Frequently Asked Questions

• How will FaCT relate to the new Faculty Development Ceter?

  Though still in its early stages of development, the Faculty Development Center and its own Steering Committee will be an important vehicle for faculty to determine how IT training develops under FaCT. Also, the center's executive director serves on the FaCT Steering Committee.

• What role will Microsoft play in this project?

  Microsoft has offered to provide support through their higher education division. This group works closely with faculty throughout the country to identify ways that Microsoft software products can better support the teaching and learning process. Microsoft has agreed to share with the FaCT consortium the best practices they have learned. Microsoft will also provide technical assistance to the consortium.

• Will faculty be forced to use Microsoft products?

  No. Our goal in this project is to help faculty use technology in their courses wherever they feel it is appropriate, not learn to use Microsoft products. Many faculty have been using technology in their courses for many years. There is no reason to change if a faculty member is happy with what they are presently doing.

• Would certification or participation in FaCT be used in tenure decisions?

  No, departments determine tenure for their faculty based on teaching, research and service. FaCT is an 18-month program of assessment and training that will support faculty who wish to improve their use of technology in the teaching and learning process. The project may serve as a case study for how to implement and support faculty training in technology, but the university, Faculty Senate and interested departments will need to decide whether to explore this as a criteria for evaluating teaching. FaCT is a short-term project to provide faculty with the most up to date tools for carrying out their responsibilities.

• How will FaCT help faculty?

  Competency with technology is becoming increasingly important in the teaching and learning process. The challenge is finding the best way to achieve it. FaCT will provide interested UMBC faculty with tools to assess their current technology skills and improve them, either through formal instruction or customized, self-paced training. For example, in the next few months, faculty will be asked what they would like to improve in their teaching. If there's a supporting role for technology (e.g., putting course materials online), then a training plan will be developed. The training may be self-paced or formal, depending on the skills a faculty member already possesses and/or the complexity of the task to be achieved.

• What does certification of faculty mean?

  Actually, it is the university that will certify (or verify) how many faculty have been trained and are using the technology after they received it. Specifically, we will look at the number of classes utilizing class web pages, email lists, or electronic reserves. We will also report the number of faculty who have sought training and who are utilizing technology in their classes. The focus of FaCT is increasing the number of faculty who use technology in their teaching, not the number of faculty who are certified in the use of a piece of software.