Planning for our Fall 2008 SI Schedule
Welcome to our page dedicated to planning for fall 2008 Supplemental Instruction (SI) sessions at Iowa State University. This page contains all the information needed by university faculty and staff. Please contact the SI Coordinator, Craig Zywicki (294-6624) for additional information.
- Planning Documents
- Timeline of planning for the fall 2008 schedule
- Benefits of SI to Academic Departments and the Institution
- Funding for SI Sessions
- Criteria Used to Select Targeted Courses for SI
Planning Documents
For ease of information dissemination, the following documents are available for download as Microsoft .doc or Adobe .pdf files.
- .doc | .pdf: Memo to Academic Faculty and Staff
- .doc | .pdf: Faculty Brochure
- .doc | .pdf: Academic Staff Brochure
- .doc | .pdf: General SI Promotional Brochure (tri-fold format)
- .doc | .pdf | e-mail: SI Session Request Forms
Timeline of planning for the fall 2008 schedule
- Ongoing: Meetings between academic faculty/staff and the SI Coordinator to discuss requests.
- Friday, April 4: Last day to request fall 2008 SI sessions that are centrally funded by the SI program. Requests for SI funded by academic departments will be accepted until one week before the start of fall 2008 classes.
- Ongoing: Promotions and recruitment for new SI Leaders. SI Leader Applications are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year.
- April 14: Targeted date to begin placement of SI Leaders for fall 2008 positions.
- Friday, August 10: Last day to request fall 2008 SI sessions that funded by an academic department.
- August 23-24: SI Leader Orientation and Training.
Benefits of SI to Academic Departments and the Institution
National research on the Supplemental Instruction program supports the following claims about the benefits of SI:
- SI assists students with comprehension of course content and study skills
- SI reduces attrition rates
- SI helps students improve exam and final course grades
- SI supports faculty by maintaining high expectations & standards
- SI enhances classroom experiences
- SI is cost effective
These benefits are based on actual student performance and student feedback, not our perceived benefits of the program.
Funding for SI Sessions
SI typically receives funding from the President's Office, Office of the Provost, Learning Communities, and the Dean of Students Office. This pool of "central funding" is used to provide SI sessions for the most students possible based on specific criteria.
The new Resource Management Model encourages "effective ways to accomplish the goals of the university's strategic plan" and "rewards units that focus on high quality education, research, and outreach programs." We are willing to partner with you! We are willing to coordinate SI sessions for any course in any academic department that is willing to fund the SI Leader. $1800 covers the cost of one leader for one semester, which results in approximately 42 SI sessions.
Criteria Used to Select Targeted Courses for SI
The following criteria are used to determine which courses receive SI, supported by central funding.
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Support of Department Chairperson
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Support of Instructor(s) for the course
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Number of D and F grades and drops in course
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Course size (over 300 students for a course; over 150 per section)
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Course format (we target lecture courses)
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100 or 200 level course
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Mean final course grade
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SI vs. Non-SI participant final course grade received
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Number of contact hours spent in SI sessions for course
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Number of students repeating the course
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Number of tutoring requests at Academic Success Center
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Perceived level of difficulty
The above criteria ensure we support the greatest number of students possible in courses for which SI is successful. Centrally funded SI must target courses that meet most or all of the criteria. We will support SI for any course if an academic department is willing to fund the SI. In this situation, we specifically need:
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Support of Department Chairperson
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Support of Instructor(s) for the course
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Commitment by the department to fund the SI sessions
For more information:
Please contact:
Craig Zywicki, SI Program Coordinator
czywicki @ iastate.edu
294-6624
