In a collaborative effort, we have restarted the process of evaluating our learning management system. This comes at a critical time, as we reflect on how we emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and look toward the future of higher education, and more specifically the future of how we collaborate and connect with our students at Marist. The success of this evaluation process is dependent on active engagement from the Marist community, and we are grateful for the participation of our faculty, staff, and students in this process.
The LMS  task force will be hosting five open labs around campus offering hands-on access to the Brightspace, Canvas and Sakai learning management systems for faculty who may wish to try their hand at evaluating the competing software products.  There will be a short survey at the end to collect your feedback.

Early in summer of 2022, we convened an LMS Task Force to evaluate iLearn and examine alternative platforms. Our work this summer has included a wide range of discussions about iLearn and the tools we would like to see integrated into our LMS in the future. We have also met with representatives from other LMS providers, Canvas and Brightspace, to discuss their platforms, and the task force is now enrolled in “sandbox” courses to assess their functionality. We would like to thank the faculty and staff who have been working diligently on the task force through summer 2022 and who will continue to be instrumental in this process moving forward. 

LMS Task Force Committee Members:

• Julin Sharp, Assistant Vice President Digital Learning Platforms and Technology 
• James Snyder, Dean Academic Engagement
• Jaime Lynne Bishop, Senior Instructional Designer
• Nancy Calabrese, Head, Public and Research Services
• Hans Cheng, Associate Professor, School of Management
• Stephanie Conover, Professional Lecturer, School of Communication & the Arts
• Toni Constantino, Manager, Online Programs, School of Professional Programs
• Kristen Dovgan, Assistant Professor, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Victoria Ferrara, Director of Academic Affairs and Assessment
• Scott Frank, Professor of Mathematics, School of Computer Science and Mathematics
• Kevin Gaugler, Interim Assistant Dean, and Associate Professor, School of Liberal Arts
• Jesslyn Hollar, Professional Lecturer, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Dede Hourican, Manager, Instructional Technology
• Joe Kirtland, Professor of Mathematics, School of Computer Science and Mathematics
• Jeff Midgley, Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Science
• Jocelyn Nadeau, Associate Professor, School of Science
• Katya Vigil, Assistant Professor, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Anne Zahradnik, Associate Professor, School of Management