McMaster provost David Farrar has recommended a review of the university’s learning management system, Avenue to Learn.

The MacPherson Institute is collaborating with the assistant vice-president, Gayleen Gray, and the office of the CTO to conduct a survey of Avenue to Learn users and create recommendations about the future of the LMS. The project team is sponsored by Lori Goff, director of the MacPherson Institute, and Gray.

A steering committee, chaired by Joanne Kehoe from the MacPherson Institute, has been established to guide the review project, which is one of the strategic initiatives recently endorsed by the IT executive. The project manager is Sandra McWilliams.

Members of the steering committee are:

• Sean Corner, acting associate dean, Faculty of Humanities
• Rita Cossa, assistant professor, DeGroote School of Business
• Sarah Symons, assistant professor, School of Interdisciplinary Science
• Jeff Fortuna, program chair, Software Engineering
• Aleksandra Gajic, Department of Economics
• Anthony Levinson, associate professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences
• Katrina Espanol-Miller, educational systems specialist, Faculty of Humanities
• Greg Atkinson, manager of information technology, Faculty of Science
• Anne Pottier, associate university librarian
• Elvis Podvorac, service desk analyst
• Ricky Haror, learning systems technologist, CCE
• Emma Shoenholz, student
• Kyle Ansilio, graduate student

By the end of 2019, the project aims to prepare a document that outlines the current needs of LMS users, assess whether the current LMS meets those needs, and make recommendations about the LMS platform for consideration by Farrar.

The current LMS contract is in place until 2021, ensuring stability in the short term and responsiveness to user needs in the longer term.

For further information, please contact a member of the steering committee.