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Use VR and AR in sciences

NWC should investigate whether VR/AR equipment could replicate lab experiences to the extent that repeated purchase of lab equipment and materials could be eliminated. “ASU is the first university to offer a virtual-reality biology lab for online students, who use headsets to manipulate DNA and complete dissections.” https://asunow.asu.edu/20180909-asu-news-ranked-most-innovative-US-school-fourth-time
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Online summer bridge course

To help students from less academically rigorous backgrounds succeed, NWC should offer an online bridge course. This would be less complicated logistically and financially than onsite coursework while still helping prepare students. If done right, it should improve retention as well. Summer bridge program called CUBE (Carleton Undergraduate Bridge Experience) https://apps.carleton.edu/cube/
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Reformulate teaching evaluation

Change how we evaluate teaching in order to promote innovation, quality, and fairness. “Oregon is among a small but growing number of institutions that are looking to de-emphasize the use of student evaluations in personnel decisions. Instead, faculty members are increasingly evaluating one another’s teaching. They are also writing reflections on their own teaching. Meanwhile, […]
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Faculty learning communities: Learning to teach together

Teaching tends to be faculty members’ most solitary activity–we rarely visit each other’s courses, comment on each other’s syllabi or assignments, help each other develop new ideas, comment on each other’s lecture style and content, etc. This article discusses the creation of faculty learning communities that are an essential part of faculty development. Faculty are […]
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Offer undergraduate certificates

From CIC report (p. 57): “Augustana College introduced a certificate program in nonprofit leadership development to help prepare liberal arts majors for leadership roles with nonprofit organizations. The program was developed in response to student interest and in alignment with the college’s mission and values. It provides students with formal documentation of their competence in the areas of communication, business, accounting, and ethics.”
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Humanities Internships

Higher education institutions that emphasize internships for humanities graduates do so with good reason. Employer perceptions and opinions suggest that internships have become almost obligatory for students and graduates seeking employment, as indicated by a recent Chronicle of Higher Education survey (Figure 1.6, on the following page). The survey findings suggest that “an internship is the single most important credential for recent college graduates to have on their resume in their job search among all industry segments.” (p. 12)