Implementation of the BOR Technology Fluency Resolution
at the University of Baltimore
Prepared by R. Legon, Provost
April 29, 2002
The University of Baltimore has taken a number of steps to
implement the USM Board of Regents' Resolution on Technology
Fluency. A general commitment to require IT fluency of all
UB students was adopted in Spring 2000. By Fall 2000, each
of UB's three schools, Law, Business and Liberal Arts had
adopted specific IT fluency standards relevant to its
students and the careers for which they are preparing.
These policies were to be reviewed for sufficiency and
resource implications by the UB Information Management
Advisory Committee (IMAC) and were endorsed by the campus
governance bodies in Spring 2001. In Fall 2001 these school
standards and assessment strategies appropriate to
demonstrating their achievement were implemented by the
academic programs.
The Business and Liberal Arts schools adopted a common set
of standards. All undergraduate students are now required
to demonstrate technology literacy upon entrance to UB's
upper-divisional programs either by presenting a lower
division computer course completed at a community college or
another four-year institution, or by passing a diagnostic
test. Students who demonstrate deficiencies take specific
workshops and training sessions. Students whose technology
skills are very limited or non-existent (a small group, in
UB's experience) are required to take either Computer
Science 100, Introduction to Microcomputers (3 credits), or
Information Systems 200, Introduction to Computers and
Applications (3 credits), depending on whether they are
liberal arts or business majors.
An expanding array of training courses and workshops for
students, faculty and staff in specific software programs
and computer skills (e.g., web searching) are being offered
by Computing and Information Services, the Langsdale Library
and the Academic Resource Center.
Higher order fluency is being addressed through the
introduction of new IT modules in two upper-division
required courses: Interdisciplinary Studies 300, Ideas in
Writing (3 credits) and Interdisciplinary Studies 302,
Ethical Issues in Business and Society. These modules
provide practical experience in technology skills, address
conceptual issues, and develop "the intellectual
capabilities that permit complex problem solving and
collaboration in the information technology environment."
Because of the applied nature of UB's curriculum, most
programs have had high expectations for student technology
fluency in recent years, but, in the future, these
expectations will be made more explicit. Every degree
program, undergraduate, graduate and professional is
developing a statement of the technology skills and outcomes
that all students seeking the degree are expected to
demonstrate. These statements will be used as benchmarks
for measurement in the program review process from this
point forward All proposals for new programs will also
include such a statement. These statements will be
published in UB's catalogs and other program descriptions.
A survey conducted in Spring 2001 indicated a very high
degree of technology access and computer fluency on the part
of the great majority of UB students. Follow-up surveys
will be conducted periodically to see if there is measurable
improvement. Campus access has been enhanced under the new
policy, however, by opening one centrally located computer
laboratory around the clock seven days a week.
One important aspect of IT fluency at UB is the steadily
growing use of the Internet for instructional purposes.
During the current semester, more than half of the 4500
students enrolled in UB courses are taking at least one
fully online or web-enhanced course; more than 80% of all
students have access to some online material. The table
below provides some of the details:
Spring 2002 Semester Student Enrollments in UBOnline Courses
Category Courses Enrollments Unique
Students
Fully Online 49 793 483
Courses
Web-enhanced 143 3093 2095
Courses
Subtotal 192 3886 2444
Non-course Sites* 38 5095 3157
TOTAL 230 8981 3725
*Non-course sites include courses from earlier semesters to
which some students still require access as well as Area,
Departmental, and Organization sites. All students enrolled
in Law courses are automatically added to the "Maryland
Legal Forms" and "Old Law School Exams" sites; all CLA and
MSB graduate students are enrolled in the Graduate Senate
Elections site.
These statistics cover only the "UBOnline" environment, and
there is considerable additional web-based instruction and
communication via other UB servers. The volume of this
activity is more difficult to measure, however. Even the
numbers above would indicate that the great majority of UB
students are utilizing the Internet on a regular basis.
Future enhancement of UB programs and initiatives to assure
IT fluency will depend on available funding. A technology
fee will assist UB in expanding its efforts. Some of the
initiatives under consideration are:
1. licensing and administering diagnostic tests for
entering students (not yet determined),
2. expansion of the UBOnline environment,
3. additional computer teaching laboratories, and
4. additional staff to deliver training to students and to
faculty members teaching the new modules in required
courses.
