Update on Action Learning Project

My group met via WebEx last Friday, but I could not attend as I was presenting at the Great Plains Alliance for Computers and Writing. However, here is my recent email to group:

I want to reiterate that I have serious reservations about the direction of this project. I hope that you will all work this week to hone the direction because I am worried that we are working under the assumption that "virtual" faculty members are not doing their jobs. I think that we first need to define such faculty and survey them about their current work experiences. If we are indeed talking about full-time faculty who teach all of their courses online, then I don't know why the expectations of them would be any different from other full-time faculty. I worry that we will come to suggest that full-time virtual faculty should be treated differently when the institutions that hire such teachers should create opportunities or an environment for them to complete their work. For this reason, I would like to see us draft a statement for MnSCU's consideration on the roles of INSTITUTIONS that hire virtual faculty to create a suitable work environment for them and not focus on the faculty. Just my two cents.