Mission

The Center for Online Learning & Innovation helps faculty, students, and staff use information technology to reach the potential of their better selves academically and professionally.  We support information technology use in face-to-face, online, and hybrid coursework. COLI also fosters innovation through technology across campus, in scholarly or artistic creation, extracurricular opportunities, and administration.

Goals

• Full-spectrum support for technology-enhanced teaching and learning, including on-campus events, consultations, and web-based, self-paced micro-learning.
• Support for online students, faculty, courses and programs, so that the online and hybrid academic experience at Canisius is second-to-none.  
• Supporting select programs and initiatives with projects so that they may capitalize on digital and internet resources.

Actions

Support faculty across a range of information technologies useful for teaching.

Create, update, and expand self-paced training materials for faculty and students.

Resources and training for students in using information technology for learning.

As (front-end) administrators, monitor and maintain software systems such as D2L, Google Workspace, Zoom, Panopto, and others.

Investigate and deploy resources and opportunities based on emerging digital resources.

Assist and advise academic departments and faculty in developing, teaching in and assessing online courses and programs.

Engaging options for faculty development in online and hybrid teaching.

Assist select offices or initiatives to maintain websites and web-based resources.

Assist administration with day-to-day web-based technology tasks and projects.

Seek means and methods to make COLI more efficient.

History

In 2015, the Center for Online Learning & Innovation (COLI) replaced the Faculty and Technology Services (FacTS) Center.  FacTS Center had accomplished it's mission: to pioneer use of the internet in academics, and develop a vanguard community of faculty who employed web-based tools and services.  COLI's mission was to support development of new digital methods for teaching and learning at Canisius, while support the expansion the use of established, core digital tools and services in coursework at the College.  

FacTS Center was organized as a component of Information Technology Services (ITS).  When ITS was moved out of Academic Affairs Division, and placed under the Vice-President for Business and Finance, COLI was kept within the Academic Affairs Division, so our primary goals and objectives would be academic and in support of academic schools, department and programs.  

COLI adopted a strategic plan in December 1st, 2019, that coincided with the Administrative Program Review in the Fall of that year.  That plan codified COLI's general development along the lines of the above mission, but with practical recognition of COLI's greatly reduced workforce.

Between March, 2020 and March, 2022, COLI supported Canisius in online academics and administration during the COVID-19 pandemic.  In accordance with our mission and goals, we supported faculty as they rapidly transitioned to emergency remote teaching, gradually developed new and better ways to teach HiFlex, hybrid, remote, and socially-distanced face to face courses, and in general provided excellent education amidst a years-long crisis.