suite Migration Blog: https://blogs.lanecc.edu/gmailmigration/ Email the Migration Team: GmailMigrationTeam@lanecc.edu   [...] Read more...
April 25, 2019If you have questions about the migration to Google G Suite we might already have the answer. Check out our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). If your question hasn’t been answered on the FAQ feel free to post it as a comment below or send it directly to the Lane Gmail Transition Team at GmailTransitionTeam@lanecc.edu. [...] Read more...
April 24, 2019f/22, Shutter 1/200, ISO 200 f/18, Shutter 1/200, ISO 200 f/16, Shutter 1/200, ISO 200 f/8, Shutter 1/10, ISO 200 f/10, Shutter 1/10, ISO 200 f/6.3, Shutter 10, ISO 200 [...] Read more...
April 24, 2019“Overexposed” shutter:1/4 ISO:auto F13 “Perfect” Shutter speed:1/250 ISO:auto F13 “Under exposed” Shutter speed:1/1000 ISO:auto F13 “Under exposed” Shutter Speed:1″6 ISO:auto F3.5 “Perfect” Shutter Speed:0″3 ISO:auto F3.5 “Under exposed” Shutter speed:1/250 ISO:auto F3.5 [...] Read more...
April 16, 2019Not Prioritized. Numbered for reference Recommendation Purpose Recommended by BP 325 1 Reaffirm commitment to shared governance. Acct DS, GSC, GTF, Councils 3,5,6,A 2 Intensive governance training for Chairs/Vice-Chairs, governance PD for all council members. Identify responsible parties. Comm/Clarity/ScopeAcct DS, GSC, F 1,3,4,A 3 Convene Policy and Procedure team w/support to clean up the policy and procedure system Comm/Acct DS, GSC, C/VC, Councils 1,3,4,6, A 4 Support adequate compensation/release time for governance participants and other substantive work in context Comm/Acct DS, GSC, F, OD 4,7, A 5 Provide administrative support for each council – maintain agenda/minutes, etc. Communication DS, GSC, F 4,7, A 6 Council planning on hold except AMP, FMP, SEMP Efficiency/Scope GSC, C/VC, F 3,5,6 A 7 Review all college-wide committees and realign within governance where appropriate Acct/Efficiency GSC,DS, OD, GTF, F 8 Reaffirm commitment to accountability for implementation and evaluation of  council work. Acct GSC, C/VC, F 3,5,6,A 9 Create an Accreditation Steering Committee under College Council to ensure accountability to governance Acct GSC 3,4,5,6,7,A 10 Create a communication process for governance, including campus-wide notification of new and updated policies Comm DS, GSC, F 1,2,4,5,   11 Decision Making Process – need to improve clarity around processes related to recommendations and decisions. Where do/should decisions happen? Comm DS, CC, C/VC, 1,2,3,6 12 Representation – increase by applying the Equity Lens throughout governance system. President BP 325 1. Clarity; 2. Wide and explicit communication; 3. Effectiveness; 4. Efficiency and timeliness; 5. Processes that encourage employee and student participation in problem solving and decision making; 6. Processes that assure that decisions are made at the appropriate level, by the appropriate group with the needed expertise; and 7. Recognition of the support needed for employees and students to participate and contribute meaningfully. Recommending bodies: (DS) Data Synthesis (F) Forums (GSC) Governance Subcommittee (CC) College Council (C/VC) Chairs and Vice Chairs (OD) Other Data (e.g. Faculty Survey) C/VC – Chairs and Vice Chairs of Councils       [...] Read more...
April 12, 2019The Lane Honors Program is sponsoring a poetry reading by Diana Arterian. 10 free copies of her book, Playing Monster : Seiche will be given away at the reading! What: Diana Arterian Poetry Reading When: Monday; May 20, 2019; 3:00-4:00 Where: Hoagland Commons (CEN 203) Check out this promotional video for her book, Playing Monster : Seiche! [...] Read more...
March 30, 2019[gdoc link="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ssuX5jz7VIxu42QQYFCI_LGNhDi8c2zG/view?usp=sharing" type="other" height="800"]   [...] Read more...
March 18, 2019Now that we have the Honors Program and PTK Sigma Zeta Chapter back up and running, we’ve been able to nominate two students to the All Oregon Academic Team after missing this opportunity in the recent past. This team is sponsored by the Oregon Community College Association. As explained on their website: “The All-Oregon Community College Academic Team, a part of the national All-State Community College Academic Team program, recognizes high achieving two-year college students who demonstrate academic excellence and intellectual rigor combined with leadership and service that extends their education beyond the classroom to benefit society. Phi Theta Kappa, community college presidents and community college state associations sponsor All-State Community College Academic Team ceremonies in 38 participating states.” Our two nominees are outstanding students who are in the Honors Program, are PTK members, and also tutor in the Writing Center. Both nominees are excellent representatives of Lane Community College and very deserving of this honor! [...] Read more...
February 22, 2019EUGENE, Ore.—“The Room Upstairs: Uncovering the Life and Poetry of Hazel Hall” will be told through music, dance, lecture, and readings in a special presentation on Thursday, February 28, from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Ragozzino Performance Hall on Lane Community College main campus, building 6, 4000 E. 30th Ave., Eugene. The event is free and open to the public. An installation related to the project will be available for viewing in the lobby before and after the show. The presentation reflects the research and compositions of Matt Svoboda, music instructor at Lane. A devotee of poetry who uses words to inspire his music, he hadn’t heard of Hazel Hall until he chanced upon one of her poems in a literary magazine several years ago. “I was immediately taken in by her musical voice, perceptive mind, and unpretentious style,” he says. Hall was born in 1886 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and moved with her family to Portland, Oregon as a small child. At age 12, she was paralyzed by scarlet fever or possibly a fall—historical accounts vary. She took in sewing and embroidery to help support her family. She started writing poetry in her 20s but didn’t receive recognition until her 30s. She published two volumes of poetry and a third was published posthumously. “Hazel Hall was once a critically acclaimed poet with a fascinating story and admiring audience,” Svoboda says, “yet she is relatively unknown today.” Now he will revive her story in the presentation on February 28 and as part of Lane’s annual dance concert, “Collaborations,” from March 7-9. Svoboda’s compositions follow Hall’s three books of poetry. “Curtains” (1921) addresses isolation, sewing and interior spaces and describe what Hall sees and knows such as doors and needlework, stairways and counterpanes. “In this movement, cello is featured because of its connection to sewing, how you move your hands back and forth,” and because of its plaintive nature, says Svoboda. In “Walkers” (1923), Hall wrote to the people who walked up and down the street below her window. “Here the music picks up tempo and becomes more interactive, with themes being traded between instruments that also shift roles as the music unfolds.” “Cry of Time” (1928) “is about transcendental themes, mortality, the limits of poetry, and the plight of women,” says Svoboda. “The music for this movement begins in anguish but progressively moves to resolution. The initial theme from ‘Curtains’ returns, but in a transformed state.” After the performance, Svoboda will be joined on stage with the dancers and other collaborators to talk about the evolution of the project, including Portland visual artist Laura Glazer, LCC technical director James McConkey, DanceAbility choreographer Jana Meszaros, LCC choreographer Sarah Nemecek, and UO poet Geri Doran. The part of Hazel Hall will be danced by Karen Daly who has used a wheelchair after losing a leg to cancer at age 11. For more information— “The Room Upstairs: Uncovering the Life and Poetry of Hazel Hall” Finding The Room Upstairs: A Visit to Hazel Hall’s Home For accommodations to attend this event, contact the LCC Center for Accessible Resources at (541) 463-5150 (voice), 711 (relay), or -email AccessibleResources@lanecc.edu [...] Read more...
February 22, 2019There are still spots left in the Andrea Gibson workshop that will be at 3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25 in the Longhouse! RSVP now! Registration closes at 3 p.m. Friday (tomorrow, Feb. 22). This workshop with spoken-word poet and activist, Andrea Gibson is a rare opportunity to learn from a working artist who uses their art for advocacy and activism. Don’t miss it! This workshop is free. Gibson’s poetry explores their own experiences with identity as genderqueer (someone who identifies as neither male or female) and examines gender norms and the intersectionality of gender and race. (Gibson uses the pronouns they, them, and their.) This workshop, “Spoken Word in Action!” will focus on a myriad of social justice issues for students to explore a poet’s responsibility in the current political climate. Students will read and discuss poems by contemporary writers focusing on issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, patriarchy, and capitalism. Students will use the shared poems as writing prompts to inspire their own voice. Can’t go to the workshop, but still want to hear Andrea’s poetry? They’re giving a free public reading at 6 p.m. Monday in the CML, Building 19, Room 103. You need a ticket to go to the 6 p.m. reading. Don’t have a ticket? Email: TitanTimes@lanecc.edu to reserve yours today! Seating is limited. [...] Read more...
February 20, 2019Below are the reports from Governance Councils, as requested by IEC: College Council Diversity Council Facilities Council Learning Council Student Affairs Council Technology Council [...] Read more...
February 20, 2019Below are the council self evaluation reports based on Board Policy 325: College Council Diversity Council Facilities Council Learning Council Student Affairs Council Technology Council [...] Read more...
February 19, 2019 Read more...
February 19, 2019Register for a new twist on the traditional Literature Survey course.  Spring term registration is now open for continuing students.  New student registration opens tomorrow, February 20. [...] Read more...
February 14, 2019Hi Esteemed Colleagues: The administration is hosting representatives from Barnes and Noble to come to campus to discuss concerns and answer questions that faculty may have as the college considers the possibility of the bookstore being outsourced to this company. Examples of concerns that have already been raised are OER limitations, reducing work study options for students, limiting academic freedom, textbook costs, and potentially impacting student access to materials. Senior representatives will be here February 25th from 1 to 4 p.m. The Faculty session will be from 1 to 2:15 p.m. Building 4, room 106 – and a general open forum will be from 2:30 to 4:00. They will be here to listen to concerns, provide feedback and to respond to questions. This forum is for both faculty who have attended the above session and for those who have not. Please share your comments and concerns here regarding the possibility of the bookstore being outsourced to Barnes and Noble. Faculty Council Co-Chairs Jessica Alvarado and Lee Imonen [...] Read more...
February 14, 2019Literature@Lane is a Lane Blog Network newsletter featuring the curriculum, classes, and special events of the Writing and Literature Department’s literature program.  Student candidates for an Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer (or Direct Transfer) degree, with an interest in exploring a path to a degree in English at a four year university, will find blog posts, newsletters, posters, an image gallery, program faculty profiles, and links to LCC social media to learn more about the study of literature at Lane.   Students who have declared an interest in an English major have been automatically subscribed to this blog.  If you do not wish to be subscribed, please send a request to LLC-Literature@lanecc.edu and your email will be removed from the list. I would welcome any feedback that you would have to make this newsletter a useful resource for you. Thank you, Eileen Thompson Lead Faculty for Literature   [...] Read more...
February 1, 2019This week, Casey Reid and I organized an information session for the Honors Program and Phi Theta Kappa. Nine people attended our event. In addition to serving as an information session, this event fulfilled the honors orientation requirement for students in the program. At this event, we reviewed the benefits of these two honors opportunities, the requirements for each, and the ways in which participating in both could be especially beneficial for students planning to transfer to four-year schools. We also introduced students to the Honors Librarian, Claire Dannenbaum (far right) and the Honors Writing Tutor, student Sabrina Piccolo (third from right): A highlight was presenting Sabrina and Holly Kolodziejczak (second from right) with their honors medallions for successfully completing the Honors Program! And of course, we had lots of snacks! Casey and I will be offering several more information sessions before the end of this academic year, hopefully in our soon-to-be-realized Honors and PTK Student Lounge! [...] Read more...
January 25, 2019How do you feel about  the term “learning designer”? Does it make you a little bit queasy? The language of “learning design” makes me a bit uncomfortable, but luckily at our college we have some colleagues who have earned our respect before they got their new titles. I joked with one of our learning designers that I thought it was funny that the email address for these colleagues was “idservices” which seemed anonymous to me (that is, there was no “ID” provided when we asked a question of “ID” services. Get it? Well, neither did they.) I am working hard to cross the learning design divide after years of comprehensive learning environment responsibility (CLER for short–yes, I just made that up). I am an educator who came to higher ed in the era before learning widgets.  So, how do I inhabit a widget-world of teaching and learning environments? So far, I’ve been trying to embrace it. This past year I have made more than a dozen instructional videos and posted them to You Tube. I used to use Jing and Flash, but now that I see that these don’t support Universal Design, I’m happy to move to a close-caption-friendly platform. Yes, it’s many, many hours of work, but I’m slowly letting go of some of my control of the LMS. No longer seeing CLER-ly.  [...] Read more...
January 17, 2019View the minutes from this forum. [...] Read more...
January 17, 2019Forum Minutes 2019 Data Synthesis Governance Task Force Report [...] Read more...
January 17, 2019 Read more...
January 15, 2019If you’re like me, taking my had off the keyboard to push the mouse around feels like a big time waste sometimes.  In my day to day work I use keyboard shortcuts to bring up settings, change formatting in text editors… There are a ton of things you can do with just a few quick keystrokes so you don’t have to take your hands off your keyboard.  Jira is no different. To see what keyboard shortcuts are available, just type a ? (shift-/).  That will bring up a screen that shows you all the keyboard shortcuts that are available inside Jira.  Pretty long list, so don’t try to use them all at once.  Find one that will be really useful, use it for a few days so it becomes habit, then pick another one. [...] Read more...
January 10, 2019Between yesterday afternoon and this morning I have made some changes to the way Jira sends notifications (some of you may have noticed it sends an email for pretty much EVERYTHING!) and some of Jira’s default user permissions. Jira’s default behavior is to auto-watch a user every time they look at an issue.  This has been disabled, so, from here on, you can look at projects and issues without then being inundated with emails for the rest of your life. Jira’s default behavior is to send an email to issue watchers everything time ANYTHING changes.  So, you add a comment, everyone gets an email.  You forget a comma and go in to fix your bad grammar, everyone gets another email.  This has been fixed.  Jira will no longer send email for issue updates. When we originally set Jira up, we gave way too much access to “anyone who is logged in”.  Basically, we figured if you’re logged in you should be able to see everything and even add issues to projects even if you weren’t assigned to the project.  While this hasn’t been abused, it’s unnecessary.  All logged in users can still browse projects and see what is going on, but you now have to be assigned to a project in some way in order to monkey with issues and things of that nature.  Not a huge security change, but should make it easier for project leads to make sure issues in their projects are legitimate. As always, let me know if I broke anything for you.  Or, better yet, let me know if Jira is annoying you in some way.  I can fix most annoying behavior.  I just need to know what the annoying behaviors are. danskinem@lanecc.edu [...] Read more...
January 2, 2019In the latest Banner 9 upgrade you now have a portrait printing option. Landscape was the previous option only. Click Tools/Print Screenshot and Print or change the layout. [...] Read more...
January 1, 2019[gdoc link="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oWf_HgGkwv2zlig6T5k71NvXEONqTtkh/view?usp=sharing" type="other" height="600"] [...] Read more...
December 7, 2018Starting in September 2018, we brought back the Honors Program and have made a lot of progress creating opportunities for students!  Honors Classes This year, we are offering the following honors classes: ANTH 102_H: World Archaeology ART 115_H: Basic Design BI 101_H: General Biology COMM 111_H: Fundamentals of Public Speaking COOP 280_H: Co-op Ed: Service Learning ENG 105_H: Introduction to Literature: Drama ENG 106_H: Introduction to Literature: Poetry WR 121_H: Introduction to Academic Writing WR 122_H: Composition: Argument, Style and Research WR 227_H: Technical Writing WR 242_H: Introduction to Imaginative Writing: Poetry Partnering with Phi Theta Kappa The Director of the Writing Center, Casey Reid, and I are now the advisors for Lane’s Sigma Zeta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa. We will be bringing the chapter back in winter of 2019! Honors students can hold leadership positions in PTK to fulfill their experiential learning requirement. Also, we will hold workshops for both Honors and PTK to help students build and maintain ePortfolios, create research posters, and develop their resumes.  Transfer Agreements We reinstated our agreement with Portland State University’s Honors College. Students completing our program can transfer directly into their college as juniors. We are in the process of reinstating our agreement with Southern Oregon University’s Honors College. We are also in conversation with the University of Oregon’s Clark Honors College, which is interested in developing a transfer agreement with us. Watch for more details on these last two agreements and other developments in 2019! [...] Read more...
November 30, 2018We have had a lot of questions about Building Door Hours schedules where exterior electronic doors locks are controlled by standard daily schedules. We have constructed a new calendar that tries to give you the necessary information to understand the door hours schedule. The search (Building Door Hours – Symmetry) in 25Live gives you the same data, but hopefully the calendar makes it easier. If there are events outside of the Building Door Hours schedule, then 25Live sends commands to the door groups using the 15 minute offset for exterior doors. Door schedules will change for the Winter Break and will be updated next week. If you have door schedule changes, please e-mail them to LaneEvents@lanecc.edu. There are a few caveats for the new calendar: 1) The calendar entries are in the 15 minute offset mode – so the times posted for unlock are 15 minutes later and the times for locking are 15 minutes earlier. (There are some exceptions where the door group is direct time) 2) The locations in 25Live that are linked to the actual doors in Symmetry are auxiliary locations not normally scheduled in 25Live like hallways, storage rooms or loading docks etc. 3) The primary schedule for Main Campus has a lot of locations associated with it. If you do not see an Building Door Hours schedule exception for your building, then it is likely in the primary schedule. The new page lives on the Public Safety Department web page and can be found on the left navigation. or at: https://www.lanecc.edu/psd/building-door-hours Send questions to laneevents@lanecc.edu [...] Read more...
November 28, 2018Your dashboard is the main display you see when you log in to Jira. You can create multiple dashboards from different projects, or multiple dashboards for one massive overview of all the work you’re involved with. I have created a system dashboard that should be helpful to most. You should see 4 blocks 1 – HIGH PRIORITY issues from all projects you are involved in. 2 – MID to LOW PRIORITY issues from all projects you are involved in. 3 – Standard Welcome to Jira with a few links for tutorials. 4 – List of ALL projects in Jira that are visible to logged in users. You can check it out here:  https://jira.lanecc.edu/Jira/secure/Dashboard.jspa#   If you would like to further customize dashboards, just let us know and we’ll be happy to help. [...] Read more...
November 13, 2018How to Create a Change Order in Banner 9 [...] Read more...
November 11, 2018Hi All Faculty: A decision by Faculty Council is moving forward to impact the grading notation of NC currently used by Faculty at our November 9th, 2018 meeting. Motion: Approved Suspend the use of NC grade effective January 7th, 2019 Need to have acceptable grading alternative in place for Winter term between February 1st and March 1st. Second Motion: Approved Faculty Council will direct the work group to include appropriate administrative involvement and will now focus on identifying acceptable grading alternative to recommend to Faculty Council. This work group meetings will be open- it currently meets Mondays 8-9 a.m. in Building 19 room 239. Winter term day, time and location TBA Additional outreach to include campus wide Faculty feedback in the Faculty Council blog and by email and also facilitated by Faculty Council Members. Faculty Council Co Chairs Jessica Alvarado and Lee Imonen Now that this decision is made – the Non Standard Grading Work Group will be focusing on selecting a grading alternative by February 1st. This means we will be seeking Faculty input now with their own ideas. We will also be requesting input on  posting potential solutions that are being considered. For the remainder of Fall term we are meeting 8-9 a.m. Mondays in Building 19, room 239. The Winter term meeting time and location has not been set. [...] Read more...
November 9, 2018[pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/it/wp-content/uploads/sites/103/2018/11/2018-11-8-IT-Dept-Monthly-Meeting.pdf” title=”2018-11-8 IT Dept Monthly Meeting”] [...] Read more...
November 5, 2018Click HERE for instructions on how to remove a purchase order in Banner 9 [...] Read more...
November 5, 2018The following browsers and versions are supported by all Ellucian products except where noted in the “Notes & Exceptions” column: Click here for Ellucian’s Global Browser Support. [...] Read more...
November 2, 2018This Guide is provided to you by Lane’s Purchasing Department. How to Create a Purchase Order in Banner 9 [...] Read more...
October 25, 2018  Banner 9 Tips and Tricks: How to Set up My Banner or a list of saved pages Filtering Data Banner 8 vs 9 Navigation   [...] Read more...
