Banner image with the text: The Learning and Teaching Commons at the Washington Center student-centered, equity-minded, inquiry-oriented, committed to access and excellence

Recast | Path Project Update

by · March 15, 2021

From: “Betz, Amy” <betza@evergreen.edu>
Date: Friday, March 12, 2021 at 6:22 PM

Hello everyone,  

It was great to see you at the faculty meeting this Wednesday! I want to tell each of you how much I appreciate the positive and collaborative energy you have all put into this critical work to make the Path Implementation Project successful.  As a reminder, this project is a part of the overall New Academic Directions work of the college. The goals of this project are to integrate all aspects of academic, student support and co-curricular events and activities into Path planning and support infrastructures for students.  

Here is a status report on where we are in the project and where we are going.  I’m going to provide considerable detail here for transparency – so stick with me to the end. J  

Stage 1: Path Implementation  

Purpose: To clarify the definition of Paths for the student, to identify within the student journey at Evergreen how we currently support students in Path planning and learning, and to create an initial engagement with students on their learning plans associated with fields of study and Path options.  This work includes:  

  • Build definitions for paths and fields of study  
  • Determine curriculum structure model: subjects>fields of study>paths  
  • Develop student journey maps, within current support structures illustrating the support students will receive from inquiry to graduation  
  • Creating a clear and simple advising guide for staff and faculty for Stage I.  
  • Updating the curriculum database and Banner with new fields for the catalog and student profile to associate new fields of study and paths  
  • Initial catalog update – with paths and fields of study associated with offerings  
  • Updating initial Path Pages for recruitment, including providing offering level within the Path – to attract prospective students  
  • Updating Field of Study Pages for recruitment – clarifying what we offer to prospective students  
  • Engaging new and current students to identify the field(s) of study they are interested in and identifying the possible Paths they can follow to help them learn those fields in depth. 

Our current plan is to deliver on all items listed above by April 1, 2021.  

We are bringing to life the path structure for students in a way that presents the interrelationships between fields of study and paths that will give students more information about our curriculum. Students will have the opportunity to tell us what fields of study they are interested in, as well as to tell us if they are choosing to follow a planned path or chart their own path. 

This is an initial stage to provide new content and connecting the content with the curriculum and with the students in order to move to Stage II of our plan.  

Vision Statement and Guidance for Updates to Online Academic Content  
As a part of Stage 1 development, the core team developed the following for guiding our work.

The purpose of Path webpages is to serve as a primary recruiting tool for attracting students by showing them an option for how to progress to an advanced level of learning in their area of interest at Evergreen.  

  • Paths provide wayfinding for students who want to see how they can progress from introductory to advanced level courses and programs in one or more related fields.  
  • Paths provide clarity on how Evergreen will support students on their learning journey (i.e. learning opportunities, facilities, resources, events, activities, etc.) students in their learning.  
  • Paths provide a place for students to see at a glance opportunities for high impact practices such as capstones and internships and how they can prepare for careers and graduate school.  

The purpose of Fields of Study webpages is to describe the fields of study that are available for students to confidently learn at Evergreen.  

  • Fields of study are academic areas where student can count on having a significant amount of curricular choices on a regular basis.    
  • Fields of Study pages connect a student directly to faculty who can serve as resources for students with an interest in creating an emphasis in a particular area.    
  • Most Field of Study pages will connect directly to one or more Path pages. Students will be encouraged to visit the Path pages to find out more information about how to navigate our curriculum to reach advanced levels in that field and others, and how to access other resources and opportunities.  

The purpose of the Faculty Directory is to highlight faculty expertise and what each faculty member brings to Evergreen.  

  • Faculty profiles include a summary of who our faculty are as professionals and what they offer in the Evergreen curriculum.  
  • The faculty directory is a tool students can use to find experts in fields of study they are interested in learning more about.  
  • By highlighting faculty areas of specialization and research it opens students up to new possibilities for their own learning.   

Stage 1: Development for Initial Publication by April 1, 2021  

Path Webpages:  Primary goal in Stage 1 is recruitment. Need simple hook, with clear wayfinding for curriculum.  

  1. Marketing will provide updates to additional sections for the current Path pages to support above vision and attract new students.  
  2. CAT Leaders and Path Conveners will be asked to review for content clarity, accuracy, and integrity of the new additional sections and give input to Amy, David, and Larry.  
  3. David and Larry review feedback and make final edits.  
  4. Amy will provide final edits to marketing for publication.  

Fields of Study: Primary goal in Stage 1 is recruitment. Need clear simple definitions.  

  1. Faculty provide summaries and updates to current field of study pages (BIG THANKS – to all who sent them in!)  
  2. Amy will gather all updates and provide to marketing.  
  3. Marketing reviews new summaries for format and grammar, provides edits to Amy.  
  4. Amy will provide opportunity for quick review by CAT Leaders, Curriculum Team and David.  
  5. David and Larry review feedback and make final edits.  
  6. Amy will provide to marketing for publication.  

Faculty Directory: Goal – update with fields of study  

  1. Amy provides form for faculty to identify with fields of study and Paths 
  2. Faculty complete identification with fields of study  
  3. Amy updates catalog.  

Additional components for these pages will need development and discussion over the Spring and Summer by the Path Implementation team. For now, I’d like to share the vision for the next stage of work on Path, Field of Study and Faculty Directory webpages.  

Stage 2: Full Development for Publication by Fall Quarter  

Path Webpages: Goal – provide advising and support  

Spring:  

  1. Faculty provide further content by adding to additional sections in the updated template for the Path webpages.  
  2. Provide updated templates to Amy  
  3. David and Larry review.  
  4. Amy provides to Marketing.  

Summer:  

  1. Core Team provides faculty with template for Path Advising Page  
  2. Summer Path Planning Meetings – Faculty work on in-depth path content – with focus on curricular advising (pre-req, etc) and co-curricular support options for current student. Our goal is that this could be collaborative meeting between faculty, student engagement, and marketing so that marketing can get an inside view of what makes up each path.  
  3. CAT Leaders and Larry review content.  
  4. Amy provides templates to marketing.  
  5. Marketing edits for clarity and formatting.  
  6. CAT Leader, Curriculum Team, and David reviews for accuracy and provides feedback.  
  7. David and Larry review feedback and make final edits.  
  8. Provide to Amy for updating the path advising webpages.  
       
       

Fields of Study: Goal – consistency and clarity  

  1. Marketing reviews all field of study pages to ensure one-voice, consistency, and a parallel level of detail. Currently some fields of study pages are very length with many components that we are now including in Path pages (they were designed before we had Paths). These will be edited down significantly, with elements shifted to Path Webpages and Path Advising Pages as appropriate.  
  2. Amy provides updated fields of study pages to CAT Leaders and affiliated faculty for review.  
  3. CAT Leaders and faculty provide feedback to Larry, David and Amy.  
  4. David and Larry review feedback and make final edits.  
  5. Amy will provide to marketing for publication.  

Faculty Directory: Goal – update further enhancements for faculty profile pages  

  1. Amy provides options for updates to Faculty Profile  
  2. Faculty complete updates  
  3. Amy updates directory 

Current Status Summary 

You can see we are moving forward a significant step in making both fields of study and the path structure a more tangible experience for our students.  In summary, these are the action items happening next week: 

  1.  Amy will reach out to CAT Leaders and Path Conveners for quick review of format and updates to Path pages. 
  • Marketing is reviewing for format and grammar. 
  • Tech Team is developing a survey for faculty to complete association with fields of study and Paths. 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.

Thanks so much everyone! 

Amy

Amy Betz on behalf of Paths Implementation Project

You may also like...