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Innovative Instruction Research Council (IIRC)

IIRC Mission:

The Innovative Instruction Research Council (IIRC) makes recommendations in support of academic innovation and transformation. The Chancellor, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost have endorsed solutions that leverage tools and processes that collaboratively increase efficiency and capacity for SUNY-wide delivery of high quality instruction by:

  • Fostering and scaling innovation through Innovative Instruction Technology Grants (IITG) request for proposal language and secondary proposal review.  The IIRC and SUNY Provost Staff offer funding recommendations to the SUNY Provost to support experimentation with new tools and processes at the instructional level.
  • Exploring how IITG projects may be aligned to “scale up” through Performance Improvement Fund initiatives and Communities of Practice to sustain SUNY-wide innovation.
  • Embracing pedagogical research to continually improve the instructional practices of SUNY faculty and staff – and collaborate with the SUNY Provost’s Faculty Advisory Council on Teaching and Technology (FACT2) to offer task group investigations of how SUNY may leverage emerging teaching and learning models.
  • Openly sharing outcomes of investigations and scholarly effort to enable collaboration and scaffolding of innovation in service of students and programs in New York and across the globe.

Nicola Marae Allain, PhD

Dean, School of Arts & Humanities, Empire State College

Susan Deer, PhD

Officer in Charge, Rockland Community College

Billie Franchini, PhD

Director, Institute for Teaching, Learning and Academic Leadership, University at Albany

Rachael Hagerman

Assistant Professor of Clinical Laboratory Science, Upstate Medical University

Marianne Hassan

Chief of Staff, Office of the Provost, State University of New York (SUNY)

John Kane, PhD

Professor, Department of Economics & Director, Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, SUNY Oswego

Judith Littlejohn

Director of Online Learning, Genesee Community College & Chair, SUNY FACT2

Phillip Ortiz, PhD

Assistant Provost for Undergraduate and STEM Education, State University of New York (SUNY)

Alexandra Pickett

Director of Online Teaching, State University of New York (SUNY)

James Pitarresi, PhD

SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering & Vice Provost and Executive Director, Center for Learning and Teaching, Binghamton University

Christopher Price, PhD

Academic Programs Manager, SUNY Center for Professional Development

Lisa Raposo

Director, SUNY Center for Professional Development

Kim Scalzo

Interim Senior Associate Provost, Digital Innovation & Academic Services, State University of New York (SUNY)

Paul Schacht, PhD

Professor, Department of English, SUNY Geneseo

Thomas Slomka

Assistant Vice Provost, Learning Environments and Technologies, Curriculum, Assessment, & Teaching Transformation, University at Buffalo

Lisa Stephens, PhD

Assistant Dean for Digital Education, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University at Buffalo

Rose Tirotta-Esposito, EdD

Director, Center of Excellence in Learning and Teaching, Stony Brook University