October 22, 2018Why must a firewall be used? Manually identifying and blocking all known attackers in the world would be an impossible task without a firewall. Our firewall blocks: botnets spammers phishers malicious spiders/crawlers virus-infected clients clients using anonymizing proxies DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) participants Do other colleges in our region use a firewall like ours? Yes, the following colleges use the same one we do:  George Fox University Oregon Tech Pacific University Multnomah University Reed College Rogue Community College Umpqua CC Warner Pacific College University of Western States More and more colleges and organizations are recognizing the need to hire specialists in cyber security to address the growing threat of cyber crime. How does it work? Through a service called IP Reputation.  IP reputation leverages many techniques for accurate, early, and frequently updated identification of compromised and malicious clients so attackers are blocked before they target our servers or end users.  Data about dangerous clients derives from many sources around the globe, including: Global Firewall service statistics honeypots botnet forensic analysis anonymizing proxies 3rd-party sources in the security community What does the firewall do with information from the sources above? Our firewall service compiles a “wellness” reputation for each public IP address. Clients will have “infected” reputations if they have been participating in attacks, willingly or otherwise. Because blacklisting innocent clients is equally undesirable, our firewall service also restores the reputations of clients that remove their “infections”.   Some organizations don’t take information privacy seriously enough, and their computers are easy prey for attackers.  As soon as their computers are cleaned, and safeguards are put in place to protect privacy, their IP reputation is updated.  Thus access is restored when an infected computer is cleaned How long does it take for the Firewall to determine a wellness rating for a brand new website? Usually about 5-10 minutes. Is the firewall the only thing that blocks access to a website? No, browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari block or put up warnings about websites they detect as being unsafe.  Increasingly, websites with mixed content are being flagged as “unsecure”. *Mixed content is when a web page is loaded over a secure connection (HTTPS), but parts of the same page are loaded over non-secure (HTTP) connections. What should I do if a website I need to access is blocked even after 10 minutes? Call the Helpdesk at x4444.  Our firewall administrators will determine if there is a malfunction or if the blockage is due to a real threat. I use the web in my classes. Will all the websites in Moodle classes be impacted? Since the database of infected sites is global most sites have already been given a “wellness” score in the database.  Thus most of the websites in Moodle-based classes will probably not experience any delays.  However, if you build/use a brand new website, since it has not been scanned and categorized as “safe” or “malware-free” you may experience a delay.  If you don’t have any brand new websites that have not yet been accessed, delay probability is low.  If you do experience delays that last more than 10 minutes, please call the helpdesk at x4444, because something else might be going on that we need to investigate. What about classes where the students are expected to do research on the web? Most of the student searches will yield sites that are already in the global database which means there will be no delay.  We expect there will be little impact on your class. Aren’t standard virus/malware protections up to the task if no one is entering personal information? Is there some way to turn this off for specific computers? If a phishing email is clicked on, or a website with a payload is visited, virus and anti-malware protection may not stop it.  In addition, turning off the protection means we are compromising the school’s infrastructure. For instance, if firewall rules were turned off, denial of service attacks or other malicious attacks could be launched from our campus network by a third party from anywhere on the globe. The computers in my classroom already have Deep Freeze. Can’t classrooms be turned off from the firewall rules? Deep Freeze will protect the computer images in labs from most threats, but until a reboot takes place, these computers can harbor malware.   Attacks can be launched and other machines can be compromised.   A single compromised computer can spread lots of havoc on the network and beyond even while frozen. If I build a brand new Moodle Class will there be delays? No, but if you put URL links in the class to websites that are brand new (i.e. just built) those links might need to be scanned by the firewall.  For instance, suppose you decided to create a website that hosts animated 3-D models for chemical structures called MyOwnChemicalStructures.com.  You built the website over the summer and just brought it online in the fall.  The first time someone tried to view it would result in the site being scanned.  Once scanned, as long as the host server is clean of malware, there would be no delays. Have we had any attempted attacks on our servers or network at Lane? We have hundreds of attacks every single day. Where do these attacks come from? They come from all over the world.  There are dozens of state (i.e. country) sponsored hacking groups targeting the United States, United Kingdom, and Israel in particular but other countries as well.  These groups look for targets in business, medicine, education, and other organizations including our electrical infrastructure grid.  Please refer to the following link for some information about the activities of some of these groups:  https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/8-nation-state-hacking-groups-to-watch-in-2018/d/d-id/1331009?image_number=1 Is information security important for higher education? After all we aren’t a for profit business. The Educause Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR) is a research group whose work is targeted specifically to IT professionals and higher education leaders.  It is the only subscriber-driven research organization dedicated to understanding IT’s role in colleges and universities.  They publish a top ten issues list for IT leaders in higher education each year.  For the past three years Information Security has been ranked number one on their list. Here is ½ hour presentation from the University Business Executive Symposium held in Dallas, Texas on October 3-5, 2018 targeted at Presidents, Provosts and Higher Education Leaders concerning Cyber Security. https://ubtech.mediasite.com/mediasite/Play/932b498cafc7447cb9d65245ab5f729a1d What is a “Drive by download attack”? Just by visiting a site, the site deposits a payload on your computer, tablet, phone or other computing device.  Learn more here: https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/how-drive-by-download-attacks-work/ [...] Read more...
October 17, 2018If you’d like hands on help with the navigation in Banner 9  pages, come to Building 2 Room 215 Friday, October 26: 1pm to 2pm. You can try your Banner processes with an IT staff member available to help with the navigation. Oct 29, 2018 we are going live with all Banner HR and Finance modules. [...] Read more...
October 16, 2018If so, please wait a few minutes to see if the situation resolves itself. This issue is caused by the new Fortinet firewall – it is not a bug, but an enhancement. If you attempt to visit a website that our firewall has never seen before, the firewall temporarily restricts access to that website until its reputation can be verified. Our firewall then contacts the Fortiguard website reputation engine which gives the website a safety “score”. This scoring process takes 5 to 10 minutes, without any intervention by IT staff. If after 10 minutes, the website is still inaccessible, it means it got a low safety score and has been blocked by our firewall. If this happens to a website you need to visit, please contact the Helpdesk @ 4444 for assistance. [...] Read more...
October 11, 2018I hope everyone’s fall term term is off to a good start. One of my new (academic) year resolutions is to check in here more regularly and continue to engage Aspiring Leaders at Lane. Weekly update On Friday, Oct. 12, the college will honor its founding president, Dr. Dale P. Parnell by renaming the Center building in his honor. Parnell had the vision for community college while principal of Springfield High School and served as Lane’s president from 1965 to 1968 and went on to hold state- and national-level positions to advance access to public education.  The dedication ceremony of the Dr. Dale P. Parnell Center for Learning and Student Success is planned for noon, Friday, Oct. 12 on the plaza in front of the building. Parnell’s children and other family members are expected to be in attendance. Copies of the book, “The Parnell Years,” will also be available. Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me!: Community College Trivia Edition  Q: Who was responsible for the creation and development of what we know now as the associate degree? A: Dr. Dale P. Parnell. Parnell served as the president of what is now the American Association of Community Colleges (part of the title that noted “junior colleges” has since been removed) from 1981-1991 and was instrumental in advancing community college policy, including the creation of the associate degree and strengthening community colleges as economic drivers and responsive to workforce development needs. Q: When is Lane Community College’s “birthday”? A: Oct. 19. On Oct. 19, 1964, voters approved the creation of Lane Community College in a special election. Want to know more about the college? Visit the archives in person, or online at: https://www.lanecc.edu/archives Kudos Thanks to all employees who were a part of making Fall In-service a great success by sharing your expertise during the breakout sessions. Aspiring Leaders alumni made up the majority of presenters with six of the 2017-18 cohort among them. Weekly challenge This one is a repeat, but it’s pretty simple: read The Lane Weekly. It’s an easy way to receive information about what’s going on, not only on campus, but in our community. In next week’s edition you should find information about a community forum on suicide prevention and the opportunity to support a Lane faculty member in a community theatre production. Have something to share in The Lane Weekly? Submit online at: https://www.lanecc.edu/mpr/lane-weekly-submission-form Already read The Lane Weekly? Then, here’s a challenge for you: subscribe to The Titan Times, the student newsletter, and stay up-to-date on the weekly need-to-know info for students. Use that information to remind them of deadlines and opportunities to get engaged. Through The Titan Times, you’ll also learn more about the wealth of student clubs on campus in the “Spotlight” feature. Want to share an upcoming event/opportunity or student deadline info? Send to: TitanTimes@lanecc.edu   [...] Read more...
October 3, 2018Did you know? 1)To remove the success or error label just click the number. In the example shown click the yellow box. When you do, the Start Over button is shown and allows you to go back to the keyblock without closing the page. 2)Printing a result set from Banner only prints the page displayed. To print more change the per page from 20 to 50 and then print. Or  export to a file and then print(Tools menu).      [...] Read more...
September 30, 2018[gdoc link="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZrUfxqm2Fwv0Tj0llrZT1NooT8DOr54s/view?usp=sharing" type="other" height="600"] [...] Read more...
September 26, 2018[pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/it/wp-content/uploads/sites/103/2018/10/2018-09-26-IT-Dept-Monthly-Meeting-PUBLIC.pdf” title=”2018-09-26 IT Dept Monthly Meeting – PUBLIC”] [...] Read more...
September 26, 2018Here is me at Notre Dame. Notre Dame is a legendary cathedral well known  all across the world. I can only imagine how awesome it would be to be wed in Notre Dame. Notre Dame took over 2 hundred years to build. The beginning of Notre Dame started in 1163 and finished it’s construction in 1345. Family’s of builders would spend their whole lives constructing these marvels of the world and if their work was not complete, then they would pass the unfinished labor to their next family’s generation. [...] Read more...
September 26, 2018This is my host family Dany et Veronique. Ah the bond that we have made. It was a great honor to be allowed into their household and I am ever so grateful that they allowed me to be a part of their family. These kind, generous people will always have a place in my heart. I hope I will be able to see them again one day. [...] Read more...
September 26, 2018This statue is on la Place St Michel in Paris. This statue is in honor of the veterans of the French military. The angel is a servant of France and the devil beneath his feet represents France’s enemies. There are many statues like this across France in honor of past wars that took place on the soil of France. [...] Read more...
September 25, 2018We visited the famous d Day beach. It’s so peaceful now. Blood of the past is no longer on the beaches of Normandy France, but it is important that we all remember the heroic sacrifice our heroes have made for us. The d day invasion was one of the most costly battles in American history with a estimate of over 10,000 U.S lives lost in a single day. [...] Read more...
September 25, 2018Looking at the these images of the dead made me appreciate even more what the “Greatest Generation” has done for our country as well as the world. [...] Read more...
September 25, 2018When visiting a medieval festival in Bayeux, I saw all kinds of unique things. All items were hand made and the craftsmanship was fantastic. With it being only 20 minutes away from Caen France, I saw and spoke with a few locals about the items they had crafted. The Vikings, also known as Norseman, colonized the north coast of France between 820-1020 A.D. The Norseman are made up of a few different people’s, such as the Franks and The Gallo-Romans. Christianity also played a big part of the Norseman culture. The Norseman dynasty of northern France is well known both for their military strength as well as their undying loyalty to the Christian religion. [...] Read more...
September 4, 2018Lane has taken a positive step in hiring a Learning Designer as a faculty member. We have had a smart and talented staff member in this role for years, but being staff rather than faculty limited him.  I worked with Kevin this spring to plan for streamlining and clarifying the interface for my online course. I had mapped all of my assignments to course outcomes, but previously I’d only done this assignment by assignment. Kevin advised a single snapshot and so I created Curriculum Map ENG 217 Course Outcomes with Activities.  [...] Read more...
August 22, 2018I asked my host Maman what that means. She simply shrugged her shoulders and said “Don’t work too much. Always make time for yourself, your family, and your friends, and good food. Don’t let stress rule your life.” I would say she gave a great nutshell version of why the French are adamant about having their 5 weeks of vacation every year! [...] Read more...
August 22, 2018General de Gaulle once quipped “How can you govern a country that has 246 varieties of cheese?” As I research this question, I find that no two answers are the same…kind of like the topic itself: French cheeses! So, I will quote Wiki ” Traditionally, there are from 350 to 450 distinct types of French cheese grouped into eight categories ‘les huit familles de fromage’. There can be many varieties within each type of cheese, leading some to claim closer to 1,000 different types of French cheese.” Surely new cheeses are created daily, so that number could get a bit unruly and highly debatable. In short, who knows? [...] Read more...
August 22, 2018Street French vs. Formal French meaning: 1. Ski deez? 1. What is he saying? 2. Shay pah. 2. I dunno. 3. T’es fou toi! 3. You are crazy! 4. Tu rigole quoi? 4. Are you joking or what? 5. Y’a rien a voir. 5. That has nothing to do with it. [...] Read more...
August 22, 2018Here are slang terms I have learned: 1. Choette! (Cool!) 2. C’est dang ca. (That’s dumb.) 3. C’est chien. (That sucks.) 4. Merde (Good luck on your exam. P.S. If you say thanks, then you loose your good luck. So, you are not supposed to give a reply at all.) 5. Mec/gar (a guy) 6. Truc (thing) 7. Troc (To sell/trade used items) *Example of #6 and #7 together would be “Truc a Troc” (Used items to buy and sell, such as Buffalo Exchange.) [...] Read more...
August 22, 2018Being in France this summer, and being able to witness some of the greatest art in the world was a once in a lifetime experience. I have been drawing/painting/sculpting and just creating in general since before I can remember, and as an artist you can’t not appreciate the most famous artists in history, especially after studying them. In the Musee d’Orsay, I couldn’t believe that I was standing in a room full of Van Gogh’s paintings, then in the next room over there was Picasso. And Renoir. And many others. And beaucoup d’art from other eras and artists that were important parts of art history. But then, if I thought I couldn’t take that all in, we visited le Louvre. With our study abroad group we only had a few hours there, we popped a quick hello to Mono Lisa and sped walked through ancient Greek tablets and Renaissance Art. Fortunately, I was able to come back with my sister (who is also an artist) and we spent an entire day there. It was astounding. I stood in front of paintings that were bigger than my barn and older than my giant pine trees. I was inches away from art and ceramics that dated back to 3,000 B.C. and beyond. I saw things that belonged to/during Ramses II. My sister and I kept trying to retrace our steps but instead we kept getting lost, which I thought was hilarious and very fun. Being able to see so many things from history was both hard to absorb and life changing. I love how we still celebrate our past by opening museums and letting the rest of the world see what a legitimate vase from ancient Greece looks like, or the giant pillars from an ancient Chinese tomb. Or the great painters and sculptors of the Renaissance like Da Vinci, Michelangelo, or Raphael, and many others. As a girl from a small town, art was not always seen as something of value, hardly anything above “cool” by those around me, so being able to see five hundred year old plus paintings that changed the way we view art, people, and society, was an affirmation to me of the importance of art, an of course, it broadened my perspective and personal connection to history.       1.One of Van Gogh’s starry nights, 2. Michelangelo sculpture 3. Ancient Green Pottery  A huge, old painting.    Pillar and timber from Asian tomb 2. Ramses II 3. Venus, world famous sculpture. Mona Lisa! Apollo’s Hall, I believe, in the Louvre. There were portraits of kings, painters and architects, as well as very expensive royal jewelry. [...] Read more...
August 22, 2018I was definitely not prepared for the D-Day beaches in Normandy. On our way there, I realized that I had only studied them briefly in middle school and high school, and just like all traveling does, they are now very important to me. I have always been so moved by soldiers who fight for what they believe in, or even just fight at all for a good cause. Visiting the places where these horrible events took place, like Omaha Beach, and especially the American Cemetery, really made me take a look at my life and how it has been affected by events that took places around 70 years ago. It was difficult to not cry as Hope and I walked in between the crosses and stars of David that marked the burial places of over 9,000 men, especially since I am as old as some of them were when they died. There is such a strong feeling there, when you enter the cemetery and see the monument, then it just nearly overwhelms you as you turn your eyes to the headstones. Even though we did not get to stay very long, I am so grateful for the time that I had to walk in that place. Though the D-Day beaches exemplify this more than other places, I learned even more that our world is not just made up of different nations, languages, customs and ethnicities. It is truly a place where we all live, and it is up to all of us to make sure it’s protected so that we can keep living.              [...] Read more...
August 21, 2018 Read more...
August 21, 2018I will be forever grateful for our tour guides Adele, Benjamin, and Pierrette (She told the most hilarious animated stories in French!), and our bus drivers. All staff mentioned surely possessed the patience of saints!!! No doubt that they had days where they must have felt as if they were herding cats and waiting for the cows to come home, since every tour ended with the lost and the latecomers. In spite of these challenges, they were always gracious and kind. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to each and every one of them, especially our bus driver to Etretat. THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!!!! [...] Read more...
August 20, 2018Forever grateful are the only words that express how moved I was to experience sooooo many lovely places in France. Although every tour felt rushed, I realize that, had we spent more time in any one place, we would have never been able to visit so many. My bucket list has been revised to include Etretat, Honfleur, Mont Saint Michel, St. Malo, and Place du Tertre/Montmartre…all to be revisited at a leisurely pace…one lifetime is surely still not enough time! I long to kayak in the turquoise waters and walk the cliff-top golf course at Etretat. Waking early Saturday morning, I would sip my latte slowly before delving into Honfleur’s bustling Saturday market to see and taste all the vendors offer. Dining in a restaurant tucked away between Mont St. Michel’s endless meandering cobblestone walkways of shops, I would then explore every nook and cranny of this ancient island fortress. After basking on the white sandy beach, I would wade into the aquamarine waters of St. Malo for a relaxing swim beneath the clear blue skies. Montmartre/Place du Tertre beckons me to study every brush stroke of its artists, to walk its winding cobblestone streets lined with restaurants and shops, and to sway to the music as I listen to the street performers from the steps of Sacre Coeur. If I never return to any of these lovely places, I will still count myself richly blessed to have been able to visit them at all. [...] Read more...
August 20, 2018Music pulsed below as crowds cheered for street performers and the red, white, and blue French flag colors were displayed against the facade of a building, reminding me of those who’s lives were lost when hatred was given a place. Seeing Paris by night as the Tour Eiffel strobe lights lit up the sky felt surreal with gargoyles perched on either side of me atop the Notre Dame cathedral. No two were alike. There were gargoyles that took on many animal forms, including an elephant, pelican, monkey, wolf, hyena, eagle, and others too eerie to describe. Where did gargoyles come from and what was their purpose I wondered as I photographed them one by one. I’ll ask Google later… Wiki gave me my answer: “Paris was the birthplace of Gothic style architecture; gargoyles came into gothic architecture in the early 13th century (Notre Dame was completed in 1260) and are defined as “a waterspout, projecting from an upper part of a building or a roof gutter to throw water clear of walls or foundations.” The origins of the word ‘gargoyle’ are derived from the old French word ‘gargouille’ meaning throat.” That explains why they each had holes in their mouths, which I first noticed while photographing Sacre Coeur’s gargoyles from directly below each one. Sadly, my camera did not save the many gargoyle photos I took. I am hoping to see photographs of them taken by others in our group. [...] Read more...
August 15, 2018L The day after everyone went their seperate ways, my mom & I went to the Catacombs! The wait was so long but so worth it. We walked down this spiral staircase that felt like it went on for miles & miles, but finally we reached the bottom where it was cool & dark. The first part of the Catacombs was just old mining tunnels that we walked through. It was interesting to see all of the different street signs that were placed there many years ago. Some of them date back to the 1700’s! After walking through the tunnels for what seemed like forever, we finally made it to where all the bones were piled up. Creepy! (But also super cool!) I found a skull that looked like it had been stabbed, which was interesting. There was also a skull that still had teeth attached to it which was awesome considering these bones are very old. The Catacombs are definitely worth exploring, if you’re not easily scared! [...] Read more...
August 15, 2018The Eiffel Tower was my absolute favorite thing in Paris. I have always loved it but I fell even more in love with it when I saw it in person. It was so beautiful! I got to climb up the Eiffel Tower twice—once at night & once in the day time. It had such a breathtaking view of Paris. Even if you are afraid of heights or elevators, it is so worth going to the top. [...] Read more...
July 27, 2018I have become fascinated with the fact that the French are far more active than most Americans and I was determined to find the reason behind this situation before I came to France. My first theory was regarding french food which is far less processed than America’s. However, I’ve discovered since being in France that many French men and women walk everywhere they go (when they are not taking the metro, which still requires a great deal of walking up and down flights of stairs). Now, after being in France for a month my theory still regards the food which the French consume. The less processed food is, the easier it is to digest. Giving many French men and women the energy to live very active lives as is needed in a country where the main form of transportation (metro and bus) involves a lot of walking. I would like this pattern and healthy life style to be something us Americans can emulate. [...] Read more...
July 27, 2018Discovering the marvelous man made creation that is Mont Saint Michel was without a doubt my favorite part about our trip to Normandy. After my visit to the island of Mont Saint Michel, I did some research regarding the history of such an historic French landmark. The islands foundations were laid in 708 AD off the West coast of Normandy, France. The Mont was a request of the Archangel Michel the leader of the “heavenly body of angels.” Legend says that Michel came to bishop Aubert of Avranches and requested he built a Monastery in his name. After Aubert ignored Michel’s request several times, Michel burnt a hole in the bishop’s skull. With that, and many other unexplained events which had occurred in the bishop’s life, he began to lay the foundation of the Mont in 708 AD. After many leaders ruled over the Mont throughout the next two centuries, the abbey had finally been completed in 1084 after being designed by William de Volpiano who was chosen by Richard II of Normandy. During the “Hundred Years War” the Mont became a fortress of solitude when towers and battlements were built around it, preventing the structures of the island from being destroyed. During the next three centuries the Mont slowly became abandoned. Because of this, the monarchy used the abbey as a prison. The captive would be cared for by the remaining Monks of the Mont. The prison was finally closed in 1863 and the Mont was officially made into an historical landmark. and finally… Today, over 3 million people visit the Mont out of curiosity and to meet with and pray with the Monks who began to settle at the abbey in 1966. I was fortunate enough to find myself in the abbey with the men and women of the church and had the honor of witnessing one of their catholic services. My love for the past has always been reflected in my curiosity and as a result of visiting Mont Saint Michel (only to discovery its remarkable beauty and fascinating history) that love has strengthened my curiosity which has made me even more determined to explore and therefore learn.   Posted by Taryn Hugo. [...] Read more...
July 19, 2018Étretat was my favorite place that we went to during these three weeks here. When we arrived there, my friends and I decided to eat at one of the many restaurants there. I had pasta with Camembert sauce and Camembert slices on top. It was sort of like fettuccine alfredo but way better! Once we finished our lunches, we went to the nearest ice cream shop. Ice cream is always an essential part of our excursions. As I looked at all of the many flavors, I realized how difficult it was to chose. I  decided that lavender and violet flavored ice cream sounded the best. We took our ice cream and hiked up the hill to the church that was at the top. When we reached the top, I was amazed at the beauty that this place holds. It was breathtaking! We spent some time on the top, looking out at the ocean and taking pictures. We then saw a building off in the distance that we wanted to check out. As we got closer to the building, we discovered that we couldn’t go inside, that was when we saw people climbing down the other side of the cliff. We decided to follow them, and found that the path led all the way down to the water! What a surprise! I was so happy that I got to get close to the water because it was so hot. I needed to get my feet in so I took my shoes off and stood in the cool ocean. When we were climbing back up the stairs, we discovered a cave that went through the mountain to the other side. We were curious as to where it went so we went one by one into the mountain. We came out on the other side and realized that it was a beautiful beach that we had seen earlier in the day but never knew how to get to it. We just stumbled upon it! The beach was filled with these beautiful rocks with many colors. It kind of hurt to walk on them but it was so worth it to take my shoes off and walk in the beautiful ocean. We spent the rest of our time here, sun bathing and taking in the amazing view. Days like this make me realize how truly beautiful the world is. I will never forget this adventure! [...] Read more...
