Focus

The Academic Technology Advisory Committee is focused on acting as a steering committee for academic-related technologies with a charge to:

• Make procedural and technology recommendations regarding the academic/instructional use of and need for technology to Information Technology Services, the Center for Teaching and Learning / Academic Technology, and the Provost.

• Develop and sustain communication channels among academic technology decision-makers and stakeholders across campus, including the Colleges, the Library, the Center for Teaching and Learning / Academic Technology, the University Senate, student groups and others as appropriate.

• Facilitate centralized coordination for academic technology recommendations that balance standardization and efficiency in shared resource use while recognizing the need for flexibility in supporting emerging, decentralized academic needs and ensuring alignment with campus priorities and budget.

• Provide constituency (faculty, students, administrators, academic support staff) input into the selection, testing, piloting, deployment and adoption of academic technologies.

• Maintain an equity-minded focus when making all decisions in order to ensure inclusion and diversity.

Scope

The Academic Technology Advisory Committee is charged with considering the following topics:

• Physical Learning Environments.  Defined as learning technologies that are located in a physical learning space such as a classroom, seminar room, meeting space or computer lab with presentation technology.  Discussions may also consider optimal configurations of technology-rich spaces to support student engagement and learning. 

• Online Learning Environments.  Defined as learning technologies that are accessed by the user online via a web browser or specialized interface that allows interaction with and/or access to online information.

• New and Emerging Technologies.  Includes both classroom and online technologies that are emerging in teaching and learning.

• Student-owned Technology.   This area incorporates technology that is “owned” by the students, and includes defining how IT services are delivered through devices that the students are bringing to campus. The committee will also give consideration to help optimise Physical Learning Environments that support Student-owned Technology. Evaluate student laptop initiatives in selected disciplines as needed.

• Educational Technology Funding.   This area considers seeking funding for educational technologies that support student success; bringing awareness to learning technologies that may need strategic support as they are implemented. Coordinate collaboration on any available CSU tech funding or grants. 

• Mandated (Legal, CSU System, Campus) Issues around Technology and Pedagogy.  These are topical areas that often need special attention when using academic technology.

• Prioritization and Assessment. This group identifies and coordinates potential academic technology initiatives for submission to the ITS Project Prioritization Process and the Center for Teaching and Learning / Academic Technology and participates in assessing the effectiveness of these initiatives.

Membership & Responsibilities

The Academic Technology Advisory Committee is comprised of 10 members who collectively bring representation from across the entire campus and a variety of technology usage and teaching modalities:

• Faculty from the Library
• Faculty teaching online*
• Faculty teaching technology*
• Faculty teaching in a specialized lab*
• Faculty teaching in an interdisciplinary lab*
• Faculty teaching in a Smart Classroom*
• Faculty teaching undergraduate classes*
• Faculty teaching graduate classes*
• Faculty making heavy use of technology in the curriculum*
• Faculty involved in research*
• Student (appointed by AS)
• Knowledge of Accessible Instructional Materials
• A member of the CTL Advisory Council
• Staff from the CTL / Academic Technology (1)
• Staff from Information Technology Services (2)

*One faculty may represent several of these areas: for example, a faculty member could teach undergraduates both online and in a specialized lab. In this case, we would seek to gain additional perspectives elsewhere, ensuring we have representation from all three colleges.

Time Commitment

60 minutes once a month during the Academic Year. We don’t expect a significant commitment outside of those hours.