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| The Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute's mission is to help Baruch students become lifelong practitioners of good communication. Much of what we do in fulfilling our mission is aiding faculty in all aspects of communication intensive instruction. We do this through the following: Communication Intensive Courses (CICs) Communication Intensive Courses (CICs) emphasize at least two of three modes of communication: writing, speaking and computer-mediated communication. Offered in a variety of academic disciplines, CICs are designed to engage students in a broad range of communication intensive activities. Although Baruch College does not yet require all students to take a particular number of CICs, the Zicklin School of Business now expects its students to encounter at least four CICs before graduating. The Institute offers support for CICs in a variety of ways: Individual Consulting Support for Faculty: Assigned to individual sections of most CICs, the Institute's Communication Fellows are available to advise faculty on curriculum development. Our Fellows are academic professionals, skilled in developing communication intensive activities for courses in various academic disciplines and can consult faculty on any aspect of syllabus and assignment design as well as on effective use of Blackboard. Workshops for Students: Institute staff facilitate regularly scheduled student workshops meant to supplement course content. Depending on the instructor's needs, workshops can address specific assignments or focus on any course- or discipline- specific concerns regarding oral, written or computer mediated communication. At the instructor's request, workshops also can be conducted during a class session. Individual and Group Work with Students: Our staff works with students individually and in groups on writing assignments and individual or group presentations. For Business Policy 5100, for example, Fellows videotape and review student rehearsals in preparation for a final team presentation. Instructional Technology Support: The Institute supports its CICs with a wide range of technologies aimed at improving student communication, from Blackboard, to online oral presentation assessment, to video cameras. Fellows are trained in the use of these technologies and are able to assist faculty in their application. Writing Assessment: Change in student writing ability in each CIC is assessed by means of a writing prompt. At the beginning of the semester, students are asked to reflect, in writing, on their expectations for the course. At the end of the term, they write on the extent to which those expectations were met. The resulting writing samples are evaluated by the Institute staff for changes in the initial level of the students' writing ability. Indications of the attitudes the students brought to and took from the course are also noted. If you are interested in developing a CIC in your discipline or would like more information about the Institute's support of CICs, please contact Mikhail Gershovich, the Institute's Director, via email (by clicking on the link above) or by calling (646) 312 2062. Please also see the CIC Development Guidelines, available here in PDF form. Curricular Design Consultation Institute staff are also available to advise faculty not currently teaching CICs on communication intensive curricular design. Our Fellows will be glad to meet with you and discuss any concerns regarding communication intensive instruction, including strategies for developing innovative writing or speaking assignments, responding to student writing, or the use of instructional technology. If you would like to arrange a consultation for your course, send an email to Mikhail Gershovich, the Institute's Director. In your email, let us know your name, department, course number and title, your email address, what you'd like to discuss, and how urgent your request is. Classroom Visits Members of our Business Advisory Council (BAC), all leading executives and professionals in a variety of fields, are available to visit your classroom to observe student presentations or to speak on the importance of effective communication to success in business. To arrange a classroom visit, please contact Herbert R. Brinberg, chair of the BAC. For a list of BAC members, visit our "About the Institute" page. Co-Curricular Programs The Institute periodically sponsors a variety of co-curricular programs for students. Currently, we provide exam preparation assistance for students taking the CUNY Proficiency Exam (CPE) by means of a series of workshops once each semester, usually in early October and early March, just before the exam date. For more information about the workshops please contact Mikhail Gershovich. Professional Development The Institute sponsors sustained professional development for full- and part-time faculty, graduate students who run student recitations and workshops, the Institute's Fellows and undergraduate peer tutors. Venues vary from one-on-one meetings with faculty as well as meetings at the departmental level, to monthly college-wide Seminars, to an annual national Symposium on Communication and Communication Intensive Instruction as well as multi-media tutorials and seminars available online. A multimedia version of our Nov. 6, 2003 seminar on plagiarism and academic integrity is available online. We are also working on developing multi-media tutorials to supplement selected past seminars. To view our Blackboard tutorial for faculty, click here. |
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