June 11, 2018Commencement is Saturday on our campus and 3,000 revelers are expected to celebrate the Class of 2018 during the ceremony in Bristow Square. This week, you’ll be able to watch Bristow Square transform into the staging area for the ceremony that starts at 11 a.m. Saturday. Thanks to the Aspiring Leaders of past and present who have stepped up to help out with this year’s commencement — whether it’s the event itself or a willingness to help support a graduate with the cost of a cap and gown. More than 20 people: managers, faculty, classified, part-time, full-time, timesheet and even a board member offered to help students cover costs of a cap and gown. (So far, one student will now participate in graduation because the cap and gown was made available.) Even more employees help to make the event a celebration for our graduates. Faculty and staff will participate in the procession, as well as provide support at the event. (There are still opportunities to help out Saturday. Let me know if you have the time/interest: sillsm@lanecc.edu.) This year’s commencement features two keynote speakers, who will no doubt inspire the class of 2018: Guest Keynote: U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley Student Keynote: Michael Weed ASLCC President Wilgen Brown will provide the student welcome, while faculty will be represented by Aliscia Niles (ABSE instructor).   We’ll also have a special guest, who will be the recipient of our new Alumni Achievement Award. This year’s recipient got his start in our cooperative education department and is now helping to shape the future of education in our state. (That’s the only big hint I’ll give until Joan’s press release goes out.) In all, it’s an impressive lineup that features the fulfillment of our mission: students’ success. That success takes the stage, literally, Saturday. Thanks for all you to every day to support that success. Let the week of celebration commence. Weekly challenge: engagement Find a graduating student and congratulate them for their hard work. Maybe, even engage them in more conversation: What are their plans after Saturday? How was their experience at Lane? What do they hope other students get to experience here? If you learn something that could help improve students’ experience at Lane, kindly pass it on to the Lane employee who would benefit most from knowing it. If you’re not sure who the right person is or how to kindly share this information, you can pass it on to me and I’ll see that it gets to the right ears/eyes.      [...] Read more...
May 10, 2018The event will be held on Wednesday, May 16, 2018, 11:00 AM at Bristow Square. See map below for directions. View the Main Campus map – Bristow Square is in the middle of campus between Building 6 and the Center Building View closeup map marking Bristow Square This is a free event open to the public. The goal of this event is to promote sustainable practices and community interaction. LCC Sustainability Committee organizes the event and encourages the participation of all community members. The following sustainability tours and workshops will be available, at no cost to attendees: LEED tour of building 30 Recycling workshop Mushroom inoculation workshop For more information, contact Luis Maggiori at (541) 463-5884 or maggioril@lanecc.edu [...] Read more...
May 3, 2018The students in the Capstone Seminar are engaged in a group research project in preparation for a panel presentation in Week 9. The panel will be part of the college’s newly expanded Undergraduate Research Fair. As part of their work, they met with Holly Kolodziejczak  in the new Michael Rose Writing Loft. Holly is a writing coach employed by the Lane Writing Center. She is also an honors student and completed the Capstone Seminar last year.  The students asked questions, and Holly also offered various tips based on her group’s experience in the seminar. This conversation was so much more productive and seemed to have a greater impact than simply having me and my co-instructor, Stacey Kiser, offer advice. The students will present their research findings at 2:00, May 30, in the Center Building’s Hoagland Commons on Main Campus. [...] Read more...
May 3, 2018Dear Faculty Colleagues,  We want to inform you and solicit feedback about proposed changes to policies about non-standard grades at Lane, especially the NC grade and the Incomplete. These changes were brought to Faculty Council on April 27 by Dawn Whiting, LCC’s Registrar, and Faculty Council will be discussing the proposals again at our May 11 meeting. Please feel free to share your views by commenting publicly on this post or by emailing Aryn Bartley at bartleya@lanecc.edu or Jessica Alvarado at alvaradoj@lanecc.edu by Thursday, May 10, at 5 pm.  NC: Dawn Whiting, our registrar, has proposed to eliminate the NC grade at Lane. She notes that, while faculty often believe that the NC grade does not have a negative impact on students, it does in fact impact both attempted credits and, subsequently, financial aid. The NC grade, therefore, doesn’t impact GPA, but it does impact a student’s academic progress. Last term, Lane had 557 NCs; the term before that, we had 644. We are the only community college in Oregon that still has this grading option.  Incomplete: Lane currently has almost 40,000 outstanding Incompletes. Dawn proposes the following changes to the way Incompletes are handled. 1) When an Incomplete is entered into Banner, the faculty member will mark both the deadline for completion and the grade the student will receive if they do not complete expected work. 2) Incompletes will have a recommended completion deadline of one term with an option for a faculty member to extend that deadline up to a year. 3) Banner will be programmed to automatically transfer a grade from an Incomplete to what the grade would have been originally after the agreed-upon deadline has been reached. 4) Both faculty members and students will need to complete and file contracts for Incompletes, including details about expected work and a deadline. 5) The request for an Incomplete should be initiated by the student. Specific proposed language follows:  I indicates Incomplete: When a student has satisfactorily completed 75 percent or more of the course work as defined by the instructor and noted in the syllabus, but is unable to finish the remaining required scheduled work due to circumstances beyond the student’s control. An Incomplete grade is not used to avoid a failing grade or if scheduled work is not time convenient for the student. A grade of Incomplete must be made up within one term from the last day of the original term it was taken, but may be extended up to one year at the discretion of the instructor.  A request for Incomplete must be a student initiated request but the approval is at the discretion of the instructor.  Granting an incomplete requires a contract between the student and instructor detailing the work to be finished.  A contract must be filed for each approved incomplete.  The contract must contain a deadline by which outstanding work is to be completed. It cannot be required that a student retake or audit a course during the term of the incomplete.  When a student enters into an incomplete contract, it is the responsibility of the student to understand the terms of the contract.  At the end of the contract date, the incomplete will convert to a standard grade as determined by the terms of the contract.  The procedure for submitting an incomplete is as follows: Student initiates request for incomplete with the instructor.  The instructor and student fill out the incomplete form and both sign, agreeing to the terms of the incomplete contract.  A clear deadline must be written on the contract as well as the grade that will be earned if the student does not complete the required work as noted on the contract. The incomplete form is turned into the department administrator.  When the incomplete is entered into Banner, the incomplete contract is sent to StudentRecords@lanecc.edu and imaged into application extender in SHACRSE .  Enrollment Services will verify that a contract has been submitted for each incomplete issued. For Incompletes that are missing the corresponding contract Enrollment Services will contact the instructor to request the form.  Upon expiration of the contract, Banner will update the student record to reflect the default grade from the contract, if a grade change form is not submitted by the faculty.  Dawn sent an informative Q/A document regarding these changes, which is attached to the email we just sent out to the faculty.  At last Friday’s meeting, Faculty Council members were receptive to the proposed changes, but we wanted to communicate those changes to the faculty at large to receive your feedback before we meet next Friday. Again, please feel free to share your thoughts by commenting on this post or by emailing Aryn Bartley at bartleya@lanecc.edu or Jessica Alvarado at alvaradoj@lanecc.edu.  All the best,  Aryn Bartley and Jessica Alvarado  Faculty Council co-chairs [...] Read more...
April 30, 2018The first time I introduced students to distant reading methods, I provided them with Franco Moretti’s “Conjectures on World Literature” and “Slaughterhouse of Literature,” two key essays that explain his purpose.  For the most curious students with some English courses behind them, these essays are a revelation. But for many students I found that the essays were too dense. So this year, I have provided a 15-minute online lecture that summarizes and paraphrases Moretti’s purpose in these two essays. This video lecture provides the context for students’ work this week: Working with Voyant tools to learn how to (in Paul Fyfe’s phrasing) “Not Read a Victorian Novel.” After #METOO. Lauren Klein’s blog entry became part of our course this year. This was one of those times when teaching online and in a community college course is highly challenging, because there was so much complex background to discuss. But I linked to Klein’s blog for those who could make sense of the conversation, and in some ways Klein’s piece became a bookmark for next year’s curriculum update. Step by step instructions for this week’s work with Voyant tools are here and here.  [...] Read more...
April 25, 2018[download] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2018/04/TIPSS23.pdf” title=”TIPSS#23″] [...] Read more...
April 24, 2018It’s already Week 4 of my second time offering a DH@CC course: “Reading, Writing, and Digital Culture.” It took 2 years to get the name changed in the catalog from “Introduction to Digital Humanities,” which no one on my campus understood! The very first things students do in my class is to create a course-dedicated blog (or at least a course-dedicated page on an extant blog) and to introduce themselves on it, and so I did the same thing here. I walk everyone through the weeks as I see them unfolding, hoping I can stick somewhat to the plan. Although I couldn’t fit it in last year, I am working really hard to put together a modified/right-sized instructional demo for students to create a digital edition using smart phones and cheap apps. This idea and some of the scaffolding is totally indebted to Shawna Ross at Texas A&M, who provided a comprehensive introduction to this work in a webinar on programming for humanists. Her book with Claire Battershill, Using Digital Humanities in the Classroom, is out this year from Bloomsbury Academic. If I do manage to teach my online students how to create a digital edition–of a menu, or a letter, of a book chapter–then it will be as part of their larger Omeka archive project, which makes up the heart of the second half of the term. Last year’s students struggled for the first couple weeks trying to figure it all out, but the feedback I got by the end of the term was that it was incredibly meaningful for students to be able to curate their own digital collection. Next week, I’m working with Annemarie Hamlin at Central Oregon CC in a collaborative assignment with her students. Both classes will share their work in a Google doc and use the comments feature to talk to one another about their discoveries. Tune in in a couple weeks and I’ll let you know how it goes! [...] Read more...
March 30, 2018[gdoc link="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cRI0hzkc3qWXc0oABJjKUrX9Yrywkchp/view?usp=sharing" type="other" height="600"] [...] Read more...
March 23, 2018On Wednesday, I met with Executive Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Jennifer Frei and Executive Dean of Student Affairs Kerry Levett to discuss the Honors Program. The meeting was at Jennifer’s invitation, and both she and Kerry wanted to figure out how to maintain a scaled back version of the Honors Program and an active Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) chapter. We decided to bring the issue up in a meeting that Stacey Kiser and I had scheduled with the President,  Interim Vice President, and Jennifer on Thursday morning to discuss expanding undergraduate research at Lane. When Jennifer, Stacey, and I met with President Marge Hamilton and Interim Vice President Jane Harmon on Thursday, we began by discussing undergraduate research at Lane. Both Marge and Jane were very supportive of expanding this high impact practice for Lane’s students and directed us to move forward with the work. Before we could bring up the Honors Program, however, Marge brought it up. She made it absolutely clear that she wanted an Honors Program and a PTK chapter at the college and would support bringing both of these honors opportunities back for students. I’ll post more information in a few weeks after attending the initial planning meeting scheduled for early April. For now, it’s time to celebrate! HONORS IS BACK! [...] Read more...
March 20, 2018[Download] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2018/03/TIPSS22-Addendum.pdf” title=”TIPSS22 Addendum”] [...] Read more...
March 7, 2018This term, we did not have the enrollment to run the HON 201_H Invitation to Inquiry Seminar. The class is a prerequisite for the HON 202_H Capstone Seminar in the spring, and it is also required for program completion. We waived these requirements so that the students can still take Capstone and finish the program. I felt, however, that the students who had signed up for the class were missing one of the key opportunities of being in the program. In place of the seminar, I’ve arranged for independent study (HON 298_H) with these students to try to approximate some of what they would have been able to do in the seminar. The independent study class is only one credit, so I’ve needed to be sensitive to workload. The primary requirements for the class are: several one-hour, discussion-based meetings during the term readings on critical thinking and on the role of Western research in colonization building an ePortfolio While it’s not a perfect solution, I do think that the students will be better prepared for Capstone.  I also have to say that it has been so much fun meeting in my office and having discussions about the readings! Each time, I’m reminded that one of the benefits of honors education is that honors students teach each other and the students and instructor all learn. [...] Read more...
March 1, 2018[download] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2018/03/TIPSS21-A-Pilot-Project-in-First-Year-Math.pdf” title=”TIPSS#21-A Pilot Project in First – Year Math”] [...] Read more...
February 15, 2018Every Tuesday, the what’s what on campus is sent to your inbox. But, I hear that folks don’t read the Lane Weekly. (And, I realize even fewer will read this!)  The Lane Weekly is our employee newsletter and an easy way to stay engaged with what’s going on around campus — and score a new-to-you UO vest. Don’t know what I’m talking about? You missed out! Other than serving as a quirky electronic bulletin board for folks looking to unload used furniture or find housing for rent, the Lane Weekly is a way to connect with events and accolades. It’s our very own news feed. For instance, did you know that … Kerry Levett received the Oregon Women in Higher Education’s “She Flies With Her Own Wings” Service Award at the group’s conference last month. Congratulations, Kerry!  U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley will be on campus for a town hall meeting from 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21 in the CML. You can give your feedback about the campus master plan now through March 14. Learn more here: https://goo.gl/forms/ROG5wL1tC23kGSAP2 Got a submission? There’s a nifty form that you can fill out: https://www.lanecc.edu/mpr/lane-weekly-submission-form For those who are adamant non-readers of the Lane Weekly, what other ways do you think that employees could become more engaged in what’s going on around campus and celebrate the accomplishments of our co-workers? Let us know by leaving a comment or email me directly at: sillsm@lanecc.edu. Weekly challenge Here’s an easy one this week: Read the Lane Weekly! [...] Read more...
February 12, 2018[Download] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2018/02/DREAM-Summary-of-Student-and-KPIs-Discussions.pdf” title=”DREAM Summary of Student and KPIs Discussions”] [...] Read more...
February 7, 2018Weekly update Rob Johnstone, a national researcher on the guided pathways movement, was on campus Monday, Feb. 5. His keynote and small group sessions with faculty and staff were well-attended. Surveys to participants for their feedback on the sessions will go out later this week. Here’s a copy of the guided pathways implementation graphic Rob shared during the presentation and breakout sessions from the American Association of Community Colleges. On Friday, Feb. 9, the current cohort has its seminar and we’ll hear firsthand from students about their experiences at Lane. The session also features an overview of the results of the Employee Experience Survey by Sarah Lushia, chair of the Diversity Council. All Lane employees were invited to participate in the survey to provide their feedback on their experiences at Lane. Upcoming sessions include topics of: governance and Lane’s history; library resources, facilities and sustainable practices and leading through change.  Please contact me if you haven’t filled out a survey about your Aspiring Leaders experience and would like to participate: sillsm@lanecc.edu. (I’ll send you a copy of the link and you can respond anonymously.) Weekly challenge The challenge this week: what kind of trainings would you like to see on campus? Let me know. Email: sillsm@lanecc.edu.           [...] Read more...
January 29, 2018Rob Johnstone comes to campus Feb. 5 Rob Johnstone, a national expert and researcher on guided pathways, will be on campus Monday, Feb. 5 for a keynote presentation and breakout sessions. What are guided pathways? In short, it’s a model of restructuring student services and scheduling to create a more clear path for students to meet their goals. Have questions about what it is or wondering which campuses have implemented it and whether it’s been effective? Johnstone is a good person to ask. There will be break-out sessions for faculty and classified staff and opportunity to ask him questions. Johnstone advises that the keynote address will provide the necessary background for more productive breakout sessions. You can review the agenda and other relevant linked information about guided pathways on the events page.   [...] Read more...
January 26, 2018[Download] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2018/01/TIPSS20.pdf” title=”TIPSS#20″] [...] Read more...
January 22, 2018Lane is the community’s college and there’s an opportunity to give your input about the community by participating in Lane County’s strategic planning process. The county is currently seeking input to update its 2018-2021 strategic plan through a survey. There is also an open house where you can learn more about the framework of the process from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24 in Harris Hall, 125 E. 8th Avenue, downtown Eugene. If you can’t make it to the open house, here’s a link to the survey: http://bit.ly/LaneCoSurvey You can read more about the county’s strategic planning process and the 2014-2017 strategic plan by clicking this link: https://www.lanecounty.org/cms/one.aspx?portalId=3585881&pageId=4081129 Weekly update Our current cohort met on Friday, Jan. 19 for a special presentation by Lida Herburger and Deborah Butler on Appreciative Inquiry, a reflective planning tool they illustrated using a “4-D Cycle” – Design: Consider, “What should be?” Destiny: Consider, “What will be?” Discovery: Consider, “What is?” Dream: Consider, “What could be?” Last year, a team of employees was trained in Appreciative Inquiry practices and several of the trainees are going through the certification process, which requires them to give a presentation. If you’re interested in learning more or in a training for you or your department, email sillsm@lanecc.edu.   [...] Read more...
January 16, 2018[Download] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2018/01/TIPSS-19-A-Closer-Look-at-Completion-of-Program-Level-MATH-within-One-Year.pdf” title=”TIPSS #19 – A Closer Look at Completion of Program Level MATH within One Year”] [...] Read more...
January 16, 2018[Download] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2018/01/TIPSS-18-A-Closer-Look-at-Completion-of-Program-Level-WRITING-within-One-Year.pdf” title=”TIPSS #18 – A Closer Look at Completion of Program Level WRITING within One Year”] [...] Read more...
January 11, 2018I’ve been waiting to post until there was more clarity about whether a scaled down version of the Honors Program would be allowed to continue. I can share what I know at this point. Last fall, the administration considered having the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) advisor for our Sigma Zeta Chapter also do a small amount of program administration. To date, however, the new PTK advisor has not been hired and the program coordination has not been aligned with PTK work. The existing honors classes continue to be offered this year so that current honors students can finish the program. More as I know it . . . [...] Read more...
January 11, 2018“Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.” – Martin Luther King, Jr., March for Integrated Schools, April 18, 1959. Imagine someone reading words you uttered and history showing you lived by those words. We do not need to imagine when reading the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Next week will be a short one as we pause Monday to reflect on his contributions and how our communities can work together toward healing and equality. In the coming days and weeks,  there are opportunities to engage in conversations and events that seek to build community learn from one another. Later this month, free events sponsored by Oregon Humanities’ Conversation Project seek to engage communities in conversations on the following topics:  Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation How Do We Create Inclusive Communities? Jan. 23, 7 p.m., Fern Ridge Library, Veneta   Conversation Project: Race and Place Racism and Resilience in Oregon’s Past and Future Jan. 25, 5:30 p.m., Springfield City Hall, Springfield   On Monday, the local NAACP chapter has organized a march and community program. Those interested in the march are encouraged to start congregating at Autzen Stadium at 9 a.m., so the group can organize and leave the parking lot at 10 a.m. to begin the march to the Shedd Institute downtown. At the Shedd, there will be a program from 11 a.m. to noon featuring community leaders, the youth council and activists who will share their vision and hopes for our community. On Wednesday, March 17, Lane will have our own MLK Celebration featuring Nina Turner. Turner is a former Ohio state senator and contributor on CNN and other news programs. Last year, she was also tapped to lead Bernie Sander’s group that reaches out to potential leaders. The event starts at 5:30 p.m. and is open to the public. Please extend an invitation to your colleagues, family, friends and neighbors and help us create community here at Lane. Some of our students have stepped up to volunteer for our MLK Celebration event. If you’re interested in volunteering, let me know by emailing me at: sillsm@lanecc.edu.  Weekly challenge The motto, “A Day On, Not a Day Off” has been adopted to designate the holiday as one of service to honor King’s legacy. How do you plan to make it a “day on” through service to your family or community? Share by leaving a reply for us.     [...] Read more...
January 5, 2018[gdoc link="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jKFjr1C8qJGKVO9MYBaNfmoxyJXE7yF-/view?usp=sharing" type="other" height="600"] [...] Read more...
January 2, 2018Have you forgone resolutions this year? The new year ushers in reflections on what was, what is and what will be. May we carry the resolve of reflection with us into the days ahead. Weekly updates Jan. 19: Current cohort monthly seminar on strategic planning at Lane and interactive planning exercises using Appreciative Inquiry with Jen Steele, Deborah Butler and Lida Herburger.  Jan. 25: Alumni book club at 3 p.m. in Building 19, Room 142 to discuss selection, “Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg. Training opportunity An interactive training on the gender spectrum, Gender 101, will be offered at two times on Jan. 19: 10 a.m. to noon; 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Both sessions will be held in the Gender Equity Center in Building 1. The training is presented by Jenn Burlington of TransActive Gender Center. Check out http://transactiveonline.org for more information about the TransActive Gender Center. The presentation is sponsored by International Programs, Gender Equity Center and Diversity Council. Employees will receive two hours of cultural competency professional development credit for attendance. RVSP is requested to secure a spot: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZV24PiLICg-RXcd42dCsedf9X2Lsx8gB66OxnrmbOGHVSWA/viewform   Weekly challenge Leadership author, John C. Maxwell offers these tips on developing listening skills as a leader in an article he wrote in 2014 for the magazine, Success. In the article, he shares a story of the importance of not only listening, but asking the right questions. The full essay and listening audit can be read in this link: https://www.success.com/article/john-c-maxwell-a-1-week-leadership-listening-challenge Below is an excerpt of his listening audit: The Listening Audit The first step is to take an honest look at your current approach to communication. Start by asking yourself the following questions: 1. Am I open to other people’s ideas? 2. Am I open to changing my opinion based on new information? 3. Am I actively seeking feedback and input in order to move the team forward? 4. Do I act defensively when criticized, or do I listen openly for the truth? 5. Do I ask questions in every conversation? At the end of each day, reflect on the day’s interactions—every meeting, conference call, phone conversation and so on—and calculate the percentage of the time that you spent listening as opposed to the time you spent speaking. How much of the day were you actively taking in information? At the end of the week, tally up your percentages and get an average. Set a goal to increase your listening percentage in the upcoming week. Be sure to track your progress. What you are trying to develop are these five strengths of a listening leader: Connecting. In my book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, I write about the Law of Connection, which states, “Leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand.” You cannot connect with other people when you are the one doing all the talking! Do this intentionally. Stop, make eye contact and be fully present, and you’ll find yourself truly connecting—not half-listening. Building confidence. Take time to listen to each person on your team. New people, in particular, offer a fresh perspective that can lead to valuable insights, but they may not feel they have the right to contribute their thoughts. Shake their insecurity by soliciting their ideas and taking those suggestions to heart. Henry David Thoreau once said, “The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when someone asked me what I thought and attended to my answer.” Don’t you feel the same way? Soliciting ideas. Great leaders create an environment of innovation. That requires actively seeking out new ideas. I often find that listening precedes great periods of creativity in an organization. In the words of Richard Branson, “Any organization’s best assets are its people, and if you are ready to help the team to achieve its goals, you can start gathering information on how to move things along just by paying attention to what employees are saying.” Taking action. With your new focus on intentional listening, you will probably find that you have an abundance of good ideas at your fingertips. Just hearing them isn’t enough. Good ideas have expiration dates. You need to act before they become dated, irrelevant or otherwise spoiled. A bonus: Members of your team will see your responsiveness, feel valued, trust you with their ideas and keep bringing them forward. Reflecting nightly. Maximize your new habits by taking time before bed to think and reflect so you can process and apply what you have learned. Do you want to increase your leadership capacity? Work on applying these practices on a consistent basis. Pastor and speaker Robert Schuller once said, “Big egos have little ears.” I challenge you to become the opposite—a small ego with big ears. Because that’s the kind of person who truly excels. Source: https://www.success.com/article/john-c-maxwell-a-1-week-leadership-listening-challenge [...] Read more...
