The CMS, an integral part of the BlackBoard System, is a separate server with central repository space for materials available to faculty.  This faculty decided that all resources for the course should be placed on this server and made available to all teaching the course.  Having this separate system allows faculty quick access to a variety of teaching/learning materials without embedding them in the main system.  Searching for materials is minimized with the Electronic Resource Library (ERL) within CMS.

Faculty involved in this project wanted to preserve academic freedom within each campus.  Given this precept, the approach to using the ERL was to encourage use of any materials available, but also explore individual teaching options, and share findings through the system.

The project evaluation required faculty and student input.  Faculty focused on perceived benefit in efficiency and effectiveness by using the available variety of resources, making selections based on preferences and need.  Faculty were eager to determine if the organization, format, activities and weekly evaluation tools (self and faculty) were perceived as helpful, especially in comparison to other course structures.

 Outcomes:  Outcomes continue to be evaluated. Two semesters are inadequate to make definitive conclusions about the project, especially since evaluation data are from two sources.  An interim finding is that faculty and students are very positive toward this streamlined course approach.