Consortium Expansion

Dear Colleague,

Since the inception of the Online Education Initiative (OEI), many California Community Colleges have been working together to address online achievement gaps and increase student access to fully-resourced online courses that propel them toward completion.  During this time, our system has seen the average gap between face-to-face and online success rates narrow to less than 6 percent, and our data shows OEI pilot courses moving 4.9 percent above the statewide average.  There are many components now deployed within and beyond the OEI Consortium that are benefitting students and colleges in our system -- Canvas, online tutoring and counseling platforms, online student readiness resources, professional development, and more -- with the Course Exchange continuing its rollout as the most technically complex component.  We have  always planned to expand our consortium to include more colleges in the good work we are doing alongside our member colleges.

I am excited to announce that we are now accepting letters of interest for our 2018 Consortium Cohort! While the first cohorts focused on tutoring, readiness, and the Course Exchange, the new group will initially have a special focus on student equity, including:

• Culturally responsive teaching with a community of practice around online equity
• Name/gender identification for instruction and student support services, including counseling, tutoring, health services, etc.
• Pilot additional online resources integrated into Canvas for community building, student engagement, and collaboration.
• Faculty engagement in collaborative course development using OER materials in Canvas.
• Support for the development of a local, peer-faculty course review process to support equity and student success in online courses.
• Programmatic and technical preparation for Course Exchange participation.

If your college is interested in joining, we invite you to return the enclosed Letter of Interest, signed by both your college CEO and Academic Senate President. The letter is non-binding but allows us to confirm institutional interest and to follow up with the complete college self-assessment packet and instructions. We will review these on a rolling basis, with a goal of receiving the Letter of Interest by December 15, 2017.  Our goal for receiving returned college self-assessment packets for inclusion in the cohort is Thursday, February 15, 2018.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or need assistance, please contact:

Justin Schultz, College Implementation Supervisor
650.949.7939
jschultz@ccconlineed.org

Thank you for your interest in the OEI. We look forward to working with additional college partners as we expand the consortium!

Sincerely,

Jory Hadsell, Ed.D.
Executive Director