HOUSE BILL 2504

Syllabi Upload Process

HISTORY OF LCC AND HB2504

• Oct. 2009 – LCC to upload a copy of syllabus per course immediately

• Action was taken without a long-term strategy in place

ACTION TAKEN

• Instructor provided syllabus• Secretaries uploaded syllabus using our CMS• IT created program to read list of uploaded

syllabus

CHALLENGE

• Instructors got overwhelmed with the extra tasks

• IT provided regular CMS trainings• Secretaries uploaded what they could, as they

were getting the needed information (workshops failed)

• Syllabi listing got confusing due to the inconsistency of the file naming

• Deadline wasn’t being reached

REVAMP ATTEMPTS

• IT analyzed the issue and developed guidelines:– Syllabus would be converted to PDF– Syllabus would follow a file naming convention

• IT* continued with regular trainings

CHALLENGE

• The additional preparation tasks took longer for instructors to deliver syllabus and consequently:– Syllabus was being uploaded without following the

file naming convention or pdf conversion– Syllabus was being uploaded late– Syllabus was being uploaded once per related course– Syllabus was NOT being uploaded

• IT* continued with regular trainings

REVAMP ATTEMPTS

• IT analyzed the issue and:– Decommissioned CMS tool – Listing of all courses was displayed using the

Banner database, with a color indicator for courses with missing syllabus

– Syllabus would follow a file naming convention– IT would upload all syllabus for quality control

purposes for the first time

RESULTS AND CURRENT CHALLENGES

• With the missing-syllabus-color indicator:– Staff realized that a syllabus file could not be used

for another course on a different course section– Syllabus had to be duplicated and renamed

accordingly for related courses and accompanying labs

– Syllabi were being distributed late to IT

ADDITIONAL CHALLENGES

• Instructors wait on the syllabus, due to the consistent updates of the original template

OBSERVATIONS AND PROPOSITIONS

• IT analyzes the issue again– An automated-based implementation could be

helpful in uploading, naming, and updating of the file.

– To develop a solution that uploads multiple syllabus at the same time, names them accordingly and are independent of the original hard copy.

Instructor logs in and only sees his/her courses

Instructor only fills up the general information and submits.

Working demo: http://www.laredo.edu/hb2504/wraper_syllabi.php

Program could be extended so that secretaries could log-in and impersonate an instructor

Secretary logs in and only sees instructors in her department, then she can click on one to impersonate the instructor selected.

Working demo: http://www.laredo.edu/hb2504/inpersonate.php

What do you think? What can be done?