Meeting & Agendas

A motion to approve last year’s minutes was made by Randy and seconded by Liz S.

Provided an update on completing the Prevention course and stated the course will be offered for college credit through Virtual College of Texas (VCT), and through distance learning. There was an “Open House” held at HBC introducing the new Certificate in Addictions Counseling for Criminal Justice professionals interested in specializing in substance abuse counseling. One student has expressed interest in the Certificate thus far; there is also a great need for CCJPs. The Human Services website has been doing well. Since its beginning, there have been less phone calls regarding inquiries, especially from students. Announcements are being posted and updated. Discussion was held on NOHS certification. It is presently being reviewed by an attorney. Vicki announced a national exam for Human Services credentialing is being developed. Non-Human Services majors will also be able to sit for the exam. The University of North Texas now has a Human Services degree program. Springfield College has the largest Human Services program and is going into Houston. Initially, there was one level of examination for all degrees, allowing certification if the test is passed. There will be grandfathering of faculty who teach Human Services courses. Fees are paid to the national organization. The Council of Standards is up for accreditation. Vicki handed out information regarding a scheduled conference to be held in April of 2008 at St. Edward’s University.

The Ethics online course will be offered in Fall of 2008. Liz C. will post it onto Blackboard, and both Rick and Liz are working on the content. It is the last course in the Criminal Justice Certificate program, allowing the entire program to be available online. Liz obtained additional materials from the publisher and is working on making it interactive for students. Sandra asked about different ethics courses for both Criminal Justice and Prevention. ACC has made a real effort to help Deaf students transition to ACC by providing ESOL for those students. There are a lot of TSD high school students enrolled at ACC, however, their skill levels are not good. Deaf students do receive free tuition in the state of Texas, but because of their level of skills they are placed in developmental courses, which prevent them from having a lot of options in taking “credit” courses. ACC’s goal in offering a new certificate geared toward paraprofessional training of Deaf students is to allow Deaf students to be able to take credit courses, and to have marketable skills they can use. TSD is excited about having their former students return and becoming employed as Teacher Aids, Recreation Assistants, and Dormitory staff. Many students struggle with math. OSD Counselors initially used to waive students from taking math courses, and have since tried working with the Math department to find a better math requirement standard for students with disabilities. The Math department finally decided students could take a science course instead. Motion by Randy to allow a math or science course to fulfill the Math requirement; seconded by Carrie. Carrie inquired as to having Interns volunteer at the Texas Runaway Youth Hotline. Eventually, Human Services will move to RVS (Riverside Campus). The department was scheduled to move two years ago. Construction of the parking garage will start soon. There will be 300-400 parking spaces (to be split between students and faculty. The plan is to purchase additional land to combine with the Skills Center property to extend the parking lot. The old gym is being remodeled and there will be offices, and classrooms. The idea is to get all leased space faculty into non-leased space, with all work being completed within two years. The ACC Barnes and Noble Bookstore will also be in the parking garage area. The Human Services program is doing well. Students are also doing well and moving on to St. Edward’s University. Vicki reported students are going on into graduate programs.

Liz S. shared information about the Austin American-Statesman article on mental health.

Motioned to adjourn at 10:35am; Rick seconded.