Tag Archives: For Staff

25 years @ MIIS with Sherre Kruft

Sherre Kruft, Admissions Office III at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, recently passed her 25-year mark of employment.  Over the years, Sherre has been the bedrock of the Admissions Office for many years and was awarded the Institute’s Above & Beyond Award in 2009 for her many contributions to the Institute. Sherre took a few minutes to share her thoughts on “Life at the Institute” over the past two and a half decades.

What did you do prior to coming to work at the Middlebury Institute and where were you located? 

I was in customer service in southern California and Monterey for about twenty years before joining Middlebury.

What job titles have you held while working at the Middlebury Institute?

Custom Language Services/Summer Intensive Language Program Administrative Assistant, Admissions Assistant, Admissions Officer.

Many people change jobs/careers multiple times in their working life. Something must have kept you here for 25 years. Is it anything that you can put into words? 

I really enjoy the constant learning aspect of international credential evaluation. The Admissions Office is ever evolving and changing in order to try to meet the needs of prospective students. 

If you could give one piece of advice to a new employee at MIIS, what would it be? 

Use active listening skills and be kind.

Is there anything else that you would like to share about your time at MIIS? 

I have had a wonderful experience here.  There are too many people I have worked with and admire for different reasons to name.  Our prospective students are amazing and awe inspiring.  I love how they plan to make a difference in so many diverse ways.

College Community Chorus begins new season

The Middlebury College Community Chorus announces a new season as its singers prepare for their annual spring concert, with an intriguing mix of pieces about time, seasons, and places. Regular rehearsals take place on Sunday and Tuesday evenings from 7:00-8:30 p.m. on the college campus, beginning January 27.

Middlebury Community Chorus

Students, alumni, community members enjoy rehearsal before last fall’s concert (photo: Silvia Cantu)

Rehearsals from January 27 through February 12 take place at the Mahaney Arts Center (room 221). As of February 17, rehearsals move to Mead Chapel. Historic, traditional, and contemporary music from across the globe will fill the hour-long program slated for performance the first weekend in May.

On this spring’s program, the choir will sing Gropen, a lively traditional Norwegian tune arranged for chorus with fiddle. Young Tradition Vermont award-winning high school student Romy Munkres from Cornwall VT will play with us. We also will perform Sunshine, an upbeat tune about blue sky and summer time, set by Irish composer Michael McGlynn. Also by McGlynn, we will offer Aisling, a quiet Celtic tune. Aisling means ‘dream’ or ‘vision’ and the work features a solo instrumental part that Romy will play.

Kanaval, a festive, fun work by Sydney Guillaume (born in Haiti, now living in the U.S.) depicts mardi gras in Haiti with a mix of tunes and rhythms influenced by traditional Haitian culture. Hands are Knockin’ includes words in both English and Arabic, a song by Kyle Pederson (who earned a master of fine arts degree in Vermont), written for an international school in Muscat, the capital of Oman, that asks if we will open our doors to all people.

In differing musical styles, we will prepare three newly composed songs with poetry by Sara Teasdale and Christina Rosetti, including Refuge, a radiant piece completed in 2015 by long-time Vermont composer Gwyneth Walker; Grace Before Sleep, a sensitive setting by Missouri-based composer Susan LaBarr; and The Rose,. a gentle tune with flowing piano accompaniment, by Norwegian-American composer Ola Gjeilo that portrays the picturesque beauty of this flower as it blossoms.

The program includes splendid historic choruses from a little known work by George Frederic Handel entitled The Triumph of Time and Truth, including a “Hallelujah” chorus (though not the one that many people know from “The Messiah”!) We will also sing one of Handel’s most beautiful choruses, Music Spread Thy Voice Around.

The choir invites new members to join us as we enjoy making music together. Participants should plan to attend at least one rehearsal each week. Numbering nearly 100 singers, the group welcomes without audition all who can follow a musical score and carry a tune accurately. Its members travel from throughout the region to participate in this 150-year-old community tradition, hosted by Middlebury College.

