MCLA ILP Project Information

Project Focus The focus of our project was, first and foremost, to develop the third level of our Core Curriculum, the Tier 3 capstone course. MCLA had instituted a developmental Core Curriculum in 2001; soon thereafter the post-9/11 state budget crisis hit hard, leaving us unable to hire the additional faculty we needed, thus making it difficult to support both our core curriculum and the needs of the academic departments. It was decided, through our governance process, to delay the requirement of the Tier 3 capstone course for a couple of years. During this time we assessed how the first two tiers were doing, and used our involvement in the Integrated Learning Project to inform the development of criteria and learning outcomes for the Tier 3 capstone. To date MCLA has supported the development of 9 pilot capstone courses by various faculty members as well as numerous professional development and faculty sharing opportunities to support the concept of integrated learning on our campus. Project Highlights: Tier 3 Capstone Outcomes and Objectives - developed during ILP workshop sessions in 2004 and 2005 Approval of Core Capstone- Note that the final approval form has terminology almost identical to that developed by the ILP Teams Pilot Courses - Go to the course descriptions

MCLA Team - Nancy, Jim, Adrienne The MCLA ILP Team Nancy Ovitsky, Chair of the Department of Business Administration & Economics. Dr. Ovitsky has served as Chair of the Department for 6 years; chaired the College Curriculum Committee during the years the Core Curriculum was being approved by governance; is active in many college activities and committees, and is a firm believer in the value of integrative learning, especially integration of liberal learning and professional learning. James May, Chair of the Department of Psychology. Dr. May has been an advocate of the Core Curriculum and has served on both the College Curriculum Committee and All College Committee during development of the Core. He has chaired the Professional Development Committee for some time and in that capacity has been instrumental in creating professional development opportunities and in working with the academic administration to assist faculty members in developing core courses. He has also enabled MCLA to lay the groundwork for developing a Center for Teaching and Learning Adrienne Wootters, Chair of the Department of Physics. Dr. Wootters has brought her enthusiasm for integrative learning experiences within the sciences to the project, as well as her work with middle and high school science teachers in the Sencer project and the Pipeline project. She has also been a member of the College Curriculum Committee during the duration of the ILP project, and has been instrumental in advancing the Tier 3 capstone course through the governance process.