Ivy Tech State College Faculty Cohort Information

Frequently Asked Questions

About Admissions

Do I have to use the online form? Isn't there a paper one?

IUPUI uses online applications. Putting your information in the online form and submitting it electronically is the only way the Graduate Office can process your application. Please be assured that the server is secure and the safety of your personal and credit card information is a very high priority to the Graduate Office and to Indiana University as a whole.

What if my undergraduate/graduate transcripts are from Indiana University?

If any of your transcripts are from an IU campus not including IPFW you do not need to send official copies. We can access these transcripts internally.

What if I have some graduate credit already?

If you have transcripted graduate credit with at least a B that has not been used as part of another granted degree we will be happy to review it and see if it would apply towards the MS in Adult Education.

When will I learn if I am admitted to the Cohort?

The Admissions Committee will review complete applications received by the April 20th Priority Date later that week. At that point you may be contacted to schedule a telephone interview. You will then be notified of your admission status by both email and postal mail in following 2 weeks.

If you apply after April 20th and there is still space available the Admissions Committee will review these applications on a weekly basis. You may be contacted to schedule a telephone interview at that time. You will then be notified of your admission status by both email and postal mail in following 2 weeks.

How many people will be admitted to the Cohort?

The Cohort will be capped at 22 students.

What are my options if I am not admitted to the Cohort?

The Admissions Committee will make recommendations to those who applied to the Cohort program but were not admitted on a case-by-case basis. This may include recommending the standard Adult Education program.

What if I can't commit to the two classes each semester?

If two classes ever semester is too much given your other commitments you are always welcome to apply to the standard program. Students in the standard program may take one or more classes each semester as meets their needs. The trade-off is that they take 3 or more years to complete the program. We have arranged special class sections for the Cohort to allow completion in only 27 months.

How do I apply to the Cohort Program

Applications must be complete in order to be considered. To be complete, all applications must include the following items:

• Statement of teaching philosophy (500-700 words)
• A letter of recommendation from your Ivy Tech department chair
• Official transcript from the college or university granting your bachelor's degree
• Official transcripts from any college or university where you completed graduate-level courses or earned a graduate degree
• $50 nonrefundable application fee

Official transcripts from schools other than Indiana University should be mailed to:
Department of Adult Education
Indiana University
Union Building 129D
620 Union Drive
Indianapolis, Indiana 46202-5167
Transcripts from IU campuses except IPFW can be accessed electronically by the program office.

Each applicant must prepare a Statement of Teaching Philosophy. This Statement will be submitted electronically through the online application as the “Personal Statement.” This statement addresses your conception of teaching and learning and how you express those beliefs in your classroom. Please see “Writing a Philosophy of Teaching Statement" from Ohio State University for more information. The statement must be a double-spaced essay between 500 and 700 words.

The Letter of Recommendation must come from your department chair at Ivy Tech. It may be sent via the Online Application System, email to ude.iupui|detluda#ude.iupui|detluda, or postal mail to the department office. If your chair chooses to use the Online Application System they must type or paste their full letter into the text box provided. While they are encouraged to check the assorted check boxes provided as well, a standard letter of recommendation is required by the admissions committee.

The online application is used by several different programs on the IUPUI campus. Please read the directions below before completing it.

You must complete the following sections of the application:

1. Personal Information
2. Educational History
3. Educational Objectives (Select "Masters", "Continuing Studies", "Adult Education MS"; leave the Academic Interest section blank; and select June-Summer 2, 2009 as your start date)
4. Work Experience
5. Personal Statement (This is your Statement of Teaching Philosophy.)
6. Affirmation Statement
7. Recommendations (You must provide the name and email address of your Ivy Tech Department Chair here.)

The application does not have to be completed all at once. You can log out and log back in as often as you need to before submitting it. The system will provide you with a password and PIN. Only after you submit your application will it be available for our review. To submit the online application, you must pay the application fee with either a MasterCard or Visa. The department cannot access your application until you pay the fee and submit the forms.

Once you have submitted the application, you cannot go back and change anything you have entered. If you have changes after you have submitted the application, please contact the Department of Adult Education at 317.274.3456 or ude.iupui|detluda#ude.iupui|detluda.

Good luck! You are now ready to apply online. Go directly to the online application.

About the Curriculum

What is the Curriculum for the Cohort Program?

The Cohort curriculum includes 36 credit hours in the following courses taken over the next 2 years.

Summer 2009
New Student Orientation (1 cr.)
ACE-D 521 Participation Training (2 cr.)

Fall 2009
ACE-D 505 Adult Learning through the Lifespan (3 cr.)
ACE-D 625 Topical Seminar: Community Colleges (3 cr.)

Spring 2010
ACE-D 500 Introduction to Adult Education Theory (3 cr.)
ACE-D 506 Adult Education Planning and Development (3 cr.)

