MEMORANDUM

TO: Kent Smedley, Dean of Workforce & Economic Development

FROM: Denise Bellamy, Technical Training Program Assistant

DATE: April 20, 2018

SUBJECT: Initiating Quality Student Support Services for Continuing Education DE

Programs

Distance education has been a successful alternative way of learning for many working

adults because of the flexibility it offers to many learners from diverse populations. In

order for The Community College of Baltimore County’s Continuing Education &

Economic Development Department to meet the needs of this student population, and

offer a robust and rigorous student experience and be successful, I propose we implement

quality training sessions mandatory professional development for faculty and essential

staff geared toward curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment, utilizing library

resources and Blackboard, and become familiar with new and emerging technologies

that will support our students in reaching their educational goals. The additional benefits

of this initiative are to increase enrollment, and quality programs for our students that

better prepare them for the workforce. By training our staff to support our DE students,

we are assisting them to use their critical thinking skills to engage in the learning process

through activities guided by technology. Also, we are utilizing staff in the decision

making process, and applying their years of content and technical knowledge to benefit

the overall vision of the institution.

Instructor Support

As is true at many institutions of higher learning, many of our instructors are adjunct;

therefore, it is critical that we prepare those instructors that teach both blended and online

classes with the technical skills necessary to facilitate courses in the online learning

environment. While technology can be costly, our commitment to implement updated

software or hardware when necessary, will guarantee higher student satisfaction and

enrollment numbers to rise. (Bates, n.d.). This investment would benefit the college by

increasing the current enrollment and financial contribution from the non-credit

continuing education programs. Our current FY18 enrollment of 33,247 students.

(CCBC, 2018)

Challenges for offering online courses with quality teaching has been finding multiple

instructors with pedagogical and technical experience in developing subject-specific

content. By providing the required online technological training our current faculty who

already has the pedagogical expertise, we are ultimately saving money by assisting them

to become familiar with all aspects of the online learning environment. By taking

advantage of these professional development opportunities, we will produce quality

faculty and staff qualified to assist our students in counseling, advisement, and tutoring

services. This initiative will require collaboration of all stakeholders

(management/staff/faculty/IT department). We can monitor and access teaching quality

through surveys to receive constructive feedback from faculty and staff. (Henard &

Roseveare, 2012). As leaders, we must provide training that is aligned with the colleges

educational goals and addresses our core values and mission statement that “provide
accessible, affordable, and high-quality education that prepare students for transfer and

career success…” (CCBC, 2018)

Course design is and an important factor in keeping them fully engaged with well-

organized course content. I’ve taken the initiative to speak with program Directors, IT

and Library staff, who have expressed interest in collaborating efforts to begin

developing professional development training sessions.

Student Support

Since student support services is a key factor in the success of our distance learning

programs, another central issue that impacts our students is having policies in place that

assist our continuing education students just as our credit students are assisted on campus.

With the aid of program support staff, students that register for our classes will have 24/7

access to library resources, full-time administrative assistance in tutoring, writing and

technical support. (Bates, n.d.).

This recommendation is guided in the constructivist learning theory as it focuses on

knowledge construction based on learners’ previous experience, relating new knowledge

to what they already know. This theory has been documented being a compliment for e-

learning design. This will assist our instructors in designing learning activities and

assessments to guide our students. (Koohang, Riley & Smith, 2009). Connectivism

theory also addresses our need in knowledge management in this changing digital age,

allowing for learning using technology to enable us to learn more and share an abundance

of information. (Siemens, 2004)

Providing continuous professional development training to our staff and faculty will

ensure and produce a quality team of qualified professionals that interact with our
students on a daily basis. It is essential we work as a team within our departments to

support students in offering:

 Quality online activities within course content

 Provide appropriate academic library resources

 Provide tutoring, counseling and advisement

Also, working as a team ensures that instructional designers, staff, faculty, and program

managers are clear on their roles in assisting one another in managing their workload.

Conclusion

The ultimate benefit of this proposal is to assist in growing our continuing education

programs, and guide students in completing our certificate online programs with the

necessary skills to take into the workforce. I hope you will consider my proposal. I look

forward to meeting with you to discuss more in detail. Thank you for your consideration.
 Resources:

Bates, T. (n.d.). Teaching in a digital age. Chapter 11. Retrieved from

https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/chapter/11-5-step-three/

Community College of Baltimore County. (2018). Mission and Values. Retrieved from

http://www.ccbcmd.edu/about-ccbc/mission-and-values

Community College of Baltimore County. (2018). Quick Facts. Retried from

http://www.ccbcmd.edu/About-CCBC/Administrative-Offices/Administrative-

Services/Planning-Research-and-Evaluation/CCBC-Facts.aspx

Henard, F. & Roseveare, D. (2012). Fostering quality teaching in higher education:

Policies and practices. Institutional Management in Higher Education. Retrieved from

http://www.oecd.org/education/imhe/QT%20policies%20and%20practices.pdf

Koohang, A., Riley, L. & Smith, T. (2009). E-learning and constructivism: From theory

to application. Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning Objects. Vol. 5.

Retried from http://www.stevekerby.com/omde_610/Readings/e-

learning_and_constructivism_Koohang_Riley_Smith.pdf

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Elearnspace.

Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm