The Virtual Core Project


1998-2002. $260,000 + $23,500 supplement. FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education), U.S. Department of Education. http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/chem/howell/FIPSE/devPage.htm

The Virtual Core Project began in the fall 1998 and is now in its final and supplementary year. The 15 faculty supported by the program have all developed partially virtual sections of the Core Studies courses they teach, following the Brooklyn Model ("two-thirds in-class/one-third on-line" or "one-half in-class/one-half on-line," depending on class patterns). The participants included:

Co-Project Directors
Barbra Buckner Higginbotham (Library/AIT)
John Blamire (Biology)

Faculty Mentors
John Blamire (Biology)
Hardy Hansen (Classics)
Donald Gerardi (History)

Project Evaluator
Manuel Martinez-Pons (School of Education)

Faculty Developers
Kevin Murphy (Art)
Core 2.1: Introduction to Art

Jeffrey Taylor(Music)
Core 2.2: Introduction to Music

Timothy Shortell(Sociology)
Core 3: People, Power, & Politics

David Arnow, Scott Dexter, Chaya Gurwitz, & Lori Scarlatos (CIS)
Core 5: Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning & Computer Science

Lilia Melani(English)
Core 6: Landmarks of Literature

James Howell (Chemistry)
Core 7.1 Science in Modern Life: Chemistry)

Michael Sobel(Physics)
Core 7.2: Science in Modern Life: Physics

David Leveson & John Chamberlain (Geology)
Core 8.2: Science in Modern Life: Geology

Arthur Bankoff (Anthropology)
Core 9: Comparative Studies in African, Asian, Latin American, & Pacific Cultures

Paul Saka (Philosophy)
Core 10: Knowledge, Existence, & Values

  • In the fall 2000 President Kimmich asked that Art and Music participants be recruited for the Virtual Core Project. These were the only two Core Studies courses not involved from the Project's inception. Professor Kevin Murphy of Art joined the Virtual Core and is delivering his course for the first time in the spring semester 2002. Professor Jeffrey Taylor of Music has begun to build a general resource site for Core Music Studies. The president is supporting Professor Murphy's participation in the Virtual Core.


  • In spring 2001 the hybrid courses developed as part of the Virtual Core Project were offered (as part of project) for the last time. (In fact, most if not all faculty continue to offer these highly successful partially virtual sections.) Our evaluator Professor Manuel Martinez-Pons (Education) began his final analysis of the project and its outcomes, using both student grades and the many instruments he designed and distributed to (a) partially virtual sections and (b) control sections during each of the three semesters the courses were delivered. Using preliminary data, he and Chief Librarian Barbra Higginbotham delivered a poster session on the topic on Faculty Day, May 23.


  • In February 2001 Barbra Higginbotham wrote a proposal for a supplemental grant. After months of waiting, and rumors that the FIPSE supplementals would not be funded by Congress, on July 3 we learned we would receive an award. Some of it will be used to support streaming audio and video on certain of the Virtual Core sites. Other funds will support the production of the project Web site and virtual kit, intended to enable other institutions to replicate the successful aspects of our project.


  • On November 2, 2001 faculty mentors and developers presented their findings at the Virtual Core Project''s capstone conference, "E-Survivor: How to Outperform, Outpace, and Be Outstanding as an Online Instructor." Multimedia Specialist Sylvie Richards designed our first fully virtual invitation, and attendees registered online. The registration process also generated name tags, thanks to Nick Irons' clever manipulation of the software. Presenters included Provost Roberta Matthews (who delivered greetings for the College), Barbra Higginbotham, John Blamire, Donald Gerardi, James Howell, Tim Shortell, and Manny Pons (all of Brooklyn) and our keynote speaker Rob Manuel, Chief Information and Technology Officer at the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, New York University.


  • The event was well-attended by faculty from all over the metropolitan area, and we received many subsequent expressions of interest in the project. Special thanks for the day's success went to Alex Rudshteyn of Library Systems and his staff of part-time student workers. Not only did they manage the technology during the event, but they labored until late the night before (with help from our friends in ITS), to ensure we would have Internet connectivity the next day. (The conference was held in the student union building, an older structure unfriendly to technology. We all look forward to life in the new Library when the need to sit up half the night before an event heavily dependent on technology will seem like no more than a bad dream.)