Part I. Personal Information and Demographic Data
Applicant Full Name
Mark John LennertonApplicant Title
Director, Center for Teaching, Learning & TechnologyInstitution or System
CUNY / Bronx Community CollegeAddress for Official Correspondence
Bronx Community College, 2155 University Avenue, Bronx, NY 10453Track of interest
English trackLanguages
EnglishHave teach an online course in the past three years
NoHave 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
NoYears of experience in Higher Education
11-15 yearsPart II. Education
Highest Earned Degree
MSCollege/University
Naval Post Graduate School, (MOVES Institute)Field/Major
Computer Science (Modeling & Simulation)Next Highest Earned Degree
BSCollege/University
Keene State CollegeField/Major
Computer ScienceOther Degrees Earned
College/University
Field/Major
Computer SciencePart III. Experience
Present Responsibilities
Currently serves as BCC’s director for the Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology (CTLT), the comprehensive center for faculty development activity at BCC.
Academic and Professional Distinctions and Honors
Co-Winner of the CUNY IT Conference “Excellence in Technology Award [for] Collaboration” for organizing and facilitating the 2014 Bronx EdTech Showcase, a Bronx three campus IT project that provided benefits to CUNY students, faculty, and staff.
Civil and Community Activities
Volunteer interior firefighter and driver for Nyack Fire Department since 2007.
Professional Goals
In addition to personal goals (development of seminars/workshops in Growth Mindset and Intelligent Practice; advancing the discussion of faculty development roadmaps/curricula, in particular, develop a professional development plan for online programs), there are also institutional Strategic Plan goals & objectives including fostering student success, advancing academic excellence, and strengthening institutional effectiveness (http://www.bcc.cuny.edu/about-bcc/office-of-the-president/strategic-plan-2020-2025/). And lastly, there are goals associated with the our Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) survey and review (offer faculty development seminars/workshops in Career Readiness & Competencies with the topics and target audience prioritized using the COACHE survey results).
Please explain what you expect to gain by participating in the H-LTLA
It is hypothesize that there is a gap, if not a mismatch, between the educational applications and platforms our incoming students have used prior to admission to BCC, and those they encounter following matriculation. Additionally, some learned skillsets are transferable to newly encountered learning environments while others must be relearned to fully participate in the learning process. This gap can often be overlooked by faculty and can leave incoming students with a disadvantage they must overcome. I will be working with our Institutional Research office and feeder institutions to paint a clearer description of that gap. To that end, by participating in H-LTLA, I expect to gain insight on approaches to make students and faculty aware of the issue and also minimize the student edTech onboarding transition.
Part IV. Professional References
Professional Reference #1
Claudia Schrader
President
Kingsborough Community College
(718) 368-5109
Claudia.Schrader@kbcc.cuny.edu
Professional Reference #2
Kenneth Adams
President
LaGuardia Community College
(718) 482-5050
presidentadams@lagcc.cuny.edu
Professional Reference #3
Luis Velazquez
Chief Technology Officer
Marine Corps Systems Command
(540) 446-9408 (Mobile)
luis.velazquez@usmc.mil
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/MarkLennerton_HETS-recommendation.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/Lennerton-Project-Plan-for-H-LTLA-LM.pdfPart VI. Statement of Purpose
1. From your perspective, what are the top three issues facing higher education today? Why?
Issue one: Determining the true nature of success in education and delivering on that promise. Institutionally defined success may not necessarily align or coincide with student defined success. Traditional institutional KPIs such as financially staying the black and high graduation rates are losing ground to student wants and needs such as avoiding stifling debt, stacking credentials to find employed (and not necessarily a pursuing a degree). Physical campuses that are trying to offer students flexibility with online courses are competing with the experience and services offered by fully online institutions; students can choose quality over locality with little difference in costs and learning modality.
Issue two: The rapidly changing nature of the facilitation of education. For some time the classroom has expanded beyond brick & mortar walls. Online learning, distance learning, Massive Open Online Courses, etc. have evolved and been accelerated by the necessities of the pandemic. The public is growing more accustom to independent learning. Some say why do we need campuses? Others wonder if machine-learning AI can partially or fully replace the teaching of faculty.
Issue three: It’s getting harder and harder for colleges to remain solvent. Declining enrollment and lower high school graduation rates appeared to be trending even before the pandemic. More potential students are opting for a job first and education later. Colleges are looking for students abroad with international recruitment but finding diminishing returns. And although there is political rhetoric regarding free community college, the federal government and many states continue to reduce funding.
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?
BCC priorities are transparently stated in the goals and objectives of the aforementioned strategic plan. Some of the challenges in in pursuing them by leveraging instructional technologies reside in both the faculty and the institution. Internally, there are challenges in incentivizing faculty to embrace change, envision the evolution of their teaching, and participating in faculty development that encourages emerging pedagogies and technologies. With regard to institutional challenges, BCC has been late to delivering any fully online degree from any academic program. There was an initiative almost a decade ago that went silent. The pandemic helped revisit those ideas. Work is beginning as we seek to adopt best practices for our first fully online degree. We recognize that we must do this well, we must set the bar high and award our best online faculty with these teaching opportunities.
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?
While there are College Senate and Union contract obstacles, I’d like to see more full-time hiring and tenure awarded more heavily on faculty development, both participation and mentorship. (This currently has little traction on campus.) Additionally, I’d like to see more efforts to promote and encourage strong pedagogical results via the adoption and use of perpetual formal assessment. (This is slowly growing, although quickly halted when the pandemic hit.) Lastly, I’d like to see more faculty embracing growth mindset activities in their courses and enlist their students into taking charge of their education and growth. (This effort is growing and taking traction both among faculty and students. I’m eager to assist its momentum in creating self-aware lifetime learners.)