Carleton will soon be welcoming two new programs funded in part by $500,000 from the Ontario government.
The first project is a new online teaching certificate program and the second is aimed at exploring ways to improve the integration of academic and financial planning at Carleton, according to provost and vice-president (academic) Peter Ricketts.
The grant is from the province’s Productivity and Innovation Fund (PIF), an initiative that is funnelling $47 million to Ontario’s universities and colleges to support new learning experiences and innovations.
The new programs fit into Carleton’s strategic mandate agreement that differientiates the university from other post-secondary institutions in the province, according to Ricketts.
“Both projects support Carleton’s strategic directions and distinctiveness as reflected by the university’s superior track record of fiscal responsibility and its leadership in online learning and quality of teaching,” Ricketts said via email.
Ricketts said the PIF funding will be used to develop a program that will provide academic units with tools to support academic and financial management more effectively.
Carleton associate vice-president (teaching and learning) Joy Mighty said the online teaching certificate program builds on the success of the Certificate in University Teaching that Carleton has been offering for many years.
“Its goal is to build the skills and competencies needed within the Carleton teaching and learning community to develop and teach online and hybrid courses,” she said via email.
Mighty also said this new program will not only be a benefit to Carleton, but also to all Ontario post-secondary institutions and instructors.
“All materials will be made available to other institutions as open educational resources in editable formats that will allow institutions to customize, brand, and apply them to their specific institutional context,” she said.
Members of the multidisciplinary team from Teaching and Learning Services working on the program have finished the design cycle, and are currently moving on to building the materials, according to Mighty.
The online teaching program is expected to be complete by summer 2014, according to Mighty.
