November 8, 2002
HBC 410
1:00-3:00 PM

Minutes

Welcome/Announcements

• Several adjunct faculty members were invited to attend the Developmental Communications Task Force Meetings.  Of those invited, eleven accepted the invitation.

General Information

• Austin Community College Adjunct Faculty Nominee for Teaching Excellence is Shirley Melcher.

• NISOD nominees were sent to Dr. Fluker.  Once the nominees are approved, the Task Force Chair will send an announcement to all task force members.

• "Return Receipts" for Task Force Agenda e-mails are being requested to make sure that everyone is getting the information sent by the Task Force Chair.

• Dean Fluker requested that faculty attend the SACS update on Friday, November 15, 2002 from 9:-- 11:30 am HBC.

• ACC Christmas Party -- December 6, 2002

• On-line submission of grades

• Faculty teaching 8 week classes submitted grades on-line and received passwords and paper versions of the class grades for their sections.

• All faculty will submit grades at the end of the semester.  Check your e-mail and mailboxes for further information from Admissions and Records.

• Faculty Evaluations/Portfolios

• Dr. Fluker's office sent all full and adjunct faculty a letter indicating the need for 1st year, 2nd year, or 3rd year requirements.  If anyone has questions regarding the process, contact Kathy Judge or Dolores Segura.

• The faculty input form is due in February and the form will not be available on-line.  It is a downloadable form (paper version) this year.  All full-time faculty are required to complete the faculty input form.

• ACC Board Meeting -- November 4, 2002 update

• Donetta Goodall distributed information about the Developmental Communications Task Force tot he ACC Board Members regarding retention, new initiatives, cost, and the Developmental Education Updated TASP plan.  Dr. Fonte commented that ACC has an excellent Developmental Education program.  The ACC Developmental Education program believes that all students have the "Right to Succeed".

• On-line full-time faculty timesheets

• All Developmental Communications full-time faculty submitted their first set of e-time sheets on time and the task force chair approved them by the first deadline.

• THECB -- October 28, 2002 Update

• Dolores Segura attended the THECB (Texas higher Education Coordinating Board) update meeting.  The portion on Developmental Education focused primarily on the latest Developmental Math Report.  Those interested can go to the THECB site to review the report.  The THECB will recommend that all Developmental Education programs in Texas use Hunter Boylan's latest book "Best Practices -- What Works!"  The THECB will review how the colleges in the State of Texas use the money for Developmental Education.

NADE, 2003 -- Update

• Mary Leonard gave an update on NADE 2003 after attending the CASP conference in Fort Worth.  At the present time, CONFRON is still in charge of the food and other functions of NADE conference.  The Austin Housing Bureau has absorbed several committee.  However, it is important that the committee chairs of the VIP, Fun Run, Entertainment, and Culteral Diversity continue to work toward finalizing plans for their committees.

• Send your NADE registration material to Kathy Judge as soon as possible.

• The NADE conference is in February 2003.  Several committee chairs gave reports on Entertainment, VIP's, Fun Run, and Cultural Diversity committees.

• Julie Wauchope and the entertainment committee have confirmed several musical venues for the opening reception.

TASP Issues

• At the present time, the THECB is looking at several issues, but the most important is the recent request by the THECB to lower the scores of Reading and Math on the alternative tests.  A study conducted by the OIE at ACC revealed that more than 24 classes of reading would be cut if the new score were adopted.  This means that our paired courses would be in jeopardy of not existing as they are currently.

• Anyone wishing to write letters to the members of the Committee from the THECB should go to the www.THECB.state.tx.us site to get mailing information.

• A motion was made to have the Development Communications Task Force Chair send a letter on behalf of the Task Force tot he Commissioner with data from the current study to oppose the lowering of scores for reading.  The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

• The Developmental Communications Task Force Chair will send the letter before November 24, 2002.

Schedule Section Changes -- Patti Dungan, Laura Ore

• Laura Ore and Patti Dungan requested that additional sections be offered in the spring, 2003 schedule for Developmental Writing.

• After discussing the issue, it was suggested that we see how many classes are full by December and then make a decision if we need to add classes.  The writing committee may need to add sections during the 12 week or 8 wk sessions to accommodate the number of students not getting into classes for the 16-week registration period.

• Cathy Smith and Laura Ore will look at the enrollments and make a decision to add classes by January 10, 2003.

Master Syllabus -- Cathy J. Smith, Laura Ore

• Cathy  Smith reported that Developmental Reading Committee is working on the Master Syllabi for the three reading courses.

• Dorothy Martinez and Anne Ward will have a Master Syllabus ready for the reading faculty to use for the Spring, 2003 semester.

• Laura Ore reported that Developmental Writing has the Master Syllabi ready and they are in the process of posting them to the website.

Committee Reports

• Reading -- Cathy Smith reported that they are piloting the exit criteria for Fundamentals of Reading in the fall semester.

• Writing -- Laura Ore reported that the writing faculty would no longer be using Academic Systems.  They are open to using the system again once the computer glitches have been solved.

• Adjunct Hiring Committee  -- The committee has interviewed many applicants for adjunct reading and writing positions.  At the present time, there are very few classes available for full and adjunct faculty on the eligibility list ant the Task Force requested that we "hold" off on interviewing other applicants.  The Task Force Chair will write Dr. Fluker and ask her to request that the adjunct hiring committee be allowed to stop interviewing until the fall, 2003 semester.

• Assessment/Advising -- Sybil Noack reported that the new Advising Manual is completed and should be on the web by the spring semester.

• Research Initiatives (read the three institutional effectiveness reports distributed at the August 2002 task force meeting for discussion)

• Discussion tabled until the next meeting.

Other

• Developmental Communications Meeting -- The next Developmental Communications Task Force Meeting will be at the Eastview Campus following the General Assembly.

• January 10, 2003 -- EVA --3154-3156 (1:00-3:00PM)