Part I. Personal Information and Demographic Data
Applicant Full Name
José A. Medina TalaveraApplicant Title
Dr.Institution or System
Broward International University (BIU) and Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana (UNINI)Address for Official Correspondence
Urb. Terranova, B2 Street 5, Guaynabo, PR 00969Track of interest
Spanish trackLanguages
Fully BilingualHave teach an online course in the past three years
YesHave taken an online course in the past three years
YesHave you been in charge of an instructional technology initiative
YesHave you been in charge of a distance education initiative
YesYears of experience in Higher Education
6-10 yearsPart II. Education
Highest Earned Degree
Doctor in Education (4.0 GPA)College/University
NOVA Southeastern UniversityField/Major
Instructional Design and Distance Learning. Dissertation: “Teaacher’s ICT Competencies Required for the Next Decade (2013-2023). A Delphi Study” (Spanish)Next Highest Earned Degree
Masters of Science in Chemical Engineering (3.8 GPA)College/University
University of Puerto Rico at MayaguezField/Major
Electrochemical EngineeringOther Degrees Earned
Bachelors Degree in Chemical EngineeringCollege/University
University of Puerto Rico at MayaguezField/Major
Electrochemical EngineeringPart III. Experience
Present Responsibilities
Adjunct Professor and Instructional Designer for graduate courses of the Master of Science in Virtual Education at Broward International University (BIU). Graduate courses facilitator for the Master of Science in Virtual Education at BIU. Doctoral Advisor to PhD candidates at Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana (UNINI). Developed and facilitated Digital Literacy Courses for the Labor Department Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Program.
Academic and Professional Distinctions and Honors
Microsoft Certified Educator (MCE)
Flipped Classroom Certification
Kappa Delta Pi (Education International Honor Society)
Entrepreneur Certification
Golden Circle Excellence Awards (2, IBM)
Member of the Certification Board for IBM Professional Careers (IBM)
Certified Consultant Territory Sales Representative (IBM)
Civil and Community Activities
Teach Digital Literacy concepts to unemployed adults
Provided power to my neighbors during blackouts
Initiated termite extermination project in my neighborhood
Initiated Iguanas’ control program in my neighborhood
Professional Goals
To secure a challenging leadership position in an organization where I can fully utilize my training and skills while making a significant contribution to the organization’s success within the next year.
To become an Edupreneur.
Please explain what you expect to gain by participating in the H-LTLA
Through this academy, I expect to develop new leadership capabilities and put them into action in my practice. I expect to develop skills that can help me improve the quality of educational services and offerings provided by the institution I serve. I expect to develop appropriate knowledge to develop a Professional Development Program for instructors at BIU that could result in a high-quality program offering for the Hispanic populations we serve.
Part IV. Professional References
Professional Reference #1
Dr. Conrado Rocha
President, Provost
Broward International University, Davie, FL
Tel: 786-362-9395
crocha@faculty.biu.us
conrado_rocha@biu.us
Professional Reference #2
Dr. Sandra de Verde
Academic Director, Dean of Education
Broward International University, Davie, FL
Tel: 954-870-7359
sandra_deverde@faculty.biu.us
Professional Reference #3
Dr. Ana Rodríguez
Provost
Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana (UNINI), Arecibo, PR
Tel: 787-878-2123 (2126)
ana.rodriguez@unini.org
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/CRC-BIU-JOSE-MEDINA-TALAVERA-EMPLOYMENT-LETTER-JUN-10-2021-SS-1.pdfPart 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/JMedina-Project-Proposal-for-HETS-Learning-Technologies-Leadership-Academy-H-LTLA.pdfPart VI. Statement of Purpose
1. From your perspective, what are the top three issues facing higher education today? Why?
Although the pandemic effects have accelerated the most important issues in higher education, I believe that these remain the same. In my opinion, some of these are:
• Decrease in government funding – This issue forces higher education institutions to adopt new strategies and alternatives to reduce costs, such as implementing e-learning in all their curricula. Very few institutions were preparing to move to online education and now must proceed abruptly to its implementation.
• Implementation of low-quality distance education due to the hasty way of its implementation due to the pandemic – Higher education institutions were forced to implement some form of virtual delivery of education in a very short time, which, in many cases, did not give space to design the offers or courses with due rigor that it warrants. This, in many cases, is reflected in disinterest on the part of students resulting in a drop in enrollment.
• Poor teacher preparation in technology and instructional design leading to the delivery of low-quality courses – Most higher education teachers are experts in their field but have low knowledge of instructional design. For this reason, the transition of their courses to online teaching became merely projecting their PowerPoint presentation in a Zoom session, ignoring best practices for delivering online education. This causes that in the coming years, these institutions proceed to implement a professional development program for their teachers that allows them to raise the quality of their offers and thus be able to generate greater interest on the part of the student body and be able to increase their enrollment.
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?
Broward International University (BIU) has just been acquired by Grupo Planeta, a Spanish multinational organization that is the leading shareholder of a group of 22 educational institutions and operates in more than 20 countries. Through its Grupo Planeta Formación y Universidades division, Grupo Planeta is a major benchmark in higher education and vocational and ongoing education.
BIU’s main priority is to collaborate with Grupo Planeta on integrating educational platforms so that access to our educational offerings is transparent to the present GrupoPlaneta educational programs consumers. One of the main challenges during this process is to integrate both organizational cultures. Therefore, close collaboration is a must, and we are working on developing standards across the distance education platforms of Grupo Planeta.
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?
If I had the influence to instill change in BIU’s organization I would create a new unit for business development to offer our internal instructional technology and distance education skills and resources to third-party educational vendors. The idea would be for BIU resources to develop, implement and facilitate new educational offerings for third-party vendors of education. That way, we could get a higher return on investment on our resources and assets, thus becoming more like a profit center for educational services.