The National Center for Academic Transformation, led by Carol Twigg, has been a pioneer in Course Redesign. In our CSU Transforming Course Design program we are building on the work of NCAT and other sources: see our upcoming January Update for a list of sources as a step-by-guide to opportunities for transforming our courses. If your work falls within the guidelines of the current NCAT program outlined below, you can get some valuable help and liaise with discipline colleagues in other regions who are pursuing similar goals.

Here is the announcement sent out by NCAT about their program:

NCAT is pleased to announce the second round of the Colleagues Committed to Redesign (C²R) program, sponsored by the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE). The purpose of the program is to support the efforts of colleges and universities to redesign their instructional approaches using technology to achieve improvements in student learning while reducing instructional costs. In order to have maximum impact, redesign efforts supported by the program will focus on large introductory courses with high enrollments.

NCAT will bring four-person teams from 20 institutions together with NCAT staff and 16 Redesign Scholars at a series of disciplinary institutes. Four disciplinary institutes(humanities; mathematics, statistics, computer science; natural sciences; and,social sciences) will be held. The institutes will introduce the teams to the NCAT redesign methodology, share strategies and techniques for successful course redesign and help teams develop plans for course redesigns on their home campuses. Following each institute, NCAT will support collaboration and consultation among NCAT staff, Redesign Scholars and institutional teams to help teams apply what was learned at the institutes on campus and replicate prior successes. Each participating C²R institution will have resources made possible by the FIPSE grant to invite one or more consultants drawn from among the Redesign Scholars to their campus for follow-up consultations and workshops. 

Participating institutions will implement a pilot redesign and will share their experiences and lessons learned with the larger higher education community at an annual national dissemination conferencesponsored by the Redesign Alliance. FIPSE funding will support team travel to the institutes and to the conference.

NOTE: The deadline for applying to participate in the second round is January 15, 2008.

For a full description of the Colleagues Committed to Redesign (C²R) program and the application guidelines, please see http://www.thencat.org/RedesignAlliance/DissemProgram.htm.