Resume – Michael B Looney

Professional Experience

Program Coordinator, Faculty of Arts (2007 – present)

Thompson Rivers University – Open Learning Division, Kamloops, BC.

Accountable for providing effective liaison with the faculty in Arts and the distance providers of the Open Learning Division and overseeing Open Learning’s Adult Basic Education program. See 2011 Performance Review »

  1. ✴Secured University Senate approval for 16 new courses to support Open Learning Arts programs and oversaw prioritization and development of more than 24 new and revised Arts courses.

  2. ✴Developed degree program plan for Open Learning’s revised BA in Criminology with input from all stakeholders.

  3. ✴As steering committee member contributed to a Memorandum of Understanding with Douglas College to offer Open Learning’s BA Psychology degree to students residing in BC’s Lower Mainland.

  4. ✴Participated in short-listing, interviewing, and hiring more than 30 new tutors, subject matter experts, and instructional designers for course delivery and development projects.

  5. ✴Rationalized a suite of 12 Adult Basic Education courses to more effectively market the program as preparatory to 7 different university streams rather than solely as individual courses to support program requirements.

  6. ✴Reviewed and approved more than 300 individual student program plans per year.

  7. ✴Analyzed college program transfer opportunities and developed degree program plans for 5 articulated partnership agreements with Ontario institutes and colleges.

Coordinator, Development and Delivery, Department of Arts and Science (2005 – 2007)

Thompson Rivers University – Open Learning Division, Burnaby, BC.

Responsible for coordinating the delivery, development, and maintenance of courses for distance education in the Arts and Science program.

  1. ✴Oversaw the development and delivery of 9 upper-level seminar-based web courses in a variety of Arts and Science disciplines. Courses have contributed to expanding upper level elective opportunities and have attracted on average over 100 students per year – a significant increase over other upper level offerings. Article »

  2. ✴Managed an average of 30 minor course revisions per year and supervised a support staff of 7 who were responsible for course revision, maintenance, and delivery.

  3. ✴Negotiated remuneration with course tutors for an average of 30 individual minor course  revision projects per year.

  4. ✴Chaired hiring committees who short-listed, interviewed, and hired subject matter experts for approximately 15 course development projects undertaken by instructional designers. Projects included major course revisions and new courses.

Supervisor, Project Development, Department of Arts and Science (2003 - 2005)

British Columbia Open University, Burnaby, BC.

Responsible for planning and supervising the development and revision of courses for distance education in Arts and Science (both print and web). Reference letter »

  1. ✴Initiated the design and development of a course template to bring some consistency to what was a disparate array of distance course offerings. Template was adopted institution wide and continues to be used today.

  2. ✴Negotiated partial funding and initiated and consulted on the development of a CD-ROM to teach principles of microscopy for an Adult Basic Education biology course. Final product has been pedagogically successful and has reduced the course materials cost to students by approximately $200.

Independent Consultant (2000 – 2003)

LooneyWare – Cost Effective Web Publishing Solutions.

  1. ✴BC Minerals Education Program of BC – modified blogging software to develop a Web publishing platform to allow Director of the organization to self-publish materials for their teacher partners. Software has been successfully used for 10 years without modification. Reference letter »

  2. ✴Mining Association of BC – parent organization of BC Minerals. Requested to implement the same system described above on the recommendation of Director of BC Minerals.

Biology Laboratory Supervisor (1998 – 2000)

Douglas College, New Westminster, BC.

Responsible for coordinating the operational and educational activities of an open audio-tutorial lab and participated in instructing more than 500 students per semester who were enrolled in any one of 5 university transfer or applied biology courses.

  1. ✴Initiated and supervised revisions to the laboratory curriculum – units designed for independent self-paced enquiry.

  2. ✴Wrote a proposal to secure funding for a Provincially Initiated Curriculum Development Grant to develop 2 multimedia teaching modules for specific aspects of human anatomy and physiology.

Biology Laboratory Instructor (Technician IV) (1988 – 1998)

Douglas College, New Westminster, BC.

