Meeting & Agendas

Vanessa welcome everyone.

Measurable objectives for use with QM were developed in order to facilitate certification. Templates for alignment tables were also developed. Blackboard-based challenge exams were We interviewed one candidate for an adjunct German position and hired Carola Lofton, who was recommended by Bradley Barr. Bradley is pursuing higher education and not available to teach for us at this time.

NThe applications for the Foreign Language Honor Society will be due October 21, 2024, this semester. Please tell interested students to email Julie Kleinhans Hooks (jkleinha@austincc.edu). (We did not add any new members last spring.)othing to report on faculty problems.

We welcome Carola Lofton as our newest German instructor. Tim Altanero agreed to serve as Carola’s mentor. Noting to report on outreach programs.

• Summer Software Day was held on July 26th, and a number of workshops of general interest to all faculty were included. • Attendance at a growing number of college wide workshops and presentations is now recorded by the college and entered in Workday for us. For most activities, we still need to enter them ourselves in the Workday system. • Remember that we are all required to complete mandatory trainings. Active Shooter Training was added this year, and it must be completed each year. • Here is a list of the required trainings and the frequency we must complete them. • Title IX and Sexual Misconduct (every two years) • Discrimination and Harassment (every two years) • ADA Awareness (every two years) • Cybersecurity (every year)

Two study abroad programs were offered from the WOLA department during the summer of 2024 – Japanese 1412 in Osaka, Japan, and Spanish 2311 and 1300 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Japanese 1412 program to Osaka, Japan, was so popular there were two programs offered during the summer of 2024 – the 1st and 2nd 5 week sessions! Emi Schuster was the faculty lead for that program. There were 13 students and 9 students respectively who participated. Here is an activity the students participated in from the program. In 2025, the program for Japanese 1412 will take place in Tokyo, Japan. The Spanish 2311 and 1300 courses took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina with side trips to Uruguay and Iguazú Falls. Jan Emberson was the faculty lead for the program. There were 9 students who participated. It was a beautiful group. Students were very unified and happy about the trip. Below are some pictures from the 2024 program: John McMinn-Reyna shared that 1411 and 1412 courses for all languages except Latin were approved to be put on the Core Curriculum. Sample assessments for Latin were not ready in time for the application deadline. We will submit Latin for addition to the Core Curriculum this year. John thanked all of the instructors who provided the information needed for the application.

Scott Gibby discussed the upcoming change to Blackboard Ultra. Scott has been trained to train others and he proposed holding training for the WOLA. Faculty will need to figure out the best way to copy their current courses as modules that students complete in Blackboard Ultra. Everything switches to Ultra in the summer of 2025, so Faculty are advised to start adapting their courses in the spring. Mariela Prato-Williams explained that four-hour trainings are already available in a variety of formats.

Vanessa Lazo suggested creating Challenge Exams for native speakers allowing them to place out of multiple semesters with one exam. This is especially needed for languages that do not have a CLEP exam. Vanessa said she would like to ask for a lower fee for the exam. Scott Gibby pointed out that they are working on automated Blackboard Challenge Exams. Michael Hydak asked if ACTFL had exams we could use. It was proposed to check with Admissions and Records to see if we can set up exams giving credit for multiple semesters, and to create a pilot program for a language. Action taken: It was approved to proceed setting up a pilot program. Evaluation: Talia Loaiza and Mariela Prato-Williams shared information about the new evaluation process. Portfolios will stay on the current schedule. Evaluations for Fall 2024, Spring 2025, and Summer 2025 will be submitted in September of 2025. There will be a workshop explaining the new process on October 4.

Vanessa Lazo shared that there are often inquiries about whether we plan to offer Portuguese classes in the future at ACC, and she asked if the Department should add it. Faculty felt that many people in Austin would be interested in learning Portuguese. Action taken: It was approved to apply to add Portuguese, 1411, 1412, 2311, and 2312.

. Remember the four pillars of the Theory of Change: 1. starting strong, 2. enrolling full time, 3. meeting basic needs, 4. belonging and connecting. The four values are: 1. compassion, 2. courage, 3. joy, 4. Yes! . All HR questions now should be placed in a MOJO ticket. Vanessa shared how to create a MOJO ticket. created for Spanish 1411 and 1412 and will be piloted this semester. Scott Gibby was trained to lead Blackboard Ultra training in anticipation of the switch to Blackboard Ultra for Summer of 2025.

• The Arabic program at Austin Peace Academy (APA) continues with Arabic I for Fall 2024. There are currently 25 students enrolled. • Our new French III Dual Credit section at San Dominic Savio Catholic High School was cancelled in August. • ECHS sections in Spanish I continue to be offered at the following campuses: EGN, SAC, SGC, and RVS. • One ECHS Spanish II section is being offered at SGC.

The minutes from the February 2, 2024 Department Meeting were reviewed. Action taken: The minutes were approved without corrections.

Nothing to report on Eligibility. The new College-wide Evaluation System will kick off this 2024-2025 Academic Year. The Handbook and the Rubric are ready and will be turned into our Dean by October 1st. You can access them at the following websites: Handbook : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M63lp7SxLxfJdkQqRLY1ga_N2nBPgUU6v8V9zdRk6Jg/edit#heading=h.k3hqazqbjje0 Rubric: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OoT2TCOyRmvBxtLBuUU2pfWAeihUwXYFXuwJU3yJ7TA/edit#heading=h.62o2ht1ln6ql Thank you very much to those who collaborated on this project. The Evaluation Committee will hold another informational meeting on October 4th from 10:30-11:30 AM via Zoom for those who want to attend.

