eNewsletters and Resources

submitted by Brigid Nulty, Associate Dean of Teaching, Learning and Assessment.

I’m celebrating my 4-month anniversary as Shoreline’s first Associate Dean of Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. One of my little pilot project experiments has been an eNewsletter. I send it out about every 10 days (ish) to about 25 faculty.  It’s not particular fancy (it’s just an email) but my hope is to get some good feedback from my “guinea pigs” that will help me plan a much better all-faculty eNewletter program next year. (Note to self: learn MailChimp this summer. "(The appeal of a tool like MailChimp is that I’ll have access to metrics to find out if people are actually opening my e-Newsletter, and I’ll be able to find out which of the many links I provide actually get clicked.)"

One of the elements I’ve included in my newsletter is a Cool Thing O’ the Week. These are mostly just amusements.

•  http://explorabl.es/all/ 
• What’s your goal for Spring? What are your students’ goals? Set an intention in a simple fun way.
• Hand-drawn how-to instructions using no words
• Congruence
• I am now a fan of Simone Giertz. She makes fun robots.
• Now I want to draw one on our campus.

Another component I include in my newsletter is a Question of the Week. The hope is to prompt some reflection and musings, and maybe even elicit responses. So far, only one of my readers actually replies, so this particular feature may not persist next year. In any case, I thought I’d share the questions I’ve asked during these first few months:

• What experiences would help build community and camaraderie across disciplines, on this campus? 
•  Which of these ProD approaches would work for you? Here’s a different menu of approaches. 
• What would make for an awesome Opening Week in the fall? What kinds of experiences would make you feel energized, equipped, and connected? 
• What would get you to participate in a book group during the summer? Or during Fall quarter? Or, a book group that ran through two quarters? I’m amassing this list of cool books that I think could be so interesting – especially with our individual and institutional aims of creating a more equitable learning environment. Follow-up question: Has anyone ever participated in a virtual book group? If so, what made it successful?  
• Have you attended a conference this year? Did you go to a session that made an impact, got you thinking differently or trying something new? Tell me!  Are you planning on attending a conference this summer? Tell me! 
• What compliment do you wish you could receive about your work? [borrowed from Will Allen, c/o swissmiss]

So, now… a question to blog readers: What would make an e-Newsletter appealing to you?