Academic Transformation
at the University System of Maryland:
A USM Strategic Priority
The University System of Maryland (USM) is a national
leader in a critical new initiative in higher education, known broadly as
"academic transformation." Transforming the academic model is one of five
guiding themes of Powering Maryland
Forward: USM's 2020 Plan for More Degrees, a Stronger Innovation Economy, and a
Higher Quality of Life-the USM's Strategic Plan.
Simply put,
academic transformation seeks to improve learning by creating the most
effective learning environments to ensure that students perform well and
graduate in a timely fashion.
The USM in 2012 created the Center for Academic Innovation to address
some of the many pressures higher education institutions now face. The center in April 2015 was
renamed
the William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation,
in recognition of then-Chancellor William E. “Brit”
Kirwan and the culmination of a $3 million fundraising effort
to support USM’s work in academic transformation. The Kirwan
Center’s web site can be accessed at http://www.usmd.edu/cai/.
The center is
focused on being innovative in the method and practice of teaching. The main
objective of these efforts is to improve college completion rates throughout
the USM.
"It is no longer 'business as usual' on a university campus. By 2018, 66 percent of Maryland jobs are projected
to require college-level skills and we do not yet have the work force to fill that need," says Center Director MJ Bishop, Ed.D.
"A core function of the center is to study and measure the truly 'transformative' ideas for changing how we have looked at
decades-long models in higher education.
To address
this challenge, the Center seeks to help transform public higher education in
Maryland by concentrating on three critical areas of the student experience:
college affordability, a student's learning environment, and the cultural
challenges students face adapting to college.
These innovations take numerous forms, including:
- Efforts to reduce costs for students by having "open source" materials as a more
affordable option to expensive textbooks;
- Consideration of year-round academic calendars;
- "Redesign" of courses in which students use computers--both in class and online--to better
understand course material; and improvement in quality of college academic advising.
RESOURCES AND
INFORMATION
USM Academic
Affairs Staff: http://www.usmd.edu/usm/academicaffairs/acastaff.html
Center for Academic Innovation
Announcement, Nov. 2012: http://www.usmd.edu/newsroom/news/1151
Center for Academic Innovation
Director MJ Bishop: http://www.usmd.edu/newsroom/news/1220
USM, Ithaka
S+R Parternship: http://www.usmd.edu/newsroom/news/1154
USM Course
Redesign Initiative: http://www.usmd.edu/usm/academicaffairs/cr2/
What is
Course Redesign: http://www.usmd.edu/usm/academicaffairs/cr2/cr.php
IN THE NEWS
Evollution.com,
commentary by MJ Bishop:
http://www.evolllution.com/opinions/academic-transformation-its-technology-capital-t-part-1/
http://www.evolllution.com/media_resources/academic-transformation-its-technology-capital-t-part-2/
Baltimore Sun, profile of civil rights history
"hybrid" class at University of Baltimore:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-online-classes-20131124,0,4333547.story