Summer 2010
ACE-D 523 Small Group Theory (3 cr.)
ACE-D 600 The Teaching-Learning Transaction in Adult Education (3 cr.)

Fall 2010
ACE-D 512 Forms and Forces in Adult Education (3 cr.)
ACE-D 620 Adult Education Research (3 cr.)

Spring 2011
ACE-D 525 Introduction to Distance Education Sysems (3 cr.)
ACE-D 615 Adult and Continuing Education in Collegiate Settings (3 cr.)

Summer 2011
ACE-D 640 Capstone Seminar in Adult Education (3 cr.)

About Technology

What kind of computer do I need?

IUPUI University Information Technology Services provides a list of both minimum hardware requirements for your current computer (PC or Mac) and guidelines for buying a new one on their Computer Guide. In addition to that, we recommend high speed internet access, a printer, speakers, and a headset microphone. Registered students can download many different software titles free from IUWare Online or order them on disk for a small fee.

What kind of computer skills do I need to be successful in the program?

Students need basic computer skills including the ability to create folders; find, copy, move, rename, and delete files; maximize/ minimize multiple windows; and download and save files. They also need to be able to use a word processor application to create, save, print, and retrieve a document; cut, copy, and paste text within and between documents; save a word processing document in a Microsoft Word compatible format (.doc). Students must be able to access their IUPUI email or forward that email account to one the check regularly and be able to send, receive, open, and store messages and attachments. When online, students must be able to navigate between web sites, use search engines, install needed plug-ins such as Flash or QuickTime players, and disable popup blockers or white list sites as needed for Oncourse and the IUPUI Library.

While these are the basic skills needed student have opportunities to develop additional skills including media development and the use of conferencing and collaboration tools.

About Registration and Payment

When do students register for courses?

At IUPUI students register for Summer and Fall classes beginning in April. Students register for Spring classes in November. For more information on registration dates please visit the IUPUI Registrar's Office.

When are students billed for courses?

Student bills at IUPUI are electronic. A notification is sent to the student's IUPUI email address letting them know a bill is ready for pick up in their Student Center. Bills are run by the Bursar's Office the beginning of August for Fall Semester and they are due the third Tuesday of August. Bills are run the beginning December for Spring Semester and they are due the third Tuesday of December. Bills are run the beginning of May for Summer and are due the third Tuesday of May. Students registering for Summer classes after the May bills are run will receive a bill the beginning of the following month and the bill will be due the third Tuesday of that month. (ex: A student registering May 25th will receive a bill in early June to be paid by the third Tuesday in June.) There is a payment plan allowing the bill to be paid in 2 to 3 installments.

How much does it cost?

The current Indiana resident tuition is $260 per credit hour. This will adjust slightly when fees are set for the 2009-2010 academic year. In addition to tuition, IUPUI charges a technology fee of $92 per semester. In the Cohort program an average semester enrollment is 6 credit hours so the per semester cost would be around $1,650. Tuition and fees for the whole 36-credit hour program would be just over $10,000.

What about Financial Aid?

Graduate students enrolled at least half-time are eligible for student loans and may be eligible to have current loans in repayment status put in deferment. Please complete a FAFSA and visit the IUPUI Student Financial Aid Services web site for more information. Graduate students are considered half-time if they are enrolled in 4-7 credit hours in a semester. The cohort schedule provides half-time enrollment for all terms except the Summer of 2009 and the Summer of 2011.

About Face-to-face Meetings

When is the 3-day face-to-face meeting that is part of D521 this summer?

The three-day meeting will be July 17, 18 and 19, 2009. It will be held either on the IUPUI campus or at a satellite facility on the north-west side of Indianapolis.

Are there other opportunities for face-to-face meetings?

Each spring and fall we have an optional get-together one Saturday morning. It s a time for getting to know your fellow classmates and meeting with your instructors. We also have a featured speaker in talking about a related topic.

We also encourage all graduates to come to Indianapolis to attend formal commencement ceremonies.

About Online Courses

What do I need to know about being a successful online learner?

If this is your first experience with online learning, please don't feel intimidated by the technology used to participate in the course. We all need to be proficient with these digital competencies as they rapidly become integrated into formal education as well as workplace learning and development programs. In an online learning community, people communicate via text-based discussion (synchronous or asynchronous) and a variety of digital media using internet-based platforms.

A very important aspect of online learning, especially with adults, is recognizing that the roles of student, subject matter expert, and facilitator are fluid within a course. It is important to acknowledge, respect and draw upon the knowledge and experience of everyone in the learning community. We also ask those who are more experienced and comfortable with online learning and these tools to give suggestions and positive feedback to those who are less experienced so we develop a supportive climate in our online community. All members of the online learning community should promote learning by:

• Creating a safe and engaging climate for collaboration.
• Empowering each other as learners by encouraging self-directedness.
• Sharing responsibility for accomplishing interactive group discussions and projects.

