Men’s basketball makes top 32 in NCAA, B1
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Grand Valley State University
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Monday, March 15, 2010
Blackboard failures anger users Blackboard reps visit campus to address faulty site features hindering would-be GVSU users By Samantha Butcher GVL Staff Writer
As late as Sunday evening, some Blackboard users were unable to access the famliar course software. It is because of this and other issues related to the online classroom tool that executives from Blackboard visited Grand Valley State University last month to talk with faculty and staff users. The executives addressed issues and planned changes in open discussions and assured the concerns expressed in these discussions would be considered in future releases of Blackboard.
Matt Davis, a senior solutions engineer for Blackboard, said some of the changes could be seen as early as May or September of 2011. These changes could include a student view option for faculty, changes to the gradebook and more options to give students advance warning when Blackboard will be down for maintenance. Faculty and students expressed a wide range of concerns with the software. Some faculty members said they have stopped using Blackboard in their classrooms because of the problems they have encountered.
GVL Photo Illustration / Eric Coulter
Blackboard users have been experiencing frequent problems with the online site.
“It pains us to see faculty drop out half of the students’ grades, including from using the program all together or his own. from using certain key features like the “Impacting the ability of faculty gradebook,” said Andy Maus, a sales to do their jobs is one thing, affecting representative for Blackboard. “Using student grades is another,” Maus Blackboard in that way is like driving a said. “We’re sorry for everything, but car with no wheels.” especially that.” However, despite their best efforts, The representatives said they making Blackboard more user-friendly were working on developing a new, poses a challenge for the company, more user-friendly interface for the which received 5,000 feature requests gradebook feature. in December. “This is a problem that’s really two“Our ideal net result is a more open pronged,” Davis said. “There’s a tech and flexible interface each customer side and a policy side. On the frontline can customize to fit their needs,” is policy consistency in the case of a Maus said, adding that deciding which grade challenge, but on the tech side of features should become part of that things we need to know what’s going interface is not easy. on and causing the problem to validate Maus and his colleagues expressed students’ concerns.” regret for the problems GVSU users BothBlackboardandtheInformation had encountered, but added Blackboard Technology department also expressed is still developing. Currently, 33 clients an interest in expanding ways to notify worldwide are working to improve the students of scheduled Blackboard next release of Blackboard. maintenance. Some suggestions “Being a useful included e-mails, company involves being text messages and “Impacting the able to institute means RSS feeds, but of more effectively the Blackboard ability of faculty leveraging input, and r e p r e s e es to do their jobs is warned n t a t i vthe Blackboard is still maturing as a company one thing, affecting m a i n t e n a n c e from that perspective,” schedule was not student grades is Maus said. “If you scroll always reliable. another.” back 10 years, we’re far Members of more complex today the IT department ANDY MAUS than we were then. Five also wanted better BLACKBOARD SALES years from now, we communication REPRESENTATIVE probably won’t even during unscheduled recognize Blackboard downtime. as it is today.” For students, the IT Help Desk is the Not all faculty wanted to hear first point of contact when Blackboard the representatives’ rationale for has problems, at which point the IT Blackboard’s problems, including Bob staff contacts Blackboard to find the Henderson, a psychology professor. problem. “You sound just like Toyota,” he “We want to be the funnel; it’s said. “We know how this works, just usually the only way we know about make it better.” problems,” said Susan Korzinek, Some of the most common concerns director of GVSU’s IT department. were problems with the gradebook Maus said the sessions had function on Blackboard. Professors said reinforced problems the company was the feature’s design caused confusion aware of and had brought new issues to when they tried to drop grades, weight their attention, but he said they had not assignments or enter assignment names. yet determined how that input would One student said a professor who used affect future releases of the software. Blackboard’s gradebook miscalculated sbutcher@lanthorn.com
GVSU satellite campus gains hint of Holland happiness Gallup Poll reports Holland as second happiest city in U.S., residents agree By Anya Zentmeyer GVL Assistant News Editor
