Arizona Regents Reach Out-2007 Funded Initiatives

Arizona Regents Reach Out (ARRO)
2007 Projects Recommended for Funding

Remote Access to Electron Microscopes for Bio and Nanotechnology Courses -
UA (with NAU): $87,391

This collaborative program leverages existing technology by providing students in eight nanotechnology-related courses at UA and two NAU biology courses with on-demand remote access to the multi-million dollar Electron Microscope Facility of the UA Materials Science and Engineering Department. Scanning electronic microscopy and X-ray analysis are standard tools in the nanotechnology world, but student access to them is limited by the high cost and limited number of instruments. The proposed software installation allows students to view state-of-the-art microscopes, acquire data, and interact with the instrument operator in real time over the Internet from any remote location. High-Technologies, Motorola, and Renishaw are corporate partners.

Initiating a Distance-Learning Program to Prepare Teachers of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children - UA: $50,000

This project will reconfigure UA’s program for teachers of deaf and hard-of-hearing children from a campus-based to an Internet-based curriculum. Since 1980, the UA has offered Arizona’s only teacher preparation program in education of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Converting the program’s five core courses to Internet-based format will allow teachers to receive training and be placed in communities where demand is growing, especially Phoenix, Flagstaff, Yuma, and throughout rural Arizona. Partners include schools and programs offering services to deaf and hard-of-hearing children and the Office of Exceptional Student Services, Arizona Department of Education.

On-Line Translator Education Project - UA: $32,700

This project, offered through the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at UA, would jump-start an on-line translation education program to provide working professionals and students throughout Arizona with better access to translator education and employment opportunities. An on-line translator education program would help address the growing demand for highly-skilled translators in an increasingly bilingual society. A medical translation course, to be offered for university credit to students throughout Arizona, will serve as a pilot and revenue generator for the development of an on-line translation certificate. This certificate can include other areas of specialization, such as legal translation, business, financial and technical translation.

Development of an Accredited Medical Physics Education Program - UA: $47,603

The Department of Radiation Oncology at UA will develop a complete Accredited Medical Physics Educational Program, including a graduate program and a residency. The American Board of Radiology, the primary body responsible for certifying medical physicists, plans to require that all certified medical physicists receive a degree from an accredited medical physics program. Currently, over 200 medical physicists are needed in North America each year, but only 40 to 50 are trained in accredited programs. Creating this program will help make the UA a leader in medical physics, building on the existing infrastructure, including a medical school, several medical physics courses, and a Professional Science Masters Program in Physics.

Project LEADER: Leadership’s Ethical Allocation in Disasters of Emergency Resources - UA: $49,406

Through the Department of Emergency Medicine, Project LEADER will develop an online and live educational program to train students, healthcare leaders, and leaders in disaster situations how to ethically allocate scarce resources during and after disasters, an aspect of disaster preparedness that has up until now been ignored. The program will address difficult allocation decisions in all types of disasters and at the on-scene, multi-casualty incident, at the institutional, local, regional, and statewide levels. The program will include five modules developed by a national leader in educational media and be distributed through established UA preparedness training programs.

Collaborating to Complete the Course Suite for On-Line Delivery of an Existing Masters Degree in Construction Management - ASU (with NAU): $99,135

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the continued growing demand for construction labor includes a demand for highly-educated construction professionals with advanced education. Together, courses at the Del E. Webb School of Construction at ASU and the Construction Management Department at NAU comprise nearly a full suite of on-line courses to support an on-line Master of Science in Construction. With ARRO funding, the partnering institutions will develop, produce, and deploy the high-quality on-line coursework leading to a Master of Science Degree in Construction. The partners expect to enroll at least 100 students within the first three years of offering this on-line degree program.

Current Shakespeare Scholarship and the Secondary Classroom - NAU (with UA, ASU,
University of Sheffield [UK]): $66,203

The English Departments at NAU, ASU and UA would partner with the University of Sheffield (United Kingdom) to create a website with 150 lesson plans based on cutting-edge Shakespeare scholarship. The website will include copies of recent “crucially important” articles and will be illuminated in a specially made DVD by 20-minute interviews with noted Shakespeare scholars from the participating universities. The project addresses needs as articulated in the Arizona Dept. of Education Standards for Proficiency for grades 9 to 12. The 150 lesson plans will cover an assortment of Shakespeare plays important in the secondary classroom. The website and interviews will support online and face-to-face classes for Arizona English education students and practicing teachers in graduate classes and will be available free to anyone globally.

Project REACH: Reaching Out and Expanding Access to Coursework in Human Development - UA: $49,274

This project will develop online versions of three lower-division, foundational courses in UA’s Family Studies and Human Development Department. All three courses typically have very high enrollment from both majors and non-majors. Converting these courses to on-line format will eliminate the problem of limited access for UA students. Through the Cooperative Extension network, these “anytime-anyplace” courses can also be made available throughout the state (especially in rural areas) to early childhood practitioners seeking to upgrade their qualifications to meet state requirements; to Family Life Centers on military bases in the state; and to colleagues in the Native American communities of Arizona.

Self-Paced Competency-Based Music History Tutorial for Graduate Students -
NAU: $8,148

This project would develop a non-credit, on-line music history tutorial for all graduate students entering the School of Music at NAU. Most students arrive at NAU well-prepared for advanced study on their individual instrument or in their specialized field but with serious deficiencies in academic areas – in particular, music history and music theory. Requiring a self-paced on-line tutorial before beginning the first semester of graduate school will allow students to identify and correct their deficiencies and prepare for more advanced work, without the risk of delaying graduation. This tutorial would shift the focus from remediation to academic advancement and professionalization of our students.

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Arizona Board of Regents
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Phoenix, AZ 85004-4593
Telephone: (602) 229-2500 / Fax: (602) 229-2555