Jeff Rehbach continues in his nineteenth consecutive season as director of the College Community Chorus, and Timothy Guiles returns as the choir’s virtuoso accompanist.

For additional information, check on the web at go.middlebury.edu/communitychorus or send an inquiry to rehbach@middlebury.edu or 989-7355.

Making the Most of your Medical Insurance Plan in 2019

See the source image

Important Benefit Reminders

Trouble-free employee benefit plan administration requires a strong partnership between employees and Human Resources. The Human Resources Department works diligently each year-end to accurately process the thousands of required or requested benefit record changes and then to check and double-check our work.  However, in the end, we also must rely on you, the employee, to do your part in managing your benefits by confirming that you are enrolled in the benefits you intended to elect.  Please carefully review your first several paychecks and let us know if you have questions or if anything seems amiss.

 

Medical/Dental Insurance

  • If you are a new enrollee in Medical or Dental or if you added dependents to your existing plans, CIGNA mailed individualized medical and dental ID cards to participants’ home addresses in mid-December. Otherwise, if your coverage is continuing unchanged from 2018, you should continue to use your previously issued CIGNA ID card.  If you have lost or misplaced your ID card, please call Cigna customer service at 1-800-244-6224 and they will issue you a new one.
  • As was announced on November 1, there were some increases to employee contributions toward medical and dental premiums for 2019.  New premiums (if applicable) will be reflected in the first paychecks issued in 2019. Additionally, employees who made coverage level changes (i.e. from family to single) should see the premium deduction applicable to the new coverage level applied in the first paycheck. Please refer to the Middlebury or Monterey 2019 rates charts when reviewing your check.
  • CIGNA’s website and mobile app are easy to use and provide convenient access to a wealth of information and services including: recent claims history, the ability to print temporary ID cards and to access virtual ID cards, provider network search, the ability to see real-time progress towards deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, drug cost comparison tools, virtual explanations-of-benefits (EOBs), etc. To take advantage of these on-line services please follow the instructions in the MyCigna.com flyer. After registering, you can elect the paperless option and access your EOBs electronically. Your dependents may also register for their own portal…a great option for adult dependent children.

 

Vision Insurance

  • The premium for the vision plan did not change. Participants who changed coverage levels during open enrollment (i.e. switched from single to family coverage) will see the resultant premium change in the first paycheck in 2019.
  • The plan design will remain the same.  Remember, ID cards are not required (simply tell your VSP provider the last four digits of your SSN and date of birth). A summary of the plan and other helpful information is available on-line
  • At  VSP you can learn how to use your benefits, create a log-in to access your personal account information, file an out-of-network claim electronically, and search for in-network providers.

 

 

