Reflecting on UNC CAUSE 2022

UNC CAUSE was held in Charlotte, N.C., in-person, for the first time since 2019 and it was great to connect with all of the other colleges and universities in the UNC System. UNC CAUSE is primarily attended by staff involved in information or instructional technology across the system. This year, 14 DELTA staff members were able to attend.

DELTA staff had eight presentations accepted with two of them in conjunction with others on NC State’s campus. 

Presentations from DELTA Staff:

Supporting Digital Accessibility – An Interdisciplinary Team Model
Lead Instructional Technologist Jill Anderson and Instructional Designer Caitlin McKeown

Women In Tech — Expanding the Conversation of Inclusivity Across the UNC System
Vice Provost of DELTA Donna Petherbridge with Associate Director for Digital & Organizational Strategy Jill Sexton, Chief Information Security Officer Mardecia Bell, Assistant Vice Chancellor Gwen Hazlehurst and Director of Information Technology Debbie Carraway

Trickle to Flood — Transitioning a Large Campus to Moodle 4
Lead Instructional Technologist Yiling Chappelow, Director of Instructional Support and Training Bethany Smith, Instructional Technologist Kerri Brown Parker, Lead Instructional Technologist Arlene Mendoza-Moran and Lead Instructional Technologist Jill Anderson

Roadmap to Success — A Multidisciplinary Team’s Journey of Creating an LMS Plugin to Enhance Student Learning
Lead Instructional Designer Yan Shen, Associate Director of Open Source Applications Stephen Bader, Lead Interaction Designer/Developer Benjamin Huckaby

Faculty Perceptions of Improvements in Course Quality Following Intensive QM Training
Assistant Director of Course Quality Bethanne Winzeler and Senior Instructional Designer Rebecca Sanchez

Is it Okay to Teach Without Slides? Support Materials for Instructional Presentations
Instructional Technologist Kerri Brown Parker

The Best Laid Plans: Planning for Moodle 4
Director of Instructional Support and Training Bethany Smith, Learning Technologies Coordinator Martin Dulberg and Director of Educational Technology Services Jeff Webster 

Teaching with Real-Life Experience and Storytelling
Lead Instructional Designer Jakia Salam and Online and Distance Education Coordinator Erin Adair

UNC CAUSE provides a great venue to meet with other staff at universities throughout the system to discuss best practices and the latest tools and techniques for teaching with technology. We shared some of our recent efforts on the upgrade to Moodle 4 which was helpful for other campuses that utilize the same LMS in our system. We also had presentations that focused on our work with Quality Matters as well as the outcomes of previous Instructional Design DELTA grants. Vice Provost Donna Petherbridge presented with others from NC State about a group she is actively involved with, “Women in Technology,” and explored ways that the rest of the system could be involved in this important project to support women across our institutions. 

This conference relies heavily on Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and several of the DELTA LearnTech help desk staff were able to network with other help desks as well as those that employ student workers on their staff through the SIG discussions. These can be valuable discussions that reveal best practices from other institutions as well as advice about what not to do.

Overall, attending UNC CAUSE, especially in-person, is about community and team building. The entire Instructional Support and Training (ITS) group was able to attend which allowed us to get to know each other better. We also attended sessions together. This prompted valuable discussions from our team about some of our current processes and what we might want to look into changing. It also allowed us to connect with our colleagues around the system and get their insight on how things have changed in higher education over the past three years.