Enrollment in ETAP Graduate On-Line Courses Exceeds all Expectations

By Greta Petry

Graduate student Natalie Aiello was on vacation visiting her sister in Florida last semester. When they returned from a day at the beach, Natalie logged onto her sister�s computer and called up the web page for the on-line course she is taking at Albany. Then she caught up on some classwork.

Aiello, who will have her permanent certification in elementary education after graduation in May, is taking Computer in Education II (ETAP 626), a course offered on-line by the School of Education�s Department of Educational Theory and Practice through the SUNY Learning Network. A returning student who graduated from SUNY Brockport in 1976, Aiello is learning to design Web pages this semester. Her story illustrates some of the reasons ETAP�s three on-line courses in instructional technology are so popular.

"Being a full-time student and a full-time parent has been difficult but having an on-line course has made life a little easier to do my work at home," wrote Aiello in a recent e-mail to the Update. After helping her three children, ages 14, 11, and 8, with their homework, driving them to Boy Scouts and basketball practice, and doing household chores, she puts them to bed. It is after midnight when the house is quiet. She logs onto her computer, calls up the class page and begins her homework.

"Being in an on-line course goes hand in hand with my job. I am a graduate assistant in the Education Computer Lab. When I am at work I am able to help other students who may have questions about their on-line course as well as work on my own class work. I see this as a plus since I am able to help teach as well as learn myself. Once an assignment is mastered on-line, I am able to share with others who may need the assistance in the computer lab," Aiello noted.

This semester the University is offering Computing in Education I, ETAP 526, taught by Karen Swan; Media in Teaching and Learning, ETAP 523, taught by Karen Swan and Carla Meskill; and Computer in Education II - Web Design, ETAP 626, taught by Joseph Bowman. All three are graduate level courses offered by the School of Education through the SUNY Learning Network.

Eighty-two people signed up last fall for Albany�s first on-line courses in instructional technology, and interest in the courses spread quickly.

"This semester we have 136 students in the three courses," said Ann Marie Murray, a doctoral student and graduate assistant in the School of Education who is on leave from Hudson Valley Community College as assistant professor of math.

"More students enrolled than anyone ever expected," said Meskill. "Of the four SUNY Learning Network courses with the largest enrollments, Albany has three of the four top enrolled courses." There are 1,260 students enrolled in courses for the SUNY Learning Network this spring.

The typical student, if there is one, is a local teacher who is working on a master�s degree in Curriculum Design and Instructional Technology. By the spring of 1999, coursework will be developed for a master�s degree program in CDIT that can be earned entirely on-line.

Murray said the courses are particularly convenient for parents, who save on baby-sitting, gas mileage and time by logging on after the kids are in bed.

"The majority of people who take these courses are teachers who are seeking permanent certification. They have an undergraduate degree and they need to take 30 graduate credits within five years," Meskill added.

"After working all day, coming home and making supper, and supervising the homework and activities of their own children, the idea of taking a 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. class is a killer," Murray said. The only free time these graduate students may have is at night and on weekends.

Even resident Albany students are taking these long-distance learning courses. Murray said some students are motivated by gaining access to a class they couldn�t take before in the traditional classroom because of a scheduling conflict.

And others, like Naso Charalambous, an elementary school teacher who graduates in May, think of on-line courses in global terms. She said, "It�s good to know that I can take on-line courses from SUNY in the future, while I am in my home country, Cyprus." According to Meskill, the School of Education is negotiating an agreement so that students can take a few live courses in Cyprus and finish a master�s degree from Albany via the web.

Students enjoy the flexibility of the on-line courses.

"It�s great," said Charalambous in an e-mail to the Update. "I can work any time I like during the week. I don�t feel any time pressure."

Like Charalambous, Linda Polhemus likes managing her own time. She earned a bachelor�s degree in summer �96 and teaches at a private school in Troy. Polhemus said, "I was able to apply what I have been learning to my job just by talking to people about issues and motivating others to want to use the computer."

Some, like Polhemus, say they miss the interaction with other students in the classroom. Others, like Murray, point out that graduate students are so focused on learning that classroom interaction is not high on their list of priorities.

