OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 12, 2003

CONTACT:  Mark Johnston at 773-3212

 

Gov. Rounds Awards $550,000 to University Faculty for Course Redesign

 

(Pierre) -- Gov. Mike Rounds is awarding nearly $550,000 to nine faculty-led projects at the state's six public universities to redesign courses for improved student learning. The projects, all of which involve two or more universities working collaboratively, also aim to reduce costs of course delivery.

 

The grant awards are going to 22 higher education faculty members. Using externally developed course materials, faculty teams-each representing two, three, or four public universities-will redesign specific courses to improve students' learning of course content and reduce the costs of offering the course.

 

"These grants will encourage further efficiencies and collaboration within the public university system," said Gov. Rounds. "At the same time, the program also supports the continuing integration of technology within the higher education curriculum."

 

University faculty members typically work on a nine-month contract. Under the Governor's program, faculty submitted proposals to spend the summer months redesigning courses. The faculty members whose projects are chosen receive a grant that provides support for two to three months' work and release time from teaching in the fall.

 

Robert T. Tad Perry, executive director for the South Dakota Board of Regents, says the Governor's awards will encourage collaboration and innovation. "The courses being funded for redesign all involve two or more universities who teach similar courses," he said. "It makes a lot of sense to take advantage of the course materials already developed by other universities across this country to further our institutional collaboration in South Dakota."

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Note: The list of 2003 grant awards follows.  For more information you can also contact Dr. Paul Gough, Director of Policy and Planning, South Dakota Board of Regents, (605) 773-3455, or the university/media relations offices at the state universities:

·         Black Hills State University, Media Relations, (605) 642-6215

·         Dakota State University, Public Relations and Marketing, (605) 256-5119

·         Northern State University, University Relations, (605) 626-2552

·         South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, University and Public Relations, (605) 394-2554

·         South Dakota State University, University Relations, (605) 688-6161

*         University of South Dakota, Media Relations, (605) 677-6116

 

 

 

 

 

2003 Governor Rounds Grants for Course Redesign

 

Here is a list of courses and faculty members receiving the 2003 Governor Rounds' Grants for Course Redesign:

 

MIS 105 Introduction to Computers

Pat Mackin and Jean Johnson, Black Hills State University; and Sharon Paranto, Northern State University; to convert course into self-paced laboratory format.

 

ECON 201 Principles of Microeconomics

ECON 202 Principles of Macroeconomics
John Peterson, Northern State University; Jason Zimmerman, Bill Adamson, and Joseph Santos, South Dakota State University; and Ralph Brown, University of South Dakota; to use interactive problem sets, tutorials, and experiments developed by Stanford University. All faculty listed will work on course redesign for both economics courses.

 

CENG/EE 440 Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Design
Brian Hemmelman, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; and Madeleine Andrawis, South Dakota State University; to use Web materials, Java applets, and online tutorials in the redesigned course.

 

SOC 100 Introduction to Sociology
Dan Peterson, Black Hills State University; and Sid Goss, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; to use multi-media software in redesigned course.

 

ME 211/311 Thermodynamics
Wayne Krause, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; and Alex Moutsoglou, South Dakota State University; to utilize problem-solving software that better prepares students for further coursework and engineering work.

 

CHEM 326L Organic Chemistry I Lab
Fathi Halaweish, South Dakota State University; and Grigoriy Sereda, University of South Dakota; to use molecular modeling software that represents appearance and behavior of molecules.

 

CSC 470 Software Engineering
Michael Schuldes, Dakota State University; Manuel L. Penaloza, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; Sung Y. Shin, South Dakota State University; and Carol Lushbough, University of South Dakota; to convert course from lectures to case studies and student projects.

 

MATH 225 Calculus III
Raj Markanda of Northern State University; and Jose D. Flores of University of South Dakota; to redesign course to introduce lab sessions using computational software and Java programs.

 

 

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