Mission Statement (2009):
Academic Computing Services provides leadership and expertise in instructional technologies for Vassar College. ACS works with Vassar faculty, students and other college constituencies towards the purposeful integration of digital technologies and new media into the college curriculum.
Academic Computing Services is committed to:
– Consulting with faculty members about instructional technology needs
– Collaborating with faculty members on curricular design and scholarly work
– Providing instruction on the use of technologies for teaching and learning
– Managing the design, production and assessment of long term academic projects
– Exploring and promoting best practices for teaching with technology
– Advocating for faculty needs within Computing and Information Services
Vision Statement: the long-term impact of accomplishing our mission (2011):
Building on Vassar’s tradition of teaching and learning in an intimate setting, as well as its important focus on interdisciplinary connections, learning technologies will increasingly enhance the rich academic experience of the college community.
We envision a future in which the process of curricular development at Vassar takes place as a collaboration among faculty, educational technologists, librarians, and pedagogy specialists. As learning technologies become widespread, the effort of identifying, implementing, and assessing the purposeful use of these tools will require the involvement of all participants. This approach will help create a campus culture of sharing and cooperation.
Digital technologies are transforming the nature of scholarly work in a fundamental way. Recognizing this, educational technologists will focus on developing a high level of digital literacy in our academic community, particularly the ability to create, share and evaluate information using learning technologies.
By fostering the use of tools and practices that suit the liberal arts paradigm, Vassar will become a model for the integration of technology and education.
