ACCESSIBILITY

Chairs

• Maria Dahman, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Michael Mace, Indiana University

Subcommittee summary

Create strategies and define tactics for improving accessibility through vendor pressure, shared resources, and collaboration. We aim to improve the Unizin consortium's ability to deliver accessible user experiences.

What are the group's goals?

• creating a suggested accessibility evaluation protocol for the vendors that Unizin contracts with

• revisiting an accessibility statement for Unizin to adopt based on each of our schools' accessibility policies

• building community with the other teaching and learning subcommittees

Who participates?

The audience for this subcommittee would be advocates of diversity, equity and inclusion, people who work in digital accessibility, or people who would like to learn more about digital accessibility.

Meeting information

The accessibility subcommittee has been meeting Tuesday late-afternoons toward the end of the month; we set the specific meeting time at the end of each get together.

AFFORDABLE CONTENT

Chair

• Michael Shiflet, The Ohio State University

Subcommittee summary

This group discusses affordable content solutions such as open education resources and inclusive access offerings, shares information about the implementation of these solutions, and gathers data and stories that demonstrate the impact of affordable content solutions at our institutions and in aggregate.

Who participates?

• librarians

• affordability experts

• technical specialists

APPLICATION DEVELOPERS

Chairs

• Andy Fisher, Pennsylvania State University

• Ross Miller, University of Iowa

• Jeff Weber, University of Minnesota

Subcommittee summary

Connect the application development efforts across the Unizin consortium in order to support Unizin goals as well as to encourage collaboration.

What are the group's goals?

• Connect application developers across the consortium

• Collaborate on different projects and ideas across institutions

• Discuss updates and changes to the Unizin Data Platform

• Demonstrate application development projects in Learning Analytics, Teaching and Learning, and application administration.

Who participates?

The Application Development Subcommittee is operated by staff from several of the Unizin member institutions. Unizin staff members are frequent contributors to the Application Development Subcommittee, especially focused on giving updates about the Unizin Data Platform. Attendees from member institutions include:

• Developers

• Business/Data Analysts

• Application Administrators

• App Dev Leadership

Meeting information

First Friday of every month.

ETEXTS COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE

Chairs

• Noma Maier, Indiana University

• Vicki Maloy, University of Iowa

Subcommittee summary

Unizin leverages the purchasing power of the collective to provide affordable access to digital course materials and learning tools that are powering the future of higher education. Our collective approach – born of the Academy, for the Academy – drives cost savings and enhances control as digital learning evolves at scale.

What are the group’s goals?

• Connect with individuals who share our role as eTexts admins to exchange information and best practices for the successful implementation of our eTexts initiatives.

• Identity our common concerns/needs for Order Tool and Engage e-reader improvement, and, as a unified group, bring our prioritized list to the Unizin team

Who participates?

The eTexts Community of Practice is made up of people who actively administer an eTexts initiative on their campus (and those who are considering starting an eTexts initiative). We are also all members of the larger Unizin Affordable Content sub-committee whose goal is to lower the cost of course materials for students. Unizin staff and Red Shelf staff occasionally attend to present of topics of interest or to provide demonstrations of new features for Order Tool and Engage.

Meeting information

The eTexts Community of Practice meets on the third Friday of each month at 11 am ET. You are welcome to join us via this Zoom link: https://iu.zoom.us/j/81168667082?pwd=N2lacHo5UlVkQ2xsRVFzSkp5bVc3Zz09

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT

Chairs

• Emily Oakes, Indiana University

• Lauren Marsh, University of Minnesota

Subcommittee summary

The Unizin Faculty Development Subcommittee supports classroom practitioners at Unizin institutions. While our scope involves faculty development in general, our present focus is on complimenting the Consortium's learning analytics efforts. We aim to move faculty along a path toward better, more fully realized practice with learning data and prepare them to use student learning data ethically, equitably, and effectively.

Projects released October 2022:

• Structured Conversations with with Faculty about Learning Analytics

• Stepping Stones: A Faculty Development Curriculum for Learning Analytics Use

What are the group's goals?

Our focus is on piloting the Stepping Stones curriculum in Spring 2023; creating a short training template that introduces stakeholders to the idea of curricular analytics and guides them through the development of research questions that could be addressed with data; and connecting as a community.

Who participates?

• Teaching excellence staff

• Instructional designers

• Academic technologists

...and others who would like to join the conversation!

Meeting information

The last Friday of every month from 1:00pm ET - 2:30pm ET.

LEARNING ANALYTICS

Chairs

• Stefano Fiorini, Indiana University

• Andrew McDonald, University of Florida

Subcommittee summary

Discuss use cases, technical architecture, policy implications, implementation, ethical principles, and early exploration of Unizin learning data services.

What are the group's goals?

• Exchange knowledge about learning analytics initiatives at member institutions

• Promote ongoing dialogue on topics in and around learning analytics (ex: cross-institutional research practices; ethics/equity; digital divide, etc.)

• Demonstrate tools & dashboards that facilitate learning analytics and share information about related initiatives

• Collaborate with Unizin Data Engineers to develop use cases and model new data entities for the Unizin Data Platform

Who participates?

The LA subgroup is a member-driven community of practice that is organized and run by university staff/faculty from Unizin member institutions. Unizin staff can be invited to present on topics, as appropriate, but the bulk of the agenda is driven by staff from member institutions. Attendees include:

• Advocates, business analysts, and implementers of learning ecosystem data

• Data analysts

• Researchers

• Instructional designers

LEARNING TOOLS, STRATEGIES, AND OPERATIONS (LTSO)

Chairs

• Bethany Gordy, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Justin Zemlyak, Indiana University

Subcommittee summary

Evaluate technology tools, including with our largest partner, Instructure. Help with vetting tools, discuss strategy for integrations, Canvas adoptions, linking Canvas data to UDP, and more.

LIBRARIES

Chair

• Sheila Stoeckel, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Subcommittee summary

Shape the development of and provide guidance for key areas that align with Unizin’s mission to improve learner success, foster greater access to materials, and promote the discoverability and greater use of low-cost and free materials. Some key areas for the Libraries’ Group to focus on include learning analytics; accessible and affordable content (including library-licensed and library-created content); and faculty engagement with Unizin.

What are the group’s goals?

• Exchange approaches, systems, and knowledge around library integration with Unizin products and projects.

• Stay abreast of trends in library integration with Unizin-related goal areas (e.g., access, discoverability, use, analytics, accessibility, Canvas integrations, etc.).

Who participates?

• Academic Librarians

• Teaching Excellence Staff

Meeting information

Group is moving to a once-per-semester full group meeting model (i.e. September and January) with any work teams from projects that emerge.