1. John LeBaron (jlebaron@email.wcu.edu, ext. 2454)  Coulter Faculty Center, Educational Leadership & Foundations
2. Dixie McGinty (dmcginty@email.wcu.edu, ext. 2296), Educational Leadership & Foundations
3. Charlene (Carlie) Merritt (cmerrit@email.wcu.edu, ext . 7464) Applied Criminology  
4. Mary Teslow (mteslow@email.wcu.edu, ext, 3513) Health Sciences

Faculty fellows collaborate with CFC and IT technical support staff, the Division of Educational Outreach, the Faculty Sandbox, instructional designers, researchers and other faculty to support peers in a variety of delivery modes. Delivery may take the form of workshops, seminars, departmental “circuit riding,” and one-on-one/one-on-several in-person or electronic consultation. The backbone of such support is highlighted by seven services offered to faculty:

1. the WebCat Water Cooler
2. the Online Course Assessment Tool (OCAT),
3. The annual Passages to eLearning Retreat
4. The Jay M. Robinson University-wide Award for eTeaching
5. Online Small Group Course Analysis (O-SGA)
6. Online Course Development Days
7. The eLearning-eMentor Web-based clearinghouse

The WebCat Water Cooler is an electronic “meeting place” offered to all WCU faculty as an online course under the label, CORE - WebCat Water Cooler. Here is where eTeaching resources and FAQs may be found, and discussion areas provided for synchronous and asynchronous faculty conversations,  All WCU faculty (more than 1500) are automatically enrolled in this electronic meeting space. During the 2007-2008 Academic Year, instructors made extensive use of this resource. More than 1500 user sessions were recorded. Over 1800 discussions have been read, with approximately 1300 folders and files viewed.

The Online Course Evaluation Tool (OCAT) is an instrument for peer- and self-assessment of online course quality.  It was conceived and designed in response to a perceived need for enhanced faculty development in online teaching.   Intended for use in formative assessment only, the OCAT provides constructive feedback to faculty on both the design and delivery of their online courses.  The OCAT assesses inputs to a course; in other words, it assesses how the course is designed and delivered, but does not examine student learning or evaluative course perceptions. The electronically interactive OCAT tool is located at: http://www.wcu.edu/WebFiles/PDFs/facultycenter_OCAT_v2.0_25apr07.pdf

The CFC offers occasional Online Course Development days, averaging thirty participants per session. Faculty members bring instructional materials, and then receive assistance as necessary with construction of their eCourses. CFC personnel, including the eLearning Faculty Fellows, are on-hand to assist. CFC support includes online pedagogy, and digital media assistance. Help with the WebCat course management system is also provided.

The Jay M. Robinson eTeaching Award annually recognizes an online WCU instructor who has been deemed by a peer review panel to have demonstrated outstanding quality in eTeaching. The Panel is drawn from representatives of all colleges and schools, the graduate and undergraduate student associations, and other key stakeholders. The JMR Award was instituted in 2007.

The seven-stage O-SGA process typically begins near the midpoint of any semester at the explicit invitation of the faculty member. Faculty participation is entirely voluntary. The O-SGA procedure is promoted as a faculty development service, offered to instructors by the CFC.

Since 2005, a Passages to eLearning Retreat has been offered to faculty who wish to examine their eTeaching deeply in a convivial setting that simultaneously promotes dialogue and networking. Passages is now organized and funded in cooperation with Haywood Community College. Approximately 50 faculty from WCU and HCC participated in 2007. Passages 2008 is scheduled for November 7-8, again at the Maggie Valley Club just west of Waynesville. The most recent Passages Web site is located at: http://wiki2.wcu.edu/groups/passages/.

The eLearning-eMentor Clearinghouse is a fully Web-based portal. It may be found at: http://www.wcu.edu/7515.asp. This Clearinghouse serves several client needs, encouraging a more in-depth client-consultant intervention if needed. It is a searchable Web-based "consultation portal" featuring a series of e-learning teacher profiles that support: faculty-to-faculty online mentoring and a repository of faculty skills and knowledge about e-learning. Each “faculty feature” includes:

1. Photo, with brief text and/or audio and/or video statement
2. Links to other resources particularly recommended by featured faculty
3. Conditions under which peer assistance may be accessed
4. Illustrative screen shots from e-learning examples of the mentors’ work
5. Short Flash-based video " stories" about their e-learning experiences embedded in each profile

The CFC eLearning Faculty Fellows stand ready to assist you or to refer you to resources germane to your expressed needs. Please don’t hesitate to contact any one of them. Most fellows, with contact information, is featured in eLearning-eMentor Clearinghouse described above.