The issue of classroom interaction brings up a key point. Which subjects lend themselves more to on-line teaching? The SUNY Learning Network offers individual courses on everything from Cartooning through Mohawk Valley Community College, to American Literature: 1865 to the Present, through Orange County Community College. Most of the course offerings on SLN are from community colleges and four year colleges. The university centers at Albany and Buffalo joined SLN this past fall.

Meskill said she thinks teaching on-line is appropriate for some content areas, but not for courses that rely on the rich human synergies of the classroom.

Instructional technology - learning to use computers, video and audio in the classroom - goes hand in hand with on-line teaching. And for Meskill, who kept teaching on-line even when she was in Singapore for a week last semester, it�s a natural. "At 3 a.m., if I can�t sleep, I teach," she said.

Bowman, who offers the on-line web design course, agrees with Meskill�s point about the teacher and what he calls a "virtual teacher." Bowman said, "This spring semester, I was in the Caribbean and maintained contact with my course because of the on-line capability. It was different, but an exciting feeling, because most of the time the students are in the �virtual classroom,� and you as the instructor, are stationary. I really began to feel the power to these types of classes."

He continued, "The web design course has offered the students the opportunity to work collaboratively and give something back. Last semester, a group in the course helped redesign the SUNY Learning Network home page and then saw it mounted as part of a greater effort. That is one feature of this course that I did not anticipate but it gives a new meaning to this course. The students and SLN supported the concept and we are looking for ways to keep that collaboration ongoing."

For a program that is growing significantly even when competition for graduate students is stiff, the natural question arises as how to expand the program to adapt to future growth.

"Given the immense popularity of the ETAP on-line courses offered by Albany, I think the program will need to grow in terms of faculty who can provide this kind of instruction," Meskill said.

She said there is a learning curve for faculty who haven�t taught this way, and added that much extra time must be devoted to the course. For example, Meskill reads hundreds of e-mail responses per week from students because of the structure of the course.

Meskill finds that communicating on-line with a class changes the dynamics of who does the talking.

"Women have said they have never before had such a chance to express themselves," she said. In addition, a classroom discussion may go on for more than a week on the web, giving participants a chance to put a great deal of thought into their responses. Gone is the classroom in which three or four more vocal students dominate the discussion.

"Everybody has a voice on-line after they have thought through the question," Murray said. One student told Meskill the course changed her life as a result.

While women students may thrive in on-line discussion, a few men have told Meskill they miss the give and take and snappy repartee of the physical classroom. Both male and female students contacted by the Update reported a high level of satisfaction with the ETAP courses.

As Mike Nelson, a full-time graduate student who plans a future career in educational software, noted, "I think on-line courses are a great forum and more classes should be done this way. They offer busy students/professionals the breathing room that they may need and teach them valuable skills that could be applied to many areas, especially to those who are currently teachers."

 


 Junior Science and Humanities Symposium Hosts High School Scholars

By Carol Olechowski

Many adults would be hard pressed to pronounce � much less explain the scientific mysteries of � submicrometer aerosol pollution, hemidesmosomes, agrobacterium-induced transformation, and apoptosis. In early April, however, the University will host 25 high school science scholars who can explain these phenomena and others.

The 13th annual Upstate New York Junior Science & Humanities Symposium is scheduled for April 2 and 3 at the Ramada Inn on Western Avenue in Albany. Participants will come from all parts of the state except New York City and Long Island.

Modeled after the format of a professional scientific conference, the symposium is not a science fair. Rather, the event affords high school students and their teachers an opportunity to highlight the experimental scientific research they have done.

The symposium will begin the afternoon of April 2, with four sessions running concurrently. Each student researcher will give a 12-minute oral presentation on his or her topic, utilizing visuals in the form of slides, overheads, and posters.

This year, the high school scientists will compete for a $4,000 scholarship. University faculty will join scientists representing the New York State Health Department�s Wadsworth Laboratories and various private Capital Region research and development facilities in judging the oral presentations, selecting one winner and one alternate from each of the four sessions.

A separate competitive poster session will also be held. The display poster session, which is for students just beginning their research, will enable them to share their scientific data and ideas. Symposium attendees themselves will vote for a fifth finalist from among these entrants. Finalists will be announced at dinner that evening.

