State of the Program or An Insight Into the Workings of IS Faculty Walter Wager During John Keller's sabbatical this past spring, I had the unique opportunity to be program leader again, at least for the Spring and Summer. Here is a humorous look at the "State of the Program". The program director gets to field policy questions concerning the program, talk to prospective students, post job notices for head hunters seeking graduates, arrange campus visits for recruiters, schedule Master's portfolio exams, and get class and room schedules for the semester that seems to be a lifetime away. However, best of all, the program leader gets to give a state of the program address at the annual spring awards ceremony. Now, I want you to know that this is only meaningful to the person who does it. Most students are thinking of their chances of getting an award. Others have written off the possibility and are on their third glass of wine. Some students are cruising the room like fashion models, or GQ subscribers ... have I ever seen these students before? But, eventually the room comes to order. It was my turn to speak. I had all the facts but most students didn't know what I had to do to collect them. For example, I went to ask Walter Dick to see what information he had relating to the status of the program. There he was in his room with a pile of 3 and 4 inch Master's portfolio binders and a scale. He carefully placed a binder on the scale. If it was over five pounds it went into the "pass" pile, under five pounds into the "needs more work" pile. "Walt," I said, "Is there anything you want me to say with regard to the state of the program." "Nope," he replied, "we just have to concentrate on these competencies." I really needed information, so I went to Marcy. She was in her office surfing the web. "What can I do for you?" she asked. I told her I was preparing the program leader's state of the program address, just when an animated jpeg file lit up the screen. "Wow," she replied. "Look at this constructivist learning environment...looks good for my Altviews course." Clearly her mind wasn't on the details I needed. I moved on to Reiser. Bob was on the phone or rather shouting at the phone. OK, Linda, Walt Wager just came into my office, I'll talk to you later. "Bob, any contributions to what I should say in the state of the program address?" "Yeah," said Bob, "tell them a joke;...maybe a Groucho joke." I thanked Bob, knowing that most of our students wouldn't even know who Groucho was. I would have gone to Keller next, but he was the reason I was giving this speech, and he was somewhere on St. George Island. I moved on to Dorothy, our admissions secretary, I asked the same question. "Sure," she said, "We have approximately 70 Masters students, and 50 more or less active doctoral students, and 12 students enrolled in the off campus Master's program in Open and Distance Learning. Most of our students have graduate assistantships and are working in the Office of Distributed and Distance Learning, Learning Systems Institute, and in the Department. Great, that's just what I needed, I said, and went off to prepare my presentation. So, I am happy to report that the program is in good shape. We added a faculty member, Dr. Amy Baylor, to the faculty. Amy came from San Diego State University, and she teaches the undergraduate educational technology course as well as theories of learning and cognition. Her research interests are in the area of intelligent agents. We are also searching for a new faculty member with strength in the areas of performance technology. Finally, one last piece of news to report. I have taken on the role of Coordinator of Instructional Development Services in the Office of Distributed and Distance Learning. That will teach John Keller to go on sabbatical! This program is responsible for improving instruction on campus and runs the Program for Instructional Excellence and Preparing Future Faculty program, as well as helping faculty on campus. This is the old PIE program with an expanded mission to help faculty integrate technology into their instruction. I still teach in the department, but will cut back to one course per semester. However, we will be hiring two new faculty in the instructional development unit and each will teach at least one course a year for the program. I look forward to the challenge of building an effective instructional development service for faculty, and am sure I will have more to report in the next news letter. Postscript: I know most of you know this, but some don't. Susan Wager, Ph.D. 1982, passed away September 4, 1999, after a long battle with breast cancer. I know Susan was both a friend and colleague to many of you. I want to thank all of you who sent your condolences and letters remembering Susan. It is reassuring to know we both have so many friends.