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INSPIRE Office of Flexible Learning

Current Priorities

Read below to learn about our priorities for the 2024-25 academic year.

In alignment with our 5-year strategic plan, INSPIRE is focusing efforts this year on the following strategic priorities:

  • Launch & Initiate Strategic Plan: In Fall 2024, INSPIRE launched a new strategic plan aiming to build on successes and lessons learned, formalizing pathways for students and teachers, and striving to collaborate with Faculties to offer more spring intersession opportunities. Learn more about our strategic plan here.
  • Promote Flexible Learning with Students: Building on INSPIRE offerings created as the foundational courses of Intersession, the INSPIRE team will continue to develop material that promotes the Intersession curriculum and the interdisciplinary and experiential pathways that the Intersession term provides. Learn more about Flexible Learning opportunities.
  • Pilot Skills-Focused Short Courses: Many students continue to struggle with the transition to and through university. In many cases, students are displaying a lack of skills required for academic success (e.g. time management, presentation skills); guided by insights from Faculties, INSPIRE will be exploring the feasibility of creating credit-based microcredential course concepts that could be piloted within a more traditional course during the May 2025 Intersession term. If you’re interested in pitching a skills-focused short course, please reach out to us at inspire[at]mcmaster.ca.
  • Promote Flexible Learning and Intersession with Faculty: The Intersession term is available for use by any department, school, or Faculty. INSPIRE will be actively promoting this opportunity while also exploring feasibility of the Intersession term as a space to introduce interdisciplinary offerings (e.g. minors, concurrent certificates) to students as a foundational priority. Faculty members interested in experimenting with pedagogical course concepts are also being encouraged to consider offering a course during the Intersession term. Learn more about Flexible Teaching opportunities.
  • Develop Microcredential Infrastructure: With an eye towards developing programming that can serve external audiences both within and outside of the Spring Intersession term, INSPIRE is currently advancing work to create the necessary infrastructure to coordinate and support microcredential offerings to external learners. An ad hoc task force launched in July 2024 to advise on this effort. Learn more about what we’re doing to support Microcredentials.