The CAT ePortfolio Subcommittee/CUNY ePortfolio Conference Planning Committee met on Friday, January 13.  Members present included Barbara Walters, Joe Ugoretz, Bill Bernhardt and Bruce Naples. 

Plans for a CUNY ePortfolio Conference are well underway.  The conference, we think, provides a positive address to wider concerns about ePortfolios.  We have zeroed in on a date of March 15, 2013.  The conference will be open to all CUNY faculty and students, plus others in the geographic region.  The theme will be ePortfolios at CUNY and Other Public Higher Education Institutions.  We want to include a student session and to encourage colleges to recruit students.

A key item on the agenda was selecting possible keynote speakers. After considerable discussion, we decided to try for Cathy Davidson, whose interdisciplinary work draws together cognitive neuroscience, information studies and the humanities.  (Cathy Davidson’s speaking engagement schedule is currently handled by Penguin Speakers Bureau.)  A close second is Randy Bass – many of us have heard him speak several times over the past couple of years.   If possible, we would like to get both speakers, with Cathy D. as speaker and Randy B. as a respondent.    I will speak with the Center for Digital Education about compensation, travel and other arrangements before our next CAT meeting.   Other tentative plans for luminaries include a panel with CUNY faculty and administrators, such as Bret Eynon and Howard Wach.

After discussion, we settled into the idea of a 90 minute Keynote, with perhaps a short break between the speaker and the respondent, with time for member s of the audience to submit questions.   We are thinking of centering the keynote before the lunch hour – perhaps starting at 10:30.  Current estimates suggest that we will need about 10 rooms at John Jay – I will get in touch with Bill Pangburn at John Jay to confirm our date and room needs.  It would be great if we could draft Adam Wandt to help out with the John Jay liaison.

We spent considerable time reviewing the timeline, available on Google Calendar.  A key action item is the formation of a program committee, which needs to be done by the end of February.  Ideally, the program committee should have one Senior College and one Community College representative from each borough.  Joe Ugoretz agreed to write an initial draft, to be presented at the next CAT meeting on January 27. We aim to draft and send out the RFP in May, with three repeats before spring term ends, and another three repeats in September of  2013.

While we have funding through the Center for Digital Education, it would be great to try for some internal funding.  The only possibility is the CUNY Collaborative Incentive Grant, which may be worth a shot.  We need faculty collaborators to qualify and the deadline is coming up very quickly.   

As we get the project underway, we will set up a regular meeting schedule.  The Friday hour seemed to work well.  Please post to the forum regarding your availability.  Join us!

Barbara

The CAT ePortfolio Subcommittee/CUNY ePortfolio Conference Planning Committee met on Friday, January 13.  Members present included Barbara Walters, Joe Ugoretz, Bill Bernhardt and Bruce Naples. 

Plans for a CUNY ePortfolio Conference are well underway.  The conference, we think, provides a positive address to wider concerns about ePortfolios.  We have zeroed in on a date of March 15, 2013.  The conference will be open to all CUNY faculty and students, plus others in the geographic region.  The theme will be ePortfolios at CUNY and Other Public Higher Education Institutions.  We want to include a student session and to encourage colleges to recruit students.

A key item on the agenda was selecting possible keynote speakers. After considerable discussion, we decided to try for Cathy Davidson, whose interdisciplinary work draws together cognitive neuroscience, information studies and the humanities.  (Cathy Davidson’s speaking engagement schedule is currently handled by Penguin Speakers Bureau.)  A close second is Randy Bass – many of us have heard him speak several times over the past couple of years.   If possible, we would like to get both speakers, with Cathy D. as speaker and Randy B. as a respondent.    I will speak with the Center for Digital Education about compensation, travel and other arrangements before our next CAT meeting.   Other tentative plans for luminaries include a panel with CUNY faculty and administrators, such as Bret Eynon and Howard Wach.

After discussion, we settled into the idea of a 90 minute Keynote, with perhaps a short break between the speaker and the respondent, with time for member s of the audience to submit questions.   We are thinking of centering the keynote before the lunch hour – perhaps starting at 10:30.  Current estimates suggest that we will need about 10 rooms at John Jay – I will get in touch with Bill Pangburn at John Jay to confirm our date and room needs.  It would be great if we could draft Adam Wandt to help out with the John Jay liaison.

We spent considerable time reviewing the timeline, available on Google Calendar.  A key action item is the formation of a program committee, which needs to be done by the end of February.  Ideally, the program committee should have one Senior College and one Community College representative from each borough.  Joe Ugoretz agreed to write an initial draft, to be presented at the next CAT meeting on January 27. We aim to draft and send out the RFP in May, with three repeats before spring term ends, and another three repeats in September of  2013.

While we have funding through the Center for Digital Education, it would be great to try for some internal funding.  The only possibility is the CUNY Collaborative Incentive Grant, which may be worth a shot.  We need faculty collaborators to qualify and the deadline is coming up very quickly.   

As we get the project underway, we will set up a regular meeting schedule.  The Friday hour seemed to work well.  Please post to the forum regarding your availability.  Join us!

Barbara