December 28, 20172017 was a busy year for me and for DH at community colleges. In January, I presented at the MLA on intersections between “minimal computing” practices in open access learning environments like community colleges. The chair, Jentery Sayers, shared the panel presentations here and here.  Meanwhile, “community college” made it to the list of 60 digital humanities keywords in the MLA volume, Digital Pedagogy in the Humanities: Concepts, Models, and Experiments, edited by Rebecca Frost Davis, Matthew K. Gold, Katherine D. Harris, and Jentery Sayers. Working with Dominique Zino Jaime Cardenas, and Bethany Holmstrom, I curated the collection of assignments and artifacts that represent the history of digital pedagogy projects at community colleges since 1999. The hybrid publication project will be published in print  by MLA in 2018.  Currently, I am working with Angel Nieves and Siobhan Senier on a collection of essays concerned with institutional infrastructure for digital humanities for the Debates in the Digital Humanities series entitled Institutions, Infrastructures at the Interstices. Since  access and infrastructure for supporting digital humanities at community colleges were issues that first got me into this field more than five years ago, I am honored to be part of this project. The open peer-review process will begin in February so stay tuned!     [...] Read more...
December 14, 2017I appreciate the Mintzberg quote above for its implication that leadership is a practice. But, I also think we can learn by not only doing, but, well, by learning from others through reading and reflection. Our alumni book club seeks to engage discussions on leadership through books that examine and enlighten views on leadership and connections. Their current selection, “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead” by Sheryl Sandberg. Here’s a Forbes review of the book from 2013, if you’re interested in learning more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/03/04/10-things-sheryl-sandberg-gets-exactly-right-in-lean-in/#157f36567ada At the current Aspiring Leaders cohort’s retreat, Marge shared a book recommendation: Bad Leadership by Barbara Kellerman. (Available in the Lane Library stacks.) The book explores a missing piece in many leadership books: the bad leader, seeks to define bad leadership and what we can learn from it. In each chapter, Kellerman evaluates a different trait of a “bad leader” and offers the reader a view of that trait through the lens of a leader in history. Not sure you want to spend your free time reading about bad leaders? What about bee leaders? Bees have secret lives and lessons to teach us about leadership. “The Wisdom of Bees: What The Hive Can Teach Business About Leadership, Efficiency, And Growth” by Michael O’Malley is also available in the Lane Library. Here’s an article by O’Malley in Psychology Today on lessons we can learn from bees on decison-making: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-wisdom-bees/201006/why-bees-dont-make-stupid-decisions-and-we-do Have you started a reading list for the break or books to tackle in 2018? Let us know what you’re reading or your recommendations by replying. Weekly Update Thanks to those of you who have provided feedback about the Aspiring Leaders program via the survey. It’s still up – and will be up through the end of 2017. Your feedback assists with continual improvement at the college and is appreciated. Here are a few more comments that have come in: Q: How would you describe Aspiring Leaders to an employee unfamiliar with the program? Program which says it’s a leadership development sequence, but mostly a networking opportunity.   Q: If you could experience one seminar or day of Aspiring Leaders again, what would it be and why? Quality time with the president reflecting and talking about BIG, possibly even sensitive, issues that individuals feel must be tackled/addressed in order for Lane CC to be all it can be. I think this lets aspiring leaders see the college’s leader as a human being with thoughts and feelings and worries like the rest of us, and allows us to get to the business of solution-finding… at least temporarily… on an equal plane.   Q: What would you like the Aspiring Leaders program planners to keep in mind when making decisions about potential changes to Aspiring Leaders programming? Consider adding outcomes for the program to make it more cohesive; tie sessions to leadership; encourage personal goal setting and reflection throughout. Weekly Challenge This is a revisit of the first challenge: reflect on your core values. The holidays are a time of reflection for many. Take the time to reflect on your core values and revisit your own mission statement. Is your work and daily practice a reflection of those values and your personal mission?   [...] Read more...
December 6, 2017AAWCC is pleased to announce the new Women in Leadership book club at LCC!  This club has been formed to create a supportive space for women to talk about challenges and opportunities for women in leadership at LCC and beyond.  Whether you are an established leader within the college or you’re interested in developing your skills and network, this group is for you.  Through shared learning and frank, directed inquiry, we hope to support and inspire women in all stages of career and personal development.  All college employees and students, regardless of role, gender, or AAWCC membership status are welcome to join.   Participants can begin reading at any time, and are welcome to attend standing monthly AAWCC brown bag networking luncheons to check in and talk about the book.  Join us here at to find out more and connect with other readers.  On March 15, from 11:30 to 1:30, we’ll meet as a group at an AAWCC social to share the insights and ideas we’ve gathered.   Our first book will be The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance–What Women Should Know by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman.  Check out the official book website for information about the authors and their  message, including media coverage and interviews about the book, social media links, and a confidence quiz to help you assess where you’re starting your journey.  You can purchase a copy of The Confidence Code at a local bookstore or  online at one of the following sellers: Powell’s City of Books IndieBound: a Community of Independent Local Booksellers Barnes & Noble  Amazon.com (audio copies also available) The LCC library will have a limited number of copies available to loan.  If book cost is a barrier to your participation in this group, please contact Deborah Butler to inquire about copies that may be available through a special donation to AAWCC.  We strive to make AAWCC activities and opportunities accessible to everyone.  [...] Read more...
December 6, 2017Weekly Update Thanks to those of you who have completed the survey about your Aspiring Leaders experience. Time is precious and as the end of term is in sight, a survey is another time drain. I invite you when you do have the opportunity: to reflect on your experience and provide some feedback. Continuous improvement is a goal for all our programs at Lane and your perspective will help us identify areas for improvement and potential new programming. As a reminder, you’re responses are anonymous – but if anyone would like to provide attribution to their feedback, let me know. Here’s what some of you are saying: Q: How would you describe Aspiring Leaders to an employee unfamiliar with the program? Warren Bennis once stated, “leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” Aspiring Leaders trained employees to assist in translating LCC’s vision into reality. AL was a fantastic opportunity for me to meet and network with other LCC employees. I learned so much about other areas of campus and the challenges that face LCC. On multiple occasions I was taken out of my comfort zone and feel grew because of it. Q: Has your participation in Aspiring Leaders added value to your work at Lane? Explain how it has or how it has not. Absolutely. I was a new employee and it immediately “shrank” the college down to a happy size. It gave me a crash course in the college culture—both what it was and what it could become. I created relationships with colleagues whom I continue to lean into for support. It has not, it confused things because the direction given in Aspiring Leaders is not how things are run. Q: What type of alumni efforts should the group consider? Could we take on one project a year? Such as fundraising, an event to collect materials for the food pantry or clothing stash. I wouldn’t put too much effort into this, though perhaps one event per year – like a coffee/tea. Maybe reach out to alumni to facilitate a discussion? Q: Do you feel Aspiring Leaders is relevant to the mission and core values? Please explain your response. (All affirmative responses so far.) Yes, because good leadership requires at least an openness to transformation, and building relationships is essential to helping an institution transform the lives of not only students, but staff and community as well. Yes! Meeting and working with Lane colleagues from other departments across classified, faculty, and manager positions really demonstrated that equity lens and cultural diversity that the college is pushing towards. I saw issues from other perspectives that I had never experienced before in a safe and open place. Aspiring Leaders transformed my life through learning and all of our efforts were to improve ourselves and student success through better understanding. We touched on all of the core values at some point during the year. Weekly Challenge Kerry Levett, Brian Kelly and Jen Steele joined the Aspiring Leaders cohort for the December seminar. Brian and Jen received some good ideas from the small group exercise on ways to increase revenue and retention, such as differential tuition options and discounts for returning students. The group quickly ruled out a brew pub on campus. Think you have a plan or idea that you know has worked elsewhere that could help generate new revenue or help with student enrollment and retention? Share it. Who knows what your brainstorm could spark? Also, Kerry shared the somewhat new science of an organized life: bullet journaling. If you haven’t checked it out, you should. It takes writing things down to the next level with this key change: an index! You can use any notebook. Here’s a short video that explains it:   Give it a try. Let us know how it works out for you. [...] Read more...
November 29, 2017By now, Aspiring Leaders of the past and present should have received an email with an invitation to complete a survey about your experience in the program. Your feedback will be used to help guide future programming and alumni activities. Thanks to you who have already submitted your responses! If you haven’t received an email with the link, please let me know: sillsm@lanecc.edu. Weekly Challenge Let’s keep it simple this week: complete the survey. Seriously, your feedback is valuable to the future of the program. Feedback: it works for Elon Musk. “I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.” – Elon Musk “What is the shortest word in the English language that contains the letters: abcdef? Answer: feedback. Don’t forget that feedback is one of the essential elements of good communication.” – Anonymous Ways to Get Involved Dead Week is upon us! Support students who are wrapping up their term.  Smile. Say, hello! Wish them luck! And … Ask if they’ve registered for winter term. Reminder: The Aspiring Leaders Book Club meets at 12:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1 in Building 19, Room 124. The group opted to continue reading the current selection, “Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World” by Adam Grant. Giving Tree: There are still some tags available on the giving tree for students’ children. Gift ideas and the age of the child are on the tag. If you take a tag, unwrapped presents need to be returned to the Gender Equity Center by Friday, Dec. 1 – but it’s possible to return gifts next week through Dec. 6. The earlier deadline is better because parents have transportation issues and may not have finals scheduled through Dec. 6. Pop into the Gender Equity Center if you have questions. Have an idea for Aspiring Leaders to get involved with a campus activity? Submit to sillsm@lanecc.edu.           [...] Read more...
November 29, 2017Survey results from a follow-up to the 2013 National Survey of Digital Humanities in Community Colleges are in. This week’s featured question: Which of the following do you use regularly in your humanities courses? (“Regularly”= at least once a week in all your classes)   An institutionally provided course management page or site (such as Blackboard, Web CT, Moodle) 91.30% 63 A course website that you developed independently. 21.74% 15 Web resources in the classroom or to support curriculum 72.46% 50 Blogs or social media in or out of the classroom 30.43% 21 Web-based software other than word processing for student production of humanities research projects (e.g., Prezi, Pinterest, Storify, Moviemaker, Omeka, Voyant Tools, etc.) 36.23% 25 Use of web-based video or podcasts for lectures 46.38% 32 Production of your own audio or video for lectures or student support 40.58% 28 Use of digital archives for courses (e.g., Library of Congress Digital Archives, Emily Dickinson Archives, Internet Archive, etc.) 39.13% 27 I may occasionally use one or more of the above, but not regularly. 18.84% 13 None of the above. 2.90% 2 You can view them here. [...] Read more...
November 21, 2017Greetings from the POD! Happy break to all of you – and good luck scratching off your to-do list before the end-of-day tomorrow … and before the end of the term! Few quick updates: Aspiring Leaders Alumni Book Club: Next meeting is 12:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 1 in Building 19, Room 124. The group opted to continue reading the current selection, “Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World” by Adam Grant. Here are a few quotes from the book that may pique your interest — “Originals are nonconformists, people who not only have new ideas but take action to champion them. They are people who stand out and speak up. Originals drive creativity and change in the world. They’re the people you want to bet on.” “Argue like you’re right and listen like you’re wrong.” “The greatest shapers don’t stop at introducing originality into the world. They create cultures that unleash originality in others.” Aspiring Leaders Surveys: Look for a message from me in your inbox by Nov. 29 with a survey related to your experience in the program and suggestions on moving the program forward. We’re seeking your feedback on where to focus future programming efforts and how to best continue this enrichment opportunity for employees. Note: If you don’t receive a survey by Nov. 29, let me know. We may need to update our list. (Alumni and the current cohort will receive surveys.) Aspiring Leaders Current Cohort: Next monthly seminar is from 1 to 5 p.m., Friday, Dec. 1 in Building 30, Room 114. Guest presenters are Kerry Levett and Brian Kelly, who will provide leadership practice insight related to their work at Lane. Weekly Challenge As part of the Aspiring Leaders fall retreat, participants are asked to consider their core values and draft a mission statement. Find yours and review it. Is your mission statement still relevant? Does it need an update? (Can’t find yours? Make the time to reflect on your core values and start a new mission statement.)   Ways to Get Involved Holiday Giving Tree: Spread the holiday joy and pull a tag with the holiday wishes of a Lane student’s child from the Holiday Giving Tree. The tree is in Building 1 on the second floor, near the Gender Equity Center. Unwrapped gifts may be returned no later than Dec. 6 for student-parents to pick up. The project is a cooperative effort between the Gender Equity Center and the MultiCultural Center/Clothing Stash. Work by Core Theme review teams will get underway in the coming weeks to examine how well our work is aligned with our core themes: Resp6onsive Community Engagement; Accessible and Equitable Learning Opportunities; Quality Educational Environment; and Individual Student Achievement. Many Aspiring Leaders (current and alumni) are either leading these review teams or serving as team members. A call for volunteers was issued earlier this month and sent via email to all employees.  Have an idea for Aspiring Leaders to get involved with a campus activity? Submit to sillsm@lanecc.edu.   [...] Read more...
November 15, 2017“The connection economy thrives on abundance. Connections create more connections. Trust creates more trust. Ideas create more ideas.” ~ Seth Godin It’s time for this blog to do its job of forging connections as it was intended. This is a space to share ideas and information for alumni and the current cohort. Much has changed since the date of the last post in 2015. This is the first year of the program without its founder and the current cohort’s resiliency and adaptability skills are being honed. (You’re welcome!) Two alumni: Mike Sims (2015-16) and Kristina Holton (2013-14) stepped up, offering to help facilitate the retreat and they did an amazing job setting the tone for the rest of the program year. The 2017-18 cohort is a lively bunch that includes: Carla Arciniega-Henrici Katheryn Blair Amanda Blunt Anna Gates-Tapia Andi Graham Scott Hutchings LuAnne Johnson Nikki Li Richard Lubben Mira Mason-Reader Bliss Newton Casey Reid Cathy Thomas Shara Tscheulin James Walugembe Brenda Williams Meggie Wright Carl Yeh What’s the latest with alumni action? Well, there’s a book club. Thanks to Jill Gillett (2016-17) for getting it a book club off the ground. The group meets Friday, November 17, 12:30 p.m., Building 19 Room 142 to discuss: “Originals: How non-conformists move the world” by Adam Grant and Sheryl Sandberg. Email Jill if you’d like to attend the meeting via Zoom. Didn’t read the book? (It’s book club! Who reads the book?!?) Stop by and engage with alumni, anyway. Following the alumni gathering in the spring, there seemed to be a consensus to do more alumni activities. Look here and the Lane Weekly for updates on how to get involved and give feedback. Have news to share with Aspiring Leaders and Aspiring Leaders Alumni? Let me know! Contact me through the blog or at sillsm@lanecc.edu. Thanks to Deborah Butler, Aspiring Leaders (2015-16) for bringing the blog back in the leadership spotlight. Updates to our webpage are coming soon. [...] Read more...
November 1, 2017Dear Colleagues, At Faculty Council’s October 27, 2017 meeting, Vice President of College Services Brian Kelly and Strategic Planning and Budget Officer Jennifer Steele presented on the Administration’s proposed budget timeline for this year. Faculty Council felt the information shared was important enough to pass on in detail to the faculty as a whole in order to: 1) give you a sense of the way the budget process as a whole may be impacted by these changes; 2) share our concerns about the proposed process; and 3) offer you the opportunity to join in this conversation.  We will synthesize the discussion that takes place here for presentation to the Board during their Thursday, Nov. 9 meeting, so please comment by Tuesday, Nov. 7 at the end of the day. This blog is a publicly accessible document.    We recommend you use the following documents as resources: Budget Development Calendar: https://www.lanecc.edu/sites/default/files/budget/budget_development_calendar.pdf Planning and Budget Development Calendar: https://www.lanecc.edu/sites/default/files/budget/planning_budget_development_calendar_2017-18.pdf Standard Data Package: https://www.lanecc.edu/planning/standard-data-package   NOTE: The remainder of this document has been edited in response to communication from Jen Steele and Brian Kelly, and hopefully is more thorough in its information and precise in its language than it was originally. All quotations below are taken from that communication.   Here are the key aspects of the budget process as presented by Brian Kelly and Jennifer Steele: According to their presentation, based on feedback from last year’s budget process that departments didn’t have enough time to respond to proposed cuts and reductions, the Administration has proposed a new budget process timeline (see above for a simple or more detailed version). According to Brian and Jen, the new timeline is “designed to provide impacted faculty, staff, and students with time and opportunity to engage in impact analysis and consideration of alternatives with administration” as well as to “provide clarity in roles and decision-making responsibilities.”   The timeline is structured as follows: In fall term Institutional Research shares a “standard data package” that includes information on enrollment, completion, demographics, etc. for programs and services. (This document has already been circulated; see above for the link.) Institutional Research and planning staff will “provide an orientation to the data for deans, directors, and faculty engaging in program review, hold open ‘drop-in’ sessions, and also provide individual or group consultation and additional data/analysis to departments and program review teams.” In January, if cuts are deemed a necessary consideration, the Administration will circulate a list of potential program and service reductions and investment options. During winter term, time will be set aside to analyze any impacts of cuts/reductions and to gather feedback from campus stakeholders. The Board will make decisions about program/service investments/reductions on March 30.  The first draft of the budget of the Budget Development Subcommittee (which includes faculty, staff, students, and management) will be forwarded to College Council on April 1.     Here are our takeaways. As currently proposed: The Administration will develop their list of program/service reductions with the promise of conversations with impacted program/service faculty, staff, and students and (as yet undefined) input sessions focused on “impact analysis” throughout winter term. Decisions about program/service investments and reductions will be made separate from budget decisions. The Budget Development Subcommittee, which is made up of faculty, staff, student, and management representatives and has in the past forwarded budgets that differed from Administration’s budgets in regards to program/service reductions and cuts will no longer have the ability to give feedback on program/service reductions except in the context of the conversations and input sessions listed above. They will not be able to offer alternatives to decisions made about program/service reductions within the budget they offer.    Faculty Council appreciates the move towards greater transparency as well as the promise of a longer period set aside for feedback, input, and problem-solving in response to potential program reductions. At the same time, many members of Faculty Council have concerns about the new process.    Concerns that emerged during our October 27 Faculty Council meeting: The sharing of data does not equate to sharing of information. While faculty and staff can access the standard data package, we do not yet have answers to the questions: Beyond departmental program review, how will this information be used for decision-making about program investments and reductions? Will these kinds of decisions be tied to program review? What are the criteria for decision-making?  Historically, mechanisms for feedback (2-3 minute speeches at Board meetings, College Council forums, and Dean advocacy) have been insufficient. While the new process extends the time for input/feedback on decisions about program/service investments or reductions, it does not yet demarcate the specific nature of the mechanisms that will be used for this kind of input/feedback. Historically, there has been little to no legitimate or substantial incorporation of or response to input/feedback from faculty/staff/students. The Board usually has taken the Administration’s proposal and adopted it with little revision. The new process does not yet address this issue. The new process reduces the ability of the Budget Development Subcommittee — as the key collaborative body working on the budget — to offer alternative financial solutions to program (and job) reductions within the context of a proposed budget.   In our meeting, Faculty Council members gave the following suggestions to Brian Kelly and Jennifer Steele:   Provide commentary on data that reflects how it is being understood and used in the context of decision-making about program/service investments and reductions.   Provide and define legitimate, substantial, and collaborative mechanisms for faculty, staff, and student participation in initial and subsequent discussion of and recommendations for program/service investments and reductions across the year. Define formal avenues for advocacy by programs and services under threat of reduction with the legitimate possibility of altering the Board’s course of action. Now we would like to open the floor for discussion. What do you think about the proposed budget process? Do you share the concerns listed above or have other concerns? What suggestions would you offer? [...] Read more...
October 18, 2017[pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2018/01/TIPSS-17-Key-Progress-Indicators.pdf” title=”TIPSS # 17 – Key Progress Indicators”] Download [...] Read more...
October 13, 2017Download [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2017/10/Capacity-Cafe-response-summaries.pdf”] [...] Read more...
October 13, 2017Download [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2017/10/ICAT-Response-Distribution_Lane-Community-College.pdf”] [...] Read more...
October 13, 2017Download [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2017/10/ICAT-Results-Summary_Lane-Community-College.pdf”] [...] Read more...
September 30, 2017[gdoc link="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gFfU_fuAesIO0-G7buS95K-VipsdrHsJ/view?usp=sharing" type="other" height="600"] [...] Read more...
September 23, 2017We’re into another academic year and there are many new developments to share with you. Here are some of the new changes. Reminder: G Suite and Student Email All Lane students have college provided email and G Suite accounts via Google. It is important to keep in mind and set expectations in courses that they should check those accounts on a regular basis for all messages that come from the college, including Moodle messages. Students can get assistance with their email accounts at the Student Help Desk (SHeD) in the Library or at help.lanecc.edu. ATAG Fall 2017 Dates The Fall meeting dates for the Academic Technology Advisory Group (ATAG) are: Oct. 16, 3:00 – 4:30, CEN 229 Nov. 13, 3:00 – 4:30, CEN 229 Dec. 11 , 3:00 – 4:30, CEN 229 The ATAG helps inform Academic Technology of student and faculty needs around technology and the web-enhanced, hybrid and online learning environments. Instructors and support staff of all technical abilities are invited to participate, share successes, convey needs and learn of new developments. Zoom Zoom is a new web/video conferencing platform that can be used to meet with classes, hold online office hours, offer one-on-one meetings and record presentations on your computer. Everyone can have access to a basic account with meetings that last up to 40 minutes in duration. Need more time? Request a Pro account to enable meetings without time limitations: https://goo.gl/forms/0arXHZFmS7l96hco1 We’ll have weekly drop-in meetings and some Zoom workshops throughout the term. Dates and times will be Fridays from 11 am – 12 pm with the exception of October 20th. All meetings will be using the Zoom meeting link to meet at if you’d prefer to join in virtually: https://lanecc.zoom.us/j/535846503 Moodle Boost Theme Give your Moodle course a fresh new look!  Boost is a new theme with improved navigation and convenient editing options.  With a focus on accessibility, mobile device access, easier navigation and an improved user experience, Boost is great choice for many of your students needs. Magna online seminars Lane Community College has access to Magna Commons & 20-Minute Mentor Commons As a member of our campus community this online content from Magna Publications is available at no cost to you.  You’ll need to contact the ATC to get info on how to activate your account through Lane. Magna Commons offers on-demand versions of Magna’s most popular Magna Online Seminars, covering a broad range of topics of interest to faculty & administrators. You can view the offerings available to stream here: https://www.magnapubs.com/magna-commons/ 20-Minute Mentor Commons offers on-demand versions of Magna’s popular 20-Minute Mentor programs, covering a broad range of faculty development topics. You can view the offerings available to stream here: https://www.magnapubs.com/mentor-commons/ We’re looking forward to working with you this academic year! The Academic Technology team [...] Read more...
