Meeting & Agendas

Committee Chair Richard Wade welcomed all members and made a few announcements: a. Alexis Sheehy is the committee’s newest member. b. ACC GIS adjunct pool has been expanded. Matt Washburn from TxDOT, Carolyn Defoore from NTT Data, and Laura Chapa from ESRI were hired. c. Full-time faculty Stephanie Long was awarded eFaculty of the year award at ACC.

GIS Department Chair Sean Moran discussed how enrollment is increasing. He showed the current split between classroom, online and hybrid courses. Sean believes enrollment will eventually split to 50% online and 50% classroom. Sean discussed the increase in Level 1 Certificate awards. He stated that Level 2 Certificate awards and AAS degrees have lower numbers but have stayed consistent throughout the life of the GIS program. Sean believes it’s because students can - and do - get a job after getting the Level 1 Certificate. Full-time faculty Sally Holl mentioned that one of her colleagues hired an ACC student over other candidates because the ACC GIS student was the only one that knew ArcGIS Pro. Committee member Jacquelyn Bilbro agreed that her company only hires students that know ArcGIS Pro. Richard added that the last 3 new hires at TNRIS were ACC GIS program graduates and they’re quickly moving through the ranks. Sean also discussed the new GIS Assessment exam. He explained that it was difficult to aggregate the date with the old exam. The new exam is a Google Form, which automatically compiles data that is easy to format. He reiterated that the ACC GIS department adjusts the curriculum based on the assessment results.

Spring semester: Sean Moran explained that the ACC GIS department was more prepared than most other programs at the college. The GIS program was able to move online mostly seamlessly. Sean began discussing the possibility of an online transition with the faculty the week prior to spring break and ensured the faculty were prepared to move to an all online format if necessary. Most of the courses are taught asynchronously with the exception of GEOG 2470 Intro to GIS, but both formats are working well. ACC GIS tutors were already available both in the lab and online during their scheduled shifts so tutors were not affected. Sean assigned ACC GIS Program Assistant Jennifer Black as the Interim Academic Coach to aid students that were struggling with the transition. GIS internships with TNRIS, GLO and CSEC were all able to switch to a remote environment. Sean also explained the Pass/No Pass grading system that will be used in the Spring and Summer semesters. Summer semester: Sean informed the committee that all classroom courses were cancelled and moved them to an online format. Enrollment will be closely monitored and additional sections will be added as necessary. Fall semester: Sean explained that classes will hopefully be returning to the labs with face-to-face instruction by the Fall semester. The GIS department is prepared to move all courses to online format if necessary.

Stephanie Long led participants on a virtual tour of the ACC GIS Facilities at the Highland Learning Campus. Stephanie explained that the new layout is aiming to bring a sense of community. Sean said the Highland campus is focusing on lots of “sticky spaces” for students to hang out.

Sean discussed the recent consolidation of GISC 1391 Independent Study, GISC 2164 Internship, and GISC 2280 Work Study courses into a single GIS Capstone course with the same learning outcomes, curriculum, and deliverables. The change will go into effect in the Fall 2020.

Sally Holl requested feedback from Committee Members on GIS Software (e.g. GlobalMapper, ArcMap, etc.), raster process, and raster analysis skills sought by GIS employers. She wants to ensure ACC GIS students have the skills they need for the workforce. Richard expressed how impressed he was with the course and explained that TNRIS has adopted Global Mapper. Sally also requested feedback regarding which textbook to use for future semesters.

Sean updated Committee Members on the new GISC 1479 Introduction to Geospatial Data course developed over the last year.

Richard asked if the ACC GIS department included any database components in the curriculum. Sean explained that we removed ITSW-1307 Database: Access from our degree plans and created the new course GISC 1479 Introduction to Geospatial Data. Richard also asked if the ACC GIS department has been communicating directly with ESRI about the dashboard side of things. Sean explained that we rely on conference videos. Richard expressed how important dashboards are in the curriculum. Sean polled the committee about continuing to use ArcMap or removing it from the curriculum altogether and teaching all projects using ArcGIS Pro. Richard expressed his opinion that using ArcGIS Pro was the better option instead of ArcMap. Committee Member Emily Cowles from Indeed mentioned that Indeed uses QGIS exclusively. Jacquelyn Bilbro also recommended QGIS and how her company is exploring that option rather than transitioning to ArcGIS Pro. Richard commented that micro courses are the answer to teaching QGIS. Sean promised the committee that the ACC GIS Department will have at least one QGIS project in the curriculum by the end of Spring 2021. Richard and Sean discussed additional micro courses. Sean explained that he’s coordinating with TNRIS about teaching asynchronous online courses. Richard suggested that ACC and TNRIS work together to offer micro courses jointly. Committee Chair Richard Wade expressed his high opinion and gratitude towards the ACC GIS department.