The following morning, the five finalists will make their presentations again at the Performing Arts Center�s Recital Hall. One winner will be selected. That individual will receive the scholarship and represent upstate New York at the 36th annual National Junior Science Symposium to be held April 30 through May 3 in Albuquerque, N.M.

Other events are also scheduled in conjunction with the local symposium. Participants may select from more than a dozen on-campus presentations by University and guest speakers the morning of April 3. The optional off-campus afternoon program includes visits to such off-campus sites as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Albany Medical Center, Watervliet Arsenal�s Benet Laboratories, the Wadsworth Center, the National Weather Service, the New York State Forensic Investigative Center, the David Axelrod Institute of Public Health and the University�s Center for Advanced Thin Film Technology and Center for Technology in Government are planned.

Two area students � Emma Samelson-Jones from Bethlehem Central High School and James McNeil from Cobleskill-Richmondville Central School � are among this year�s presenters.

Symposium co-sponsors, with the University and its Department of Biological Sciences, include the U.S. departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force and the Academy of Applied Science.

 

 
New Project Confronts Challenge of Year 2000

By Lisa James

Assuring that computers are ready for the "Year 2000" is one of the priorities of a new, intensive, multi-year project to replace all administrative systems, including those that handle student and employee records.

The University�s Integrated Management System (IAS) project is making overall assessments on timely, reliable and consistent data and information; improved service to the University community; and enhancement of the synergy between the University�s academic excellence and its administrative capabilities. A project this vast needs an implementation consultant, according to Leo Neveu, associate vice president and controller, and the University is now in the process of evaluating bid proposals for this stage.

Neveu said that the project began a few years ago with the desire to provide information to students over the Internet. It soon became apparent, however, that in order to do this, the offices providing the information had to be compatible and up-to-date. Also, to support the recruitment and retention goals for high quality students and faculty stated by University President Karen R. Hitchcock, the University needed to fix or replace the old systems, which also had the same Year 2000 problem shared by most computer systems and programs more than several years old.

The Year 2000 problem has garnered international concern because it has the potential to affect all systems in which records are kept on a yearly basis. The original programmers did not program computers with the ability to change from 1999 to 2000. In the year 2000, the date on internal computer calendars will read 00, making it think everything has gone back to square one. This will cause it to change or erase files, or calculate year-to-year numbers incorrectly. This problem can alter things such as bank records on mortgages and interest on accounts, files managed by the health care industry, and countless other services and programs.

At the University, The Year 2000 problem could affect more than 20 million records and over 2100 computer programs. Functions such as programs which produce class schedules and interfaces with SUNY and other agencies could be affected, in addition to simple acts like calling up a certain screen. The University has put together a plan to attack this situation before it becomes a problem.

The Year 2000 Project Impact Analysis began in June of last year and was divided into nine phases which are related to the University�s home-grown student records system, now approximately ten years old. By January of this year, work on 55% of the Student Information Records System (SIRS) was complete. In February, phases three and four of SIRS was completed, well ahead of schedule.

The entire project is now approximately 80% complete. When everything is done, all administrative mainframe systems will be free of the Year 2000 problem.

"Our strategy was to do this as transparently as possible without interruptions in service or performance," said Georgianna (Ginger) Bailey of the University Business Systems office. "This project has been a success thanks to team effort and a lot of hard work by members of the University Business Systems staff," she said. The project is scheduled to be completed by June of this year.

 


"Legislative Priorities" Seeks Enhancements to Capital Budget

By Vinny Reda

For the second year in a row, the University has published a list of legislative priorities which includes construction, research, and academic projects important to the campus.

The brochure "1998 Legislative Priorities . . . At A Glance" acknowledges that the Executive Budget, released in January, "addresses many of the issues" in the University�s Master Plan planning process, which documents the need for an additional one million square feet of academic and research space to adequately address the University�s mission over the next two decades.

"The SUNY System will benefit tremendously from the Governor�s proposed $2 billion, five-year capital plan, and we are grateful that it recognizes many of the needs of our campus," said President Hitchcock.

In the budget, $10 million has been requested for the Albany campus to renovate the current Administration Building for use by the College of Arts & Sciences, to plan a new Life Sciences complex, to renovate Perimeter Road, and to update heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems on the Downtown Campus.

