Dear Colleagues,

I hope you are enjoying the summer.  I know many are getting ready for fall courses, this note includes updates and links that might be helpful in your preparations.  As a reminder, we have lots of Instructor Resources including strategies to set up your course on Blackboard, guides to support educational technology, links to trainings offered by BUMC Educational Technology and by BU’s Center for Teaching and Learning, and more.

Over the coming weeks, we will continue to provide updates to ensure that everyone is ready for fall.  Today, we share resources and updates on five topics: an updated syllabus template for fall 2024, migration to Blackboard Ultra, use of Generative AI in teaching and learning, upcoming Teaching & Learning sessions and our fall Education Retreat, and an update on the new student information system called Campus Solutions.

Updated Syllabus Template

All faculty should prepare a course syllabus using the BUSPH syllabus template, available here.  The template is pre-populated with important information including our statement on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, our guiding principles, values and policies relevant to teaching, links to the Boston University Academic Conduct Code, descriptions of and links to the core course tutoring program (if relevant), the public health writing program and guide, links to the library, and more.  There are also details about course policies and expectations that can be edited as appropriate.

Over the past several months, the Education Committee had multiple discussions about class recordings and attendance. Some faculty expressed concern that the availability of recordings was impacting attendance.  The Education Committee recommended the following change from previous versions of the syllabus template.  Previously, faculty recorded and posted recordings of class sessions. We ask that faculty continue to record class sessions but not automatically post the recordings. Instead, faculty may share links to recordings if a student needs to miss a class due to illness or an unavoidable conflict, or if a student requests the recording to review material. Access to recordings will be granted on a case-by-case basis.

Last week, the BUMC Alumni Medical Library provided an update on three new platforms: Overton, for accessing policy documents, guidelines, think tank publications and working papers; Covidence for comprehensive literature reviews; and, Coherent Digital’s Policy Commons for accessing the grey literature.  These resources might also be of interest to you and your students and worth including in your syllabus or on your Blackboard site.  Please click the links above for each platform for descriptions, trainings and tutorials.  You may also request more details from the BUMC librarians at refquest@bu.edu.

Migration to BB Ultra

Faculty and students alike have expressed dissatisfaction with some of the features, or lack thereof, associated with Blackboard.  Some of these features have been addressed with the new Blackboard Learn Ultra platform.  We are using Ultra in the new online MPH modules, and faculty and students are very satisfied with its functionality, look and feel. A few of our faculty are using Ultra now, and all are welcome to transition over to the new platform.  Our Digital Learning Designer Emelia Nunn (enunn@bu.edu) is available to provide 1-on-1 guidance on the transition to Ultra. You can sign up for a 1-on-1 meeting with Emelia here. Our colleagues in BUMC Educational Technology are also here to support any faculty wishing to migrate their course over to Ultra.  Please see their information page here, with steps as to how to request that your course be transitioned or set up in Ultra, digital guides, and video demonstrations. Please also see the BUMC IT EdTech guide to Blackboard Learn and Ultra here.

Generative AI in Teaching

In September 2023, the University charged a task force consisting of faculty from various disciplines across the university to develop recommendations on how best to engage with generative AI in teaching and research.  The final report of the task force is available here.  The task force did not develop a “one-size-fits-all” policy for the use of generative AI in teaching at BU.  They did, however, recommend that every course syllabus include details as to how generative AI can and cannot be used in that course.

To support the development of statements for syllabi, we will host an interactive workshop with Lisa Burgess, Assistant Director of the BU Center for Teaching and Learning, to discuss principles for using generative AI in courses.  Lisa will work with us to develop guidance for students that can be included in syllabi, and she will share tips on how we might use AI effectively for course content and assessments.  The workshop will be held on August 15 from 10 AM to 12 PM and lunch will be provided.  Please RSVP here so that we can be sure to have enough for everyone, and join us for what will surely be a very informative session.

Please also see the Center for Teaching and Learning’s many resources on AI in the Classroom.

Upcoming Teaching and Learning Sessions, and Fall Education Retreat

This fall we will continue our monthly Teaching and Learning series.  These are informal gatherings of faculty and staff to discuss issues relevant to teaching and learning.  We have topics for each session but, as always, will leave time for open discussion of pertinent issues.

September 18, 1-2 PM Enhancing our socio-political well-being.  Professor Carol Dolan will lead this session to discuss strategies to prepare and cope with current world turmoil in the classroom.

October 7, 1-2 PM Advising and registration preparation.  Nikki Longe, SPH registrar, and educational administrative staff will offer strategies for advising in preparation for spring 2025 registration.

November 6 1-2 PM Authentic assessments.  This session will focus on more authentic assessment of student proficiency, an area of focus for the Education Committee for academic year 2024-2025, in response to the ASPPH Framing the Future 2030 Transformative Approaches to Teaching and Learning report.

Please join these sessions as you can.  If you are new to our community, you are most welcome – we would love for you to join us!

Lastly, on Monday, September 23 we will hold our annual all-school Education Retreat from 9 AM – 12:30 PM in Hiebert Lounge.  Lunch will be provided, and we ask that anyone interested please RSVP here, so that we have enough for everyone.  The retreat will feature presentations from working groups to advance our assessment of teaching beyond student course ratings.  Specifically, we will hear reports from our Peer Observation Working Group, the Teaching Reflection Working Group, and the Metrics for Measuring Excellence in Teaching Working Group.  The session will be interactive and offer lots of opportunity for discussion and feedback in each area.  All faculty and staff are encouraged to attend as our final products and processes will be far better with input from everyone.

Campus Solutions

Nikki Longe, SPH Registrar and Director of Academic Integrity, and her team have been immersed in the deployment of the new student information system, Campus Solutions.  The deployment has been challenging in many ways and Nikki has spent hours working to ensure that the system works for our programs, students, faculty and staff.  There are still many challenges that need to be addressed and Nikki is leading that effort.  Please do take the time to familiarize yourself with the new platform.  The Faculty/Staff login is accessible here.  I am sure we will be saying this many times over the coming months, but a huge thank-you to Nikki for all of her efforts on all of our behalf.

As the summer winds down, I hope you take time to relax and recharge.  As you can see from the updates, the Education Committee has been hard at work on a number of fronts.  I would like to personally thank all members: Candice Belanoff, Sophie Godley, Megan Healey, Jessica Leibler, Nikki Longe, Gina Peloso, Lora Sabin, Andrew Stokes, Kiersten Strombotne, and Amanda Velez for all of their hard work!

As you prepare for your fall courses, please do not hesitate if you have any questions or need anything.  I look forward to seeing you at orientation, August 27-230

Sincerely,

Lisa Sullivan

Associate Dean for Education

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