Part I. Personal Information and Demographic Data
Applicant Full Name
Graciela Tesan Ledesma
Applicant Title
Assistant Professor
Institution or System
Inter American University of Puerto Rico
Address for Official Correspondence
PO Box 5100 San Germán, Puerto Rico, 00683
Track of interest
Any track (English or Spanish)
Languages
Fully Bilingual
Have teach an online course in the past three years
Yes
Have taken an online course in the past three years
Yes
Have you been in charge of an instructional technology initiative
No
Have you been in charge of a distance education initiative
Yes
Years of experience in Higher Education
6-10 years
Part II. Education
Highest Earned Degree
Ph.D.
College/University
University of Maryland, College Park
Field/Major
Linguistics
Next Highest Earned Degree
BA in TESL
College/University
Universidad Nacional del Comahue
Field/Major
Education
Other Degrees Earned
College/University
Field/Major
Education
Part III. Experience
Present Responsibilities
Since 2017, Dr. Graciela Tesán works at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, San German, as an assistant professor and MA-TESL academic coordinator. She teaches undergraduate ESL basic courses and Linguistics courses in undergraduate programs, and Linguistics, Academic Writing, and Language Assessment in the MA in TESL program.
Academic and Professional Distinctions and Honors
As the vice-president of the 30th Academic Senate, she was elected by the 30th University Council of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico to be a council member, where she participated in the committee of educational policy as the sub-secretary.
For the 2020-2021 academic year, Dr. Tesán received a 4.0 score for her performance review.
Civil and Community Activities
Dr. Tesán is an academic senator for the Inter American University of Puerto Rico. San Germán since 2019. For the 30th Academic Senate, she served as the vice-president of the Senate and as a university council member.
Dr. Tesán is the chair of the Standard V working group for the MSCHE accreditation process.
Professional Goals
I want to develop my leadership skills and project management skills to work more efficiently in academic program review and creation, and in accreditation/assessment processes. I also want to develop a more comprehensive expertise in distance learning and blended learning that can help my practice and my colleagues’ teaching practice more innovative and data-driven.
Please explain what you expect to gain by participating in the H-LTLA
Participating in this academy, I expect to acquire project management skills to develop innovative online/hybrid academic programs, acquire skills to utilize data analytics for the improvement of online and blended courses. Finally, I expect to develop evidence-based expertise of best practices beyond ESL that can improve retention and persistence in our department.
Part IV. Professional References
Professional Reference #1
Dr. Kenneth DiLorenzo,
Director of the Department of Social Science and Humanities
Inter American University of Puerto Rico, San Germán,
kenneth_dilorenzo@intersg.edu
Professional Reference #2
Prof. Vilma Susana Martínez
Dean of Academic Affairs
Inter American University of Puerto Rico, San Germán,
Professional Reference #3
Upload a letter from a president, chancellor, or cabinet-level administrator stating the nominee’s qualifications for the program, leadership strengths, and development opportunities.
https://hets.org/wp-content/uploads/formidable/145/Mail-GRACIELA-M.-TESAN-LEDESMA-nomination-letter.pdf
Part V. Initiative and Mentor
Upload a letter describing a project that you will consider implementing at your campus or organization on any of the areas of the Program with the name of your Mentor. Your Mentor can be different from your references and should be a staff with experience in the area selected. The Mentor information will be submitted with the signature to confirm the availability to guide the implementation of your campus initiative.
https://hets.org/wp-content/uploads/formidable/145/Mail-GRACIELA-M.-TESAN-LEDESMA-Outlook-2.pdf
Part VI. Statement of Purpose
1. From your perspective, what are the top three issues facing higher education today? Why?
Currently, the top three issues that affect higher education are skills gap, declining enrollments, and students’ financial difficulty (specially when we are discussing Hispanic/Latino students). The mass exodus from Puerto Rico has worrisome impacts on the enrollment projections of Puerto Rican Universities as not only impacts 4-year institutions but it impacts K-12 enrollment. With fewer students in the educational pipeline, the enrollment rates will continue to decline. Many industries report their struggles to find candidates with the right skills. Industries are demanding employees with problem-solving, creative thinking, and teamwork skills and a commitment to life-long learning. If university programs continue to implement traditional teaching/learning strategies and do not adapt fast enough to the workforce demands, there is a danger in losing the students’ trust in the value of a higher education degree as they are not ready to face the current industry demands. Finally, enrollment in 4-year degrees is influenced by the economic status and needs of the students. Universities in Puerto Rico face a significant threat given two economic particularities of the island We know that as a minority group, Hispanics students tend to come from low-income households, and the majority of them have to work while they study to afford their studies. In addition, in Puerto Rico, we see the job demand is higher for positions that do not require a post-secondary degree.
2. What are your own institution’s priorities and challenges with regard to leveraging instructional technology and distance education for the benefit of the entire organization?
My institution priority at the moment is to increase the number of online offerings while imbuing our programs with internationalization initiatives. This increment needs to be supported by an ambitious professional development regime to adapt rapidly and efficiently to the demands of distance learning and that is a challenge for all the members of our community. Although faculty adapted well to emergency distance learning, it is necessary to provide more information, more resources, and more opportunities to our faculty to prepare them for a more articulated and systematic deployment of distance learning. However, the neck-breaking pace of technological developments is generally met with skepticism and distrust. Implementing new instructional technology requires research, learning, design and implementation, all time-consuming activities for overwhelmed faculty.
3. If have the influence to instill change at your Institution, was one thing you could change, what would that be; and what is the unique aspect of your institution you would like to keep?
I would try to encourage faculty’s positive attitude towards student-centered classroom strategies that rely heavily on the usage of technology. I would keep my institution’s support to student success by providing the right technology to improve students’ experience online. Although during the pandemic, it was essential to provide students with the right equipment, post-pandemic, we need to keep supporting our Hispanic low-income students by facilitating the right equipment. Returning to a face-to-face environment does not mean that we need to leave behind online learning; we need to move and support the move to blended learning.
Evaluation