Fairleigh Dickinson University has embarked on a bold venture in distance learning. Every undergraduate student is required to enroll in one online course for each year of full-time study during his or her baccalaureate career. One of the primary reasons for this requirement is the University's commitment to global education and the way in which distance learning allows us to bring the world to our students. While staying in their home environment, scholars and practitioners from around the world participate in distance learning courses as Global Virtual Faculty (GVF).

Program Goals

The primary role of a Global Virtual Faculty member is to bring a global dimension to the learning experience by offering different perspectives and observations to students on the issues under study. For example, GVF may be involved through participating in a threaded discussion on a course topic, presenting relevant narrative material or case studies or directing students to useful web sites within the Global Virtual Faculty member’s area of expertise

All courses engaging GVF are taught in collaboration with full-time Fairleigh Dickinson University faculty members. Each Global Virtual Faculty member is assigned a campus-based partner, who shapes and designs his or her participation. The campus-based faculty member is responsible for the syllabus, primary material, assignments, and evaluation. All communication and participation is web-based, with the Global Virtual Faculty member remaining in his or her home environment.

Levels of Involvement

There are two levels of involvement of the Global Virtual Faculty:

Level One (L1) involvement includes consistent participation in a course throughout the semester (14 weeks). The average amount of time spent on-line is 1-2 hrs/week.

Level Two (L2) involvement includes participation in a course for a period of up to 7 weeks and is content-area based. Global Virtual Faculty members who prefer to participate in discussions on specific topics within a particular course, rather than throughout the semester, opt for this level of involvement. In such cases where those topics are not in consecutive order, the participation does not exceed a total of 7 weeks/semester. The average amount of time spent on-line is 1-2 hrs/week for those weeks of participation.

The nature of the participation for Level One or Two is mutually agreed upon by the main facilitator of the course (FDU faculty member) and the participating GVF and typically includes:

• Engaging in an on-going dialogue with students on a weekly basis in the form of threaded discussion;
• Postings of original writing on a topic under discussion;
• Sharing observations on a previously published or presented paper;
• Directing students to useful web sites within the global faculty member's expertise.

Training, Preparation and Evaluation

The Office of Global Learning trains and prepares GVF to participate in on-line courses. FDU faculty partners will advise the GVF of the pedagogies and methods used in a particular course. Whenever possible, the GVF collaborates with the FDU teaching partner in the planning and delivery of the on-line course. At the conclusion of each course, students are asked to complete a formal evaluation of the course and of both the campus-based faculty members and the Global Virtual Faculty member's participation. This is a normal practice at FDU. Continuation as a GVF is contingent upon achieving consistently strong evaluations. Participation by all GVF will be coordinated through the Office of Global Learning in collaboration with the relevant academic department/school.

Compensation

FDU Global Virtual Faculty will generally receive an honorarium of $1000 US for each course for which they serve on a Level One (L1) involvement basis and an honorarium of $500 US for each course for which they serve on a Level Two (L2) involvement basis.

Contact Dalila Suhonjic, Director of Global Initiatives, at suhonjic@fdu.edu for more information.