We have three active adjunct searches - one each for Korean, Japanese, and Spanish. The Korean position has been open for some time, so if anyone knows of a qualified applicant, please encourage them to apply. We interviewed several candidates for a dual-credit Spanish adjunct, and did not find a suitable candidate. However, we hired Hector González as a potential online instructor, although we have no current need. He stated that he may move to Austin from Brownsville and, if so, would be a good candidate for teaching dual-credit.

• Workday does not show us when we are due to complete those three trainings, so we need to keep track of it ourselves. You can find information about when you last completed a training in Workday, and then follow the information about how often it must be completed to know when it’s due again. As of September 9th, there is a note in Workday that the Cybersecurity Training is not yet available this year. The note says we will be notified when it is available. • If you have ideas or suggestions for additional workshops, please let the Professional Development Committee know.

• Due to the uptick of close to 15% in enrollment from last year, several sections were added to the Fall 2024 offerings towards the end of the summer. • We are offering an additional section of Korean I and French I this fall thanks to the uptick in enrollment. • This is a gentle reminder that the college has moved to a baseline schedule in the past year. Courses that reach the 65% fill threshold will be shielded and will automatically appear on the schedule. Other courses that do not reach the 65% will need to be added back to the schedule as needed. • Our department will continue to offer the following scheduling options: DLS, HYD/HYC, FLX, LEC, and ONL. o DLS - Distance Learning Synchronous o HYD/HYC - Hybrid Distance and Hybrid Classroom o FLX - Hyflex Classroom o LEC - Lecture classes that typically meet twice a week o ONL - Online sections without any required virtual meetings

Rosa Dávila is on sabbatical this year working on the Spanish for Spanish Speaker courses. Textbook Inventory Spanish 1411, 1412, 2311, and 2312 switched to the new edition of Vistas. Vistas, 7th ed., Supersite + Websam, Blanco, Vista Higher Learning: ISBN 13 : 8220130919306 (digital access only) ISBN 13 : 9781543395174 (loose leaf text + digital access)

International Night 2024 was a success last Spring. It was an evening filled with music, performances, and delicious international finger foods. We would like to thank all the professors who participated in the event, as well as those who attended. We are in discussion with the Study Abroad office to hold the event in the fall during International Week. Since we won't have enough time to put it together this fall, we might skip International Night this academic year.

The Committee Reports that had been sent to faculty prior to the Department Meeting were presented for approval. Action taken: The Committee Reports were approved to be added at the end of these minutes.

Vanessa Lazo asked faculty who want to be added to or removed from committees to let her know.

New adjunct faculty Héctor González (Spanish) and Carola Lofton (German) were introduced and welcomed. Ramiro Juárez and Marcel Pons Ventura were congratulated on their new full-time positions. Ramiro is a new full-time Spanish instructor and Marcel is an instructional associate for the Honors Program. Dean Antonio (Toño) Ramirez introduced himself to the department. He shared that he is originally from the South Bay area in California, and his main area of study was moral philosophy. He studied Hebrew and Spanish, and he is a big proponent of linguistic studies and world languages.

Liberal Arts Assistant Deans Jorge Lynch and Sharon Goh discussed the Faculty Advising Program. Faculty Advisors have instructional experience and have a deeper understanding of subject matter and related areas such as professional opportunities. They help students to clarify core values, discover majors, career pathways, and strategies for success. They host outreach events, share transfer information, partner with departments, and do degree checks. Students can sign up for an appointment on the Faculty Advising Program’s site.

. The Asian American and Pacific Islander Cultural Center will host a Harvest Moon Concert on September 14 at the Highland Recital Hall. Lynn Lau shared that there were no more seats available. . Study Abroad for 2025 will include Japanese 1412, led by Emi Schuster in Japan, and Spanish 2311 and 1300, led by Jan Emberson in Argentina. . Todd Phillips and Vanessa Lazo will give presentations about their sabbaticals last year at a time still to be determined.

This semester, we will be assessing WRITING in 1411 classes (Fall 2024). In the Spring 2025 semester, we will be assessing CRITICAL THINKING in 1412 classes, (which will also count as Reading Comprehension). In addition, we will also assess Personal Responsibility, Social Responsibility, and Visual Communication in 1411 class in Spring 2025. In the Spring 2024 semester, we assessed 1412 Reading Comprehension. These are the percentages of students that received a score of 80% or higher on the reading comprehension assignment (the goal is to have at least 80% of students receive a score of 80% or higher): Chinese 1412: 75% received 80% or higher, French 1412 – 81.8% received 80% or higher, German 1412 – 94% received 80% or higher, Italian 1412 – 77.7% received 80% or higher (summer 2024), Japanese 1412 – 87.5% received 80% or higher, Latin 1412 – 85.7% received 80% or higher, Russian 1412 – 87.5% received 80% or higher, Spanish 1412 – 85.3% received 80% or higher. Also, in Spring 2024, we assessed 1411 Visual Communication in French and Spanish, and Social Responsibility and Personal Responsibility in Spanish 1411. Visual Communication in French 1411 – 100% of students received 80% or higher, Visual Communication in Spanish 1411 – 78.5% of students received 80% or higher, Personal Responsibility in Spanish 1411 – 74.8% of students successfully completed the assignment, Social Responsibility in Spanish 1411 – 96% of students that completed the assignment received 80% or higher.

The State Coordinating Board approved putting all 1411 and 1412 language classes except Latin 1411 and 1412 on the Core Curriculum. The sample assessments for the application for Latin 1411 and 1412 were not ready in time to include them in the application last year. We will be applying to have them added this year.