Flexible Spending Accounts

  • Double Check your paycheck deduction: Elections in health care and dependent care Flexible Spending Accounts for 2019 should be reflected in employees’ first paychecks of the new year. Please review your pay stub and confirm that your contribution is correct (divide your total annual election by 26 and round up to the nearest penny to calculate your per pay-period election.)
  • File 2018 Claims by March 31, 2019: If you participated in a Middlebury flex plan in 2018, please remember that any medical or dependent care FSA claims incurred through December 31, 2018 should now be filed for reimbursement.  You may upload claims to the website or app or mail or fax claims (link to claim form) (do not use your Flex Card for 2018 claims). You should also make sure you have completed all substantiation requests.  For assistance with substantiation, please contact customer service at 1-800-865-6543, M-F 8am-8pm (EST).
  • Web Portal and Mobile App: The MyCafeteriaPlan website and mobile app are excellent sources of real-time information.  If you have not previously set-up an account log-in, please contact customer service at MyCafeteriaPlan for assistance, 1-800-865-6543, M-F 8am-8pm (EST).
  • Communications: You will periodically receive emails from MyCafeteriaPlan asking that you log on to the portal to access some updated information.  The vendor alerts participants when substantiation may be needed through the portal.  These alerts are also sent to remind you to log on and review your balances and recent activity.  If you do not want to receive communications electronically (which will by default be sent to your Middlebury address), you must log on to request paper correspondence or call customer service at MyCafeteriaPlan. 1-800-865-6543, M-F 8am-8pm (EST).
  • Balances: As of January 1, 2019, your health FSA balances visible on the MyCafeteriaPlan portal reflects your 2019 unclaimed elections in combination with up to $500 of the unclaimed balance from your 2018 health FSA account.  While the amount eligible for rollover has already been added to your 2019 monies, you may still access that 2018 rollover PLUS the amount that did not rollover (which is subject to forfeiture) up until March 31, 2019 for 2018 claims. To see your 2018 balance, separate from your 2019 balance, look on the left side of the home page under the ‘Available Balance’ section.  If you need assistance determining what you still have available to use for 2018 claims, please contact customer service at MyCafeteriaPlan.
  • 2019 Claims Filing Options: Expenses incurred on or after January 1, 2019 may be paid using the MyCafeteriaPlan Flex Card, uploading claims to the website, app, mailing or faxing a claim form.
  • Direct Deposit: If you would prefer to have reimbursements direct deposited, you will need to complete and submit a paper direct deposit form or enroll on-line through your MyCafeteriaPlan account on the web or mobile app.
  • Policy regarding check re-issue requests: Please carefully consider the direct deposit option.  If you receive your reimbursements via check, you will be responsible for any stop payment and re-issue fees in the event that the check is lost in the post or misplaced by you. Click here to review the policy.
  • Flex Cards: All new 2019 FSA participants (who did not participate in 2017 or 2018) should have received FSA debit cards in late December. These blue Visa-branded cards, called ‘Flex Cards’, allow participants the option to access available FSA funds directly. Information about using the debit card with your FSA account can be found here. If you are a repeat user, your existing red or blue card continues to be your active card to use.  You will not receive a new card at this time. If your cards are not received via post, or if they are misplaced or lost, they can be replaced for a $5 cancel/reissue fee. Please contact customer service at (800) 865-6543 for assistance.
  • Substantiation: Using the Flex Card is convenient however do keep in mind that the IRS requires substantiation for most expenses paid by use of such cards, so receipts must be maintained. Participants will receive a message by MyCafeteriaPlan via their online account/portal if substantiation is required.
  • Forfeiture: After the 2018 runout period ends on March 31, members will forfeit any unclaimed 2018 health FSA balances in excess of $500. Excess 2018 health FSA funds up to $500 maximum will remain in participant’s Health FSA accounts to be used for 2019 expenses.

Voluntary Life and Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) Insurance

  • Premium changes related to coverage amount increases or decreases should be reflected in the first paychecks in 2019.  Voluntary Life insurance age-band changes (5-year increments) for employees will be reflected in the first paycheck in 2019, and in the second check for spouses. If you made changes for 2019 or you hit a new age band, please review the deduction details on both the first and second checks to confirm that your premium changed.
  • Requests for new life coverage and/or for increases in life coverage over the guarantee issue amount are not effective until approved by UNUM. An Evidence of Insurability (EOI) form (paper or electronic) must be submitted by you to UNUM if you have requested this type of change. Notification to participants who require an EOI along with a link to the on-line EOI form will be distributed to affected employees during January.  Upon review, UNUM will notify employees directly of approval or denial of coverage. Any premium changes will be made as of the effective date of the approved coverage.

Retirement

  • If you recently submitted forms requesting changes to your Voluntary Retirement Plan or to enroll in the 457b Salary Deferral Supplemental Retirement Plan, your new elections should be reflected in the applicable paycheck of 2019. If you requested changes, please confirm that your elections are as expected.

If you have questions or concerns about your benefits, please contact the benefits department: Nancy Lindberg (nlindberg@middlebury.edu / 802-443-3372).

