Let’s get this PARTY started!

[mjennings]

I love the start of a new term. It allows for a fresh start and for new ideas to be brought forward. As I have reflected over our process for this post, I really love the way we assist our faculty with getting ready as it seems to be very personal and allows for a lot of collaboration. Here are some of the ways we like to P.A.R.T.Y. as we begin a new term.

1. Personal contact - We start personally contacting each Course Manager either by email, phone or stopping by their office to reach out and ask if the is anything we can do to assist them in getting their course ready for the start of the term.
2. Attention to details - In those meetings we emphasis the need for tight consistency of directions, terminology, and structure of the learning materials. This means that all of the dates are accurate, links are not broken and that there is a unified look and feel to all pages.
3. Readily available - While we are not a 24/7 help desk, we work hard to be available when needed to answer questions during business hours, with a willingness to eagerly assist when asked. We also have a knack for showing up at the office door just as a faculty member is getting ready to call/email us. Which happens because we go…
4. Trouble hunting - We go looking for trouble. A couple of times a day members of our office will “make rounds” to each faculty office to see if they need any help or to check-in on any issues we have been working through with them. This is where we most often get accused of have telepathic super powers. We just know when and where to find trouble.
5. Yelling allowed - We tell our faculty to not hesitate in contacting us. Actually we tell them if it takes them longer than 5 minutes, they need to call us, email us or hunt us down.

So the next time you are getting ready for a new term, make it a PARTY and keep being awesome!

Matthew Jennings, M.Ed.

Instructor and Instructional Design Specialist, Sr.

uab.edu/nursing

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