Attending: Frank J. Garrahan, Chair; Beti Argun (PIN/NRG), Hugh Moore (RVS), Glen Hunt (NRG), Judy Nwachie (RGC), Jonathan Buckstead (CYP), Stefan Haag (RVS), Joseph Engle (PIN/RVS), Marilyn Mote-Yale (CYP), Sara Pedersen (RVS), Lynn Lehle (RGC), Gaye Lynn Scott (NRG), Paz Pena (RVS), Cecile Durish (CYP), Jim Fowler (RGC), Ed Mullen (PIN), Rex Peebles (NRG), Susana Aleman (NRG)

Our brown-bag seminar this month focused on sharing teaching tools and techniques. We heard from several of our colleagues who had some great ideas to share with the rest of us. Thanks to all who came and participated and offered insights into what works in the classroom.

1. Chair's Report.

Frank Garrahan provided an update on the summer schedule. Full-time faculty have been staffed and Al Slivinske (Assistant Dean, NRG) is currently working on staffing adjunct faculty for the summer. The summer schedule may be found at www2.austin.cc.tx.us/schedule/s200u/gove200uf.htm

2. Committee Reports.

Academic Development Committee report on assessment.

Stefan Haag presented the results of our post-test that was administered to random sections at the end of the Fall semester. A copy of the report is attached, or you may look at the results:
Gov. 2305 Assessment Results
Gov. 2306 Assessment Results
1999 Government Assessment Results

The Task Force will meet again on March 31 and an important agenda item will be to continue our discussion of what to do with these assessment results. Are we measuring what students learned in our classes, or are we measuring what students already knew? What should we do next? Does our assessment process work? Should it be adjusted? How should we assess student learning outcomes in the future? Please plan to attend the next Task Force meeting when we will tackle these difficult questions.

Faculty Committee report on faculty evaluation portfolios.

The college's current policy regarding faculty portfolios (modified to reflect Government Department requirements) was attached to the agenda for the 2/11 meeting that was sent out in early February. You each should have received that attachment. To restate what is required in faculty portfolios:

For each course taught in the Fall semester (or the current semester if you did not teach in the Fall) faculty must submit a syllabus plus copies of asignments, tests, learning objectives, quizzes, projects, papers, etc. from a representative unit of study. (For instance, if you cover institutions together and you then test students over that institutional section of the course, that would be a "unit".) In addition, for at least one course taught, faculty must provide a brief narrative (approximately 250-300 words) describing the course objectives and describing how and why the assignments, tests, quizzes, papers, and projects for that course were administered and evaluated.

Faculty portfolios and online input forms are due by Friday, February 25. Remember that the Government Department Web page has a link to the Web site for the online faculty input form. Please send your portfolios (and please do not include extraneous material that is not required) to Frank J. Garrahan at Northridge. If you have any questions about evaluations, you may contact Frank J. Garrahan (223-4805) or Gaye Lynn Scott (223-4767, gls@).

3. Travel Requests.

The Task Force approved the travel request submitted by Dennis Plane (RGC) to attend the Midwest Political Science Association meeting in Chicago in April. Dennis will be presenting a paper.

The Task Force approved the travel request submitted by Judy Nwachie (RGC) to attend the Model United Nations in New York in April. Judy will be accompanying several ACC students who will be representing Bhutan at this simulation.

4. Model UN Report.

Judy Nwachie updated us on the Model UN project she has undertaken. ACC will be sending several students to the 2000 National Model United Nations and we congratulate Judy on all her hard work coming to fruition.

5. Full-Time Opening.

Remember that we will be filling a new full-time faculty position to begin Fall 2000. The posting is attached. While the committee will soon begin reviewing applications, it is not too late to submit an application with Human Resources.

Next Task Force meeting: 1:00 pm Friday, March 31, 2000, HBC