 

 

The DIRT for December 17-21, 2018

Greetings! DLINQ staff and interns wish you a happy, reflective and restorative holiday season. This is the final 2018 installment of the weekly “DIRT” from the Office of Digital Learning & Inquiry.  In January 2019, the DIRT will transition from a weekly blog post to a monthly e-mail newsletter with DLINQ updates, inspiration, and information about events.

Looking Ahead to January 2019 Happenings

Mark your calendars! We are excited to be hosting and co-hosting a number of events as we kick off the new year. Digital Detox 2019 - Bias and Inclusion in Digital Spaces January 7th Digital Detox 2019 launches. DLINQ’s second detox series will focus on bias and inclusion in digital spaces. Learn more about the series and consider subscribing to join the conversation with us.

The following events are co-sponsored by DLINQ and the Center for Teaching, Learning & Research (CTLR) January Pedagogy Series. Registration for on-ground participation will be open soon.

image with details about the radical listening event January 17th Join us in-person or via Zoom for a Digital Detox session on Mindfulness & Radical Listening in Digital Spaces.
image with details about event with Dr. Robin Derosa January 22nd We will be hosting Dr. Robin DeRosa, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Plymouth State University for a conversation titled “Teaching and Learning in the open.” The session will invite participants to join an open “annotation storm” using the digital annotation platform Hypothes.is

image with text about the event

January 24th Join us for another Digital Detox inspired conversation on the topic of digital exclusion and inclusion titled “Who is Welcome Online?”
trees shrouded in fog with text about event January 30th We will close out the month with a focus on web literacies to combat the effects of misinformation with a session titled “Beyond Essentials: Digital Fluency & Critical Engagement through Information Environmentalism“

Maker Space Featured by Middlebury Newsroom

Image of student repairing cell phones
Sophie Bardetti ’22 works on an iPhone during a ‘Repair Cafe’ hosted by Middlebury’s Sustainability Solutions Group at the new campus Makerspace. Image by  Todd Balfour
With the help of a number of entrepreneurial students, Bill Koulopoulos, DLINQ Director of Learning Spaces and Technology, has been a key advocate for getting Middlebury’s maker movement off the ground. The space, housed in the Freeman International Center, is referred to by students as “MEME” which stands for Middlebury Environment for Making Everything. MEME offers a friendly community space with a range of fabrication tools from 3-D printers to sewing machines. Early programming like the “Repair Cafe” has been well received and there are plans to expand offerings along with building faculty partnerships to explore meaningful curricular connections.
Read the full story
Dig Deeper: Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Featured image by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash

The DIRT | Dec 10 News from the Office of Digital Learning & Inquiry

Digital Detox 2019 to Focus on Bias & Inclusion in Digital Spaces

Written by Sarah Lohnes Watulak

Digital Detox 2019 - Bias and Inclusion in Digital Spaces

The Office of Digital Learning and Inquiry (DLINQ) is excited to announce our second annual Digital Detox.

In DLINQ, we look holistically at “the digital” in our lives and in our educational environments. This means we examine the promises and the risks of how we use digital tools, how those tools impact various facets of our lives and interactions, and the increasingly blurred edges between physical and digital realms.

Digital Detox is an initiative to reduce the toxicity of our personal digital environments and how we engage with them. The theme of this year’s Detox is Inclusion and Bias in Digital Spaces. When you sign up to participate in the Detox, you’ll receive a twice-weekly email newsletter in January and early February with actionable strategies for reducing exclusion, increasing inclusion, and combating bias in digital spaces. Topics include data and digital redlining, radical listening in digital spaces, critically considering tools, confronting the invisible digital divide in higher ed, and more! By mindfully taking on this detox, you will begin to develop critical and healthy habits in digital spaces.

Digital Detox 2019 is created in partnership with DLINQ’s Inclusive Design studio.

