Academic Delivery Group Meeting
August 23, 2011
1:00 p.m.
Personnel Conference Room
Members Present: Jackie Blakley, Tim Bowen, Eugene Grant, Scott Harvey, Lynn Lewis, Gwen Owens, Donna Shannon, Sarah Shumpert
Members Absent:
Others Present: Mary Heyer
Length of Meeting: 2.0 hours
Topics Discussed:
Dr. Buckhiester welcomed Mary Heyer to the meeting and mentioned that the group appreciated her expertise when it came to attendance verification for online classes. As background, Dr. Buckhiester noted that we plan to develop an institution-wide, common criterion for a student’s first documented attendance in an online class. Since that criterion is not ready for implementation yet, the group discussed how to handle this issue for fall. E-mail with our contact at the Department of Education indicated that a common criterion with a reading assignment and response was a step in the right direction. The DOE definition of attendance requires that a student either
- Post on a discussion board
- Complete an assignment or
- Take a test.
In order for any of these to be used as documentation for a DOE audit, the date and time for each activity must be noted. Earlier versions of Blackboard had the capability to run a date/time report for audit purposes. Our upgraded version does not have that capability, so that information would have to be gathered manually. Mary stated that, for audit purposes, she will ask for a student, not a class, and she will need the first day attendance and the LDA. Students who received a combination of W, F, or WF for all classes will be audited.
For spring, Dr. Buckhiester asked Sarah to convene a small group to discuss options to document initial enrollment and last day of attendance. In addition to Sarah, Mary Heyer, Scott Harvey and Jackie Blakley will be members of this group.
The minutes of the July 11, 2011 meeting were approved.
The group approved the dates of November 7 and 8 for the fall student survey conducted by Institutional Research.
Scott reported that the new drop/add period was well received by the faculty. Since JumpStart needs flexibility to move students around, he recommended that the procedure be revised to exclude JumpStart. The group agreed. Scott will revise the procedure and bring it to the next ADG meeting. In response to a question, Scott noted that the 0 and 1 enrollment verification notations will be explained on the official class roll memo.
Dr. Buckhiester discussed recognition for part-time students. He reported that from fall 2010 to spring 2011, 31 students met the criteria. To follow the same process as the other recognitions, Dan Holland will prepare a letter and certificate for these students, and Rebecca Eidson will prepare a media release. This new recognition will start this fall.
Gwen and Scott discussed the placement retesting procedure. The group could not determine why the Compass ATB is not considered a retest. Gwen will take this procedure back to the Placement Committee for review and revision. Gwen reported that currently there are no Compass resources in the bookstore, so removing that wording in the procedure would not be problematic. The Library has Compass resources, so the wording in the procedure about the Library resources will remain.
Under Announcements, Dr. Buckhiester mentioned the Faculty Development booklet and noted the many good programs that will be offered this year. He followed up on the need for IT to run maintenance at critical times during the semester. After meeting with Lee Tennent, Lee explained that we cannot avoid testing, but if the potential exists that production would be impacted, the testing would be delayed. Now, the college has two separate systems, one for production and one for testing, so testing should not be a problem. Dr. Buckhiester noted that he has not received feedback on any problems concerning the students in the seven certificates that are not considered gainful employment programs. He distributed information about DegreeSC, which is a statewide bachelor’s degree program. No one in the group had any information on it. He asked the group to encourage employees to load their schedules into the Outlook calendar.
Scott stated that the enrollment verification (0s and 1s) is due on Tuesday by 9:00 p.m. He will turn the system back on so that faculty can input data after the deadline. Scott noted that the Business & Public Services and Industrial & Engineering Technology divisions will need to appoint new representatives to the Calendar Committee. He introduced a new Student Records form that tracks students taking courses at other institutions. In order for Student Records to be in the loop, Scott will add a signature line for Records.
Jackie announced that the new accounting/management instructor, Esayas Araya, will be on campus on Aug. 29. Jackie noted that, as a result of a BPS Division meeting discussion, faculty members believe they are being asked to carry international students on their class rolls, even if the students have stopped attending. Dr. Buckhiester stated that he is not supportive of international students being treated differently from other students with respect to instructor’s attendance/withdrawal policy, and that he will follow up and report back to the group. Also, Jackie noted that the ECD students spent clinical time at the DAR school this summer, and this joint venture worked very well. She briefly mentioned some issues and problems with Blackboard.
Tim reported that the Anderson Campus has its first ever 7:00 a.m. class this fall. Jerry Marshall is teaching a Probability and Statistics class, which seems to be well attended and is moving along. Tim asked about the process for the first day rosters. After some discussion it was decided that Scott would set a campus field on the rosters’ report, and someone on each community campus could print them so they are available on the first class day. Scott, Tim and Brian will meet to discuss this. Tim reported on the Oconee Campus. Wayne Frady is on board and is moving forward with the campus. Currently he is addressing a variety of things, including IT issues, the installation of new equipment, and determining which services are needed at Oconee.
Gwen announced that she will retire next June.
Sarah gave a Blackboard update. She noted that the recent upgrade was a major upgrade and she was pleased that there were no critical issues. IT continues to monitor Blackboard. IT anticipates that there would be some issues and they are working on any problems. Sarah stressed that this version of Blackboard is different, and many training sessions are available during the fall. Sarah discussed WIDS and noted that the college is moving to the web-based version. She will be working with a consultant during the week of December 12. The consultant is very knowledgeable, and Sarah is pleased that we are working with her. WIDS training will take place in the spring, and she encouraged deans, department heads and program coordinators to attend the training. Sarah will attend a Deans’ meeting to provide more information on WIDS and to select a training date.
Donna noted that the Faculty Senate representatives should be posted soon. She still needs four adjunct representatives. Faculty Senate will hold its first meeting in September.
Eugene announced that enrollment for the I & ET division will likely break the 700 mark this fall. This will be the first time this has happened since 1993. He is very pleased that the enrollment is increasing in undersubscribed programs. He noted that he is still looking for an engineering transfer adjunct instructor. He also noted that we plan to build a Rosenwald School at the Anderson Campus this year. Dr. Buckhiester mentioned an e-mail from Elisabeth Gadd in which she thanked Eugene for the time he spent with a potential donor. Because of his efforts, we have a new donor who will make a sizeable contribution to the college. Eugene announced that Tri-County has partnered with Indian River Community College and Central Carolina Community College on a Southeast regional NSF grant, and they have been awarded the planning grant.
Recorded by: Anne Bryan
Next Meeting: Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 1:00 p.m. in the Personnel Conf. Room, RH 102s
