If you are having problems viewing this message, view the online version here.
University Studies Program: General Education for the 21st Century

Countdown to USP Launch Fall 2013...

Quest II syllabi completion; course review and approval process begins.
Alumni Mentor planning meetings.
Quest III community partners second networking opportunity.
USP advising meetings with all departments and programs.
Quest I paired instructors gathering.
USP Student Ambassador training; presentations for Provost and Chancellor and service to in-coming students during Odyssey.
Peer Mentor interviews, selection and training.
Quest I instructors meet Peer Mentors.
Connect instructor identification and professional development.
Explore instructors gathering.
Quest III professional development.
ePortfolio dialogues and info sessions for USP teaching community.
USP teaching community gatherings.
Senior SOTL Scholars project planning for USP semester one.
Summer USP teaching community gatherings (August) and professional development for new hires (dates TBD).
Continued expansion of on-line resources for USP teaching community.


Dec. 9 Deadline to Register: Quest III Course Development Workshops Register Now


Meet the USP Council

The USP Council is comprised of members of the UW Oshkosh campus community who are supporting the early implementation of this new general education program. In the next several USP Updates, we will introduce members of this collaborative team.

John Robertson, ePortfolio Specialist

John Robertson works in Learning Technologies as ePortfolio and online learning support. A significant part of his job for the coming years is working to support the adoption and use of ePortfolios across USP and with any other interested majors. He is the voice for ePortfolios in different discussions on campus, working closely with other members of Learning Technologies, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, the Provost's Office and with the rest of the USP Council to share expertise, information and plan how to support the use of ePortfolios. 

John says, "My two biggest challenges for the next six months are to help clearly communicate ePortfolio as a process to develop outcome-aligned student ownership of their learning throughout the progression of USP and to ensure that we have enough support in place so that faculty and students are equipped to use the D2L ePortfolio tool.”

John’s average week at this point in the implementation process includes a lot of time spent investigating and developing materials, exploring the intricacies of D2L, working with faculty in an ePortfolio pilot program, going to meetings and talking to people about everything from record retention schedules to educational theory. John says, “I occasionally get to dabble in other bits of educational technology and scholarship and hope to run a One Session Wonder on using Twitter for professional development or as a classroom tool in the spring.”

John immigrated to the U.S. in January and moved to Oshkosh in June. “My family is settling well into life here and we're enjoying the extensive daylight.” 

Until recently John worked for Jisc's Innovation Support Centre in educational technology and interoperability standards. As a learning technology advisor he provided support for work in areas including open educational resources and repositories. Although he worked with projects from across the U.K. and internationally, he was based in the Centre for Academic Practice and Learning Enhancement at the University of Strathclyde. 

“Despite working in educational technology,” John says, “I’m actually a librarian and church historian by training with Masters' theses on Designing Workflows for Metadata Quality and Samuel Miller (1769 -1850) Professional Education for the Ministry.”

John is interested in the impact of openness (in particular open education and open educational resources, as well as open access in scholarly communications) on those processes. “I'm excited about the opportunity to be involved with the implementation and use of ePortfolios as a key element of USP's engagement with high impact practices and UW Oshkosh's engagement with this process of helping students become self-directed learners and equipping them for a lifetime of learning. I'm also excited by the way this engagement helps us develop our approach to the digital content we produce and develop its use in learning and in creating online identities and artifacts.”

Need Help?
For assistance, please use the following contact information:
email: usp@uwosh.edu
website: uwosh.edu/usp

Watch for the University Studies Program Update each Tuesday of the fall 2012 semester!
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
This email was sent by the UW Oshkosh University Studies Program
765 Algoma Boulevard, Oshkosh, WI 54901.