Faculty Association of Community and Technical Colleges
Feb.10-11, 2005
SBCTC Offices, Olympia
319 SE 7th Ave
Thursday: Snyder A Conference Room Friday: Bell Conference Room
Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005:
4:00-7:00 PM
ATTENDEES:
Mark Doerr, Spokane Falls
George Neal, South Puget Sound Steve Byman, Lower Columbia
Phil Droke, Highline Jason Clizer, Columbia Basin
Tom Affholter, Spokane Mike Dodge, Olympic
Bill Moore, SBCTC Diane Pelletier, Green River
Jim Howe, Lake Washington Jim Hamm, Big Bend
Sue Bickley, Yakima Randy Givens, Clark
Diana Knauf, Shoreline
TOOLS FOR TEACHING (Sue Bickley)
Tools for Teaching 2 included 34 paid attendees, plus presenters for a total of 45. Conferences expenses (speaker’s fees and food) added up to $1,668, while revenues were $850, with the resulting cost to us of $818 (as compared to the previous year’s total of $650). 17 attendees completed evaluations and rated individual presentations and the overall conference favorably (4 on a 5 point rating scale). Of particular note was the keynote address by Rita that was very well received.
Those present reviewed the Fall conference and voted to have a Tools for Teaching 3 with the theme, Tools for Teaching 3: Diversity and Community. This theme allows for topics as wide ranging as learning styles, true colors, teaching styles, curriculum transformation, distance education, and dealing with diversity online. The conference will be held at Highline Community College on 10/28 (with FACTC’s Fall meeting to be held on the 10/27, also at Highline). Maximum participation = 100 attendees. It was discussed that it might be great to investigate ITV capabilities for at least the keynote at some sites from which people cannot travel. We discussed raising the stipend for presenters but did not vote on this issue.
TO DO: Phil will be site chairperson. Diane will be registrar and work with the State Board. The program chair will be Jason, with Diana’s assistance. Diana will also create and coordinate programs and evaluations. Mark will be publicity chair, and will create some pre-publicity to occur during Spring quarter. Tom will investigate memory sticks as a possible conference treat for those attending. Sue will act as coordinator to insure that all are doing what needs to be done. All representatives need to get the word out now to faculty on their campuses to save the date. All representatives who are at schools with strong diversity programs need to go to those people now to ask who they would choose, both as a keynote speaker and for individual workshops – please forward this information to Jason.
FACTC FOCUS (this includes discussion from Friday as well, Mark Doerr)
Mark has this issue of our annual publication ready and circulated it for review. The electronic version will be distributed immediately with the paper copies to follow. He would like to establish the topic for next year’s issue so that we can get back on track with our usual Fall release date.
Provocative topics tend to generate more articles. Several topics were generated such as BA degrees in the two year schools and academic freedom. The topic chosen for this year is: ARE WE MAKING THE GRADE? Grade–inflation, withdrawal from courses to protect GPA, what do grades reflect? High school gpa = best single predictor of college success. What are appropriate grading standards? Do we uphold community standards? How do you grade? Should we grade? Grading, evaluation, assessment. How do we evaluate students, how do they evaluate us? We can ask for student articles as well. What’s fair? Why? Do grades help education? Are grades obsolete? Randy G. presented a commentary by a colleague indicating a lack of support for GPA. Do we have a collegial responsibility? Is there pressure on adjunct/associate faculty to give good grades in order to get good evaluations. Numeric objective versus subjective, quantitative versus qualitative – which approach is to be believed? This should generate a plethora of entries for the next edition.
TO DO: Mark will send out a call for papers. All representatives need to pass it on to faculty on their campuses. Diana will find and distribute the citation for recent UW study on the correlation between grades and evaluations.
FACTC WEBSITE (Jason Clizer and Tom Affholter)
The website is up and available. Please make use of it and mention it to faculty on your campus. It was noted that there is a bulletin board function, but people do not appear to be using it.