August 14, 2017Last February, the Honors Program invited scholar, Sharon Schuman, to campus to discuss her book, Freedom and Dialogue in a Polarized World. As I described in a post after the event, Schuman extends Mikhail Bakhtin’s work on the dialogic nature of language to the concept of freedom. She argues that freedom is dialogic. The more perspectives one can see from, the freer one will be. This event was well-attended by students, faculty, staff, and members of the Eugene community. During the Q&A session, a student who was not in the Honors Program commented that Schuman seemed to think that polarization was a bad thing. She asked a thought-provoking question: “What’s wrong with polarization?” Schuman was so intrigued by the student’s question that she continued thinking about it and whether there were positive aspects to polarization. Several months later, she wrote an essay in response. It was published in today’s Register-Guard newspaper as a Guest Viewpoint: “Polarization is Easy; Seeing the Other Side is Hard.” She will also post it on her website, Dialogic Freedom, and I’ll link to that post, as well, once it is up. The Schuman event and follow-up essay exemplify so much of what is valuable about honors education at community colleges and specifically at Lane Community College: encouraging student engagement in intellectual and creative activities with prominent scholars; creating spaces for learning outside the classroom; bringing together members of the Lane and Eugene communities to consider contemporary scholarship that is highly-relevant to today’s world; engaging diverse perspectives; and leading to increased critical thinking and broadening the discussion to a significantly wider audience. In short, the event supported the college’s Core Learning Outcomes and its Core Themes. It is one of many examples of how honors contributes to mission fulfillment and of the valuable service that Lane Community College provides to our community.  [...] Read more...
June 30, 2017[pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/oureducationenvironment/wp-content/uploads/sites/111/2017/06/White-paper-1.pdf” title=”White paper – 1″] [...] Read more...
June 15, 2017[download] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2017/06/TIPSS-16-A-Stop-Out-Survey.pdf” title=”TIPSS #16 – A Stop-Out Survey”] [...] Read more...
June 14, 2017I have been focusing on undergraduate research, student opportunities, and student accomplishments in my last posts because those topics represent so much of what honors education is about. Unfortunately, I do need to acknowledge that this month the Board of Education officially accepted the college’s budget proposal, including the elimination of the Honors Program. Next year, we will offer the existing honors classes, including the two honors seminars, so that students can complete the program and be eligible for transfer agreements. There will be no program coordination and no honors events, just the classes. After next year, the program will be gone. I plan to continue blogging here about honors at Lane and honors education in general through next year. [...] Read more...
June 12, 2017[download] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2017/06/TIPSS15.pdf”] [...] Read more...
June 9, 2017As a follow-up to my recent post on the Honors Spring Symposium, I’m sharing photos of the research poster and pamphlets created by the Capstone Seminar students as ways to share some of their research findings: [...] Read more...
June 8, 2017What an event! The students presented their research findings in two sessions separated by a short break. The first group — Sam, Hayden, Holly, Emma, and Paige — addressed morality legislation in a panel discussion. They described their methodology, used women’s reproductive rights as their primary case study, and then elaborated on how the methodology could be applied to thinking critically about other moral issues that have been, or continue to be, legislated. The second group, Jack and Gus, opened with a cover of Lady Gaga’s song, “Til It Happens to You,” performed by Jack. This performance was followed by Gus reading his paper and sharing slides describing many facts and statistics on alcohol education at universities and its potential impact on reducing sexual assaults. This segment concluded with Jack describing the shortcomings of colleges and universities in addressing the realities of alcohol consumption by student and performing a demonstration measuring the recommended amount of alcohol safely consumed per hour vs the actual yet often unrecognized amount of alcohol contained in a typical solo cup of Jungle Juice. The students also created a research poster, brochure, and website. I will post links to them once their are available. I have no doubt that these students will continue to pursue research interests during their time at Lane and at their transfer institutions. I hope they will also decide to pursue graduate degrees given their intellects, research skills, and passion for learning.   [...] Read more...
June 6, 2017In my last posts, I noted the college’s plans to eliminate the Honors Program. Although the Board of Education has not officially voted on the final budget, it will do so at tomorrow’s Board meeting. When I know what next year’s version of honors will look like as students complete the program, I will add a post with that information. In the meantime, I want to focus on what the Honors Program has been about for seven years: building scholars and providing opportunities for undergraduate research. In the Invitation to Inquiry Seminar held each winter, the students visit the University of Oregon’s Special Collections Library. There are previous posts describing this event and sharing photos on this blog. In the Capstone Seminar held each spring, the students visit the University of Oregon’s (UO) Undergraduate Research Symposium, the Lane Community College Poster Day, and Oregon State University’s (OSU) Honors Thesis Fair. They also put on their own Honors Spring Symposium (I’ll blog about this soon as the symposium is tomorrow!). There are several benefits to attending the UO’s Undergraduate Research Symposium. These benefits include becoming more familiar with, and comfortable on, the UO campus; seeing examples of research posters; reading a range of abstracts in the symposium program; and attending panel presentations. All of these benefits allow the students to see their research in context of other student research, to build confidence, and to take what they learn from the symposium and apply it to their own projects and assignments in the seminar. In short, this field trip supports the college’s Core Learning Outcome: Apply Learning. Visiting the college’s own poster day builds on the UO visit by showing students the research projects other students at our college are engaged in and the quality of their posters. This event is organized by honors science faculty, Stacey Kiser, who also team-teaches the two honors seminars with me. Viewing the posters and talking with fellow students helps the seminar students see their work in the context of fellow Lane students. Finally, the trip to the OSU provides examples of the research and educational experiences of other honors students. We have an information session at the OSU Honors College where the students learn about the requirements for transfer students and see the honors lounge, workroom, and classrooms.  We also review the abstracts for the honors posters, walk through the poster session, and talk with students about their work. This trip provides a context for honors research, presents sample abstracts and posters that the students can consider when creating their own, and helps make them more comfortable on the OSU campus. It was gratifying to hear students talking about applying to the OSU Honors College after our visit! Having seen the presentations, poster, and pamphlet the students will share at the Honors Spring Symposium tomorrow, I know the value of these field trips and the impact they have on the students’ own research and on their sense of themselves as scholars moving forward into their academic careers.   [...] Read more...
June 5, 2017http://www.eugeneweekly.com/20170525/guest-viewpoint/misappropriated-tropes Backlash masquerading as budget cuts ARTICLE | MAY 25, 2017 – 12:00AM | BY MARK HARRIS When a trope or metaphor gets popularly misappropriated due to cultural transference, problems ensue. Two examples often used in mainstream Western culture are “low man on the totem pole” and the “pawn in the game.” Neither of these artifacts originally comes from Western civilization — that civilization in which cultural historical amnesia is a given norm and assimilation is a goal, thereby dooming those who buy into the concept to repeating preventable mistakes, like déjà vu all over again. On the west coast of Turtle Island, the Tlingit-Haida Nation originated totem poles. Though their political influence at one time stretched down into what we call California, totem poles, like feathered headdresses and teepees, became a recursive meme meant to stand in for indigenous nations that never used them. Obviously the being represented at the base of the pole, holding every one else up, has to be the physically strongest and, perhaps, the spiritually strongest, and certainly not the least powerful or significant in an artificial hierarchy. Similarly, the pawn in chess is the only piece on the board that, having reached its goal, can transform itself into the most powerful piece on the board. As both totem poles and chess are originally artifacts, taken from indigenous communities of color, that have been adopted and changed by Caucasianization, we can expect these histories to be erased, and the emic (internal to the culture) symbolism to be misunderstood. If I were low man on the white cultural totem pole, I might be looked upon with contempt by the ones riding on my back and shoulders as being a lower life form, when I’m actually supporting them. Similarly, if I am an empowered pawn, capable of shape-shifting and exerting powers of transformation in myself and others, I can do that, even if visibly removed from the game. Just as successive exalted cyclops of Eugene Klan #3 have done by becoming businessmen, educators, politicians, administrators, etc. In the quarter century I’ve worked at Lane Community College and the two years I’ve been employed at the University of Oregon, I’ve been both forewarned and forearmed. Blessed enough to innovate and make change, only to see such innovations and changes get washed away by various forms of backlash rather than being built upon and protected. African-American professionals who’ve worked and moved on from both workplaces have warned me: It’s the belly of the beast, it’s a great training ground for institutional racism, it’s vicious, or viscous like mud or quicksand; it will eat you alive like quicksand made of acid. Of course, I didn’t enter into Eugene’s “progressive paradise” with rainbow-tinted glasses, either. The upside is that here, if you’re patient, you can get things done that might take longer in other places. But it might take you longer to implement what is a longstanding progressive standard elsewhere. So, while I’ve participated in many innovative projects — at LCC, in the community and, finally, the past two years at the UO — to enhance the infrastructure, nothing can’t be undone by backlash or budget cuts or backlash masquerading as budget cuts. I like the irony quoted in the UO mission statement: the university “focuses on teaching and research excellence, with a focus on critical, logical thinking, clear communication, and ethical living.” Budgets and expenditures reflect priorities. As of this writing I’ve yet to be paid by the UO, working as an instructor teaching International Substance Use Treatment. I’m an addictions prevention, treatment and recovery practitioner. While not in 12-step recovery, I promote the “Addiction is Slavery” meme: I’m like Harriet Tubman or Morpheus. I teach addicted pawns caught in the matrix of addiction to become powerfully transformed, addiction Jedi knights and Warrior queens, rather than agents of the addicted system. During basically the same time period, a drunken white assistant football coach got paid inside of a week for five days work, more money than I would’ve gotten paid if I worked for 10 years in the soon-to-be-canceled substance abuse prevention program. I was forewarned to understand how the university might value me if that value is measured in dollars and cents. I know how much money football makes, but how many brain-injured, addicted football players are there and who would help them? If that value is measured in lives saved, improved and extended, and addiction reduced, the consensus might be that the value is priceless. Everything that has a beginning has an end. The end for the substance abuse prevention program is approaching. The problems won’t be going away, and neither will many of us. We’ll still be here, teaching pawns to transform, jumping barriers, and eliminating obstacles to empowerment. [...] Read more...
June 5, 2017Notes from the Riverside Obama to Trump: Reconstruction Progress to Backlash What if you were born to live in these times, in this place? To be a force for calm, strength, wisdom, humor, even to sing and pray in the face of state sponsored terror, though it might mean your death? I’m talking about the experience of people of color in North, Central, and South America, including Hawaii. I could also be talking about South Africa, and numerous White Supremacist regimes America has sponsored because of profit. If the last eight years of a Black Presidential Administration have demonstrated, the basic structures supporting White Supremacy have never been dismantled, or seriously disrupted. I liken them to the standard chessboard in which white makes the rules, moves first, knows the hidden legal moves, and the ways to win by cheating, if you don’t know the rules or the history. Progress will always be followed by Backlash. Backlash leads to Mandela, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, the Panthers, Black Lives Matter, ActUp, Standing Rock, Wellbriety, and a host of others. The movement which brought Obama to power, because of the backwardness of Bush, may have diversified the color of the pieces on the board, but didn’t change the structure or rules of the game, and its underlying assumptions. [...] Read more...
June 5, 2017http://www.eugeneweekly.com/20160908/guest-viewpoint/my-sense-times-intertwined-deep-great-blacks “My Sense of Times Intertwined Deep with the Great Blacks. Standing in my corner, ain’t no way you can fake that. No way you can shake that, No way you can take that I reckon that you pace back, and learn to embrace that.” -”Great Blacks” Georgia Anne Muldrew, A Thoughtiverse Unmarred I wanted to be white for 3 weeks in 4th Grade (1965), because I was being rejected. Being the only Black kid in class in my elementary school in Bel Air. After three weeks I realized, wait, there’s nothing wrong with me, its them. My home training countered the non-lessons I was getting: Slaves were smart. Slaves resisted every step of the way. We were the slaves that taught ourselves to read, when it was a death sentence. Therefore: Learning to read before kindergarten, reading at least 3 grade levels above where you are, try to excel at everything you can, especially at the multi-racial nation building things Black people have done before…know The Great Blacks, before you go to school. Because you can’t trust the schools to teach you, all you need to know. Know about other people of color too. A movement of multicultural affirmation. Black Lives Matter erupts, emerges, evolves, from the same conditions that James Brown wrote and recorded Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud. The messages from mainstream society despite assertions of equality i.e. All Lives Matter, is that White Lives Matter More. Whitewashed historical evidence suggests, the best thing you can do, is adopt the values, including historical and cultural amnesia, and acquire the trappings of wealth and success. Emulate American successful exemplars displayed on street signs, buildings, tabloids, reality television, fashion magazines, and school curriculum. To counter that, a larger story needed to be told, and the Ethnic Studies movement evolved from Negro History Week. I Too Am Eugene: A Multicultural History Project, broke the story of Eugene Klan #3, nearly 20 years ago in the Eugene Weekly, LCC’s Ethnic Studies, and Rites of Passage. Cheri Turpin, sat down in the microfilm room, cross referenced archives, and found the Klan / UO connection, Klan membership lists, and statewide Klan activities well past the purported death of the Klan in 1925. In 1937, meeting in Portland, (Reported in The Oregonian but not in the Register Guard) the Klan claimed 16,000 members statewide and wanted Eugene, (again), as its state headquarters. They decided to recruit in law enforcement and again be politically active. The Eugene Klan didn’t die, but embodied the Invisible Empire: political, news, business, education, law enforcement, and justice system infrastructure. There is nothing to show that they weren’t successful and that anyone stopped them from those goals. Or more cogently, subsequently eliminated their influence from the businesses, organizations, and institutions they inhabit today. Post-war the Klan focused on the growing Black community, including cross burnings, at least one lynching, and practices of legal and illegal housing, job, and lending discrimination. In effect making Eugene both a redlined, and sundown town. A place where skilled millwrights like Willie Mims father, could not find work in the timber industry because of their race. A place where business owner Sam Reynolds, could neither get a business loan for a new business, nor rent or buy a home within the city limits. Gathering personal accounts by Black & White community members, we were able to establish Klan influence from the post-war period into the 21st Century. Since experiences affecting people of color, are not regularly reflected in Eugene, the University, the Register Guard, can maintain the fiction, that the Klan has been dead for 90 years. Institutional historians may use the standard that if we can’t produce membership lists, then its not Klan activity. Even if cross burnings, and lynchings occur, we can’t say it’s the Klan that did it. If a toy gun is treated the same as a real gun by the police and military, then crosses burnt on Skinners Butte, in front of the West 11th Community, in front of a home on Friendly street, or a home in Springfield one week after 9/11, are going to be considered the genuine article. The Klan is a secret fraternal organization that infiltrated news, schools, business, law enforcement, and politics. They learned from their past mistakes, but they could and did act through the institutions they infiltrated, as “Red-blooded Americans”, a Klan phrase indicating racial purity. Doing that, they could order the incarceration of American citizens of Japanese descent. Order the termination of Native American tribes. Question Latino-American citizens on the basis of race alone. I Too Am Eugene as activist historians produced school, college, and Rites of Passage, curriculum, a historical bus tour, trained K-12 teachers, and acts to make communities of color historically visible: Wiley Griffon Historical Monument, Sam Reynolds St, MLK Blvd, helped facilitate Talking Stones, and other projects, because we feel as a multicultural history project its more than just a story in black and white. Activist historians operate outside of classrooms, books, curricula, into the community, to meet real human needs, not operate in some academic remove. [...] Read more...
June 5, 2017Originally published in Eugene Weekly Nov 12, 2015 Notes from the Riverside Shooters to Shao Lin By Mark Harris Paul Robeson once observed: “The man who accepts Western values absolutely, finds his creative faculties becoming so warped and stunted that he is almost completely dependent on external satisfactions, and the moment he becomes frustrated in his search for these, he begins to develop neurotic symptoms, to feel that life is not worth living, and, in chronic cases, to take his own life.” Or yours. America is adept at producing young white men in particular, who find their only outlet of either sexual or meaningful life expression, in murderous violence, ending in suicide, or suicide by cop. Either way, lacking courage to create a life. Easier to destroy, than create and our society makes that normal. Normal, is what occurs with predictable regularity — there’s an infrastructure producing “normal”.  For me what happened at UCC, was about where and when, not if. In some communities this kind of violence is a daily occurrence. Every day 90 people a day die by gun violence in America. By October 1st, the equivalent of the entire population of Roseburg, plus about three thousand, had already died. Put another way, the annual death toll from gun violence equals the entire student body of Lane Community College, plus all but a few thousand students of the University of Oregon. Normal and predictable, supported by infrastructure, also means preventable. By example,the illegal drug problem in America, is normally generated by un-arrested, unprosecuted, wealthy white Americans. Relaxed drug laws, reduced incarceration of people of color, aren’t going to make a dent. Stricter gun laws, without increasing general humanity, compassion, culturally competent mental health skill building therapy, will not make a dent either. Many of my clients, who have already been dangerous people, want to be less so, and “give back”. I feel no danger from the people who’ve killed for our government, or for their street organizations. The former killers who now want to “give back”, become addictions / social workers, are not the dangerous ones. After receiving 3 death threats (Two from Supremacists, and one from a mentally ill person) I like to keep aware of my surroundings. I see it’s the ones who lose their humanity in cyber addiction, in fantasy, in garden variety dehumanizing insanity. The system that doesn’t recognize racism as a normalized recurring dual diagnosis (an addiction and a mental illness) which affects white shooters, like Dylann Roof, and Black shooters like Vester Flanagan, alike, won’t begin to address the normal generators of such madness. The shooters don’t find sanity in the reality of helping less fortunate others. Giving themselves a more noble life purpose, in the face of barbs and slights from others. What if access to deadly force, was not simply a consumer choice, but an earned privilege, like a samurai sword? You must prove your capacity to heal and make peace, adhere to a code of honor, before acquiring deadly force, in the manner of a Shao Lin Monk, or 18th Dynasty Medjay Warrior. Old school and naive perhaps, but when did expecting people to become more human, not less, and nurturing them on that journey, become more rare and less normal? [...] Read more...
June 5, 2017It’s hard to believe that it’s Week 10 of an 11-week term! I’m sure my online students are as breathless as I am.  Just as I had expected, there was no way we could fit everything into this term, and so as I wrote to my students with the final sandbox assignment of the term last night, I had to erase the sentence, “This assignment has two parts.” I had so wanted to ask my students to create digital editions of restaurant menus for this last week. Shawna Ross at Texas A & M had given a wonderful workshop on how to create “minimal computing” digital editions, and I was intending to assign this to my students. But I realized that it was too much mental load to expect students could research and curate menus in our area, then scan and OCR them, and then post them in Omeka. So instead, I stuck with the original New York Public Library “What’s on the Menu?” crowdsourced proofing/reviewing project. While they won’t experience a “whole game” experience of creating digital editions and posting them in their archives as I had intended, they will experience the “whole game” of participating in the development of a world-class digital archive.  Last week, students from Central Oregon Community College, under the care of Professor Annemarie Hamlin, collaborated with my students on a digital maps project. We had intended for that project to be hosted by the DH@theCC Commons, but we had trouble with the invitations in Buddy Press, so we relied on Google Docs and I have to say it didn’t work badly at all! Here are the assignment sheets: Week 9: Cross-Institutional Collaboration Collaboration with Central Oregon CC Students  Week 10: “What’s on the Menu?” Crowdsourced Review Assignment What’s on the Menu Assignment   [...] Read more...
May 22, 2017In Week 7, I realized that less was more at this point and gave my students a second week to develop their Omeka sites. I often feel that I’m not doing my job if I don’t create new assignments and activities each week, but I have learned slowly that students miss the satisfaction of really developing something that they’ve learned. With Omeka especially this was true, and so I took my foot off of the activity pedal so students could build their archives to their satisfaction. Now, in Week 8, students are headed in yet another new direction: taking “synthetic selfies.” I got this idea originally from Jena Osman, whose book and presentation, Public Figures, explore the non-human gaze of public monuments.  Since the weather is finally nice, I’m asking my students to watch Osman’s chapters and then go outside and find a public monument and explore the gaze and view of non-human subjects with a selfie-stick. Cyborgs, enhanced humans, and “beat box” singing all reveal an increasingly sophisticated popular familiarity with human/non-human relationships. Focusing on a pre-digital form, the statue, provides a literal brick-and-mortar experience of the non-human. I’m hoping that Osman’s anticipation of selfies and “photo bombs” through immobile statues will give students a defamiliarizing vantage point from which to examine their own experience of the non-human. I got the idea for this assignment from Kaia Sand’s assignment here.  Here are my assignment instructions, based on Sand’s:  Take a Synthetic Selfie [...] Read more...
May 10, 2017I’ve recently been documenting the college’s plans to eliminate the Honors Program. Honors is on a list with several other valuable programs and services at the college, including Philosophy and Religion. Philosophy classes make up the majority of our honors social sciences offerings and have been instrumental for students expanding their critical thinking skills. Read honors instructor Caroline Lundquist’s article in the Eugene Weekly: “Philosophy is Dangerous.” It is difficult for me to imagine a college removing the opportunity for students to experience an honors education. It is inconceivable to me that a college would not offer courses in philosophy and religion. The Board of Education will vote today on whether or not to accept the administration’s proposed budget, including the program cuts. [...] Read more...
