Cornell University 2011-2012 Annual Report - DFA Home - Cornell ...

This past winter the university’s IT GovernanceCommittee (ITGC) announced the creation of a learningtechnologies sub committee. The group will work in directsupport of the deans, vice provost, chief information officer,and the ITGC to provide leadership in developing a sharedvision and strategic direction for learning technologies.As part of that goal, it will review and assess the impactof learning technologies at the university and ensure thatcentrally provided learning technology services are alignedwith the needs and priorities of colleges, schools, anddepartments.There is growing national concern that today’sundergraduates do not possess core informationcompetencies. The Cornell Undergraduate InformationCompetency Initiative, funded by a grant from CornellUndergraduate Education, encourages Cornell facultyto explore creative and effective ways to engage studentsby integrating research skills into the classroom andthe curriculum through the redesign and creation ofassignments for undergraduate courses. This initiativesupports the university’s goal of improving undergraduateeducation by providing faculty the funding, opportunity,and the assistance of campus academic partners totransform the curriculum by creating authentic andengaging research assignments to incorporate into theircourses.Developing Cross-College ConnectionsOne of Cornell’s many unique characteristics is theability of undergraduate students to take courses acrossall seven undergraduate colleges and schools. For severalyears, the Dyson School of Applied Economics andManagement, housed in the College of Agriculture and LifeSciences (CALS), has offered business minors for CALSstudents but lacked the resources to support students fromother colleges who wished to participate. A new businessminor for undergraduates across the university is beingdesigned by a consortium involving the Dyson School, theIndustrial and Labor Relations. The new program willlaunch in October 2012. A deans’ group serves as theDyson School have begun a teaching exchange. A facultyrenewal grant from Peter Orthwein ’68, MBA ’69 will helpsupport the teaching exchange effort.The School of Industrial and Labor Relations has beenactive in various cross-college collaborations involvingeconomics, business, and statistics. A key part of all ofthese initiatives is the improvement of student access toAdministration’s minor in real estate attracts morethan 300 students from all seven colleges and schools.The school is developing a MOU with the College ofArchitecture, Art, and Planning for joint operation of thenewly endowed Baker Program in Real Estate.Cross-college relationships are also being pursuedMedicine continues to develop ties with Weill CornellFROM TOP TO BOTTOM: Erika Johnson, a graduate student in civil andenvironmental engineering, measures water flow rates in her Hollister Hall lab;Students celebrate during Dragon Day 2012; A robotics demonstration in theAutonomous Systems Laboratory; A drummer plays at the 2011 Graduate SchoolOrientation.11