TO DO: Diana will send Jason the Fall minutes and campus reports. Mark will send an electronic version of the current FOCUS. Jason and Tom will include a notice about the upcoming Tools for Teaching 3 conference. Tom will update the representative list. All representatives should insure that your college has a link on the college website to the FACTC url: http://factc.org/index.htm.
NEWSLETTER (Jason Clizer)
TO DO: All representatives, please send campus reports to Diana by Friday, 2/25. Diana will edit them and send them on to Jason. Fall reports will go up now. Winter reports will follow.
Adjourn for dinner.
Friday, Feb. 11, 2005
Conversation and continental breakfast.
Welcoming remarks and introductions – Sue Bickley
Randy Nelson, South Seattle Jason Clizer, Columbia Basin
George Neal, South Puget Sound Rick Geist, Renton
Jim Hamm, Big Bend Brad Smith, Skagit Valley
Mark Doerr, Spokane Falls Diane Pelletier, Green River
Steve Byman, Lower Columbia Sybil Weber, Bellevue
Phil Droke, Highline Randy Nelson, South Seattle
Tom Affholter, Spokane Sue Bickley, Yakima
Randy Givens, Vancouver Jim Howe, Lake Washington
Leon Khalsa, Pierce Mike Dodge, Olympic
Diana Knauf, Shoreline Jennifer Wu, North Seattle
Michele Quinn, Seattle Central Bill Moore, SBCTC
Secretary’s Report (Diana Knauf)
Minutes for 10/28/04 were approved.
TO DO: All representatives please send your campus reports to Diana by 2/26 (dknauf@shoreline.edu).
Treasurer’s Report (Diane Pelletier)
Dues have been paid by most member institutions (excepting Bates, Edmonds, Clover Park, Whatcom and Wenatchee). Diane will follow up with schools that have not paid. After deposits for dues and conference fees, as well as withdrawals related to the conference, our balance is $7848.89.
Vice President’s Membership Report (Tom Affholter)
Tom has been concentrating his efforts on Wenatchee and Walla Walla and he would like us to consider holding a meeting on one of these campuses to encourage participation. The hope is to hold our Spring 2006 meeting in Walla Walla.
TO DO: Tom will contact Walla Walla to arrange for a Spring 2006 meeting, hoping to invite the union president and/or faculty senate chair.
President’s Report (Sue Bickley)
Sue’s items were covered in the discussion on Tools for Teaching.
Community College System Update (Bill Moore)
Common Course Numbering Project
Bill introduced Anna Sue McNeil and Loretta Seppanen who presented on the COMMON COURSE NUMBERING (CCN) project. A Powerpoint presentation explained that the goal of the project is to identify the 50-80 most common courses offered in our system.
The Presidents voted to create a system of common course numbering state-wide, and in Spring, the Instructional commission plans to approve a final list with implementation planned for 2008/2009. The implementation committee includes wide representation from many constituencies (registrars, articulation and transfer groups, the Instruction Commission, counselors and advisors). This program will alleviate student confusion about differing names and numbers. Examples in English and Math, the same courses, multiple names and numbers! This will allow easier transfer between institutions within our system. The “U” list will be approved this spring (Uniform courses that are definitely included), while the “O” list will be discussed this summer (Other courses that may be included).
U= universal acceptance of equivalencies (30% of system-wide FTEs)
O= lack of universal acceptance
The project will result in a common course title, department abbreviation and number (4 numbers to distinguish future courses from courses taken before this change is implemented).
Latest version is 1.5 and can be found at:
http://www.sbctc.ctc.edu/education/CommonCourseNumbering.asp
To view the lists your macros need to be set in Excel to medium. The Instruction Commission will be approving the U list in May so all institutions need to be reviewing the spreadsheets. Loretta noted that this project does NOT involve common course description, outline or content.
There will be a Faculty Institute to look at the O list this summer. Interested faculty need to keep an eye out for further announcements.
TO DO: All representatives need to ask your faculty to review the list and send corrections/comments to Loretta Seppanen (lseppanen@sbctc.ctc.edu).
