BTAA CourseShare at Rutgers-New Brunswick
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As a member of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, Rutgers-New Brunswick participates in the BTAA’s CourseShare program, which affords students from BTAA institutions the opportunity to take, via videoconferencing, courses related to Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs), including Korean from the University of Michigan's Nam Center for Korean Studies eSchool, as well as Islamic Studies from Michigan's Digital Islamic Studies Curriculum (DISC). Participating students are not charged any additional tuition or fees, and grades and credits are reported on each student’s home university transcript. The Language Center (TLC) staff administers the BTAA CourseShare program for Rutgers-New Brunswick and provides:
- liaison between BTAA institutions and Rutgers faculty;
- registration services for non-Rutgers students;
- access to TLC's distance learning (videoconferencing) rooms (dependent upon the number of Rutgers students enrolled); and
- posting of Rutgers offerings and requests to the BTAA CourseShare Inquiry Board, which emails such announcements to all BTAA CourseShare Coordinators.
The CourseShare Coordinator at any BTAA institution interested in receiving one of our offerings contacts the Rutgers Coordinator to arrange a partnership. Similarly, the Rutgers Coordinator forwards each announcement about another institution’s offering to the appropriate Rutgers department to inquire whether that department is interested in receiving it. If a department is interested, email help@tlc.rutgers.edu to so indicate and the Rutgers CourseShare Coordinator will follow up on the inquiry.
Every effort should be made to determine CourseShare offerings far enough in advance in order for a departmental scheduler to enter them during regular fall and spring CourseAtlas scheduling windows, which will allow enough time for TLC to complete the numerous administrative aspects of each partnership. If it is not possible to meet a CourseAtlas scheduling window deadline to enter a BTAA offering, then a specific deadline outside of the scheduling window will be designated to submit the online request form.
Host (Offer) a BTAA Course
- Discuss with the appropriate department Chair the desire to host a course.
- Submit the online request form to notify TLC officially after the appropriate department Chair gives approval.
- Have the departmental scheduler:
- activate a section of the course to be offered in CourseAtlas (if the course section is not already activated);
- add the appropriate Print Comment (AP-Big Ten Academic Alliance CourseShare offering hosted by Rutgers) under Section Attributes so that the section is identified as CourseShare in the online Schedule of Classes; and
- contact the appropriate CourseAtlas Scheduling Officer to request a classroom that is equipped with distance learning (videoconferencing) technology (visit Digital Classroom Services (DCS) for information about these spaces, for which DCS provides training and support). Such a room is necessary when enrollment of three or more students is expected (one or two students can be trained on how to connect to the host institution on their own).
- Contact help@tlc.rutgers.edu for availability of TLC's distance learning facilities (capacities range from 8 to 24 students), which are “Restricted Rooms” as defined in CourseAtlas.
Receive a BTAA Course
- Discuss with the appropriate department Chair the need to receive an offering.
- Submit the online request form to notify TLC officially after the appropriate department Chair gives approval.
- Have the departmental scheduler:
- activate a section of a course in CourseAtlas that reflects the level and number of credits of the offering being received and for which Rutgers students will register. Make sure your students understand that while the course they will take is coming from another institution, they are technically registered for a Rutgers course (cross-institution registration does not take place). Therefore, registration matters (including add/drop) follow Rutgers policies and procedures and are handled by the Rutgers CourseShare Registrar, who also handles posting final grades (submitted by the host institution instructor) to their Rutgers transcripts;
- add the appropriate Print Comment (AQ - Big Ten Academic Alliance CourseShare offering received from a Big Ten university) under Section Attributes so that the section is identified as CourseShare in the online Schedule of Classes;
- include the name of the host institution in the Section Notes under Section Attributes; and
- contact the appropriate CourseAtlas Scheduling Officer to request a classroom that is equipped with distance learning (videoconferencing) technology (visit Digital Classroom Services (DCS) for information about these spaces, for which DCS provides training and support). Such a room is necessary when enrollment of three or more students is expected (one or two students can be trained on how to connect to the host institution on their own).
- Contact help@tlc.rutgers.edu for availability of TLC's distance learning facilities (capacities range from 8 to 24 students), which are “Restricted Rooms” as defined in CourseAtlas.
- Hire (and fund) a "facilitator" (for example, a very responsible advanced undergrad or a grad student) to be in the room during each class meeting since the host instructor is not on-site. The facilitator acts as the instructor’s "remote" assistant, helping with academic aspects of the course (quiz and test monitoring, discussion leader, general supervision of students), as well as serving as the on-site technician, which includes providing RUID card access to the distance learning room (if required) and operating the videoconferencing system. Use of a facilitator is necessary when enrollment of three or more students is expected and a distance learning classroom will be used. However, in cases of enrollment below three where no facilitator and distance learning room are used, the department shall decide how to supervise its student(s) and perform a facilitator’s academic duties throughout the semester.
- Assign a departmental liaison, that is, a member of the receiving department (faculty or staff) to perform the course's administrative duties in liaison with the Rutgers CourseShare Coordinator in order to:
- ensure that our students know the start and end dates of the host institution's semester;
- monitor our students, in collaboration with the facilitator if one is used, for attendance compliance and performance issues;
- have course access privileges in REGIS to submit warning grades if the host institution's instructor so requests;
- notify the Rutgers CourseShare Coordinator if final grades, entered by the Rutgers CourseShare Registrar once they are received from the host institution, do not appear in REGIS in a timely manner; and
- address any academic issue that might arise during the semester.
Seek a BTAA Course
If a department, with the approval of the Chair, is seeking a course in a Less Commonly Taught Language (LCTL) not offered at Rutgers, a departmental representative should submit this online form to The Language Center to request a search of the BTAA CourseShare Inquiry Board for that LCTL. If no posting exists, TLC will submit an inquiry to the Board to announce that Rutgers is seeking that LCTL. If the inquiry generates a response from an institution, TLC will inform the seeking department.
Once TLC is notified officially via the online request form that a department wants to host or receive a course, TLC staff provides not only the above-mentioned administrative services, but also technological assistance with its own classrooms, including:
- videoconferencing test calls conducted prior to the start of a semester to ensure the proper functioning of the host and receive site systems;
- system training for all instructors and facilitators; and
- ongoing support throughout the semester to address any technical issue that arises. Should a problem occur during class that an instructor or a facilitator can't resolve, he/she can contact The Language Center, and a staff member will go to the room to provide assistance.
NOTE: Posting of a Rutgers offering or a request to receive an offering on the BTAA CourseShare Inquiry Board does not guarantee a partnership with any other BTAA institution.
