Charter: DiaLOG

Charter

In 2017, representatives from many University of Minnesota academic technology-related units came together to oversee the rollout of a new system-wide learning management system. Along the way they developed processes to make operational decisions that affected their respective units. Participants recognized the critical importance of this type of organizational governance, and additionally developed core principles that kept everyone engaged and supportive of group decisions. This collaborative, consensus-based approach successfully launched the new Learning Platform and is the inspiration for this expanded concept to bring the University community together to address ongoing academic technology issues.

Core Purpose

DiaLOG exists to ensure units from across the University work together to address challenging operational academic technology issues for the improvement of teaching and student learning.

Core Values

The following key principles govern how we work together and prioritize:

  • We strive to seek consensus and collaboration, not authority.
  • We strive to put the needs of learners and teachers first, not technology.
  • We embrace the healthy tension that is inherent to and necessary for success in our complex distributed university community.

DiaLOG Groups

DiaLOG is comprised of three groups:

All DiaLOG Groups are connected through this charter and follow similar core concepts. To facilitate and support excellent, efficient work, we encourage flexibility in process, scope, membership and goals.

Core Processes

  1. Gather the right people. Each DiaLOG Group gathers staff leaders and experts from units across the University who manage academic technology services, technologies, and issues relevant to each Group’s scope of responsibility.
  2. Flexible membership. Group membership is based on interest, expertise, and both unit and personal commitment to support DiaLOG efforts. Not all units will be members of all DiaLOG Groups, but units with significant operations or domain expertise are encouraged to take part. Units without representation on a DiaLOG Group are welcome to participate on a per-topic basis and will continue to be part of the encompassing DiaLOG Community.
  3. Coordinate responses. The primary responsibility of a DiaLOG Group is to investigate, discuss, and coordinate responses to operational academic technology issues, especially where there is an intersection of issues across participating units’ domains of responsibility.
  4. Collaboration and Consensus. DiaLOG groups accomplish work and make decisions via collaborative and consensus-building processes. We strive to move our community forward through discussion and compromise, with a focus on shared work and mutually beneficial outcomes. Although DiaLOG Groups neither set policy nor drive the agendas of individual units, they can discuss relevant University policies, processes, and larger direction while providing facilitation, feedback, and recommendations to policy-makers and senior leaders.
  5. Advocating for faculty and student needs. DiaLOG Groups use their collective content expertise in the academic technology realm, as well as their deep understanding of the particularities of their own units, to bring awareness of needs and priorities expressed by the faculty and students they serve and represent.
  6. Build networks. We strive to form more robust working relationships among and between individuals as well as the units participating in DiaLOG Groups. This participation strengthens the professional networks of both individuals and units and increases their value to their respective units.

DiaLOG Community

All staff units that support academic technologies are invited to participate in DiaLOG Community. The Community is both a virtual email (or other online format) group and an occasional in-person meeting. The Community is kept up to date on the activities of DiaLOG Groups and is queried for input on larger organizational issues.

DiaLOG Leadership

The Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost and the Office of Information Technology will convene and lead DiaLOG. We will organize a steering committee of leaders who oversee the administration of DiaLOG concept, lead DiaLOG Groups, coordinate agendas, and support communication between the Groups and with the broader DiaLOG Community. This team will also communicate and coordinate with other University groups and senior leaders.

Areas of Responsibility

Learning Platform

In Scope

  • All things related to Canvas, Moodle, and other learning platforms. Managing changes to new LMS systems
  • Connecting tools to the LMS
  • Responsiveness to unit needs, based on interaction with learning platform
  • Integration with other enterprise systems, policies, and processes

Key Units (suggestions, not limits)

  • Collegiate units
  • Campus units
  • Executive Vice President and Provost
  • Office of Information Technology
  • Academic Support Resources

Learning Tools

In Scope

  • Academic technology tools, technologies, and services, e.g., clickers, software, learning spaces technology
  • Coordination of larger issues around tool consideration and usage
  • Vetting of new tool requests for integration with the learning platform

Key Units (suggestions, not limits)

  • Collegiate units
  • Campus units
  • Executive Vice President and Provost
  • Office of Information Technology
  • University Libraries
  • Office of Classroom Management
  • Center for Education Innovation

Learning Analytics

In Scope

  • Analytics at the course, program, collegiate, and system level
  • Responsiveness to faculty and student needs
  • Coordinating the meaningful use of analytics
  • Advising on central procedures related to analytics

Key units (suggestions, not limits)

  • Collegiate units
  • Campus units
  • Executive Vice President and Provost
  • Office of Information Technology
  • Institutional Analysis
  • University Libraries
  • Center for Education Innovation