Baccalaureate Programs at Two Year Institutions
Bachelor’s degrees are currently offered in 10 other states (with limited authority, primarily for “applied” degrees OR when there is an unmet need, such as nursing or teacher education, secondary math and science). An SBCTC commissioned study indicates that there are enough BA educational opportunities in eastern Washington and Pierce County, but there isn’t enough in SW Washington, Snohomish and Skagit counties, on the peninsula and the islands.
CC’s and TC’s need to help bridge the gap by offering degrees in very selective areas or by hosting universities on their campuses (Central Washington University’s programs are cited as a good example). Bills are being introduced to produce pilot programs, with additional expenditures required for accommodation of junior level students. All bills currently say “community colleges.”
Bill Moore distributed two reports to those present: one on baccalaureate growth and one on preparing our students for transfer – we do it very well, especially in comparison to other states. We also provide access to 4 year degrees to a very different population than the four year institutions.
Changes in Admission Standards
The HEC Board is recommending changes in the admission standards. Bill distributed a handout covering the changes to those present. Key items include increasing the math requirement from 3 to 4 years (hopefully not completely relying on algebra-calculus track).
For more detailed information please see: http://hecb.wa.gov/
Transition math project update
An update on the Transition Math Project was provided as a handout, but can also be found at: http://transitionmathproject.org/ – What should college readiness be for students? The working draft language of the College readiness Standards have been available for review and widely disseminated since last September; there is a meeting in early March to finalize the language of the standards. You can go online at the website to provide comments if you would like.
Remediation challenge
A report was provided to attendees to highlight challenges facing the system. At the SBCTC website there is a link to the current legislative session (legislative), and one-page brief reports that address issues with which we are dealing in the current session. http://www.sbctc.ctc.edu/
Tuition Waiver Basic Skills Tuition charge
According to a system-wide survey (with 24 of 30 districts responding), some colleges are saying the tuition charge is effecting enrollments, but as enrollments are down system-wide, it is tough to know to what that should be attributed. This issue remains open.
Other Legislative Action to Follow
Substitute Senate Bill 5360, relating to studying performance and funding of running start students; and several bills (see House Bill 1076, Senate Bill 5076) related to expanding dual enrollment (high school and college credit simultaneously) options for high school juniors and seniors available at their local high school rather than on college campuses as with the current Running Start program…
Representation to other organizations
In the past FACTC representatives have attended meetings of the Instruction Commission, as well as other groups such as WACTC. As Bill currently sends us WACTC agendas, we might identify on issues in which it might be helpful for us to weigh in. It was also suggested that we consider interacting with other faculty groups such as WAOE. (Note: the spring 2005 Instruction Commission meeting is set for May 19-20 at Skagit Valley College—next year’s meeting schedule has not been determined yet.)
TO DO: Bill will monitor the Instruction Commission schedule so we can arrange for a representative to attend. Sue will contact the WAC chair to coordinate occasional attendance. Sue will check the WAOE website for information about their upcoming conference in Spokane to see if we might be able to set up a table.
REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION: FACULTY SENATE BYLAWS AND COMMUNICATION WITH YOUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES
TO DO: All representatives – if your institution has a Faculty Senate, please send the URLs for Faculty Senate and Faculty Senate Council Bylaws to the entire group.
Relationships with Boards of Trustees tend to vary from campus to campus. In some cases both senate chairs and federation presidents sit on, or report to the Board.
Student Core Abilities (Mike Dodge)
Olympic is currently reviewing the core abilities expected of graduates. What skills should a student have when they graduate, and how can we best assess them? Various abilities (such as Information and Technology Literacy) were discussed. Green River was cited as an example of a campus that has done this well.
TO DO: All representatives please send Mike either associated documents or links to your campus’ general education outcomes/core abilities/learning outcomes (not required courses).
CAMPUS UPDATES
TO DO: All representatives please send your campus update immediately to Diana at dknauf@shoreline.edu. Diana will send edited versions to Jason for inclusion on the website and in the newsletter.
3:00 pm: Adjournment, see you in Yakima in May.