Sign up for Digital Detox 2019

Fourth Edition of “Small Moves” Instructional Design Blog Series by Heather Stafford

Teacher’s Desk – Linn School, by Todd Petrie

Heather Stafford continues her blog series to dig deeper into some of the small moves that were discussed during her October 25th online workshop ‘Student-Centered Course Design Using Canvas.’ In the series Heather shares activities and design elements that faculty can implement to amplify connectivity of a class.

In the forth edition of the series, Heather features the practice of establishing virtual office hours with a combination of Canvas’ scheduler and Zoom web conferencing tools.

Read the full blog post

Amy Collier Hosts Digital Fluencies Workshop on Misinformation, Bots and Sockpuppets

Written by Bob Cole

On Tuesday, December 4th, Amy Collier facilitated a workshop titled “Misinformation & Bots/Sockpuppets” as part of Middlebury’s Digital Fluencies series, co-sponsored by the DLA, CTLR, Davis Family Library, and DLINQ. The session invited participants to explore the following questions: What role do bots (automated fake social media accounts) and sockpuppets (human-operated fake social media accounts) play in our digital information environments? How do you spot a bot or sockpuppet and try understand their influence? How do human, non-human and hybrid actors infiltrate our digital “public” spheres, and how might we combat them? 

During the session Amy situated the wicked challenge of dis/misinformation within the context of our current digital information sphere which is heavily consolidated among a few big tech companies (e.g. Facebook, Google, Twitter) and primarily driven by their commercial interests. The work of “bad bots” (BTW they’re not all bad) and the goal of active disinformation campaigns is to hack the public’s attention in order to sow doubt, erode trust, polarize, destabilize, and radicalize. Amy noted that while propaganda is not a new phenomenon in the United States, what’s different about what we are seeing today is the massive reach that these forces can have, especially when they are activated in heavily siloed social media platforms accessed by hundreds of millions of people around the world. The impact of coordinated dis/misinformation is even more pronounced as our information spaces have become equated to our personal identities, what we believe, and how we feel.

The metaphor of environmental pollution guides Amy’s approach to talking about the effects of dis/misinformation in our lives and is foundational to the work of DLINQ’s Information Environmentalism Studio. Through inquiry and exploration we can move beyond a sense of learned helplessness about the toxic state of our information environments. We can work together to develop new critical habits like fact-checking and bot-spotting to raise our awareness of the influence of algorithms in our information spaces. Ultimately, however, Amy suggests that to reclaim the web we are going to have to place more pressure on platforms to change policies. The commercial platforms will not make moves to change until they see an impact on their bottom line.

A few resources mentioned from the workshop:

How Hate Groups Forced Online Platforms to Reveal Their True Nature, John Hermann, New York Times

Congressedits Bot, Wikipedia

Information environmentalism research: Fake accounts and mis/disinformation on Pinterest, Amy Collier, DLINQ’s Information Environmentalism Studio

Russia is gearing up to misinform the U.S. public about Syria. Here’s our cheat sheet to identify Twitter trolls. Jack O. Nassetta and Ethan P. Fecht, Washington Post

Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy, Siva Vaidhyanathan, Oxford University Press 

The Digital Fluencies Series investigates what it means to develop more critical facility with digital technologies. Faculty, students, and staff are all welcome to participate regardless of digital skills. Learn more about the series at go/digitalfluencies.

Dig Deeper:
“Under the pavement, the dirt is dreaming of grass.”

― Wendell Berry

Featured image Weston Beach by James Ting

The DIRT for December 3-7, 2018

Teaching Online & Hybrid Conversation Series Hones in on Building Community in Digital Spaces with Dr. Bonnie Stewart

Written by Amy Slay
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
On Monday, December 3rd, DLINQ welcomed Dr. Bonnie Stewart for our forth Teaching Online and Hybrid Conversation Series session, Building a Community of Learners Online. Dr Stewart is an Assistant Professor of Online Pedagogy and Workplace Learning at the University of Windsor, Ontario. In her research, she investigates how knowledge, power, and technology intersect with and impact education. Stewart led an engaging conversation with Middlebury faculty and staff about participatory learning, sharing frameworks and strategies we can use to design and foster online spaces that are true learning communities. For those unable to join the discussion, we recorded introductory remarks as well as Dr. Stewart’s slideshow that helped to frame the discussion. This video, as well as notes captured from the session (which include links to resources), may be accessed on the Teaching Hybrid & Online Initiative page on the DLINQ website. As the end of term approaches, stay tuned for announcements of more sessions and other DLINQ events planned for next year. If there is a specific topic about teaching and learning online that you think should be included in the series, let us know!