There are thousands of definitions of the word “happiness” floating in and out of our peripherals, forming and reforming to fit how we feel. The people of Holland, Mich., however, describe happiness as their home. According to a recent Gallup Poll, Holland is the second happiest city in the nation. “There is something incredibly magical about being close to Lake Michigan and being in the spot where you do get to enjoy the four seasons and being along this great body of fresh water with beautiful rolling hills and these white sandy beaches,” said Kurt Dykstra, mayor of Holland. The poll’s criteria for evaluating happiness included life evaluation,
emotional health, work environment, environment because of its size physical health and health behavior and location,” said Lisa Miller, coordinator of Grand Valley State and access. University’s Meijer Dykstra verified “I think when we Holland Campus. these criteria, saying care for others and “Because it is a small the main aspects he campus, we have a saw as contributing people know that very intimate feel. factors in Holland they are cared for, Students, faculty happiness are the high happiness often and staff really get levels of philanthropy, to know each other civic services and follows.” and collaborate in a organizations and LISA MILLER variety of ways. This a highly-educated GVSU HOLLAND CAMPUS really creates a sense workforce that COORDINATOR of community.” results in a more Community, Miller and Dykstra vibrant economic activity, despite Michigan’s current economic agreed, is Holland’s No. 1 reason for its No. 2 spot in the happiness slump. With the entire city in a state of ranking. ultimate satisfaction, one cannot help “I think that people in the greater but wonder if there is a difference in Holland area have an upgraded campus morale. sense of community,” Dykstra said. “The Meijer Campus is a unique “What I mean by that is – ours is not
a community that people simply get in their cars at the end of the day and drive into their garage, close the garage door and spend the next 16 hours in their houses and away from people until the next morning.” Miller said she thinks the diversity in the Holland community creates “a huge convergence of cultures and environments that contribute to an overall sense of happiness or satisfaction with life.” “Holland is a very diverse city with large Latino, Asian and Caucasian populations,” Miller said. “Obviously, with a name like Holland, the Dutch culture is very strong. The convergence of these cultures provides a huge variety of cultural opportunities: cuisine, music, arts, languages, festivals,
See Holland, A2
INDEX
A
News..........................A3 Opinion..................A4 Laker Life.......................A5 St. Patrick’s Day..............A6
B
Sports.......................B1 A&E............................B4 Marketplace.............B5
Courtesy Photo / free4allcity.com
Holland, Mich., has been rated the second happiest city in the nation by a Gallup Poll evaluating several factors of happiness. Mayor Kurt Dykstra attributed Holland’s happiness to a strong sense of community, among other influences.
Courtesy Photo / Cleveland Clinic
Spectrum begins heart transplants.
Spectrum expansions increase student nurses’ opportunities By Liz Reyna GVL Staff Writer
A recent approval allowing Spectrum Health Hospital to perform heart and lung transplants could create future opportunities for Grand Valley State University nursing students to observe and learn. In an announcement made in February, the Michigan Department of Community Health gave an allowance of almost two years to the Grand Rapids hospital to begin performing the first heart McCurtis and lung transplants in West Michigan. The announcement came a year after Spectrum asked the state to allow a fourth Certificate of Need (CON), a document which allots only a certain number of hospitals in the state to perform these particular procedures. The hospital is moving forward in earnest in search of recruiting a transplant surgeon needed for the program. Bruce Rossman, Spectrum spokesman, said he only sees endless opportunities for the program, especially with local universities. “There are the opportunities for working together with many universities in the area, Michigan State’s medical school and the health program at Grand Valley ... As we expand our heart program and other health programs, it also expands the opportunities for students in these areas,” he said. Rossman said there will be opportunities for observation and training once both “Watching the hospital heart a n d and lung university programs transplants become would help m o r e established students as there is gain a better currently no r e s i d e n c y understanding program for about the cardiology procedures.” and cardiac surgery. CHELSEA Chelsea COLBRY Colbry, GVSU STUDENT G V S U nursing major, said she hopes to be a part of these future opportunities. “I believe that allowing nursing students to observe such procedures are a great way for us to learn,” Colbry said. “Watching heart and lung transplants would help students to gain a better understanding about the procedures, which helps nursing students educate patients if they are receiving the procedure. Any opportunity to observe various procedures exposes students to the healthcare field, and better prepares them for their future careers.” James McCurtis, State Health
See Spectrum, A2