Emily Ahonen, Steven E. Lacey, Shahid Parvez, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
Principal Investigator: Emily Ahonen, professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
Co-principal Investigators: Steven E. Lacey and Shahid Parvez, Department of Environmental Health, Richard M. Fairbanks School
Project Title: Addressing the Needs of a Distributed, Associate Faculty through Curricular Mapping, Technical Assistance, and Reflexive Community Building: Phase Two of a Developmental Evaluation of a New Master of Science in Product Stewardship Program
Funding Level: $15,000
Abstract:
The IU Fairbanks School of Public Health (FSPH) has a new Master of Science in Product Stewardship (MSPS) degree. Product stewardship addresses local, national, and global issues in the environment, worker health and safety, and social accountability as they relate to the design, use and disposal of everyday products. The entirely online, 30 credit M.S. degree in Product Stewardship trains future leaders in this field. The expert practitioners who are the heart of this program serve in part time, geographically distributed adjunct roles. These circumstances, though necessary, pose challenges to student learning as well as to faculty engagement, support, and retention over time. In this project we will employ a collaborative distance engagement strategy in order to address these challenges. Our goals are: 1. To involve MSPS faculty in the process of shaping the MSPS program through curricular mapping; 2. To improve student learning through closer alignment of learning objectives, assignments, and assessments with competencies they will need as product stewards; and 3. To establish and initially test a model for ongoing engagement, support, and development of a distributed adjunct faculty.
