Instructional Support Committee

Minutes of 2 February approved with slight modification.

Mark gave an update on library planning. He, Gail Bonath, Marci Sortor, Bill Francis and Christopher McKee traveled to Boston to meet with SBRA and to visit the Wellesley College Library. Architects discussed the Library/IT structure and functions, and made suggestions for additions and simplifications. The architects will be on campus again in early April.

The library at Wellesley College incorporates spaces for library, IT, and AV functions, and offers Grinnell examples of how these areas might work together more effectively and efficiently.

Update on the TDC:
Jon handed out a document describing the theory, current functions, and future ideas for the TDC. Among the current functions are the following:

• A certification process has been put in place for student staff.
• Hours of operation have been set. CTSs are at the TDC on Wednesdays. Remaining hours are staffed by students, and students are the primary users of the facilities right now.
• There are two current project workgroups involving a faculty member, a student, CTS, and IT staff using the TDC for projects. Beyond that, Faculty typically do not use the space; it is mostly used by students working on projects. Committees, including the library planning Digital Resource Room group, AV Support Planning Group, and Foreign Language Technology Support Planning Group, are defining needs that may lead to reconfiguration of the TDC in relationship to the current AV Center.
• CTSs have conducted workshops for faculty and staff in the TDC.
  * Suggestion to create a paper and web-based guide to video services at Grinnell -- for example, "Who do I contact and where do I go if I want to assign or make a video for a class project?" Committee members suggested that such a guide should also list examples of projects. Information could be presented at a faculty meeting when ready.

Curricular Development Proposals:

• no objections to Lilly funding of an Advising/Mentoring workshop.
• approved continuing summer Writing and Oral Communication workshops, budgeted at $22,000.
• approved $1,000 of funding for a LD/ADD workshop for faculty proposed by Student Affairs. Members of the committee would have liked to know more about the qualifications and perspective the presenter brings to the topic, but they approved the funding with no contingencies.
• discussed the CIS genocide studies workshop proposal today and agreed to provide limited funding if the number of participants in the workshop exceeds the number whose stipends can be paid from the $6,000 in the CIS budget.
• approved funding of up to $1,500 for THE 340 field trip proposal. There were questions about the resemblance to a previous year's proposal, but ISC approved funding based on the fact that this was for a different course and is not expected to become an annual trip. The Department should not expect to receive funding for a similar field trip next year and should make a budget request to the Dean if they anticipate more such field trips in the future.
• Raised no objections to Lilly funding of proposal for developing joint tutorials on "THE ROLE OF LIBERAL EDUCATION IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY" but clarified that this is warranted because of the existence of external funding allowing explicitly for tutorial development in this area. ISC would not ordinarily provide funding for tutorial development.