Element 6E: Unit Resources Including Technology
Adelphi University has made major investments in the area of technology.  Each faculty member has his/her own choice of computer (desktop or laptop) and e-mail.  The professional education Unit has made a commitment that all candidates will be proficient in the use of technology to improve P-12 learning.  To this end, the Unit has allocated considerable resources to facilities, equipment and software, as well as to professional development for faculty, staff and candidates. In 2005, 50 percent of all courses offered by the SOE at the Garden City campus were offered in a technologically supported classroom.  A listing of these classrooms is offered as Exhibit S6-16. These classrooms throughout the University, which take several forms: 1) a computer laboratory with individual computers for candidates, 2) a multi-media room, where the instructor has access to a computer, internet, video, transparency, and audio equipment (in the multi-media rooms, candidates view presentations on a wide projection screen), or 3) a hybrid room. These classrooms were in buildings located throughout the University:  Swirbul Library, Hagedorn Hall Business building, Science building and Levermore Hall. 

There is support for faculty and candidates during the week through the University's Office of Information Technology & Resources. Technicians come to faculty offices or University classrooms to deal with any networking or software problems and are ready on call.  The Faculty Center for Professional Excellence (FCPE) provides technological training to full-time and adjunct faculty.  SOE faculty members are trained in Blackboard and Livetext and use them as part of the curriculum and assessment. FCPE also provides technological equipment, including scanners, printers, color printers, and CD burners.  Training is offered each semester on an individual basis or in groups to full-time and adjunct faculty members. Copies of software programs (for example, SPSS) are also provided through the Office of Informational Technology & Resources.  Many faculty members have their portfolios listed on the Adelphi website and some have developed and posted their own personal websites as well, where their scholarship along with candidate work is displayed (available for viewing as Exhibit S6-17).  Faculty members have been encouraged to create hybrid courses providing in-person class meetings with meetings over the internet. The unit's Special Education and Educational Leadership and Technology programs piloted hybrid courses in 2005.

Swirbul Library is exemplary with scholarly works, curricular and electronic resources, becoming the hub for technology at the University.  The Manhattan Center is linked to the Garden City campus and all Swirbul Library databases. The library provides access to 4,768 online databases and journals in addition to 24,795 journals in print. Last year, $23,335 was spent on books in the field of education, adding to the collection of 430,958 volumes. (A listing of the education holdings is offered as Exhibit S6-18).  The Curriculum Centers at Garden City and Manhattan house an extensive collection of current curriculum materials, books, textbooks, videos, CD's, software, journals and newspapers on teaching, learning, and teacher education.  The Curriculum Centers' collections are fully cataloged online and tied to the online system. 

Unit resources have supported the development of the Performance Assessment System, a major priority for the past three years.  NCATE co-coordinators have had a total of three to six credits of reassigned time to guide and lead the development and implementation of our NCATE committees leading to our assessment system.  A part-time staff person and two student employees were assigned to input data, and a full-time administrator was brought in to develop an assessment system that will be able to support future curricular decisions.  In addition, we have received invaluable assistance from the University Provost's assessment office, the University Faculty Technology Lab, and the University website expert. The intricate data base analysis and collection has also been supported by staff within the registrar's office, the admissions office and the computer support staff, and funded from the Provost's office in recognition of the importance and complexity of this database.