May 7, 2017We are past the mid-term point, and anyone who has taught quarters understands what May 7th feels like. Running on fumes and very hard to continue to create! But I’m so convinced my students will reap great rewards by creating their own archives. So, with the help of a blueprint by Amanda French  I provide step-by-step instructions with customized illustrations to my class this week. Writing curriculum is like…writing. Less is always more. “If I had longer, it would be shorter.” So I asked my students just to create their archive, to upload 3 items, to post a reflection in our LMS. That’s enough for this week. It’s a lot. Instructions for Your First Upload to Omeka Archive [...] Read more...
May 3, 2017[download] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2017/05/TIPSS14-Enrollment-Patterns-v2.pdf” title=”TIPSS14 Enrollment Patterns v2″] [...] Read more...
May 1, 2017The term is flying by. I just finished looking at students Emotion Maps from Week 3. They were amazing–I loved how diverse students’ choice of emotions were–from “anticipation” to “dominance” to “joy.” This assignment met my expectations for introducing students to the Library of Congress Chronicling America database collection while also introducing them to the steps for producing an annotated map as a collection that tells a story. This week is mid-term, and I am introducing students to Franco Moretti and “distant reading.” It’s difficult to assume that all students will be able to wade through “The Slaughterhouse of Literature” and “Conjectures on World Literature.” Some of my students seem like they may be literature majors in the making, while others are unlikely to have read many novels at all in college. So I took it upon myself to create a  lecture with 25 slides to introduce students to Franco Moretti’s New Method of Reading ; it includes paraphrases and summaries of these two articles, walking students through Moretti’s concepts. If I were teaching f2f instead of online, this would be an extended lecture/discussion class session–perhaps the entire class session. For my online class, my goal is to give students the background for why we would want to use “distant reading tools,” and in the absence of a lecture setting, I simply told them what I thought Moretti was getting at  I love the term “methodologically bold” that Moretti uses to inspire students everywhere to come up with hypotheses.  After students read both these two essays and my summaries of them, I ask them to follow Paul Fyfe and Ryan Cordell and “not read” a Victorian novel from Project Gutenberg. I had wanted to try multiple tools, but in the end I realized that Voyant alone is enough of a challenge, and so I created a step-by-step for students to work with Voyant and post their discoveries and “bold methodologies” to their blogs.  Here are my instructions with screencaptures, rubric and grading criteria. I have divided into two files because they are large files. Instructions McGrail Distant Reading Part 1Instructions McGrail Distant Reading Part 1 Instructions McGrail Distant Reading Part 2Instructions McGrail Distant Reading Part 2   [...] Read more...
April 28, 2017Week 4 is already done and I’m just now able to post from my course. When I was developing my composition course, I read some great work by Ann Frances Wysocki about how students need to consider the ethics of representing themselves and others online.  Since I’m asking my own students to create archives that may include photos of my students or their family and friends, I adjusted my calendar so that we could slow down and collaboratively create a statement for the ethical representation of themselves online.  Here’s my screencast video introducing students to the assignment: https://www.screencast.com/t/TPdUltE9 Here’s the written INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLLABORATIVE STATEMENT OF ETHICAL REPRESENTATION 2 [...] Read more...
April 22, 2017Spring term is buzzing by. We have one hummingbird outside our house who has been sitting on a branch all winter and now he’s almost obscured by the leaves that have filled in.  Week 3 is about mapping. As I wrote in my thought piece on “minimal computing” in January, I use Google maps to help students develop several kinds of DH skills, from basic procedural knowledge for working with online primary source materials to content knowledge about the what, where, when, and how of literary and cultural histories. Picking up on our Week 1 reading of Mrs. Dalloway, I sent my online students to the wonderful Georgia Tech students’ project, Mrs. Dalloway Mapping Project to get a feel for how plot points, settings, and other narrative features can be interpreted through maps. Originally I was going to ask my own students to map the novel, but the Georgia Tech example is so strong that I thought it would be better to try something else. So I asked students to then explore another site, Mapping Emotions in Victorian London , from the Stanford Literary Lab.  This site gave me an idea for my own students: to use the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America database to explore an emotion in America from 1789-1924 (the range of the database’s complete collection of newspapers), and then map the appearance of emotions in print in America over time.  First instructional video  Second instructional video Third instructional video Instructions for Mapping Emotions in America Project I’m looking forward to seeing what my students come up with and hearing about their process. It’s been a great experience for me to break the steps down as clearly as possible. Procedural knowledge is a key skill set for C21 students. It’s one thing to create the maps myself through tinkering and my own tacit knowledge. It’s another thing altogether to step back and provide the steps so that online students can perform a lengthy series of steps toward a single end. We’ll see next week how they did! [...] Read more...
April 13, 2017[download] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2017/04/TIPSS13.pdf” title=”TIPSS#13″] [...] Read more...
April 3, 2017Download [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2017/04/2016_annual_reflection_Final.pdf”] [...] Read more...
March 30, 2017[gdoc link="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m-kP9nt6ijs14GkCY4cLyLqv7lXDV1LV/view?usp=sharing" type="other" height="600"] [...] Read more...
March 14, 2017The two “questioning strategies” in Bean’s  “Chapter 4: Questioning a Text” I chose are “Examining a Writer’s Credibility and Appeals to Ethos” and “Examining a Writer’s Appeals to Reason or Logos.” Ethos means character while logos means reason(hence the titles.) After watching Randall Bass’s TEDxGeorgetown and reading his “Disrupting Ourselves” essay, it is clear that the two go hand in hand. In both of these messages he expands on three major points: post-course era, expanding our conception of teaching, and the new nexus. In relevance to Bean I decided to keep it simple and follow the “for writing and discussion” sections. Bass is clearly knowledgeable considering he is an associate professor of English and vice provost at Georgetown University, and Executive Director of Center for New Design of Learning and Scholarship. I’d assume he likes teaching and improving the higher education system; it is the main point of the two works I have read. He is in favor of change and recognizing its significance. He believes in progressing and keeping up with the times. He refers back to how much has changed in just 10 to 20 years. His approach is very calm, but informal. He seems to be a likeable man. I would not mind having him enlighten me over some coffee. Bass wants educators to understand the importance of using integrative thinking and experiential learning to re-shape higher education. He uses several different images to help better understand the message he is trying to get across. All of which were convincing and backed up with solid evidence. His assumptions of future education add up making it easy to connect the evidence to them. He has been in this business for years and clearly knows what he is talking about. Although the message is mainly directed towards educators, I enjoyed watching/reading him. It is comforting to know that people like him exist in the world. People who work towards positive changes and have the students best interest at heart is truly inspiring. He understands that the world is changing at a rapid pace and is already preparing for what the future has in store. One thing that stuck with me from the video was his wife, Professor Heidi Elmendorf’s idea of the three ways to teach that hit the “sweet spot” of knowledge. He further adds that the colors around each of them had importance as well. When shown on a piece of paper the center of the three colors were black. When light was shed on them the center was white; “the white space of formation, the white space that then becomes the canvas which students have the chance to paint themselves, to author themselves.” [...] Read more...
March 14, 2017This reading is extremely difficult for me to process. When I first read it, it went in one ear and out the other. There are quite a few words I don’t understand and phrases I did not pick up on. In order for me to really understand it I had to reread sentences over and over. Honestly the reading bored me and was painful to get through. Basically the entire reading is about being a scholar. As I did some research I found that it was delivered as a speech to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Harvard University on August 31, 1873. No wonder I couldn’t understand it, it’s from 1873 and directed towards Harvard students. Anyways, I also did a bit of research on Emerson. He was born May 25, 1803 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. This guy was brilliant. He was seen as a champion of individualism. This actually makes me more intrigued to try and understand the reading more because I know a little bit about the author now. Although I am not a scholar….yet, I can appreciate pretty much anything that someone is passionate about. Another thing is that I feel like it was almost a different language compared to now in the older days. It is very proper and really takes work for me to try and understand. That is why I was immediately turned off by the reading. When I break things down, it makes much more sense in my 2017 mind. Thank the higher powers for google because it just completely helped me understand something I never would have if it did not exist! [...] Read more...
March 10, 2017  GOOD NEWS – Adobe Acrobat Pro is available for LCC employees on campus. It is an indispensable publishing software tool for you as OER course creators, especially if you are adapting existing material in PDF format. The application enables you to run Accessibility checks on existing PDFs. You can fix common issues like adding alt-tags and titles; ensuring that a PDF is properly tagged; and that the document is set to the correct language. You can also perform editing functions like auto-pagination; direct-text editing; and rearranging pages. Another feature of Acrobat Pro is the ability to combine PDFs with easy drag-and-drop methods. The free Adobe Acrobat Reader does not perform any of these higher functions. Acrobat Pro is part of the Adobe Creative CC suite. Any part of the entire Suite can be installed on your work computer. To place a request, contact your department’s admin and they will forward it to IT.     [...] Read more...
March 10, 2017[download] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2017/03/TIPSS12.pdf” title=”TIPSS#12″] [...] Read more...
March 7, 2017Bass In the article “Disrupting Ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Education,” by Randall Bass, the author argues that the traditional course is antiquated in that the most effective way of learning now happens outside the bounds of standard courses. Education is unique to every individual and should be guided with their particular needs. The education system needs to change to integrative thinking and experimental learning. The instructor based method is out of date that E-Portfolios are rapidly becoming the new thing. More and more students are familiarizing themselves with professors teaching online. The more educational methods change the better students will be able to succeed. The author uses visual elements such as quotes and diagrams to persuade the reader, in this case the audience are instructors. When Bass inserts the visuals in his writing, he does not introduce them or mentions them in any way. Though the visuals emphasize on Bass’s argument, they are inserted in the middle of a paragraph with no explanation. The author uses the visuals to enhance the logical appeal in the article. Bass writes, “On the one side is a growing body of data about the power of experiential learning in the co-curriculum; while on the other side is the world of informal learning and the participatory culture of the Internet.” He incorporates facts for the readers to understand what is happening to education (logos) and uses the aid of a visual to further enhance the credibility of his image and what he is trying to convey. Randall Bass text ideology is the change in education methods to applying what is learned to a real life situation versus staying in the traditional, stay in the class for two hours long, while listening to a professor teach, method. Bass values and understands that each individual is different. Each student learns differently and in different kinds of environment. He recognizes the importance it is to identify when standard courses no longer work. Everything is transitioning online. He knows that students now need more hands on learning with the ability to apply to their life. Bass says, “Students’ participate in one or more of these practices had the greatest impact on success.” When students are involved in internships, studying abroad, and/or seminars, they are able to succeed more than if they only went to a classroom to learn. The author of this article also made a Tedx talk. In doing this, we learn more about Randall Bass. We get a better sense of his personality and credibility by seeing how he acts in real life and not just through a computer screen. This is also known as ethos. He tells us a little about his wife and how above all else, the most important thing is to learn for the soul. Everything students learn should be able to be applied, not only for educational purposes but for each individual’s life and soul. By knowing a little bit of Bass’s life, it increases his credibility. His actions makes him trustworthy. His words do not seem like they are fake or unreliable. Overall Bass uses ethos, logos, and visuals to enhance the persuasion of his argument. [...] Read more...
March 7, 2017“The American Scholar” While reading “The American Scholar,” by Ralph Emerson I found that the language and sentence structure is difficult to comprehend. Since it was written in the 1800’s the language is very different from the modern language. This made it very difficult to figure out who the audience is. Who is he speaking to and what is he talking about? At the very beginning it does say “An oration delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, at Cambridge.” This helps us assume Ralph is speaking to a group of college students, but why do they want to hear him speak? What is the purpose? Throughout the speech Emerson spoke about the three fundamental influences of the American Scholar: nature, books, and action. When he was talking about nature, at some point it seemed like he was speaking about religion. “There is never a beginning, there is never an end, to the inexplicable continuity of this web of God, but always circular power returning itself.” I was confused because when he was talking about nature, I thought he meant an American Scholar should go out and explore, find new things, expand your knowledge; not find yourself in a spiritual level. After researching Ralph Emerson, I found he was an American Transcendentalist Poet. Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement to protest against the general state of intellectualism and spirituality at the time. “ A core belief of transcendentalism is the inherent goodness of people and nature” (Wikipedia). Now knowing Ralph Emerson’s background gave another meaning to his speech. Going back and rereading it makes absolute sense. He was saying everyone needs to find themselves and realize everyone is “One Man.” Ralph was also a minister, which would correlate to all the religious language as well. He wanted people to understand we all have to start thinking for ourselves and not use old books for our ideas. We should use books to have the knowledge for creative ideas not to copy from others. When he talks about action being one of the fundamentals influences, he’s professor side comes out. He is letting everyone know we should not waste an opportunity, which is what every teacher wants out of their students. Overall, Emerson’s speech was the idea that to change the world, it is dependent on future generations. [...] Read more...
March 5, 2017The first speech I chose was “Are Our Devices Turning Us into a New Kind Of Human?” by Study of 15,747 American users who check their smart phone multiple times per hour, conducted in 2015 Amber Case. I concluded her audience was also a broad spectrum of those who use participate in the use of digital networks. A secondary audience could possibly be other anthropologists. The intention of this speech is to explain how humans are becoming more and more reliant on technology, having a physical self, and a digital self. She appears very confident with her studies and observations, and conveys her message in a very straight forward manner. She developed her credibility by having a significant of research and observations. In Ted Talk “How Can Our Real Lives Be Ruined by Our Digital Ones?” by Jon Ronson, the intended audience was a multitude of people who use social media, and those who listen to Ted Talk. The purpose of his talk was to raise awareness on just how much of an impact social media has on our lives, not only on the screen, but in the real world, with real emotional consequences in hopes that we rethink how we interact on social media. He used examples of real life situations where twitter took control of a woman’s life, causing real life consequences and harassment. He describes commuters on the internet act in mobs, mostly for social approval. The medium is developed through a speech given to live audience. His speech was very straight forward and passionate. He developed credibility in his real life examples he presented. I chose to research Jon Ronson, who is a Welsh journalist, author, documentary filmmaker and radio presenter. He has published nine books and his work has appeared in British publications such as The Guardian, City Life and Time Out. He has made several BBC Television documentary films and two documentary series for Channel 4. He has several bestselling books, including, Them: Adventures With Extremists, The Men Who Stare at Goats, the Psychopath Test, and Lost At Sea. He is known for his informal investigations of controversial fringe politics and science. He has been described as a “gonzo journalist,” which the reporter writes in first person, including themselves as a part of the story. Sources: http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/14-non-fiction/10245-so-youve-been-publicly-shamed-ronson?start=1 [...] Read more...
March 5, 2017The first story that resonated with me was Jon Ronson: How Can Our Real Lives Be Ruined By Our Digital Ones? He spoke of a woman who posted something on twitter, then woke up to her world flipped upside down with harassing messages, this post consequently caused her to lose her job. People absolutely judge you based off of your online presence, and this online lifestyle can consume you. This story really rang true with me; when I had my son at 17, someone made a post about me, telling his followers to message me and harass me (because I was pregnant at a young age). I remember receiving hateful messages, even people stalking me. This consumed me, I remember crying every time I received a nasty message, I was even paranoid to go in public. The internet absolutely can effect your real life. The second story I found interesting was Amber Case: Are Our Devices Turning Us Into A New Kind Of Human? This one interested me because at first I scoffed at the thought of a “Cyborg Anthropologist,” but the more she explained the developments and how we rely on our phones, it made sense. We are so reliant on this “virtual world,” they truly are extensions of ourselves. We have to present ourselves in a legitimate way on this online world just as much as we do in the real world. Our reliance on this virtual reality is causing us to not use self reflection. Amber Case’s Ted Talk can be found here: http://www.npr.org/2015/09/11/438944317/are-our-devices-turning-us-into-a-new-kind-of-human Jon Ronson’s Ted Talk can be find here: http://www.npr.org/2015/09/14/440286008/how-can-our-real-lives-be-ruined-by-our-digital-ones [...] Read more...
March 5, 2017In the article, “Disrupting Ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Education,” by Randall Bass, he argues that traditional formal curriculum is not where high-impact experiences take place. The educational system needs to shift for students to get the best learning outcome. Technology can play a key role in learning; E-portfolios allow students to organize their learning, and expand their focus from individual courses to broader educational spectrum. Randall Bass’s ideology is the progression in education moving from traditional course’s, into learning that promotes high impact learning. This being more of a hands on learning, where education is integrated into real life experiences. He believes team-based learning would be beneficial, instead of trying to change faculty so they change their courses, this change focuses on changing course structures so that faculty will be supported in an expanded approach to teaching. This thought also focuses course work around the student, instead of the student having to track down all the necessary resources. Studies show that when students participate in internships, studying abroad, and seminars, they have a higher success rate than traditional course work; where students are loaded with information, then thrown into real life experiences instead of integrating course work with real life experiences. After examining Bass’s writing and TedX talk, I understand his reason (Logos). His perspective appears to be genuine based of his experiences and observations. Before reading his article, I had a similar theory based off of my personal experience’s with learning. So when reviewing his article, he provided studies, experiments, and his opinion, I have no objection to his stand point. I believe everything he wrote about was valid and raised some progressive idea’s I believe would be very beneficial in the educational system. I do believe everyone learns differently, and it’s proven that traditional course work is not beneficial for every student.Through out his article, he provided concise information, strategically placed charts and graphs, and had a logical argument. In this article, Bass uses Ethos, Logos, visual elements and makes his ideology very clear.  I enjoyed his writing and speech, I believe he his very persuasive in his view points. I hope the educational system progresses in the manner he spoke, this would benefit students and broaden understanding of real life experiences, instead of just words on a page or homework they don’t think twice about. I thoroughly believe that Bass touches on all aspects in his writing the compels the reader to engage and truly understand his perspective and ideology. [...] Read more...
March 5, 2017While typically I can understand the context I am reading and the general direction the author is guiding me; I had to read and re-read to genuinely understand Ralph Waldo Emerson’s writing. He wrote in first person, in a didactic nature including many rhetorical and poetic devices, making this speech a very interesting read. After my second time through, the repetition throughout the speech really helped me understand his message. His use of rhetorical questions helped guide me, peeking my involvement in his text, much like a conversation. Generally, I find metaphors and simile’s  helpful when reading; but several of the ones in this speech felt unfamiliar to me, which made grasping his intention’s behind the text difficult. This made me stop and really analyze the meaning behind each metaphor/simile.  While I found this to be a bit out of my comfort zone, I believe the amount of engagement he required from me to truly understand and contextualize, was beneficial, pushing me to grow as a writer and deepen my engagement when reading. Another point of difficulty for me would be that he wrote in a very poetic manner. This effected the way I read it, very stop and go, particularly full sentences with substance I am not used to. I am not familiar in this era, which more than likely made it much more difficult to understand his writing. I can read poetry with ease usually, but I did find it challenging in essay form. I do think this speech was very well put together, especially how he engaged his audience. Before reading, I researched Emerson on the internet and found an abundance of information about his character and beliefs; this assisted me in understanding the tone. Emerson established myself as a prolific poet, essayist, and lecturer. He was also a part of  American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century, called the Transcendentalist Movement. Transcendentalism system based on a belief all creation’s need unity, seeing the best in people, individualism, and the using of insight over logic. Another belief is that God does not have to reveal the truth because it is revealed intuitively through nature. Knowing a general idea of who he was and his beliefs was quintessential in my understanding, if I had not taken notes or researched who he  was – I would of have had an obscured idea of his speech. References; biography.com/…/ralph-waldo-emerson-9287153 poets.org/…tsorg/poet/ralph-waldo-emerson poetryfoundation.org/…/ralph-waldo-emerson [...] Read more...
February 28, 2017  Upon listening to “Screen Time – Part I & II” by TED Radio Hour and watching several of the full length TED talks included I found it challenging to focus on just two of the twelve stories as they all fully captured my interest. Eventually I narrowed it down to “Rana El Kaliouby: Will Our Screen Soon Be Able To Read Our Emotions” and “Dimitri Christakis: When It Comes To Kids, Is All Screen Time Equal?” I picked Rana’s story because I am a highly emotional person and make a point to find emotional support among the people around me as well as offering it. The concept of having my technology and devices read my emotions is frightening, but at the same time I appreciate Rana’s attitude of, we probably can’t detach ourselves from our technology so how can we make it more human and empathetic? Dimitri’s story is interesting to me because I may have grown up in the last generation/set of circumstances (at least in this country) without a lot of TV, cell phones, touch screens, etc. I am extremely grateful for my childhood and the amount of time I spent in nature and with other people, and am curious how I may eventually raise a child in this ever changing technology driven world. [...] Read more...
February 27, 2017Throughout the listening process of the Ted Radio Hour’s “Screen Time, Part 1” and “Screen Time, Part 2”, I ran across two that had especially caught my attention. The first of the two, was one titled “How Are Our Screens Changing Us?”. While listening, Mark Zuckerberg had predicted the evolution of screens through virtual reality technology, which had caught my attention. Curious about where he was going with this idea, I asked myself where could he possibly be going with this idea. He soon resolved my curiosity by stressing the idea of how major computing platforms must evolve and over time there must new ideas to build upon, and to keep pushing the technological industry. As for the second “How Do Screens Distort Our Sense Of Time”, it took a completely different direction that explained, how mankind has developed a sense of blindness to the real world due to the evolution of technology throughout today’s society. We as humans all have a desire for things outside of us, it is just breaking past the technological barrier that prevents us from becoming our true selves. The reason I chose these talks, is due to how incredible it is to see how technology has incorporated itself into our lives, and how useful it has become, but to also disallow it from running our lives, despite it having endless possibilities. [...] Read more...
February 27, 2017What have you done to retain “just one more” student? [...] Read more...
