Meeting & Agendas

Called to Order: Assessment and Advising Committee at 9:00 am November 20, 2020

Discussion: The Blackboard Early Alert (EA), is currently operating through the Blackboard Retention Center, with IT and TLED, coordinating with technical support. One hundred faculty teaching gateway courses volunteered to participate. There were a few technical hurdles at the onset that have been worked out. Observers are connected to the students and messages are reaching the correct academic guidance specialists. Current data shows 94 completed Early Alert outreaches. We will not know the full outcome until the end of the semester. An opinion survey will be sent to staff, faculty, and possibly students. With that data, a decision will be made about how Early Alert will be scaled up in the spring semester. FY 18 THECB Cohort: Chancellor Rhodes’ goal is to reach a 20% graduation rate for the FY2018 Cohort, who must complete a credential by summer 2021. There are approximately 1800 students in the cohort and roughly 361 students needed to obtain a credential to meet the goal. One hundred and twenty-five students have already graduated. Success Coaches, Support Center Advocates, and other academic guidance staff, are tracking the progress of 337 near completers, to meet that goal. Including reverse transfer opportunities. Decisions/Actions: As teams continue to case manage these students, the goal is to involve instructional deans, and department chairs, in holistic engagement support of students in their programs. The groups will get a head start on the FY19 Cohort, and share that information with the departments.

Discussion: - Return to Campus Plan for Testing: - The three campuses are RRC, HLC and HYS, opening M-F from 8-5. Two sessions will be offered at each campus, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. RRC and HLC will each have 21 seats in the morning and afternoon. HYS will have 7 seats in the morning and afternoon. Students must make an appointment to test. Testing will be open to any student that wants to take the TSI on campus. Decisions/Actions: The students will provide personal items, such as, pencils, and water. The campus will order additional masks, hand sanitizer, covers for both the keyboard and the mouse, and we will purchase the materials to mark the floors for social distancing. The campus will provide the cleaning materials, for desks, and plexiglass separators. Items will be cleaned between sessions. OSHA Safety protocols will be followed.

Discussion – TSI alt. place. waiver & TSI2 benchmarks –The Alternative Placement Waiver on student records, are in the final stages of testing. There are four codes to identify the students, CPL – College Placement Level, CRQ – Corequisite Placement, GCL – GED College Placement level, and GRQ – GED Corequisite Placement. These codes will be placed in XADS for either Reading/Writing, Math, or for both. XTOV and Degree Map notes should still indicate how placement was made, i.e. HS transcript information or GED, as well as which subject area(s) the waiver is applied. Enrollment Service’s staff and Advisors, will be trained on the placement process. TSIA 2.0 - The benchmarks were approved on October 22nd. There are two College Readiness Classification (CRC) tests - English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) + the Essay (reading and writing integrated to one test) and Math. There is only one diagnostic test (48 multiple choice items) in each area given if the CRC does not meet the benchmark. The Math CRC includes 20 multiple choice questions, and the ELAR CRC has 30 multiple choice question. ELAR benchmarks to show college-readiness: ELAR CRC = > 945 and Essay = > 5; or ELAR CRC < 945 and Diagnostic level = > 5 and Essay = > 5. Math benchmarks to show college-readiness: Math CRC = > 950; or Math CRC < 950 and Diagnostic level = 6. Decisions/Actions: TSI 2.0 benchmarks -. The test will be valid for 5 years from the test date. The launch date is set for January 11, 2021. We are in the preliminary stages of working with IT to prepare Colleague for the new TSIA 2.0 scores. A new placement chart will be introduced, followed by a meeting on December 4th for approval from the department. The webinar was just posted today, https://youtu.be/I7VvdyqMU9o

Discussion: – Update on Adult Education Assessment – Works closely with the Assessment Center, post-COVID to assess students through CASA and TSI. To date, there has been 2000 ESL students orally tested remotely through a system developed by the department with the Best Plus Test, which allows the department to use a phone that limits the barriers for the ESL students. HSC and some of the other programs for College Path, PREP, and Career Pathway, are also required to CASA test. Since July 1st, there has been approximately 670 students with a remote system online. Some TSI testing of 100 students was completed. In order for the college to continue the program with Texas Workforce, which is governed by Adult Ed, we had to pre-impose test. Decision/Actions: Continuing to improve the system. The Adult Ed population does tend to have more equity issues. Tracking is done to determine the number of students unable to test due to technology (Wi-Fi) or not having a device. The data indicated that 17% of the students tracked were experiencing difficulties. iPads where issued with the assessment already added.

Discussion: - Return to Campus Plan – The CEA President received notification from the Faculty Senate that some members of the staff are not prepared to return to campus. There appears to be an equity gap which could be harmful to the people needing the most support. Members of the Back to Campus Committee, were not kept abreast of decisions made regarding which areas would be moving back to campus i.e. Assessment. These decisions appear to contradict what Dr. Rhodes has told the associations. Decision/Actions: Back to Campus plans appear to suggest that people need to return to campus versus continuing to successfully complete their task remotely, even in light of a pandemic. The return to campus is being presented as an equity concern. However, it may negatively impact those designed to help. A possible solution could be to request volunteers to return to campus.

Discussion: - eStaffing – ASAC, is looking at the Administrative Rules for eStaffing, which determines how adjuncts are assigned, classes. Preferences are entered, the classes are offered, and the adjuncts can accept or decline. This system is considered a widely reported problem among adjuncts. Decision/Actions: The Adjunct Faculty Association requested ASAC to look into eStaffing. The Shared Governance Committee will review the Administrative Rules, in order to improve the process for adjuncts.

Meeting Adjourned: 10:50 am Next Meeting Date: Friday, February 26, 2021 Location: Zoom Meet