Responsible for instruction and evaluation of an average of 200 students per year in the Biology Laboratory Program. Conducted weekly oral evaluations of all students in introductory courses — Human Anatomy and Physiology and University Transfer Biology.

  1. ✴Designed, developed, and implemented 6 small multimedia modules designed to supplement lab activities. Modules were very well received and improved student engagement and success in the labs. Reference letter »

  2. ✴Developed 4 new lab activities for first and second-year laboratories.

Teaching Assistant (1986 – 1988)

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

  1. ✴Taught Botany and Introductory Biology Laboratories.

  2. ✴Developed 4-week Introductory Biology Lab elective. Developed activities, selected reading materials, set assessment and evaluated students.

Education

MSc, Plant Science (1999)

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

  1. ✴Thesis topic: The development and assessment of the effectiveness of a multimedia introduction to plant secondary metabolism.

BSc, Botany (1986)

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

Conferences/Presentations

Looney, M., M. Hayes, and A. Billy. 2000. “Web-Based Instructional Laboratory Units Resolve Conceptual Bottlenecks in Biology.” Presentation at Kaleidoscope 2000, Innovative Good Practice in Post-Secondary Education, Vancouver, BC, April 30–May 2.

Hayes, M., A. Billy, and M. Looney. 1999. “Articulations on the Web.” Presentation at Ed–Media ’99, World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia, and Telecommunications, Seattle, Washington, June 19–24.

Looney, M., and B. Ellis. 1999. “The Development and Assessment of a Multimedia Introduction to Plant Secondary Metabolism.” Presentation at Ed–Media ’99, World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia, and Telecommunications, Seattle, Washington, June 19–24.

Looney, M. 1998. “Conversion of Standalone Multimedia Units for Delivery over the World Wide Web.” Presentation at Connections ’98: Bridging the Gap, Vancouver, BC, May 10–13.

Looney, M. 1997. Invited to present biology multimedia projects to faculty and staff from various disciplines within the College to demonstrate innovative instructional delivery methods. Douglas College Institutional Self–Study, New Westminster, BC, May 1997.

Committee Responsibilities

As an instructional support faculty member there is an expectation to participate in service to the campus community. To fulfill that requirement I am currently serving, or have served, on the following university committees:

  1. ✴Appointments Committee for the Instructional Design Group (2010-present).

  2. ✴Performance Review Committee for the Instructional Design Group (2011-present).

  3. ✴Open Learning Research Awards Committee (2010–present).

  4. ✴Open Learning Program Market Analysis Committee (2005-present).

  5. ✴Thompson Rivers University Faculty Association Steward’s Committee (2005-present).

  6. ✴Arts Faculty Council (2005-present).

  7. ✴Educational Programs Committee of Senate (2005-2010).

Recent Professional Development/Associations

Currently exploring the possibility of using Adobe InDesign and Apple’s iBooks Author to develop media rich curriculum for delivery via tablets and phones.

  1. ✴Member of the Association for the Advancement of Computers in Education.

  2. ✴Attended the 2009 Canadian Network for Innovation in Education Conference (Ottawa, ON).

  3. ✴Attended ELearn conferences in 2005 and 2009 (Vancouver, BC).

  4. ✴Attended Canadian Association for Distance Education conferences in 2004 (Toronto) and 2005 (Vancouver).

Awards

  1. ✴Most Innovative Business Proposal Award (E-commerce/Hi-Tech) in the Sunbrite - SUCCESS Business Plan Competition (2002).

  2. ✴Co-recipient of an Outstanding Paper Award at ED-MEDIA '99, World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia, and Telecommunications in Seattle, Washington (one of 10 awarded papers out of more than 500 presented).

  3. ✴E. Bruce Tregunna Memorial Scholarship in Plant Physiology (UBC – merit based) (1985).

Volunteer Work

Volunteer Tutor, Downtown East Education Centre, 101 Powell Street, Vancouver, BC.

  1. ✴Provided small group and individual tutoring in basic math and science — one afternoon per week (2001 – 2003). Reference letter »