ACC MEETING:
GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT
Minutes
Meeting Date: February 2, 2007
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: HBC 214
Chair: Glen Hunt
Members Present: Shina Amachigh, Roy Casagranda, Cecile Durish, Karry Evans, Ron Fletcher, Richard Gamez, Frank Garrahan, Mike Gividen, Stefan Haag, Ted Hadzi-Antich, David Hinkleman,Glen Hunt, Lynn Lehle, Charles Miles, Jeff Millstone, Marilyn Mote-Yale, Carl Mullen, Ed Mullen, Judy Nwachie, Paz Pena, Lisa Perez-Nichols, Veronica Rodriguez, and Kris Seago..
Agenda Item: ChairÕs Report
Presenter: Glen Hunt
Discussion:
Agenda Item: Adjunct Faculty Hiring Committee Report
Presenter: Jeff Millstone
Discussion: No new applications have been received. Jeff introduced new adjuncts who were present for the meeting.
Decision/Follow-Up items: Additional interviews will be held in the spring.
Person Responsible: Jeff Millstone
Agenda Item: Student Assessment Committee Report
Presenter: Cecile Durish
Discussion: The Committee distributed the assessment results (pre and post in US and Texas Government. A short discussion ensued and the results will be discussed in greater detail in our March meeting. Members were asked to review the data and send comments to Cecile Durish or bring them to the March meeting.
Decision/Follow-Up items: Results will be discussed in March.
Person Responsible: Cecile Durish
Agenda Item: Faculty Evaluation Committee Report
Presenter: Dr. Marilyn Mote-Yale
Discussion: Portfolios have been received.
Decision/Follow-Up items: Evaluations are currently underway. Faculty Input Forms for adjuncts are due to the Department Chair by February 12. Full-time forms are due by March 5, 2007.
Person Responsible: Dr. Marilyn Mote-Yale
Agenda Item: Faculty Development Committee Report
Presenter: Lisa Perez-Nichols
Discussion: Lisa thanked Ed for arranging our Brown Bag by Rep. Aycock. Watch for announcements on our spring book club meeting in the near future.
Decision/Follow-Up items: None
Person Responsible: Lisa Perez-Nichols
Agenda Item: Curriculum Committee Report-Hybrid classes
Presenter: Stefan Haag
Discussion: Stefan again presented a proposed framework for considering future Hybrid Course Proposals.
1.
Hybrid courses
Eligibility
Requirements: A faculty member must have completed three years of teaching at
ACC to be eligible to teach a hybrid course. Also, a faculty member must have
taught a distance learning course at ACC. Eligible faculty must have received
an ÒexcellentÓ or Òvery goodÓ on both the portfolio and student evaluations
during the two years prior to proposing the hybrid course.
Hybrid Course Proposal: The faculty member will submit
his/her proposal for a hybrid course to the Department Chair one year prior to
the course being offered. The proposal will be reviewed by the Government
Department Curriculum Committee during the semester that the course is
proposed. The committee will provide feedback to the Department Chair, who will
provide feedback to the faculty member. Proposed hybrid courses will be
submitted to the Government Department faculty for approval prior to being
offered.
The proposal for a hybrid course will include the
following:
Course syllabus
Course calendar that incorporates a detailed
description of each weekÕs in- class activities and out-of-class activities and
readings
Samples of in-class and out-of-class activities
Narrative that explains:
Rationale for offering the course as a hybrid course
How the faculty memberÕs teaching philosophy will be
implemented
How the out-of-class activities will assist students
in understanding the course material
How the Government DepartmentÕs learning outcomes will
be accomplished
How the in-class and out-of-class activities will
accomplish the CollegeÕs general education/core curriculum requirements
Hybrid Course Classification: Hybrid courses will be
classified as distance learning courses. Office hour requirements will be the
same as distance learning courses.
Hybrid Course Components:
A Web-based component and offer the following
components using Blackboard: online practice quizzes, learning objectives, and
feedback to students.
Two writing components are required for a hybrid
course. For example, these components could include research papers, written
assignments based on in-class or out-of-class simulations, reaction papers, or
an experiential learning (service learning) assignment that involves 15 to 20
hours.
Fifty percent of the instruction will be during
scheduled in-class meetings.
Decision/Follow-Up
items: The criteria for Hybrid Courses was approved as presented. Person
Responsible: Stefan Haag
Agenda Item: Curriculum Committee Report-Seniority for assigning PCM classes
Presenter: Stefan Haag
Discussion: Four approaches to determining seniority for PCM classes were considered and voted on.
Proposal #1: Seniority shall be calculated using full-time service at ACC (received 5 votes)
Proposal #2: Seniority shall be calculated using full-time service plus adjunct service prorated at the rate of every 12 sections taught as an adjunct counting as one year of full-time equivalent service (received 12 votes).
Proposal #3: Seniority shall be calculated as in #2 above but counting all teaching at any college or university. (received 1 vote).
Proposal #4: Seniority shall be calculated as years taught at ACC with full-time and adjunct counted equally (received no votes)
Decision/Follow-Up items: Proposal #2 will be the departmentÕs policy for calculating seniority in determining PCM assignments beginning with the FALL 07 semester.
Agenda Item: Distance Learning Orientation Subcommittee
Presenter: Frank Garrahan
Discussion: Frank updated the department on committee activities. The self-assessment will be tested in a 2nd 8 week PCM course this semester.
Decision/Follow-Up items: None
Person Responsible: Frank Garrahan
Agenda Item: Travel Requests
Presenter: Lisa Perez-Nichols and Cecile Durish
Discussion: Lisa and Cecile presented requests for travel funds for a workshop sponsored by Longman Publishing in San Antonio on February 10, 2007.
Decision/Follow-Up items: The department unanimously approved the requests.
Person Responsible: none
Agenda Item: Prerequisites for Government courses
Presenter: Glen Hunt
Discussion: The Department reconsidered its decision to require ENGL 1301 as a prerequisite for US Government and Texas State and Local Government courses.
Decision/Follow-Up items: After a discussion, the department voted to rescind the prerequisite but to continue to emphasize the importance of adequate preparation in composition prior to enrolling in government courses by inserting the following advisory in the College Catalog and in the Course Schedule: The Government Department strongly recommends that students complete English 1301 or the equivalent with a grade of C or higher prior to enrolling in GOVT 2305 or GOVT 2306.Ó In addition the department directed the chair to send a letter to the Dean expressing the concern of the department that in many Early College Start classes conducted under the auspices of ACC, adequate screening and counseling especially in regard to the studentÕs competency in composition related skills, is not being accomplished at many Early College Start locations. This results in students who are not prepared with the writing competencies needed in a sophomore level course enrolling in the class. They often struggle with the course and either fail or drop the course.
Person Responsible: Glen Hunt
Next Meeting Date:
March 2, 2007, HBC 214,
1:00 pm