LBW Community College’s mathematics faculty were named as the College’s 2016 Innovation Champions for their work in restructuring several math courses.

The 2016 award recognizes faculty members Rachel Boothe, Mary Cross, Michelle Goosby, Pat Senn, Sharon Stricklin, and Kelly Wilson for changing the delivery of three developmental math courses and providing open source materials. These changes allow students to save money while progressing through the courses as quickly as possible, said Mary Ann Hudson, math and science division chair.

“The redesigned courses were implemented during the 2016 spring semester,” said Hudson. “Students are more satisfied with this delivery system and feel they have more control over the learning process.”

In addition, each student taking all three courses saves a total of $347 previously required for textbooks and access codes, she added.

“To be able to offer students three math courses that they can move through at their own pace and to eliminate all costs except for tuition takes creativity,” said Riedel.

“We are proud to recognize the extensive collaboration required by all LBW math faculty in this accomplishment. They not only researched open source materials for students, they completely renovated the delivery process by creating new modules for all three courses, including textbooks, videos, extra problems, homework, and post-test.”

The innovation allowed LBWCC to drop the services of an outside vendor, which previously cost students between $286,572 and $379,618 in one academic year for textbooks and access codes, said Riedel.

“Due to the dedication of these faculty members, students are saving money and are more satisfied with the learning process.”

In March 2017, Kelly Wilson will attend the Innovations Conference in San Francisco, Calif., to represent the group as the College’s choice for the John & Suanne Roueche Excellence Award. The conference and award were established by the national League for Innovation in the Community College to recognize faculty, staff, and administration for excellence in leadership and innovation in higher education.