Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1994 [PAGE 358]

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346

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

[July 13

JANET L. ENGSTROM, assistant professor, Department of Maternal-Child Nursing, College of Nursing RICHARD J. KASSNER, professor of chemistry, Department of Chemistry, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences MATTHIAS L U , associate professor of medicinal chemistry, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy PATRICIA J. O'MORCHOE, professor, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign JULIUS SOLOMON, professor, Department of Physics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences The vice president for academic affairs concurs. I recommend approval.

On motion of Mrs. Gravenhorst, these recommendations were approved.

Establishment of the Sloan Center for Asynchronous Learning Environments, Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Urbana

(20) The chancellor at Urbana, upon the advice of the Urbana-Champaign Senate Council, acting on behalf of the Urbana-Champaign Senate, has recommended a proposal to establish the Sloan Center for Asynchronous Learning Environments (SCALE) within the Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. The mission of the center will be to promote the use of asynchronous learning networks (ALN) and ALN technologies to restructure the undergraduate educational process and to improve learning on the Urbana-Champaign campus. Asynchronous learning networks add an entirely new dimension to instructional communications, supplementing classroom, library, and laboratory work. Modern computer and network technologies allow students to gain access to a variety of remote learning resources at the students' own convenience. Using ALN, students can submit network-based homework or quizzes for immediate feedback at any time of day or night, consult with faculty or teaching assistants during "virtual office hours," and work collaboratively with their peers in study groups. The proposed Sloan Center will have four main goals: (1) to develop and begin delivering approximately fifteen new ALN-based courses on the UIUC campus during each of the next three years; (2) to disseminate and diffuse the ALN concept widely on the UIUC campus; (3) to attract additional external funding to the UIUC campus to support our ALN initiatives; (4) to become a recognized national leader in ALN efforts and to diffuse our ALN approach to other universities. The campus has received a commitment from the Sloan Foundation to provide $736,000 for the first year of the project, and $690,000 in years two and three. The campus will provide $270,000 in non-recurring institutional funds each of the three years, to assist with infrastructure support needed for the project. There are no funding commitments beyond year three of the center, which is expected to be in existence for no more than three years. The vice president for academic affairs concurs in this recommendation. The University Senate's Conference has indicated that no further senate jurisdiction is involved. I recommend approval, subject to further action by the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

On motion of Mrs. Gravenhorst, this recommendation was approved.