Academic Delivery Group Meeting
April 23, 2012
2:00 p.m.
Personnel Conference Room
(Revised 5/22/12)
Members Present: Doug Allen, Jackie Blakley, Tim Bowen, Lynn Lewis, Gwen Owens, Donna Shannon, Sarah Shumpert, Brian Swords
Members Absent:
Others Present: Marla Roberson
Length of Meeting: 2 hours
Topics Discussed:
Dr. Buckhiester welcomed Marla Roberson to the meeting. Marla attended the meeting to discuss library hours. She distributed a proposal to close the Pendleton Library at 8:00 p.m. instead of 10:00 p.m., and discussed the factors included in the proposal. Closing the library earlier in the evenings would allow personnel to be better utilized during peak hours. Marla noted that library staff would be willing to accommodate any requests for an evening information literacy class or evening research time. The members of the group wanted to review the proposal within their units and report back. Marla will send the proposal to the deans electronically. This topic will be on the agenda for the next ADG meeting.
The minutes of the March 27, 2012 meeting were approved with a minor revision.
In following up on the minutes, Dr. Buckhiester reported that Brenda Mattison and Sarah Shumpert did a great job presenting the online faculty credentialing process to Executive Staff. While the budget is still a work in progress, and the $54,000 amount for the first year has not been confirmed, Executive Staff was 100% on board with the proposal.
Dr. Buckhiester reminded the group that in February, Linda Driggers and Mary Heyer attended the ADG meeting to discuss the importance of LDAs, and suggested set times within the semester to require faculty to update the report. The internal “FA” grade was proposed to indicate a “F” due to attendance issues. The group discussed the frequency of the updates and noted that it would be the same amount of work, just spread throughout the semester. The group agreed to try this new system for the summer. Scott will modify the calendar to reflect the three dates, and will send reminder e-mails to faculty.
In addition to the three reporting dates for LDAs, Scott noted that if a student withdraws himself, it is considered an academic event. It is not an academic event when a faculty member withdraws a student, and Scott can only track withdrawals by students. In order to prevent audits, we need to capture these academic events. It was noted that much of the need for LDAs and much of the information required for an audit could be avoided if the faculty member took attendance. The deans agreed that they will strongly encourage their faculty to take attendance. Scott will draft the communication to faculty, and Dr. Buckhiester will add to it to encourage taking attendance.
The group reviewed the “FA” grade. The “FA” grade is a failing grade due to attendance. It will show on the transcript as “F”. “FA” is strictly an internal process and there should be no downside.
Scott distributed a handout on changing the operational hours of some of units and noted that very few students require services during the evening hours. He stressed that by closing earlier in the evenings, he could move personnel to peak usage times during the day. There was some concern that varying closing times would cause confusion for students at the community campuses. Brian will provide some information about the closing times at the community campuses. This proposal will be presented to Executive Staff in a few weeks.
The group discussed several policies/procedures.
3-2-1050.1 – The Grading System Credit and Non-Credit Courses procedure has been revised to reflect what the college does. The members of the group made a few additional revisions. After the updates, the procedure will be presented to Executive Staff.
3-2-1050.2 – The Student Withdrawal from a Credit Course procedure has been updated. The members of the group made a few additional revisions, and Scott will add the language to reflect changes in the LDAs. After the updates, the procedure will be presented to Executive Staff.
3-2-1051 – The Repeat Grade policy has been slightly revised and will be presented to Executive Staff for approval.
Under Announcements, Gwen noted that the students and faculty did a wonderful job at the spring choral concert.
Doug reported that work continues at the ITC.
Jackie wanted the group to be aware that the travel policy posted on eTC is not up to date and to be careful to refer to the updated policy. She also asked for clarification and was assured that any program can use a variation in the 10-point grading scale.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Recorded by: Anne Bryan
Next Meeting: Tuesday, May 22, at 2:00 p.m., in the Personnel Conference Room,
RH 102
