“Open” and the Cluster Initiative
President Birx has explained that a cluster-based curriculum would be one in which students could identify and articulate the connections between all of their courses, that they could explain the ways…
Student Persistence and the Cluster Initiative
The First Year Seminar (FYS) Fellows have already met for many hours this summer to work on our Fall offerings of the course. We are designing some common assessments as…
Creating a Digital Identity
Each year since 2011, the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) has sponsored an Academic Technology Institute (ATI) in which 10 faculty from each of the 4 institutions in the system…
Beyond the Skills Gap Revisited
I wrote a couple of months ago about reading the book Beyond the Skills Gap with my small book club. We just getting ready to meet to talk about the…
Year End Cluster Reflection
Yesterday, I sent out the agenda for the last Arts and Technologies cluster meeting of the academic year. (For those interested--the meeting is May 17, 3:30-5pm, in Frost Commons.) In…
Cluster Leadership Pilot
At the last town hall meeting, President Birx said that one of his priorities is to pilot new leadership models in a couple of the Integrated Clusters. Since that time,…
Lots of Activity
In the three weeks since my last post, there has been a flurry of activity on campus regarding the integrated clusters and possible changes to many aspects of the way…
A Guide’s View of PSU’s Week
Our first week back to campus after the Undergraduate Spring Break was a busy one relative to the Integrated Cluster initiative. Here are some of the conversations and activities I…
Beyond the Skills Gap
I first learned of Beyond the Skills Gap in an October, 2016 article in Inside Higher Ed. In January, my small book club (Ann McClellan, Pat Cantor, and I) decided…
PSU and the National GE Conversation
As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently attended the American Association of Colleges and Universities' 2017 General Education and Assessment Conference. Nearly every session I attended was directly…
AAC&U General Education Conference
Annette Holba, Annemarie Conlon, Sandra Van Gundy, Hilary Swank, and I attended the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) General Education Conference in Phoenix last week. The AAC&U is…
White Balance in Digital Photography
I've been experimenting with all the different settings on my camera. Yesterday's experimentation focused on the "white balance" control. This is a concept that I never learned when I was…
Lessons Learned from Reviewing Cluster Project Proposals
One of the sessions that I was involved in during the January Jamboree was about the lessons learned regarding successful cluster projects so far. Annette Holba, Cindy Waltman, Laura Dykstra and…
Arts and Technologies Curriculum Discussion
During PSU's January Jamboree (JJ), I was involved in four sessions: First Year Seminar Update, General Education Update, Lessons Learned from Cluster Project Proposals, and the Arts and Technologies Curriculum…
Holdover Design
Although I've categorized this post as related to Integrated Clusters, I've done that for my own ease of finding it in the future. The post is really about Design Thinking which…
What Makes the PSU Cluster Initiative Unique?
I was interviewed on Monday about the cluster initiative for a new podcast focused on higher education in general and Plymouth State University in particular. I think the interview went…
The First Year Seminar and Wicked Problems
The First Year Seminar Coordinating Council (FYSCC) is facilitating a workshop during Plymouth State University's January Jamboree. We will be discussing the changes we envision as the First Year Seminar (FYS) becomes…
Designing Your Life
As part of my work as a cluster guide, I've been continuing to read about design thinking. One of the books that I recently finished (in a mini-book club with my…
Design Thinking and Wicked Problems
When I visited Spain in 2008, I was impressed by all the little things the country was doing to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. There were wind farms all…
Student Engagement
I took advantage of our unexpected ice day today to write about the cluster initiative and student engagement. Two ideas that have arisen from conversations about clusters that might have…
