Issue link: http://ncumarketing.uberflip.com/i/277126
from the provost's desk | higher degrees | winter 2014 3 To paraphrase Dean Henline in this issues' article How Professional Organizations Can Boost Your Career (pg. 25), great teachers are also great students. They remain engaged in learning and contribute to their academic and professional communities on an ongoing basis. I am particularly proud of the academic endeavors of NCU faculty highlighted in this issue (see School Briefs, pg. 35). In the past few months, core and adjunct faculty members have: • Published two books and one book chapter; • Authored 10 articles in peer-reviewed journals; • Received a research grant; • And, had two abstracts accepted for presentation. But, it's not only the role of the student and teacher to continuously learn. It's the role of the University as well. At NCU, we are mindful of taking the time to evaluate the tools and resources we provide to our students and alumni, improving them whenever possible. One example of this is the new Courseroom. More than 2,000 students have transitioned into My.NCU.edu, which provides a more integrated learning experience than our current platform. During this ongoing rollout process, we have surveyed students on their experiences and made design adjustments based on their feedback. One consistent piece of feedback has been the lack of discussion forums in the new Courseroom. This will change with the rollout of the Virtual Academic Center (VAC). NCU's development team is hard at work developing this exciting collaborative tool. Meanwhile, last September, we began implementing Taskstream to ensure that our students are mastering their course and program outcomes (see Using From the Provost's Desk H I G H E R D E G R E E S | W I N T E R 2 0 1 4 Taskstream to Demonstrate Student Learning, pg. 22). As of early February, Taskstream has been integrated into 10 programs. Lastly, alumni have access to multiple research databases in the NCU Library. This is a tremendous benefit for graduates who have completed their degree and want to continue researching and publishing in their professional career. If you've used the new Courseroom and/or Taskstream, please feel free to send me an email at provost@ncu.edu. I'd love to know what you think of them as well! Warmest regards, Scott Burrus, Ph.D. Provost and Chief Academic Officer