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.