Third Edition of “Small Moves” Instructional Design Blog Series by Heather Stafford

Heather Stafford continues her blog series to dig deeper into some of the small moves that were discussed during her October 25th online workshop ‘Student-Centered Course Design Using Canvas.’ In the series Heather shares activities and design elements that faculty can implement to amplify connectivity of a class. In the third edition of the series, Heather features the use of the ungraded survey in Canvas as a tool for collecting learner feedback at different stages of a class to help inform adjustments to teaching. Keep an eye out for future posts in the series in coming weeks.
Read the full blog post

Pilot XR Studio Hosts Idea Exchange

Written by Bob Cole

On Friday, November 30 a handful of students, staff, faculty and guests met in the College’s Wilson Media Lab and the Institute’s Digital Learning Commons to network, share projects, and exchange ideas on the use of virtual, augmented, mixed and extended reality technologies. DLINQ’s Joe Antonioli in Vermont and Bob Cole in California hosted simultaneous meet-ups at each site to further promote the pilot effort to develop an XR Studio connecting people, resources, and practices that are exploring these emerging media and their transformative potential for teaching and learning. To create opportunities for cross-institutional connections, the two labs were joined together via Zoom providing glimpses into the spaces and a productive channel for discussion. During the first half of the session guests at each site were able to interact with one another and share examples of explorations they are engaged in. Some highlights included hands-on time with the Geology department’s Augmented Reality Sandbox, a Spanish professor’s use of Google Tilt Brush for students to create representations of literary themes like the apocalypse and power, an environmental policy professor’s prototypes of interactive visualizations of coastal sea-level rise due to climate change, and virtual 3D renderings of North Korean missiles developed by research scholars at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies. During the second half of the session, the groups discussed the potential value in working with XR technologies for teaching, research, and creativity. Some of the affordances mentioned were the ability to reach new public audiences through these new media, the potential to create immersive virtual environments that simulate real world situations, visualizing abstract or difficult concepts, exploring issues of digital embodiment, and offering alternative ways to explore and reflect on course content through immersive virtual experiences or real time social VR situations. As a follow-up the groups shared their thoughts on the opportunities and resources we might begin to leverage to support creative development with XR. Some initial next moves that were recommended included establishing some shared collaborative spaces for further idea, knowledge, and partnership opportunity sharing. More pictures from the session below – if you are interested in learning more about XR resources or joining the conversation get in touch with us at dlinq at middlebury.edu

Dig Deeper:

“Gold’s father is dirt, yet it regards itself as noble.” ― Yiddish Proverb
Featured Image by freddie marriage on Unsplash

