Call for Participation

Chairpersons interested in providing assistance to faculty wishing to incorporate technology into their curriculum may submit proposals focusing on departmental needs. These needs maybe similar to those outlined above or broader in scope. They may also be directed toward basic technology support because some departments do not have F.T.E budget allocations for Programmer and/or Computer Resource Specialist positions.

For Fall Quarter 2006, applications must be received at ET Partners (Surge II by Monday, October 2nd at 5:00 P.M., or until all partnerships have been established. For more information contact ET Partners at (530) 754-2115 or by email at etpartners@ucdavis.edu.

Departmental Partnerships

Trained Educational Technology (ET) Student Partners will be paired with departments that are awarded an ET Partnership for one to two quarters (depending upon needs). These student technology advisors will be paid and managed by IET Mediaworks for this period. Each student will spend 10 hours per week with faculty members assisting them in learning to incorporate educational technology into their curriculum.

Departmental Applications

In this proposal, faculty are asked to describe the following:

• Need: Explain why you are applying to join the ET Partners program. What need are you addressing and how will this program fulfill that need?
• Level of Technical Expertise: Describe your current teaching program and existing uses of information and educational technology (if any). Indicate, what new skills you would like to learn from the ET Partners program.
• Proposed Project: Please provide a brief description of a technology-based project that you would like to complete that will require ET Student Partner assistance. This does not necessarily need to be innovative; we encourage the application of tested approaches.

Addendum:
The above needs are applicable to those individual faculty members who have a specific project that they would like to complete during a one-quarter (or an extended) partnership. Experience indicates there are faculty members who are not fully aware of the ways technology can enhance the educational experience for students and instructors alike. For this reason ET Partners no longer requires that a specific project should "drive" a proposal. Instead, proposals may identify a need, or series of needs. This approach enables ET Partners to reach out to more faculty who wish to incorporate technology into teaching.

Departmental partnership proposals should clearly demonstrate commitment on behalf of the Department Chair. They should also note the number of faculty who will benefit from the partnership as well as the number of courses that will be affected.

A requirement of all ET Partnerships is that the department demonstrate a commitment to providing support for the faculty after the partnership is over. This is typically done through the department's current technology support infrastructure, by allowing that person to participate in the partnership to ensure an understanding of the faculty's future support needs. A letter of support from your Chair or MSO confirming this post-partnership support, and the name of the person who will be doing that support will be needed as part of your application. This letter should be delivered to Chris Sarason, Program Manager.

Selection Criteria for Departmental Proposals

Departmental proposals will be considered for review and/or approval based upon the above criteria as well as the following primary considerations:

• Department-wide commitment to the overall objective of the proposal (beginning with a strong one at the top)
• Department-wide benefit (For example: Creating a repository (database) of teaching materials that can be easily shared by faculty and will serve as a digital archive)

And the following secondary considerations:

• Help to develop basic computer skills and familiarity with operating systems, file management and routine back-up practice
• Technological Assistance
  • Lack of technical support staff addressing hardware and network issues and/or assistance with learning software
  • Ad Hoc technology troubleshooting
  • One-on-one or small workshop training as required on standard teaching technology such as:
    • Campus tools
      - My UC Davis, Course Management Tools
      - Almagest
    • Off the shelf software programs
      - PowerPoint
      - Excel
  • Creating Chat Rooms and List Serves
  • Exploring and maximizing the use of the Internet
• Acquainting the department with the Campus' technology resources