February 26, 2017Screen Time Part 1 Dimitri Christakis: When It Comes to Kids, Is All Screen Time Equal? Our brains are shaped by what we see and hear. The discussion was about what all this screen time and early exposure to the screen does to the brain in development. That all this screen time is affecting how they may interact with the world. I found this to be a battle I find myself in with my own son that is 11. It is a balance between making sure he is learning technology that is so important in the way we work today, but also making sure he is also able to be social and interact properly. But without knowing how all this screen time will affect this next generation are we allowing too much screen time. And the talk also asked are all screen times equal. I definitely feel that an hour of “Call of Duty” is not the same as watching a YouTube video on how to create a school project.   Screen Time Part 2 Jon Ronson: How Can Our Lives Be Ruined By Our Digital Ones? What happens when our digital self takes over our personal life. This discussion was about what happens when a person posts something on the internet that can be perceived as offensive. This talk was of great interest to me. I am constantly telling my adult children to be careful what they post online. Not only can it put your personal information into the hands of people you may not want to know so much detail about your life. But, future employers may look at what you have posted and this could affect your possible future employment in a negative way. By posting something that you feel is innocent or perhaps you meant it in a joking manner. If you have offended one person or someone that did not see it as a joke they can start spreading what you said in a negative light like wildfire across the internet. Something so small as a short blurb on Twitter or Facebook can be used to villainize you even if that was not your intent. Be careful what you post, it could follow you for the rest of your life. [...] Read more...
February 21, 2017Randy Bass is Vice Provost for Education and Professor of English at Georgetown University, where he leads the Designing the Future(s) initiative and the Red House incubator for curricular transformation. For 13 years he was the Founding Executive Director of Georgetown’s Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS). He is the author or editor of numerous books, articles and digital projects, including recently, “Disrupting Ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Education,” (EDUCAUSE Review March/April 2012). In the article Bass discusses the fact that today’s ways of teaching “formal curriculum” are obsolete. Sitting in the same class for two hours every day, listening to a lecture, is no longer working. He states that we are in a “post-course era” to show that the everyday courses are no longer our main sources for learning. Bass encourages that we switch from the standard and move to a more experimental and engaged system of learning. Ethos is an appeal to ethics, and it is a means of convincing someone of the character or credibility of the persuader. From the information above, we can tell that Randall Bass is a well educated man. He uses his information and experience to create his ethos. Even though Bass is talking to the audience in a formal way, you can get a sense of how passionate he is about his work. He is persuading you, not by arguing and throwing out random facts, he is calm, passionate, and gives you the facts in a calming manner. This is how he connects to you and draws you in Logos is a literary device used to convince the audience through reason or logic. In the article, Bass uses vast amounts of logos to sway the audience into agreeing with his opinions. He cites many reliable sources such as The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U).  The source contains information about five specific campuses that applied this high-impact learning and the effect it had on the students. These sources further solidify Bass’s stance on the subject and showed that he had evidence that this new advanced type of learning actually worked. In doing so, he makes his point clear, and shows how the system is going to change. He explains that there are more resources outside of the classroom to be learning from. For example, Bass talks about internships, study abroad, and undergraduate research. Along with connecting to you by ethos and pathos in his article, he connects on a personal level in his Tedx Talk. This video truly shows just how passionate he is about the educational system and what needs to change. Bass connects to you be talking about his personal life and even telling jokes throughout the video.  He talks about the soul and how everything you learn should only impact your education, but you as a person. Knowing Bass on a more personal level helps him appeal to you through ethos. These are just a few examples of how Randy Bass wins over his audience and successfully conveys his point. [...] Read more...
February 21, 2017While writing, you must find a way to analyze for inherent problems that must never see the light of day.  They’re easy to miss, and it’s all too easy to forget the vital strategies that we learned in our youth. We have all developed a style with academic learning, separate from higher learning processes and creative processes, which constrain us as writers. We’ve developed a form that derives itself from previous work, in a self-perpetuating cycle of recycling the same or similar arguments over and over. Critical examination of your own work is therefore essential, and especially in your own credibility and ability to appeal to ethos. Making use of these two elements as guidelines of your work, you give yourself the power to increase the overall impact your writing may have, and reach out to your audience in more meaningful ways.   Though, to understand why credible writing and appeals to ethos are important, you have to understand first the value that is lost if they are absent, and how writing that lacks these become less pertinent. Finding and utilizing reliable text is the number one responsibility of an academic writer, for if they use suspect sources, or ones tainted overly much by opinion or politics, they undermine their own credibility severely. Sifting through journals, websites and books can be a difficult process in this day and age, but the difficulty of the task does not make its necessity any less.   At the same time, it’s important to flavor your research with your own opinions and ideas, for a completely neutral article does not exist, and any that claim to be unbiased in totality are likely just as unreliable as an overtly biased one. Confidence in your own knowledge and opinions is key to a successful delivery, and just as sorting out pure opinions from passionate facts is key. A successful think piece should be just that: a think piece. Bass advocates for a system of high learning, and part of that calls for challenging material. It should be able to lay down facts and opinions in such a way as to encourage the reader to either challenge your ideas or to look into them and extrapolate on their own. If they do not leave with questions or challenges, you have not succeeded in writing a critical piece, but if they are left angry and unwilling to continue, you have failed to appeal to ethos.   In this way, Bass has done an outstanding job of appealing to ethos, seeing as his target audience consists of teachers and students. He presents his arguments in a way that implies benefits to those who would read his piece, while also imploring us to examine how we accept the way things are done because ‘tradition’ in a more critical manner. So, what’s disrupting courses and the formal curriculum? If they are no longer the essential center of the undergraduate experience, what is? He directly questions things that are of relevance to the reader, and frames the question in such a way as to draw the reader in as an active participant in the conversation. At no point does he speak like a lecturer; he speaks like one who is just as frustrated with the way things are done as his audience, and he calls them to stand by him in challenging the system. His masterful appeals to our sense of ethos, and his constant challenges to our traditional ways of thinking create a refreshing piece that keeps us engaged far easier than if her simply stated the facts with no passion of his own, and no mind for what his audience finds engaging.   The last thing to consider as a writer is the ability to use language to shape your ideas. If you stick to straight, cited facts, with little regard to your own personal dialect, you will create a piece that is easy to ignore and skim. You absolutely must be willing to engage in a meaningful conversation with your audience. No one wants to be lectured at, and working with multiple people and questioning each other lies at the base of this concept. After all,the most successful writers are those who know this and actively engage and challenge their readers. Bass actively engages us, and creates a dialogue that gives back as much as we put in. He keeps us interested in both his use of language, and his application of ethos and critical examination. He understands a bored audience is not one that will stay long. In this way, language is the most important tool out of all, and a writer who refuses to speak is merely a mouthpiece for others. [...] Read more...
February 21, 2017Bass’s use of the rhetorical strategies, ideology and logos, assist him in capturing the audience and persuading them to think about new ways educational institutions need to reform the meaning of curriculum to bring higher education into the new era of learning. Bass’s ideology on higher education reflects that he is an ambassador for higher education and institutions but he is finding that outside resources for education are changing how the higher education community offers its education. He would like to see changes in the way courses and course curriculum are better serving the student. Moving away from the course being the primary learning experience to the course being a part of the larger curriculum, involving many departments of the domain of the course, in other words, “team-based”. By this redesign of the curriculum, the students are better served and educated and the faculty are better utilized. For the universities and colleges to sustain relevance in an information saturated world, these changes are critical to implement. Incorporating teaching techniques that allow the student to experience the intermediate space between novice and expert will give the student a meaningful learning experience. An experience that can only be provided by the institutions through the instructors and the curriculum. There will always be the demand for higher education but what that will look like is under reform. Bass’s reasoning or logos for making this proposal to redesign the course curriculum is supported by providing pieces of evidence that reinforce his position. The persuasive evidence he provides in both the essay, “Disrupting Ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Education” and the TEDx Talk “Formation by Design”, comes from studies done within the educational community, his audience, and his own personal research work with professors and students. The evidence is presented to the reader and then followed by questions to the reader about what that evidence will be as it applies to his ideas. He engages the audience with this technique and brings logic to the concept. Receiving this information from a man of Randy Bass’s experience and accomplishments, gives him a unique platform that is difficult to doubt. He has spent much of his life thinking and designing learning programs, so when he proposes a new way or design on how education is to be offered and learned, he is coming from a place of professionalism. His concept that higher education offered by a college and university should involve “mentored-learning” and the “arch of learning” is what will make these institutions unique and set apart from the other kinds of education students can buy. I was persuaded by the reasoning and evidence Bass presents in his ideas. The higher educational community holds a responsibility to ensure that the higher education offered to society is effective and beneficial to the advancement of the citizens of the world. I agree with Bass, that if the universities and college fail to offer effective and high impactive learning, that only they can provide, then what is their purpose. As a student, I would like to educational institutions move in the direction Bass is proposing. The benefits outweigh the hardships of reorganizing programs. [...] Read more...
February 21, 2017In chapter 4, Bean does a great job explaining what all “questioning a text” actually involves. After examining the Tedx video, That Randall bass gave at Georgetown, I got an idea of what appeal he was using. In this video I think that Bass was using “Examining a Writer’s Credibility and Appeals to Ethos” I figured this out because Bean says in Chapter 4, that this appeal is “when you change a reader’s mind about something, writers must make themselves credible by projecting an image of themselves that will gain the reader’s confidence.” So, for example: Bass is Vice Provost for education, he is an english professor at georgetown university, he is an author, and a wise man. He uses examples of things other very wise people as well. So if they think it and believe it, basically we should too! Ethos focuses on credibility and trust. It’s main techniques is personal branding, confidence in delivery, and citing credible sources. He adds in quotes from Professor Heidi Elmendorf, who is also from Georgetown. He put a quote from 1994 about the world wide web, grabbing people’s attention.He used a diagram showing formal learning and experiential learning, and incorporating them into high impact integrative curriculum. At the end, he showed another diagram, along with the picture that he showed in the beginning.He basically shows us that he has the good education, knowledge, and character and so you should believe him. This is definitely ethos.   In Randall Bass’s “Disrupting ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Education” I think that he mostly uses Logos. He has a structure of what he’s saying. He references studies, statistics, case studies. He has comparisons, analogies, and metaphors. He wants to give reason to why we should expand the conception of teaching. He introduces a new and innovative or disruptive process of higher education that focuses primarily on experiential learning rather than the main focus being formal learning.   He shows ways that students can do that will have a great impact on their success. He has a targeted audience. Bass uses was Bean said about images, “the common belief that pictures or more truthful and compelling Than Words is often true visual images are often powerfully persuasive devices.” Bass uses a lot of visual elements and logical appeals. “Visual illustrations are a staple of educational materials especially for beginners who are new to various subjects and test they naturally play a central role in academics and journalists writing that analyze and critique the use and quality of the images themselves.” Logos is a power logic, reasoning, and proof.  In the speech it was about the structure, studies, comparison, and metaphors. Logos is an appeal to logic and is a way of persuading an audience by reasoning. He uses a lot of images. The lingo he uses sounds very logical. I also feel like there is a tie between us thinking that if georgetown, this university that is so strong with academics uses ideas like this, than we should too. This was a good example of Examining a Writer’s Credibility and Appeals to Reason or Logos.   [...] Read more...
February 20, 2017Bass has stressed that throughout the course of the learning process, one must ask themselves how they could pick apart the learning process, to try and develop some sort of solution to the problems they find. Essentially same goes for writing, it is important to strive for the best work possible and that can not be achieved through “formal learning” as he has stated in his video. Now it is extremely common to make mistakes especially through education, and for many of us it is inevitable for us to forget the tools we were given throughout our learning process. Which has caused all of us within society to develop a thought process that is content with “formal learning”, constraining us from striving for “high impact learning”, in which he states is “a person will feel deeply invested in their work”. I firmly believe after listening to Bass, that this is the basis of what has caused all of society to fall into a rut that prevents us from from evolving the techniques of learning, and developing a final product that is inclined from the previous trials. Ultimately, to fully understand the depth of Bass’s message, one must concentrate  on Examining a Writer’s Credibility and Appeals to Ethos as well as focusing on Examining a Writer’s Language. By utilizing these two major components that are forever tethered into today’s modern language and by using them as guidelines to dissect the delivery of his content, one will be able to fully grasp the message he is trying to appeal to his audience. To completely understand the value of Examining a Writer’s Credibility and Appeals to Ethos, one must ask themselves why do they find credibility important, and how is it pertinent to understand the context. Bass understandably recognizes, the difficulty of integrating these tools, especially since today’s modern language has revolutionized throughout time, but he continuously stresses the importance of stepping outside of the box to keep pushing the standards. A huge piece to this, would be to understand that his position of being a professor establishes a connection with credibility. He references areas of research and articles that are intertwined with his own ideas which helps develop some continuity with his message, in which he has drilled into the audience’s mind throughout the course of the lecture. Bass continuously talks about the process and stresses the importance of it all while creating a supporting cast around him that supports his message. The last piece of the puzzle that I find equally as important would be Examining a Writer’s Language. I have found that throughout Bass’s content he is constantly going past the classical appeal of the context and allows the audience to sense the author’s style of language in such a way that their message becomes substantially more clear. This is where he himself goes beyond the way of formality. He successfully reaches beyond the generic and interchangeable ways of learning so that an individual person is unable to tell the difference between interpretive words because they seem like facts. By recognizing these details, he masters the formation of integrative design within language and develops a mentality that will surpass all formalities. [...] Read more...
February 20, 2017Upon reading and re-reading “Disrupting Ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Education” by Randall Bass and viewing his Tedx talk “Formation by Design”, I am analyzing his credibility and appeals to ethos and logos. On the subject of ethos I will articulate my opinion on his apparent knowledgeability, interests, biases, approach, character and the mood of his writing and speech. For logos I will delve into the perspective I believe Bass wants the reader to assume as well as his claims, reasons and evidence used to present his position. I will also look into whether I share the author’s assumptions that connect his evidence to his claims. Ethos is an appeal to ethics and a means of convincing someone of the character of the persuader. Randall Bass appears well esteemed and highly knowledgeable. He is the associate provost and a professor at Georgetown University, working in his field for over twenty years as well as being a prolific author. He is especially interested in future-thinking and planning working to create new ways of structuring undergraduate education in the next 10-20 years. Bass advocates for innovation and the integration of technology. He emphasizes the importance of “high-impact practices” such as study-abroad and undergraduate research as well as believing in the necessity of balancing learning about oneself, the world, and a specific trade or discipline. He wants to evolve the “formal curriculum” so that it is no longer at the center of the undergraduate experience. In his article and Tedx talk Bass speaks passionately, clearly inspired by his work and with a positive attitude towards what the future may hold. His approach uses a formal tone and includes factual citations and logic while writing inquisitively inviting a dialogue for how change can come about. Overall his character is strong and intelligent and although I am not his intended audience and I believe if we met for tea the conversation would be cordial albeit impersonal. Logos is a literary device used to convince the audience through reason or logic. Bass wants the reader to adopt his belief that our current undergraduate “formal curriculum” centered education system is becoming outdated with the influx of the information and community available through the internet, and the growing knowledge of the importance of “high impact” learning. This includes study abroad, undergraduate research and internships. Bass is hoping to get the reader on board for reforming the current method of education to go from a teaching environment to a learning environment, asking how best universities can teach their students. Bass sites a long list of references in his article, from educators to university researchers, looking at the most effective ways to learn and what students retain from their educational experiences. He talks about the internet and e-portfolios as a way of integrating students into the world and helping them to present themselves and make connections. He reviews the benefits of participatory culture which include strong support for one’s contributions, informal mentorship, a sense of collective ownership and the feeling that something is at stake. He also outlines how “high-impact practices” encourage students to invest their time and effort, experience diversity, respond to frequent feedback and learn through real-world experiences. Upon reviewing the article and Tedx talk I find that I share the assumptions Bass uses to connect his evidence to his claims as I have personally experienced many of the things he is claiming. I have experienced both negative and positive sides to the current higher education system as well as participating in many “high-impact practices” that have been life-changing. I would love more opportunities to balance my personal growth, ideology and specific skills and knowledge in a classroom environment. [...] Read more...
February 20, 2017Randy Bass is an English professor at Georgetown University. First, he started his education at the University of the Pacific in which he got a B.A. in English and History. Next, he continued his education at Brown University where he successfully achieved a M.A. and Ph.D in both English and American Literature. Bass is an author and editor of not only several books, but many articles and digital projects as well. One of his most recent is what I am interested in writing about to day; “Disrupting Ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Education”. This is his most recent literature. “Examining a Writer’s Credibility and Appeals to Ethos”. When I think about the author of “Disrupting Ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Education”, Randall Bass (2012), I think intelligent and compassionate about higher education. He seems to really know what he is talking about. Also, wants to help the environment of the higher education continue to its next step in its education. In Bass’s Ted talk he shows us a quote that says, “What the hell is the world wide web?” from Buddy Karelis in 1994. Buddy was in charge of the fund for Post-Secondary Education. This important man in funding in higher education said this when he was looking at Bass’s grant proposal for the American Studies Crossroads Project. This statement made me think that he was smart but then he finished talking about the proposal with saying, “that became the first web-based project ever funded by the U.S. department of education”. Bass was the person that got the first ever web based project up and going. Many people in 1994 did not know what the World Wide Web was. Now, everyone in higher education knows what the web is. Bass took the first step into integrating the web with higher education; making him in my mind a very smart and compassionate man for higher education. “Examining a Text’s Ideology”: In Bass’s writing, “Disrupting Ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Education” you can tell that he is passionate about Higher education, and where it needs to go next. He believes that higher education needs to move into the future to have something different than other places people can learn. He uses phrases like “post course era” to tell us about the education system of today being an antique. The section of his writing “Expanding Our Conception of Teaching” points us in the direction of his belief in the future. He thinks that we need to move away from the dusty old concept of ‘instructor-centered’ teaching, for the education system is evolving in time. Soon it will be even more evolving; like it did to when people did not know what the World Wide Web was to today. He believes in e-portfolios. They are a step into the future and it is happening in front of us today. He mentions that we need to not focus on the destination, but the ride there. [...] Read more...
February 20, 2017Randall Bass is touted as a forward thinker and innovator in the realm of  higher education. He is the Vice Provost and Executive Director of the Center of New Designs in Learning and Scholarships at Georgetown University as well as a professor of English. Bass is the author of a myriad of text involving literature, articles, and digital projects. In one of his more prolific articles, “Disrupting Ourselves: The problem of Learning in Higher Education” and his Tedx talk “Formation by Design”, Randy expresses the growing disconnect between the new age of students and traditional learning environments. In both media he poses the question of how we would usher higher education into the modern era, representing a more meaningful and involved education curriculum rather than the antiquated framework currently in place. One not need look far to notice that for the past decade as universities struggle to evolve and keep the old structures of traditional education,  inquisitive minds of newer generations increasingly see greater or more lasting impact in their education through what Randall calls, ” high impact practices” and “experiential co-curriculum.” Bass addresses this as what he sees to be the problem and suggests as a solution that these newer forms of learning come to the forefront of one’s formal education. In the light of growing pressure from data and the ease of participatory culture, Bass states that we are in the “post-course era”, as to signify that the contained and composed formal curriculum is no longer where we receive our most impactful learning. Understanding the ethos of Randy Bass can seem very straight forward. Just by reading his biography one can glean his extensive education and clear knowledge on the subject he is talking about. Bass is concise, informative, and logical. By using statistics and placing all arguments in context with the current climate around education he provides an incredibly compelling case. This logical and in some ways reasonable approach to the subject matter is backed by his tone of conviction. Bass communicates to you in a relatively formal way, though you can feel and see in his expressions that he has passion for the subject matter. Randy appeals to his audience base in a warm and reasonable manner, much in the same way two intellectual friends would converse with each other. He hopes to connect on some level of emotion as well between his tacky jokes and explanation of potential dangers of neglecting to adapt higher education. Given these facts on his stature and background on the subject matter as well as his eloquence. Bass gives a clear-cut view of his approach on ethos, and the manner in which he tries to draw his audience. The ideology surrounding Randall Bass’ beliefs aren’t veiled in mystery by any means. Considerably avant-garde and forward thinking, Randall’s views seem to be deeply rooted in embracing the future. By accepting new research and innovation you continue to evolve and move towards a better tomorrow for society as a whole. Using terminology such as “post-course era”, explaining the environment in which progressive thought leaders are created, and addressing the use of “E-Portfolios” (which is a relatively new resource attributed to the information age), Bass highlights his progressive ideals in the face of opposition in the form of antiquated models of higher education. Much in the same way that he gravitates towards language that resonates with progressives, he tends to avoid terms rooted in tradition. Whether one agrees with his beliefs or not, it is quite easy to see his position and motives on the subject of new forms of higher education. [...] Read more...
February 20, 2017In order to better understand Randall Bass’s essay “Disrupting Ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Education”, and his video presentation on TEDx Talk, “Formation by Design”, I chose to focus on the strategies (1) Examining a Writer’s Credibility and Appeals to Ethos, and (2) Examining a Writer’s Credibility and Appeals to Reason or Logos. Ethos is understanding or believing a person who is speaking or writing because the person is one of good character. This corresponds to Bass because of the background search I had done on him before my reading and listening of his essay and presentation. Randall Bass is Vice Provost for Education and Professor of English at Georgetown University, so right away I had to believe that anything that he was going to say would be credible and believable. The strategy of Ethos relates to Bass’s essay and his presentation on TEDx Talk because he states true facts and speaks in a manner to teach undergraduate students different strategies of learning and comprehending information, and even faculty members and teachers about different strategies to teach students information and guide them to using resources such as technology, writing centers, etc. Logos is the sense of information that’s appealing to the mind, as opposed to pathos which is appealing to your heart and emotions. Logos corresponds to Bass’s essay and presentation because of the information he provides throughout both. For example, in Bass’s essay he states, “If we are beginning to see that the greatest impact on learning is in these boundary‑crossing, integrative, and so‑ cially networked experiences, then we need to re‑create dimensions of these experiences in the learning designs that bridge the classroom with life outside of it. The connection between integrative thinking, or experiential learning, and the social network, or participatory culture, is no longer peripheral to our enterprise but is the nexus that should guide and reshape our curricula in the current disruptive moment in higher education learning.” Personally, this quote from his essay is very appealing to my mind because he is trying to convince teachers and faculty members to connect and create different learning styles for undergraduate students to make learning easier, more accessible by having options, and maybe even a bit more entertaining. As an undergraduate student, this is appealing to my mind because in the long run it is an attempt to benefit me. These two strategies that I chose to analyze Bass’s essay and presentation with helped me better understand what his motive is/was with a deeper meaning. I was able to absorb more of the information at hand considering I was looking for information to support my writing rather than just reading or listening to Bass to see or hear what he has to say and what his argument is. [...] Read more...
