Government Task Force Minutes of Meeting, 10/27/00 Brown Bag Seminar: Thanks to the faculty who participated in the discussion of Student Issues during the first part of the Brown Bag, and to Roland Hayes for his presentation on ACC's African American Cultural Center, located on the Eastview campus. Task Force Meeting: Present: Gaye Lynn Scott, Stefan Haag, Judy Nwachie, Karry Evans, Carolyn Shaw, Glen Hunt, Jonathon Buckstead, Ron Fletcher, Amber Archuleta-Lucero, Cecile Durish, Lynn Lehle, Vicki Hammond, Roland Hayes, Ed Mullen, James Floyd, Lisa Perez, Carrie Laughlin, Jim Fowler, Marilyn Mote-Yale, and Frank Garrahan. I. Business conducted A. By voice vote the Task Force agreed that students earning an Associates Degree must achieve a grade of C or better in required courses (Ds will not be accepted). B. Ed Mullen asked that specialty courses such as the internship and the Land Use course be given their own course number (they are currently listed as Govt 2306) so that students could take these courses in addition to the standard Gov 2306. The Task Force Chair will report on the feasibility of this at the next meeting. II. Committee Reports: A. Committee on Assessment of Student Learning: Chair, Marilyn Mote-Yale (NRG) The Assessment test for US Government was presented to the faculty. Faculty are encouraged to look over this test. If there are any questions you believe are unclear, too difficult, or are not covered in your class, notify Marilyn Mote-Yale at 223-4054 (preferably by November 18). The Assessment test for Texas Government is attached to these minutes. Please do the same for this exam. Every section of Govt will be assessed this semester, so please plan to set aside 20-25 minutes for the administration of this test toward the end of the semester. (You will receive the appropriate number of test copies, scantrons, and pencils from the Task Force). B. Committee on Faculty Evaluation: Chair, Gaye Lynn Scott (NRG) Student evaluation of faculty: Student evaluations will be administered from October 30 to November 17 (16 weeks), October 2 to October 13 (first eight weeks), November 27 to December 8 (second eight weeks), October 16 to November 3 (twelve weeks). Faculty must initiate the process, evaluation forms will not be sent to you. The exception is OPC classes, which will be evaluated by OPC personnel. For information about the Faculty Evaluations process, you may also go to http://irt.austin.cc.tx.us/fe/ Task Force evaluation of faculty: As a reminder to all faculty members, evaluations in the Spring are based on Fall teaching. The committee suggests that each faculty member begin compiling the teaching portfolio, which will be the basis for the evaluation process in the Spring. Please refer to the Government Instructor's manual for the current academic year to find detailed information about the evaluation process, the standards for excellence in instruction, etc. The Task Force deadline for submission of faculty portfolios and on-line input forms is January 17, 2001. C. Adjunct Faculty Committee: Chair, Judy Nwachie (RGC) The committee has interviewed several potential adjuncts. Four UT graduate students will be interviewed in November. D. Professional Development Committee: Chair, Paz Pena (RVS). No report. III. Chair's Report A. The Spring 2001 class schedule will be linked to the Department's webpage this week. B. Each full-time faculty member must complete 12 credit hours of professional development; each part-time faculty member must complete 4 credit hours (additional credits earned cannot be carried over into next year). These hours must be completed by August 1, 2001. Anything offered by ACC's Faculty Development Office will be accepted, as will anything offered by the Government Task Force such as the brown bag seminars. Remember to formally document your professional development activities following the procedures established by the College. Also remember that the Task Force Chair's pre-approval is required for any activity outside those offered by the College or the Task Force. Upon completion of any professional development hours, please submit verification to the Task Force Chair (the College requires the Task Force chair to post these internally on the Faculty Development Record Page). To check your documented hours, go to http://irt.austin.cc.tx.us/fd and click on "check your status". C. A new link has been added to the department's webpage which will allow you to access government information and agencies at the local, state, and national level. (Jonathon Buckstead has created this and updates it for us. If you have any links to add to these, contact Jonathon at CYP). D. If you have not yet signed onto the listserve do so through the department's webpage. IV. Travel Requests The following travel requests were approved: A. Jim Fowler to the Southern Political Science Association in Atlanta B. Judy Nwachie to INMP Training in California   V. Upcoming meetings The next Brown Bag seminar will be held at noon December 1, 2000 at HBC. The next Task Force meeting is 1:00 December 1, 2000 at HBC.