The DIRT for November 26-30, 2018

Internationalizing Web Literacy E-Book Project Crowdsourcing Translations

Written by Alice Wu, Globe Multilingual Services
Globe Team from left to right: Max, Nika, Jessica, Alina, Alice
As we reported in the late June edition of the DIRT the Office of Digital Learning & Inquiry is partnering with Middlebury Institute’s Globe Multilingual Services to internationalize (translate and localize) Mike Caulfield’s open source e-book, Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers. The target languages include: French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, and Ukrainian. The final translations will be uploaded to Pressbooks, the site where the current English version of the book is being hosted. Since the beginning of the fall semester, the Globe team has been busy recruiting volunteer translators from language schools across the U.S. and abroad. The response from universities has been enthusiastic, and the team is planning to ramp up recruitment even further moving into December. The team recently set up an instance of their open source crowdsourcing platform for translation and they are currently testing a multilingual WordPress site using the WPML multilingual plugin to enable content availability in multiple languages. The team has also secured a grant from Middlebury to host translation nights at the Institute starting November 26. “Translation Night at MIIS” will be a weekly gathering where graduate student translators will contribute translations to the Web Literacy project while enjoying pizza. Web Literacy’s Globe team includes a diverse group of graduate students in the Translation and Localization Management Program (TLM) at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Their roles are as follows: Alice: Account Manager, Chinese Project Manager Nika: Marketing Manager, French Project Manager Jessica: Technical Lead, Italian and Spanish Project Manager Alina: Terminology Manager, Ukrainian Project Manager Members are responsible for managing all aspects of the project including logistics and technical issues while the project managers for specific languages recruit talent for their respective languages, domestically and abroad. For more detailed project updates, see the team’s Facebook page, or get in touch with Marketing Manager, Nika Allahverdi [nallahverdi at miis.edu]

Second Edition of “Small Moves” Instructional Design Blog Series by Heather Stafford

University Bridge by Brandon Giesbrect, cc licensed on flickr at https://flic.kr/p/avDHs9Heather Stafford continues her blog series to dig deeper into some of the small moves that were discussed during her October 25th online workshop ‘Student-Centered Course Design Using Canvas.’ In the series Heather shares activities and design elements that faculty can implement to amplify connectivity of a class. In the second edition of the series, Heather features the use of multimedia and interactive discussion tools in Canvas to build social capital among and with students. Keep an eye out for future posts in the series in coming weeks.
Read the full blog post

Librarian Presence in Canvas

Written by Kristen Cardoso and Bob Cole
As Middlebury Institute’s User Experience Librarian, Kristen Cardoso is passionate about improving learning experience for graduate students in Monterey. With the Institute moving towards developing more hybrid and online short-term programs, Kristen and her colleagues have begun thinking about how the Institute’s library could best serve students who may be away from campus. She notes, “…my colleagues and I have done a lot to improve the library’s physical spaces for students; however, our user experience work with regards to the library’s digital spaces have been mostly limited to our website and the library catalog.” Library staff help students through email and over the phone (and very rarely, even through their Facebook page). To transform Library services, she adds “…we knew we were going to have to find a way to provide online the warm, welcoming, and personal service that we currently offer in person.” After discussing the idea and the platform requirement for having librarians embedded into Canvas courses with Bob Cole, Kristen agreed to run a mini-pilot with the two sections of EDUC 8510: Educational Research Methods, currently being taught by Netta Avineri and Deniz Ortactepe. The pilot started about mid-way through the semester, but so far, the results are encouraging. Kristen began by posting an announcement in one section’s Canvas site and posting to the discussion board in the other, and then sending out an email through Canvas to everyone in both sections. Kristen also posted a brief instructional video and created a Library Resources & Tips folder. Acknowledging the positive response to her virtual presence in the courses, Kristen reports that “several students responded to my presence in Canvas, although most of them chose to come and see me in person for help! I’ve helped several students with APA formatting, using our databases, and writing a literature review.” After checking in with the professors, they decided there would be value to also visit the class in-person. This connection led to good discussions about open access publishing and citing sources using tools like Zotero. In the future, Kristen thinks that embedding librarians into Canvas courses from the beginning of the term could be really beneficial and create opportunities for librarians to connect with students taking classes in Monterey or remotely. Inspired by DLINQ’s recent Teaching Online & Hybrid conversation series event on humanizing online learning, one idea Kristen would recommend to further establish librarian presence would be the addition of a personal, introductory video so students can get to know her.

Dig Deeper:

“If you see a whole thing – it seems that it’s always beautiful. Planets, lives… But up close a world’s all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life’s a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern.” ― Ursula K. LeGuin, author
Featured Image by Oli Gibbs on Unsplash