While CDU staff retention and loyalty is very high, we sometime have to say goodbye. Barbarann Ellis, admissions support, has been with CDU in a variety of roles for many years and is about to retire. Please join us in wishing her well.
In May, former CDU registrar Megan Davis rejoined the team as diocesan partnership liaison and admissions coordinator. Please pray for these team members as they embark on their new journeys.
Catholic Distance University and the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) are partnering to offer IFCU faculty members worldwide a course titled Teaching in a Digital World.
CDU’s faculty members are eager to share their knowledge with colleagues whose classes have suddenly moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. CDU, the only exclusively online Catholic university, has been accredited to offer distance education since 1986 and has delivered online programs for 20 years. Faculty members are well versed in best practices in online teaching and have many years of successful teaching experience in the online environment.
The 4-week, 10-hour course features Dr. Marie Nuar, Dr. Peter Brown, Alissa Thorell, and Kathy Vestermark presenting various elements of online teaching. President Dr. Marianne Evans Mount teaches the theory, research, pedagogy, and theology of distance education. Other topics covered include practical techniques of best practices for successful teaching online, course design, use of media, interaction, and student support. During the course, participants can develop a course of their own design on the Canvas learning platform and have many opportunities to dialogue with CDU faculty.
The first course was offered in June and included faculty from the following countries and territories: Spain, Philippines, Belgium, Chile, Sierra Leone, Puerto Rico, Palestine, Congo DR, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, India, and Mexico. The course will be offered to IFCU members again in July, September, and October and will then be offered to anyone who wishes to enroll.
Many faculty members accustomed to classroom teaching find the online environment a challenge both for themselves and for their students. In some cases, students have internet connectivity issues, and both teachers and students have a learning curve with the adaptation to a learning management system. There is a great interest in learning how to humanize and foster a sense of community especially in a Catholic university environment. Some faculty have expressed concerns about a lack of student engagement, the effects of social isolation on students, cultural differences, and potential learning loss. Teaching in a Digital World is designed to give faculty members the expertise and knowledge they need to teach online with confidence while fostering interaction, engagement, and strong learning outcomes for students.
To begin, I want to thank everyone who has prayed for the safety and good health of our students, our faculty, our staff, and our Board of Trustees during this Pandemic. As far as I know, the CDU Family has been spared the effects of COVID-19, and we hope and pray that God will continue to protect us. CDU has a unique perspective in the world of Catholic higher education. As the only Catholic ONLINE university, we have not missed a second of our daily schedule and responsibilities. Our academic terms and curriculum are planned a year in advance, our terms begin and end promptly, our faculty teach and support students with the help of our Student Success Team, our Board of Trustees meets on their schedule, and CDU has continued a new strategic planning process during the pandemic.
However, we continue to learn of great stresses in higher education, especially for faculty suddenly forced to teach online and administrators dealing with obsolete financial models because of empty dormitories and luxurious but unused campus facilities.
Because of our expertise in online education, three recent projects have been added to our workload. One of those projects is the preparation and execution of a 10-hour, 4-week course, Teaching in a Digital World, for international faculty whose institutions are members of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), headquartered in Paris, France. CDU is a member of IFCU and is delighted to educate international faculty to teach online.
As we return to a “new normal” there will be a growing recognition of online education. While CDU was an anomaly only a few months ago in the world of Catholic higher education, we think our modality will be a permanent part of the future of Catholic higher education.
Despite the COVID-19 crisis, we are blessed that our students are continuing their online studies without disruption.
During Lent, a free continuing education course was offered to help believers connect with others, deepen their faith, and share in God’s love. Over 500 students enrolled from across the United States, Qatar, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Italy, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, and Spain. As a follow up “Pentecost special” offer, two new continuing education courses were promotionally priced at only $25. CDU is blessed to be a blessing to others!
On March 2nd, Bishop Mark Brennan, bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling- Charleston, visited Catholic Distance University’s new offices at 300 South George Street in Charles Town, West Virginia. After offering Mass in the chapel, Bishop Brennan blessed the building and met with the CDU team.
A compassionate, humble leader, Bishop Brennan has a passion for serving immigrants and the poor. He naturally embraces CDU’s mission to educate learners worldwide for the growth of faith, ecclesial service, and leadership for the new evangelization.
Fausto Franco, a graduate of the MA (Theology) program (Graduate School of Theology, 2019), will teach COSCI 101 Computer Essentials in the Fall II term. In addition to teaching for CDU, Fausto works in Information Technology with a focus on Cyber Security as a business information security officer for state government. He currently resides in Albany, New York, and is a parishioner at the Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Americas.
After earning his M.Eng. in Computer Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Fausto felt an interior tug to educate himself in theology as he had prepared for his secular career. “I was in a place at that time where being in a traditional school setting was not ideal for me, and I started researching programs I could attend,” he says. “I do not like going to school at night, which is what I did for my first master’s degree, but was willing to do so if the Lord was placing this desire in my heart. One evening while at home, a Google ad for CDU popped up, and without realizing it, I clicked on the ad and was on the CDU page. Upon reading, I came to realize that the Lord had responded to what I had ‘demanded,’ and now it was on me to do my part. I applied, and the rest is history.”
He thoroughly enjoyed the MA (Theology) program. “It was a challenging program, but each course happened at the ‘right’ time for me in my own personal faith journey,” he says. “It turns out that I was applying the material right away in my daily life. At times in ministry, questions or talks on topics would be presented to me that were specifically on the topic that I was currently engaged in. That served for me as a reminder of God’s action in my life in responding to that interior tug, and these were moments of consolation on the journey. Those moments helped me to stay in the program,” he says. “In the journey of faith, obstacles are part of the package.”
Fausto’s degree has been very helpful in his evangelization work, which has led to travel throughout the United States and internationally. “As I started the program, I was called to be the coordinator of the youth/young adult ministry for the Hispanic Catholic Charismatic Renewal for the Archdiocese of New York. It also was during this time that I served as the national coordinator of the US/Canada for youth/young adults in the Hispanic Catholic Charismatic Renewal,” he says. The MA program helped Fausto grow in his understanding of the faith and share it with others in the ministry and those who participated in retreats and events.
“In the workplace, as co-workers found out that I was pursuing this degree, it led to many interesting conversations around faith. It allowed me to go deeper and gain more understanding to build my own relationship with God and, in turn, the desire to want to share that with others. It has allowed me to be part of the CDU faculty as well, teaching and allowing students to realize that even in the world of Mathematics and Computing, God is revealing Himself to us there and what the Church teaches us regarding these subjects,” he says.
The oldest of four children born to immigrant parents from the Dominican Republic, Fausto was raised in the Bronx, New York. He has been involved in youth and young adult ministry for many years and is active on the Diocesan Service Committee for the Archdiocese of New York. He was published in the summer 2018 edition of Pentecost Today magazine and spoke at the Golden Jubilee 50th anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in July 2017. Fausto also participated in the V Encuentro of Latino/Hispanic Ministry representing ecclesial movements and is a member of the Locos por Jesus ministry that travels to the Dominican Republic and throughout the United States to evangelize.
In his free time, Fausto plays baseball in the Albany Twilight League, one of the oldest amateur baseball leagues in the country, usually as second baseman or shortstop. He played baseball for Siena College as an undergraduate.
