Seven C’s from the Winter Academy 2021-2022
Community
How is community fostered in the program? In individual courses? Outside of the courses?
What are students expecting to get out of their program community?
What types of students will participate and drive the community?
How can students slip through the cracks of community, and how can we patch those cracks?
Collegiality
What other voices are allowed input into the program design?
Who can I run my ideas by? Who can I let see initial designs to ask opinions?
What would another instructor from a different department like about my program? What would they question?
Care
How does this program inherently care for students?
What does “care” look like within the courses? Within shared program-wide policies? (ie: late work, etc.)
How are students encouraged to reflect care themselves?
Connection
How are students encouraged to connect with each other?
With the content?
With their instructors?
With their work in the “real world”?
Change
In what areas is the program/coursework flexible, in which it is able to change if needed?
In what areas is the program/coursework built solidly, to withstand change?
What trends are popping up in the field, and do I need to prepare for the next big change now?
Coherency
How will the courses seem similar in design? In what ways are they allowed to be different?
Are there some courses which require prerequisites within the program, or are students allowed to “jump around” if they wish?
What freedom do instructors have to edit the template in their courses?
Can common due dates, policies, and patterns benefit the program? Navigation, structure, faith, or rubrics? Do instructors base their content in topics or weeks?
Christianity
How does your faith express itself or interact with the digital side of your program?
In what ways is God present or acknowledged in your program?
Where do you create space in your courses plan for God, for the spiritual more generally, or for unbelief?
In what spaces in your program do you talk about your faith? Is it explicit or implicit?
How does faith relate to your methods of instruction, class policies, assignments?
What assumptions do you make about your students?