When ULTA assembled in fall of 2016, they knew their first project would be a large one; to provide a recommendation regarding the proposal from Academic Technology - OIT to officially transition to Canvas as the University’s centrally-supported Learning Management System (LMS) and continue membership in the Unizin consortium.
25 faculty members from each college and system campus, at the request of their Dean, joined ULTA in September 2016. As part of ULTA, they receive, research, and contribute to recommendations on potential technologies and projects. The LMS issue was brought to the group at their first meeting in October 2016 and an official proposal was shared in January 2017. After participating in a series of presentations and discussions at each monthly meeting, and 11 reports later, they voted via an anonymous survey along with providing written justification on five different aspects of the proposal.
From the data gathered in the survey, an ULTA sub-committee was tasked with developing a formal recommendation report. The report (available to read in its entirety here) presents unanimous support from voting members in recommendation of a transition to a cloud-based learning management system and a two-thirds majority vote in support of the proposal to remain in Unizin and adopt Canvas. “Our group had very active discussions since day one, and in these discussions it became very apparent that faculty are thinking about this recommendation extremely carefully.” said Lee-Ann Breuch, Associate Professor of Writing Studies and Faculty Chair ULTA. “The process we took over the past seven months to get to our recommendation has been very thoughtful; our recommendation represents both concerns and opportunities we see with this potential transition.”
The recommendation report was passed on to academic and technology leadership who will use this, in addition to other data, to assist them in making their final decision on the future of the LMS. “The recommendation from ULTA will be closely reviewed and considered as leadership makes the final decision.” said Donalee Attardo, Senior Director of Academic Technology. “It’s important to look at this decision from all angles, and the one presented by ULTA will be very useful.” She continues, “I would also like to thank the inaugural ULTA members for their commitment and hard work to this initiative over the past year. We hope the development of this group and the precedent they set will serve the University well into the future.”
Questions regarding the work ULTA has done and the LMS evaluation can be directed here.