February 18, 2017In the article “The Problem of Learning in Higher Education”, Randall Bass, his focus is on our learning institutions and the process of which they currently teach. He introduces an innovative thinking about this process and how it should and could evolve by pointing out that students today have a higher success rate when given the ability to learn both in and out of the classroom. That by experiencing life and working with peers a student can learn more than by instructor lead teaching alone. While reading this article, I found that Bass’ writing style was easy to read and engaged me in thinking about my own classroom experience. It made me wonder if I had a different experience while I as in high school, would I have made the decision to go to college sooner in my life.  And learning that he has worked with so many students and faculty I felt he has a firm grasp on what he is proposing. He preaches that the knowledge of the world, self and domain are the true “sweet spot” in higher education to evolve highly successful student. Then while watching Tedx Talk, this really helped solidify my original findings that he is both an engaging and a credible author. It was in this video he shared some insight into how he lives and learns. This was helpful to me understand where he is coming from as both a teacher and an author. I really enjoyed listening to him and his way of teaching. He again kept my interest and I appreciated his humor.      [...] Read more...
February 16, 2017Creative Commons has introduced a new search engine, CC Search, for finding images that use its licenses.  The engine searches several image repositories (including Flickr, the New York Public Library, and The Met) for access to over nine million images with open licenses. For more on the new search engine, read “Creative Commons unveils a new photo search engine” by Sarah Perez for Tech Crunch. Images are a great way to add interest to pre-existing OER materials. Try out CC Search. [...] Read more...
February 10, 2017We are pleased to announce that we’ll be starting the process to award stipends for OER course development work for this coming summer. Awards will be in the form of curriculum development hours to convert non-OER courses to OER courses using existing OER materials. Awards will be up to 70 hours of curriculum development funds to complete the work over the summer in time for the upcoming Fall ’17, Winter ’18 or Spring ’18 terms. Stipend application closes – Beginning of Spring Term – April 7 Announce awards – Week 3 of Spring term – April 21 Questions? Feel free to send inquiries to OER@lanecc.edu The Application for Lane’s Summer 2017 OER Stipends is now open. [...] Read more...
February 9, 20172017-01-24 Minutes Jedi High Council 2017-02-28 Minutes Jedi High Council 2017-03-14 Minutes Jedi High Council 2017-04-25 Minutes Jedi High Council 2017-05-23 Minutes Jedi High Council 2017-05-9 Minutes Jedi High Council 2017-07-11 Minutes Jedi High Council 2017-07-25 Agenda Jedi High Council 2017-08-8 Minutes Jedi High Council         [...] Read more...
February 9, 2017The Metropolitan Museum of Art has just changed the licenses of approximately 375,000 images to Creative Commons Zero, or CC0, licenses. This places the images into the public domain and allows for their free download and unrestricted use. Search The Met’s collection of public domain works. For more information on this policy change, read the full story “Met Museum Makes 375,000 Images Free” by Joshua Barone for the New York Times. [...] Read more...
January 17, 2017[Download] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2017/01/TIPSS-11-Thirty-Years-of-Credit-Enrollment.pdf” title=”TIPSS #11 – Thirty Years of Credit Enrollment”] [...] Read more...
January 1, 2017[gdoc link="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HjbGouRtMYQvhmLqdMwNAABXZdx9tn-t/view?usp=sharing" type="other" height="600"] [...] Read more...
November 29, 2016[Download] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2016/11/TIPSS10.pdf” title=”tipss10″] [...] Read more...
October 11, 2016[Download] [pdf-embedder url=”https://blogs.lanecc.edu/achievingthedream/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2016/10/TIPSS9.pdf” title=”tipss9″] [...] Read more...
October 6, 2016Check out Dave Sherwood and Jayce Keller in the most recent episode of Rick Dancer TV. Published on Oct 5, 2016 On this week’s episode of Rick Dancer TV, we take a look at Mckenzie Fire and Rescue, hike to the top of Carpenter Mountain for a chat with Fire Lookout Rob Mutch and talk with Janet Cooper about the Make Your Ripples Count movement. [...] Read more...
September 30, 2016[gdoc link="https://drive.google.com/file/d/177WESLTxBPUQvjmOvBnr4RBSPNYgs0W3/view?usp=sharing" type="other" height="600"] [...] Read more...
July 20, 2016(or, there is no sagebrush in Florida, yet) In 1976, the Sagebrush Rebellion began (again) as western Americans began to try to reclaim their supposed constitutional rights (Wald and Temkin 1982). It was quashed largely by the election of Ronald Reagan and appointment of James Watt, but still led to many acts of civil disobedience but also violent anti-government acts (see this review from High Country News). But thanks to Bundy “Patriots” and their supporters, including those who support the Constitutional Sheriffs and Police Officers Association (CSPOA), Sovereign Citizens, skinheads, and neo-Nazis, they are back in a big way. The 2014 showdown on Federal land near the Bundy Ranch in Nevada and the 2016 takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) are just two notable examples. The effort to put Federal public lands into state (or private) hands is not new, but is more problematic now because of recent developments, not the least of which is its adoption in the 2016 platform of the Republican National Committee. This effort, first supported politically on the national stage by Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah shortly after his election to the US Senate, has now reached vitriolic proportions and has garnered a rabid national following among staunch conservatives. Their arguments for it are patently ridiculous on their face. Among them: Too much public land in our state is in Federal hands so we don’t get to generate any tax base. The Feds don’t manage public lands properly Our state should run air, water, and land the way we see fit We ought to be able to cut timber, graze, and mine the way Americans always have [but…in the 1800s things were different. Those who argue this also don’t like to see price increases for these rights on Federal lands, where typical rates run 5-10% of “market-driven” rates on private lands. Aren’t they the real laissez-faire proponents or is that saying too French for them? We need to return the land to the original inhabitants’ and let them use it the way they feel No matter how you feel about civil liberties, the Constitution, or politics, all of us benefit from rational management of Federal lands. Surely the government has mismanaged the lands in some cases. And private users have also abused the privilege and should be held to account (thinking Bundy here, and others!). But in Harney County, Oregon, citizens and government officials all got together and created a cohesive management plan over time that worked out and was destined to do great things, but for a few known troublemakers who ended up being supported by the Bundyites. On the Malheur NWR, invasive species were set to be removed by managing carp and loss of vegetation/water quality to help restore the inland part of the Pacific flyway for migratory birds, and the occupation by the Bundys and others set back wetland restoration for years, most likely, by allowing the problematic fish to expand their boundaries. Politicians who supported these people like Michelle Fiore, Ted Cruz, and others, helped to put them into the national spotlight, and some law enforcement leaders (CSPOA again) even supported their efforts in Nevada and Oregon. This also gets into 2nd Amendment issues and the NRA, which would be an entirely different discussion (not for today), but is also quite problematic given the recent horrendous gun violence against private citizens and law enforcement officers. And lest any of you think that this is just a problem for us to sort out in the west, water wars and land wars are found in the east, too! I worked on drought in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin when my sciencing was happening at FSU, and the water wars in that and some other basins have been going on in the courts for 30 years already. Thanks to Governor Rick Scott of Florida, the notion of parks in that state is now changing as well, to including hunting, mining, and timber harvesting in novel ways that boggle the mind. Florida’s parks were gems and many still are, but as water gets fouled with nutrients and springs die off and effluent spills and nutrient-laden waters from Lake Okeechobee and Fenholloway River (to name a few) are forced into the Atlantic and Gulf waters, all coastal residents and visitors can now see first-hand the environmental catastrophe (short-term for now) that is on the horizon. With climate change, there could be sagebrush growing in Florida as the land dries out and precipitation regime changes. Is there anyone who thinks that this situation will improve when a party platform and politicians of that party tout local/state/private takeover of lands, when science shows how public protection is vital to public health in terms of land (soil), water, and air quality, and our future climate? Yet we have Governors, Senators, and their supporters who deny science from its foundational core as black and white. “You have not proven it to me yet” is the attitude expressed. Well, I say to you it is time to turn in your membership card as a thinking person. So come and enjoy your Federally-managed lands! You pay for them! And you don’t need a RNC or NRA membership card, to come inside (outside)! As an aside…did we as educators really do that bad a job in school teaching people about what science is? Maybe, but I doubt it. There mu$t be $omething el$e going on here. Paul Ruscher, Eugene, Oregon • 20 July 2016 Notes: High Country News, 2016: Forty years of Sagebrush Rebellion. High Country News, 4 January 2016, cited from http://www.hcn.org/articles/sagebrush-rebellion. Wald, Johanna H. and Elizabeth H. Temkin, 1982: The Sagebrush Rebellion: The West Against Itself — Again. UCLA Journal of Environmental Law and Public Policy, 2 (2), cited from http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3d2722zk. [...] Read more...
July 7, 2016When is enough enough? It’s confession time, I guess. News this week is full of killing of Muslims, killing of young black men by police officers, killing and raping of women, mistreatment of gays and lesbians. But it’s not just this week. I’m so sick of ‘Murica. And partisan politics does not make any of this any easier to take. But for me, it’s deeply personal. And that will seem strange to many, who probably could rightfully accuse me of being a “victim” of white, male privilege. You see, I’m the father of 11 children and 3 foster kids. But it is deeper than that. I grew up as the eldest son of a racist father who paid his sheet metal factory workers rather poorly – they were mostly blacks from the Bronx as well as Portuguese immigrants. I worked alongside them as a teenager and saw how they were (mis)treated, and said nothing at the time. Not until my break with my father occurred in the late ‘60s. He and I recovered from that break, but only in the last few years before his life ended tragically as cancer ravaged his body. I feel guilty about that late healing, but I also feel guilty about how I turned my back on what I viewed at the time as injustice, but what could I do as a 12 year old summer factory worker (being paid under the table)? Now I read the morning news and find the same stories, over and over, and our political leadership doing nothing about it. The guns. The racism. The jingoism. Criticizing leaders of #BlackLivesMatter for their vitriol. Are you fucking kidding me? How many lives must be lost before ‘Murica understands the targeting that is going on, whether explicit or implicit? If it walks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it’s a duck. My ancestry is French, German, English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh (or so I’m told). 6 of my kids share that ancestry, along with my beloved wife, whose ancestry is Italian, Polish, English, Scottish, and Irish. We are all white-privileged, I suppose. But there are 8 others. Two of our adopted kids hail from India; one died before he reached 30, a victim of drugs, and a health (and probably parental) system that failed him, taking his life from AIDS-related lymphoma. Three of our kids were adopted as BUFA babies (Babies Up For Adoption – abandoned by their Moms at birth in hospitals). Unwanted because of their race, by anybody, apparently. But loved by Mom and Dad, and even some of their siblings. These are the children I worry most about in these times of racial profiling. We’ve tried to raise them up right and two are still teen-agers of whom I’m proud, but they are proud, outspoken, and garrulous. Just the sort of “uppity” that probably will get them in trouble at some point – I just hope it is not at the butt of a white police officer’s gun. Three other foster kids have spent countless months and years in our home, and one still does. I worry about these young black children, too, none of whom have yet reached their teen-age years. What will our future America look like to them as they gain their voice, independence, and right to pursue life, liberty and happiness? Have you had enough yet? And on top of all of this – I daily find on my social media feeds people who I call or used to call friends calling out violence in the name of Islam as emblematic of the entire faith. “Let them all just kill each other off.” – I cannot understand how young men and women of faith can be hoodwinked by the charlatans who have hijacked a major religion into cult status, calling for executions of all infidels. And lest you think it only happens in the Islamic faith, check out what the Southern Poverty Law Center and other social justice organizations say about the religious orientation of many American hate groups. But why do you ask is this so troubling to me? Bear with me. You see, each of my married white kids has chosen to embrace multiculturalism, too! I could not be prouder of my Trinidadian, Korean, St. Lucian, and Bangladeshi children-in-law, and our multicultural grandchildren. What scares me is that my now Muslim daughter, her husband, and her kids are and will continue to be targeted in this intolerant ‘Murica that we are becoming. And I don’t just blame the media, or Donald Trump and his followers. Have you had enough yet? I’m the father of six wonderful daughters and one beautiful foster daughter. Every one of these young women has or will experience overt sexual harassment by pricks with dicks and no brains. I say that stereotypically, because we all know stories of pricks with dicks that run science labs that do the same thing to their colleagues and students, so it could be argued that they have brains. But a lack of mutual respect, independent of sexuality, is also rampant in ‘Murica. And is tacitly allowed to continue in a fashion like organized crime. Have you had enough yet? I have. We, the Silent Majority, who don’t speak up or otherwise support those who are powerless, are often chastised for not doing enough. That is often deemed by us to be offensive. We must support the powerless. I left the church a long time ago, when my church abandoned its most Christian of principles, again, as a teenager when I lost my love of guns and church and committed (at least personally, internally) to a future where racism would play no part. I have left the Democratic Party for the last time. I will not rejoin just so that I can “play” in the primary. I don’t know who I’ll vote for in November. It will not be Donald Trump. But the partisan two-party system no longer interests me. It is inevitable I suppose that that system will force me on a practical basis to vote for Ms. Clinton, because of the Electoral College. What must happen is this – first – embrace the idea that all politics is local. The ultra-right-wing of the Republican party has figured this out and across American is seeding school boards, county officialdom, state legislatures with their brand of conservatism, much of it rooted in Christian fundamentalism. Wake up, and realize this is a great game plan, but one fanatical group does not own it. Wake up! Libertarians, Greens, Progressives, yes, even Socialists can do the same thing. Start with local grass roots efforts may be the only way to make a change; thanks Sen. Sanders for waking so many up to the possibility here. Next – it is time to abandon the Electoral College. This antiquated system perpetuates a ridiculous primary/caucus system that draws out an election campaign in a two-year cycle that just so happens to correspond to a Congressional term. This will effectively end the two-party system once and for all, and will create temporary chaos in Congress as new partnerships are formed. You can argue that this would be worse. Worse than what? A Congress that won’t pass any bills? The present Congress has the worst record by far of any post-Civil War Congress in terms of passing effective legislation. One-person one-vote is how most of the civilized world votes. Do you know what will happen if no candidate this November gets an electoral majority? The House votes for our next President. We’ve already had the Supremes decide one election because America could not decide. Finally, everyone must vote! The young in particular complain loudest on social media about how the system is rigged and how lousy it is. And then they don’t show up at the polls. The system is in fact rigged against many of them. The League of Women Voters has rational ideas in place to fix a rigged system, from anti-gerrymandering to voting rights restoration. Check them out. Help them if you can. Most of all – it is a time I think for self-reflection. “Am I doing enough to make America less ‘Murican?” Today, I still don’t think I’m doing enough. Typing this poorly written screed is a small start. I will do all I can to convince young people to vote. I will question my local candidates and government officials. I will champion a free and fair public education for all. I will call out racism, nativism, homophobia, and sexism when I see it. Scientists and educators, I apologize for this interruption in what is usually an intellectual visit to environmentalism and fairness in science. But because so many of you have very powerful voices and I urge you to speak up about injustice outside of your professional sphere of influence as well. We have lots of work to do to inform public policy professionals and the general public about science and education, but there is so much more to do, as well. We are all players. [...] Read more...
July 5, 2016I want my country back. I want the country where “All My Relations” whether in Lakota, Hopi, Aztec, or Taino,  meant an expanded humanity that lived in kinship with other lifeforms as relatives, not resources. That recognizes that all humans in particular, are relatives to be nurtured and cared for, not resources to be enslaved, exploited, or feared and hated. When you are the target of enslavement, exploitation, and terror that the solution to oppression, is to become more humane than your oppressors. It’s partially the country that existed before 1491: Pyramid cities, intercontinental and interracial trade and commerce. Though slavery, and war were not unknown here before Columbus, we found ways towards democratic civilized resolution, through remembering our common strengths and gifts. Among those gifts were the insights given by those variously named two-spirits who brought us wisdom beyond binary gender, and physical / spiritual duality. Its not the country or culture that would build a Walmart outside those pyramids cities, nor that a US corporation could claim ownership of rainfall in Bolivia. The country that came after that (whether 1492, or 1776) was predicated on certain types of violence. The targets were indigenous people and their demonstrated allies from other continents, which included historically respectful Europeans.  The country that practiced and practices massacres, lynchings, church burnings, concentration camps, and other forms of sociostructural violence, must fade into historical memory, before my country will emerge. I asked Robert Kono, at the time, a local veteran (442nd) and survivor of the concentration camps, “Why would you fight for a country that incarcerated you because of your race, while allowing major corporations to trade and profit from doing business with the enemy: Nazi Germany?” He said, he didn’t fight for politicians, or his family, or the soldiers next to him, (All Japanese-Americans). He’s fighting for an America that doesn’t exist yet, that would never do the things that happened to him and others. If he doesn’t fight for it now, it will never exist. I could pledge allegiance to that America. I could celebrate that country’s birth. It’s a kind of a dual consciousness, similar to what Dubois referred to in in “The Souls of Black Folk”: Remembering better, experiencing worse, and working for better in the face of worse. Being a mandatory reporter for a system I wouldn’t entrust a single blood relative to, unmonitored. Supporting institutions that regularly betray you, and your kind, and that “kind” is continually expanding. In the “Free State of Jones” white men join self-freed slaves in a rebellion against the Confederacy. A Confederacy based on conscription of poor people, while stealing their crops, livestock, land and property,  to fight for the benefit rich people (who are exempted from fighting if they own slaves). Who use the illusion of white supremacy, and white privilege to enforce oppression of Black people, or as they refer to them: Niggers, an English corruption of the respectful word Negars, which means a person from Africa. As in Schwarzeneggar which means in old high German: Black and from Africa. (Like Schwarzkopf means Black Head, as portrayed on the 18th Century coat of arms.) The reality is that poor whites are as much niggers, in the Confederate system, as Black people. And when they find common cause, and fight to end their common oppressor. This is still true in today’s America. When the indigenous democracy was peopled by people who represented racial, gender, sexual, and other types of diversity, a Wall was built on Manhattan Island, not so much to keep Natives out (It was in the middle of Indian Country), but to keep Black and White slaves and indentured servants from joining the Six-Nations indigenous democracy, where they would welcomed as allies. Rich White people building walls on traditionally indigenous lands to gentrify them (to use the modern term for the process), is not new. Trump uses the same tactics, using verbal violence, to condone physical violence. So what was once done by the state, or allowed by the state, the state now facilitates by allowing weapons of war to be a consumer choice, not an earned ethics bound privilege. Its not so much where or who will perpetrate the next attack? I come from a people whom the state was the main perpetrator, or allowed the attacks to happen. Electing a Black President (Whose received more death threats than all the white presidents combined) didn’t change that. Improved technology for killing, without deepened humanity, means that a single person, normally socialized (Where violence against Others was normalized and legal), can kill as many people as a state. The worst massacres were state sponsored or facilitated: Washita (“103”), Sand Creek (“163”), Fort Pillow (“300”), The Red Summer (“293”), Tulsa Black Wall Street (3000), Rosewood, Florida (150). (Numbers in quotes are the official white numbers. Non-quotes are the people of color count). Dylan Roof was following an American tradition: internally hating yourself, then externally hating others. Omar Mateen while saying “’I don’t have a problem with black people….You guys suffered enough’”, while killing people of color, including Black people. Killing people of color while being a person of color, is displaying a sort of mental illness commonly undiagnosed in America, racial self hatred, with gender identity dysphoria. (According to APA internalized racism doesn’t exist). If he was taught to hate himself and natural aspects of his being, with no heathy resolution for the inner turmoil, then no amount of FBI background checks could predict or prevent his attacks. In fact the healing could occur from within the community he targeted, just like Dylann Roof. Communities who suffer, in the absence of healing from the mainstream, must and have developed their own healing ways. Individually, then collectively becoming more humane than their attackers, and the society that generates their attackers. How would one become a healthy gay Muslim man, or a recovered White Supremacist? Not through cognitive-behavioral therapy and anti-depressants. Such healing ways were once widespread in my country, embedded in the culture, as it were. They were largely suppressed by this country, there needs to be, and is a more vigorous resurgence. For a new country to emerge, backlash is predictable, but resistance is fertile. [...] Read more...
July 4, 2016They did not get things completely right 240 years ago.  The primary author, Thomas Jefferson, certainly had his faults, as do all of us.  But it behooves us, I think to remember what tyranny did to upset the apple cart in the 13 colonies.  We would do well to extend the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness to all Americans and visitors, and also to our environment – our lands, our airshed, and our watersheds.  Take time to read our charters of freedom, and honor them by understanding their value in today’s world.  Happy Independence Day, everyone. —- The Declaration of Independence —- IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. [...] Read more...
June 20, 2016The new environmentalism… My last post took on interference with rational government regulation, and corporate denial of its importance. But to be fair, there is much to think about, too, in terms of what the environmental movement itself is doing wrong. Here I focus on the science denialism that exists on the “left” as well. If our nation is ever to take environmental responsibility seriously, we must work to blunt the voices of the environmental movement who spout irrational propaganda in support of ideas that just don’t pass the smell test. Many of these ridiculous ideas are indeed related to proposed geoengineering solutions out there to solve some of Earth’s crises that are seemingly ridiculous on their face. As a scientist in Florida I actually had to evaluate some of these. For example, claims that dropping atomic weapons on hurricanes, or adding absorbent (think Pampers lining) material to the ocean, would diminish hurricane intensity. But the widespread implementation of them is just not happening. I won’t dignify the public web sites out there that tout environmental harm, but among them are the patently false claims related to: Chemtrails – by spraying chemical aerosols that are probably harmful, the government is reducing solar radiation, combatting global warming – see http://contrailscience.com/ for good debunking material here Iron fertilization of the oceans to forestall ocean acidification – a useful summary of the lack of benefits to this and other similar “solutions” is found here. HAARP – Blamed for causing many natural disasters, and basically closed down, it still gets amazing attention from environmental whackos (yes there are many out there and they show up at public meetings and grab microphones, etc.). HAARP is closed, and had some interesting purposes, but not weather modification! Other acronyms that seem to get peoples’ goat: EMFs – ElectroMagnetic Fields do exist in nature, and much of today’s technology does relate to advances in their applications (such as WiFi networks, Bluetooth technology, smart power meters, etc.). Many so-called environmentalists like to tout the research that supposedly supports the idea that harm has been proven. The reality, however, is that most studies have not shown any affect, and at best a weak connection has been found to impacts on laboratory animals, in studies that are difficult to replicate or have extremely small sample sizes. GMOs – I’m no biologist or chemist but I realize that even though I eat pretty healthy food in general, probably more than 50% of what I consume has been genetically modified. I like labeling to know what I eat, too, given that I have two very serious food allergies