bkdelong

*sigh* Did I call it or what? Here's another Boston Globe article covering scandal within the UMass system. Why can't they ever cover the good stuff?

However, despite past nonsensical articles, this one covers both sides well. I think Bulger has an excellent point about needing to move quickly as it often appears that everything political at UMass seems to go slower than molasses undulating uphill in January. I say this from personal experience of being a student representative in my time at UMass on several IT committees including that of the Faculty Senate. However I also agree with many of the sentiments of the professors. If no academic guidelines have been discussed nor has it been made clear who owns rights to what is taught, then UMass Online will have some serious problems.

I hate to do the big "In my day" speech, but when I first went to UMass I caused havoc being the first undergraduate to have an on-campus Web site at the University, was responsible for the creation of many departmental and division Web sites on campus, and was the only student in my classes who was looking up the e-mails of people who wrote the books and papers I had to read for class and ask them questions. Many professors were still getting used to the whole idea of e-mail and the Web (and this was in 1994-1998), many fearful of having to learn about it.

You can't rush this process without covering the bases needed in order to stem the fears of both the teachers and students. You can't mandate change without their being clear contingencies, guidelines, and comfort level with the process. Otherwise students will suffer. Keep the pace up but don't just address the logistics of getting the systems up and online - take care of the people problems too.

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