Academic Delivery Group Meeting
June 26, 2012
2:00 p.m.
Personnel Conference Room
Members Present: Doug Allen, Jackie Blakley, Tim Bowen, Lynn Lewis, Amoena Norcross, Gwen Owens, Sarah Shumpert
Members Absent: Scott Harvey, Brian Swords
Others Present: Galen DeHay
Length of Meeting: 2 hours
Topics Discussed:
Dr. Buckhiester welcomed Amoena Norcross to the group. Amoena is the new Faculty Senate President.
The minutes of May 22, 2012 meeting were approved. In following up on those minutes, Dr. Buckhiester noted that very few Tri-County employees plan to attend the “Plugged-in” conference sponsored by the System Office. He noted that it should be a good conference, and information has been posted on eTC.
The Session C topic was briefly discussed. It was noted that Session C can be a second opportunity for our students. It can also be used to allow combination classes. Cancelling a Session C class can impact our students. It was noted that we may want to have something in place so that, if a Session C class is cancelled, our students are not blindsided at the last minute.
The following policies and procedures were discussed.
3-2-1011 – Student Classification – Approved
This policy will be presented at the next Executive Staff meeting.
3-2-1013.1 – Graduation Application – Not approved by ADG – Back to Scott /ADG
· Increase in fee – Currently pay $40, increase $10.00 for all. The group was in agreement with the increase.
· Second to last paragraph- does it have to be a certified letter? Very costly.
· Last paragraph – if you pay the fee, but are ineligible to graduate, you have to pay the fee again. Seems unfair, and students may not apply again.
· Same topic – what about students with multiple credentials. Separate graduation application fee for each credential?
3-2-1050.5 – Standards of Academic Progress – Not approved by ADG – Back to Scott/ADG
A student could do poorly for several semesters, and then have one good term that puts them back in good standing. The college is trying to move away from that scenario.
· Remove VPAA reference and use Provost throughout.
· Page 1, under Requirements, “cumulative GPA” should be “institutional GPA”
· Page 2, first paragraph, “Cumulative GPA Hours” should be “Institutional GPA Hours”
· Page 2, 1.5 is a fairly low GPA for the first tier. Should we increase that a little? It was noted that a student may have done poorly in one division, but do well in another. Will this hold it against them?
· Page 2, under Academic Standing, remove the word “term” throughout.
· Page 4, students in Category C are notified “by letter” (rather than in writing).
· Page 4, #2 – second sentence, “If the student should enroll….” Isn’t this true of every student?
3-2-1053.1 – Attendance for Credit Students – Tabled - Needs more faculty input. Perhaps through an open meeting or project charter.
· Paragraph 4, leave the first sentence for financial aid regulations.
· Paragraph 4, the second sentence is more about attendance verification. Should it be in
3-2-1050-2?
· Paragraph 4, third sentence – nothing about drop/add for face to face classes.
· Two issues that we are confusing –
o Mandatorily taking attendance for compliance issues
o How is attendance related to learning? Student with a B misses 4 classes and we drop them. Do we help learning if we drop them? How does this impact learning?
· Why would we not take attendance?
· Too much variation in dropping a student. Either we drop or we do not drop.
· Let each division /department develop its own attendance policy and follow it. Hold faculty accountable to the policy he/she created.
Under Announcements:
Jackie noted that the Paralegal and Culinary Arts certificates have been postponed until Fall 2013. She also noted that Deb Nodine has resigned and Harriette Dudley will assume the ECD Program Coordinator position. Currently, we are trying to fill the ECD instructor position.
Tim reported that everything is stable at the Anderson Campus and Oconee is showing good growth. He noted that the YMCA is closing its child development center at the Westside Community Center, which is a loss for the community.
Gwen reported that she is getting ready for a smooth transition, and noted that she has enjoyed working with the Academic Delivery Group.
Sarah asked the group for guidance on the learning communities. With the concern about enrollment, she noted that we seem to be jumping to cancel learning community classes. Are we allowing enough time for them to grow? It was noted that department heads are being very conservative and very careful with empty seats and small classes. It was suggested that we remove these classes from the enrollment calculations, treat them as pilots, and allow them to run with small numbers. Galen will work with Sarah to craft an informational message about the learning communities.
Dr. Buckhiester noted that with the re-crafted University Studies Certificate, the number of students receiving the certificate is much higher. He also reported that dual enrollment students can stay under that initial college catalog.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Recorded by: Anne Bryan
Next Meeting: Thursday, July 26, at 2:00 p.m., in the Personnel Conference Room,
RH 102
