Earlier in the year, the Institute Curriculum Committee (ICC) approved changes to the grading scale used for graduate courses. This unfortunately means that any courses created for Fall 2020 created before the announcement, have an out-dated schema. We explored the possibility of having Blackboard run a backend database query to correct the schema but the addition of additional rows in the schema in each course offering made this approach impractical.

This outcome means that most Fall 2020 graduate courses need their grading schema’s updated to reflect the new grading system. To help you correct the schema in your courses we have prepared these instructions.

We are excited to share an organizational realignment to unify the WIT Online and Learning Innovation &Technology Teams within Technology Services. Please continue using the current communications channels this fall to contact LIT lit@wit.edu for full-time and WIT Online online@wit.edu for part-time course support.

The realignment supports the strategic focus areas of High-Value Learning and Transformative Student Experience to deliver the modern teaching and learning experiences that all students (undergraduate, graduate, non-degree seeking and non-traditional) have come to expect from a university.

Passionate, talented members of both teams share commonalities in a mission to foster student-centric, interactive, experiential learning across in-person, hybrid, online and dual/Hyflex course delivery modes enabled by a digital learning ecosystem hub. Synergies across the teams present many opportunities to expand faculty professional development, consult toward the achievement of learning outcomes at the course and curricular levels, foster faculty collaborations, and fuel innovative teaching and learning practices.

Organizing this new unified team within Technology Services also provides opportunities for additional synergies drawn from adjacencies with the Digital Transformation, Tech Spot, and Media Support teams, which help us promote a one-stop experience for faculty and students to enhance the teaching and learning outcomes at Wentworth.

We also welcome Josh Luckens, an instructional designer who joined the team in August. Josh is a creative educator with 12+ years in course design and curriculum development as a teacher, writer and editor, and learning experience designer. Most recently, he designed and managed model diplomacy summits for young adults from across the world at Knovva Academy. His previous work includes instructional design for Signet Education, Outward Bound, and the Leadership Institute for Development, Education & Research. He has also taught English and theatre at the high school and middle school levels, designed education programs for a variety of educational travel companies, and served as a Fulbright fellow in Colombia. He is a Massachusetts licensed teacher, a fluent Spanish speaker, and a theatre director and actor. Josh holds an MA in Theatre Education from Emerson College and a BA from Vassar College, where he completed an Interdisciplinary Concentration in Judaic Studies.

This new team will be led by Tes Zakrzewski Ed.D., Director of Learning Innovation & Technology. Your feedback will inform the shape this unified team takes over the next few months, so please feel free to contact Tes Zakrzewski (zakrzewskit@wit.edu) with your input, ideas, and needs.