However, "Legislative Priorities" notes that "several amendments are necessary to make the first year of the plan viable." These amendments would include:

"We started the Legislative Session with the best Executive Budget Request for the University at Albany in many years," said David Gilbert, director of Governmental Relations. "We are all very optimistic about this year�s budget, and look forward to working with the Governor and Legislature on our remaining priorities."

The East Campus, opened in 1997, has, in addition to its home for the University�s School of Public Health, attracted eight incubator companies and is in negotiation with several other firms. "We anticipate that within five years the East Campus will be home to approximately 1,000 employees dealing with a variety of scientific and economic projects in biotechnology, social and life sciences, public health, biomedical engineering and several other fields," said Gilbert. "The potential economic impact, we feel, is about $45 million."

The priorities list for Albany, regarding the East Campus, includes:

"Our East Campus is a regional facility which is meeting the scientific, educational and economic development goals of the region and State," said Gilbert. "These proposals would significantly enhance our ability to fulfill that mission."

"Legislative Priorities" also focuses on five new academic initiatives:

"The excellence of our faculty has been recognized in the past by the funding for special academic initiatives deemed important to the State," Gilbert said. "The proposals put forth by our faculty this year all have statewide impact, and we believe they will be well received by the Legislature."

 

University/Bulgarian Exchanges Prompt Benefit Concert

By Carol Olechowski

This Mother�s Day, the University�s Program in Russian & East European Studies will sponsor a concert to benefit 60 motherless girls in Bulgaria.

The concert, scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, May 10, at Page Hall on the Downtown Campus, will feature performances by two celebrated Bulgarian musical artists, pianist Pavlina Dokovska and operatic soprano Stefka Evstatieva.

Stefka Evstatieva, soprano

In the audience will be Bulgaria�s former prime minister and its current ambassador to the U.S., Philip Dimitrov. Dimitrov, who also served his country as president of the Coordinating Council of the Union of Democratic Forces from 1990 through 1994, has played key roles in the post-communist transition in Bulgaria.

Pavlina Dokovska, pianist

All proceeds from the concert will go to the Bulgarian Red Cross for rehabilitation of the Stara Zagora Home for Adolescent Girls. Sixty girls � most of them orphans � aged 12 to 18 reside there. The home has had several venues in its five decades; their current residence, however, lacks heat, hot water, and dining facilities.

An organizing committee set out to raise $3,000 via the event. That initial goal, however, has already been surpassed by $1,500.

The University�s connections with Bulgaria go back nearly ten years. Between 1989 and 1994, Albany hosted two Fulbright lecturers who taught Bulgarian language, culture, and history. In 1993, Albany and Sofia University received a major three-year grant from the U.S. Information Agency to carry out a series of activities to promote American studies within Sofia University�s English department; during the course of this project, the two institutions exchanged 12 faculty members. Albany is now working with Sofia University on a second USIA-supported three-year project in the areas of academic and public administration.

The Program in Russian & East European Studies is sponsoring the benefit concert and related activities. Other sponsors include Albany�s programs in Slavic Languages & Literatures in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, the Performing Arts Center, the Department of Music, and the offices of University and Community Relations.

Additional details regarding the concert and its organizers will be forthcoming in a future issue of Update.

 

 
PAWS Walks Students to Greater Access on the Web

The days of going to user rooms to gain information about University courses, grades, and class schedules is a thing of the past. This information can now be obtained through the World Wide Web through a new service called PAWS � Personal Access via the Web for Students.

The information available on the PAWS home page includes course availability and schedules, financial aid information, and grades. Students can also get account information and change their Personal Identification Number (PIN) through PAWS. University Controller Leo Neveu said, "Now students don�t have to go to user rooms for this information. They can get it whenever and wherever they choose as long as they have Internet access."

Students must enter their student identification number and PIN to use PAWS, which offers links to both the graduate and undergraduate bulletins. The "course availability" option can be attained without ID numbers. PAWS can be accessed directly at https://paws.ubs.albany.edu, or under the Services for Students button on the University home page.

Open Forums with President Hitchcock

President Karen Hitchcock takes questions from students on March 3 in the Campus Center Terrace Lounge, one of three open forums she will hold with students this semester, addressing their ideas and concerns.