Graduate Equivalency Courses (GECs)

A GEC is a graduate-level course on a particular topic or theme at a level of rigor equivalent to a graduate course in an accredited college or university. GECs address teaching and learning issues faced by faculty across many disciplines including liberal arts, social sciences, STEM, health and technical careers, counseling and advising. The credits from these courses are included in a faculty member’s application for tenure and promotion as professional development credits. They are also internal credits only and are not transferable to another institution. All Harper College faculty (full-time and adjunct) can register for GEC courses at no cost.

Scroll to the bottom of the page for archives with links to more information about previous course offerings. For questions and more information about GECs, please contact the Academy at academy@harpercollege.edu.

Spring 2023

Click on the toggle to view course details, syllabus, and information about how to register.

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Teaching Online Successfully: Enhance (register by March 27)
  • Format: Online
  • Dates: April 10 – April 23, 2023
  • GECs: 1
  • Details: This course provides faculty with tools and techniques to enhance their online course in ways that encourage student engagement. Faculty will explore basic screencasting/lecture capture tools and best practices, incorporate web-based tools into their course, use Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor for online exam proctoring, facilitate group work inside of Blackboard, and make online materials accessible for students and compliant with copyright guidelines.
  • View Syllabus
  • Register Now (Registration Deadline: March 27, 2023)

Registration Now Closed

Creating an Accessible Learning Environment for Students With Disabilities (register by January 9)
  • Format: Online, Asynchronous
  • Dates: January 23 – March 17, 2023
  • GECs: 3
  • Instructor: Pascuala Herrera, M. Ed, Harper Emeritus
  • Details: In this course, participants will have an opportunity to learn basic information about the ten most common visible and invisible disabilities, in order to evaluate a course or program and develop methods that make the learning environment inclusive and welcoming to all students, including students with disabilities. The course will utilize real case studies of past Harper students, to have an honest discussion about the challenges that students face when navigating an inaccessible learning environment. The pandemic added additional challenges that will be discussed in this course.
  • View Syllabus
  • Register Now (Registration Deadline: January 9, 2023)
Teaching Online Successfully: Create (register by January 16)
  • Format: Online
  • Dates: January 30 – February 12, 2023
  • GECs: 1
  • Details: This two-week, online course prepares and supports faculty who are developing an online or blended course in Blackboard, and any faculty who have an interest in exploring best practices in online and blended course creation. Faculty will learn about critical components of quality course design, receive an introduction to the OSCQR rubric used at Harper for evaluating online and blended course quality, modify an existing course syllabus for use in an online or blended format, and build one complete course module and orientation module inside a provided model course shell in Blackboard.
  • View Syllabus
  • Register Now (Registration Deadline: January 16, 2023)
Equity Teaching Academy: Reflect on Equity (register by January 27)
  • Format: Online Live/Hyflex. Class sessions take place Wednesdays from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. The first class session will be offered with the option of attending virtually or in person in the Academy (Building F, Room F317). Class sessions during weeks two through five will be online live/synchronous. The final class session during week six will be offered with the option of attending virtually or in person in the Academy.
  • Dates: February 1 – March 8, 2023
  • GECs: 3
  • Instructor: Tony Bradburn, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Township High School District 214
  • Details: “Reflect on Equity” is the second course in the Equity Teaching Academy series. Taught by an educator who has been a teacher, coach, principal, and equity leader, Tony Bradburn, and assisted by a facilitation team of Harper faculty who helped to refine the curriculum, this course follows the “Examine for Equity” course that invites participants to examine their individual and institutional context. “Reflect on Equity” guides faculty through experiences for deep examination of their course design and facilitation.
  • View Syllabus
  • Register Now (Registration Deadline: January 27, 2023)
Teaching Online Successfully: Facilitate (register by February 13)
  • Format: Online
  • Dates: February 27 – March 12, 2023
  • GECs: 1
  • Details: This two-week, online course prepares and supports faculty who are teaching an online or blended course in Blackboard, and any faculty who have an interest in exploring best practices in online and blended course facilitation. Faculty will learn about critical components of effective course management and communication, develop a faculty schedule to aid in the management of their course, and enhance their course and syllabus using tools to encourage faculty-student and student-student interaction.
  • View Syllabus
  • Register Now (Registration Deadline: February 13, 2023)
Equity Teaching Academy: Redesign for Equity (register by March 9)
  • Format: Online Live/Hyflex. Class sessions take place Thursdays from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. No class during Spring Break (March 30). The first class session will be offered with the option of attending virtually or in person in the Academy (Building F, Room F317). The remaining sessions are online live/synchronous at the same time via Webex.
  • Dates: March 16 – April 27, 2023
  • GECs: 3
  • Instructor: Ana Contreras, English
  • Details: “Redesign for Equity” is the third course in the Equity Teaching Academy series. This course prompts faculty to consider institutional and course-level data as they envision ways to redesign aspects of their courses around equity pedagogies.
  • View Syllabus
  • Register Now (Registration Deadline: March 9, 2023)

GEC Archives

Previous course offerings are organized by semester below. Click on the title to view details and more information.

  • Teaching Online Successfully
  • Teaching Online Successfully: Create
  • Teaching Online Successfully: Facilitate
  • The Reflective Educator (Level II Adjunct Faculty Engagement Program GEC)