The Ivy Tech Faculty Cohort is designed to create an intentional online learning community to address the professional development needs of its members through individual and collaborative work in courses. Courses are delivered through information communication technologies, but it is the intellectual engagement with the content with the professional and social relationships that develop in an online community that produce shared learning outcomes. This is an intentional structuring of curriculum to link together courses or coursework so students find greater coherence in what they are learning and greater interaction with faculty and peers.

Do I have to be online at a certain time each week?

Normally no. Our courses are mainly asynchronous meaning that students can access the course when it is convenient for them. It is recommended that students log into each course at least 3 times per week. The most important aspect of a course is student participation. Regular interaction with other students and faculty is required. There will occasionally be live meetings but they will be scheduled with input from the students in the course. If a student cannot attend a live meeting, the recording can be reviewed at a later date.

What is the average time commitment?

In general students should expect to spend around 9 hours per week on a 3 credit hour course. Cohort students enrolled in 2 classes should anticipate around 18 hours per week.

What would I be doing?

Normal activities include:

• logging in to the course to check for new announcements,
• reading and sending messages in the course email tool,
• participating in or leading online asynchronous discussions,
• reading assigned texts and other supplementary materials,
• conducting online library research,
• writing and revising papers,
• working on individual and group projects,
• participating in or leading a synchronous web-based video conference,
• reflecting on the connections between class topics and your work as an instructor, and
• applying what you have learned in your work at Ivy Tech.

How do students access the library resources at a distance?

The IUPUI University Library provides resources for distance students including access to all licensed digital subscriptions of journals, inter-library loan request forms, delivery of electronic documents, and electronic reserves. Students can search multiple online databases for scholarly journal articles and access pdfs of articles immediately at no charge. If a student lives near an IU campus, books can be sent via "Request Delivery" or individual chapters can be sent electronically through inter-library loan.

How do I get books for classes?

Students can order books new or used through most major online book retailers such as Amazon.com or Alibris.com or the IUPUI Bookstore run by Barnes and Noble. For a list of textbooks used in Adult Education courses please see the Student Resources web site.

What else should I know about online classes?

If you have never taken or taught an online course it is helpful to understand the characteristics of computer-mediated communication. The following is adapted from a description written by Jennifer Cochrane of the IUPUI Department of Communication Studies:

Since you will use a computer to communicate your thoughts and ideas to others in our online courses, it is very important for you to understand a little about the type of communication tool the computer is. Here are a few characteristics of the computer as an interpersonal communication tool and some ways that these characteristics might affect your use of the computer to communicate:

Interaction facilitates learning. A good online student understands that interaction is the primary way that learning takes place via the computer; takes full advantage of the online presence of other people and resources; does not only lurk, and is polite and respectful to others and is prompt in responding.

Writing is the primary form of communication. It is important that the online student uses appropriate graduate-level language and formatting when writing assignments. Email messages and discussion forum postings should avoid IM jargon, texting abbreviations, etc. Emoticons are helpful but should not be over used. Your ability to critically think and reflect that thinking in a scholarly way will be evident to the reader from your writing skills online.

Electronically communicated ideas are intensified. The online student should realize that meanings, feelings, thoughts, and thinking and writing skills can be intensified because of lack of physical human presence. The absence of non-verbal messages such as body language, vocal tone, and facial features means that a written message may have a more distilled or concentrated effect than originally intended.

In electronic messages meaning is attributed. Have you ever struggled to say exactly what you mean in an email message? Have you ever been misunderstood over email because someone misinterpreted your "tone" as "rude" because you sent someone a short, succinct reply? In electronic communication - as in all forms of communication - meaning is attributed by the reader/listener and it may not be the meaning the writer/speaker intended. It is easier to communicate the intended meaning in a face-to-face setting because you can use a variety of non-verbal signals. Because there are no non-verbals in written text, communicating your intended meaning can be more difficult. In electronic communication we sometimes use emoticons or symbols like "LOL" to give our email messages the proper tone. As an online student, you must be careful when reading meaning into the messages of others. As an online writer, you must work harder to create messages that reflect more accurately your tone of voice, feeling, intent, and your content.

Asynchronous response time can be advantageous. Fortunately, when you communicate with a computer, you can take advantage of its asynchronous environment. (Asynchronous means "not at the same time".) You are communicating on your own schedule and you have time to think before responding and to choose language that communicates proper tone, feeling, and intent. This will help to minimize incorrectly attributed meaning.

Messages are usually irreversible and archived. The online student understands that, once sent, written feelings, thoughts, ideas, etc. are irreversible, documented and in many cases, archived. Taking advantage of the asynchronous response time afforded by most computer-mediated communication the student may decrease the number of poorly worded or regrettable messages sent in haste.