Gardner Campbell
Vice Provost for Learning Innovation
Virginia Commonwealth University
In September, 2015, the Union Cycliste Internationale World Championship bicycle race came to Richmond, Virginia. Rather than close the residence halls, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) made the week into “reading days.” During the race, VCU’s Academic Learning Transformation Lab as well as VCU’s University College sponsored nearly 25 innovative, one-credit, pass/fail courses focused on the race, in disciplines ranging from nursing to history to business to physics to anthropology, and more. Students published their work to the Web via WordPress course sites. Following the race, faculty began curating the best of this student work into a Web-based text called “The Great VCU Bike Race Book.” A version of this “book” will be stored on Scholar’s Compass, VCU’s scholarly publishing platform. This session tells the story of the project, featuring an account of the faculty development process, the large-scale cross-unit collaboration needed, the project-management strategies, and the learning outcomes for faculty, staff, students–and the university as well.
http://www.greatvcubikeracebook.net
http://www.rampages.us/coveringthecoverage