Meeting & Agendas

Pat Recek, MSN, RN (ACC Dean of Health Sciences)

Regina Swearengin, BS, RDMS (Department Chair, ACC Sonography Programs)

Joe Szczytowski, MD (Medical Advisor (DCVS); Non-Invasive Cardiology Austin Heart- Round Rock)

Marcus Lines, MD (Medical Advisor (DMVS); Radiologist Austin Radiological Association)

Janet Barlow, RDCS, RVT, FASE (Program Director, ACC Cardiac Sonography)

Jessica Hejny, BS, RDCS (AS & PE), RVT (ACC Program Director, ACC Vascular Sonography)

Danna Thomas, RCS (ACC Cardiac Sonography Clinical Coordinator)

Louie Garza, RDMS, RVT (ACC Medical Vascular Sonography Clinical Coordinator)

LeighAnn Iselt, RDMS, RVT (Cornerstone OB/Gyn; ACC Medical Sonography Adjunct Faculty)

Ashley Wells, BS, RDCS, RVT (Cedar Park Regional Medical Center, ACC Adjunct Faculty)

Billy McClanahan, RDCS (Cardiovascular Imaging Centers-Clinical Coordinator)

Michael Owen, RDCS, RVT (Cedar Park Regional Medical Center, ACC DCS Graduate 2016)

Will Lindsley, RDMS (AB, OB/GYN, FE), RVT (Ultrasound Educator, St. David’s North Austin Medical Center)

Sherri Lynn, BA, RDMS, RVT (Lead Sonographer, St. David’s South Austin Medical Center)

Emily Rodriguez, RDMS, RVT (Dell Children’s Hospital Lead Sonographer)

Tonna Hollins, RDMS (Manager of Ultrasound Services, St. David’s Women’s Center)

Daniel Polston (Current DCVS Student, class of 2016-18)

Jordan Stubbs (Current DCVS Student, class of 2016-18)

Heather Lawrence (Current DMVS Student, class of 2016-2018)

Rita Dailey, Public Member (Artist in Residence, Whole Foods)

Advisory Committee Members not able to attend Amy Bankowski, RDCS (Cedar Park Regional Medical Center)

Shemirell Robles, RDCS (Metroplex Hospital- Killeen)

Christine Sledge, RVT (Seton Family of Hospitals-Cardiovascular Imaging Manager)

Kim Frost, ACS, RDCS (AE & PE), RVT (Seton Family of Hospitals- Seton Main)

Gabby Cardenas, RDCS, RVS (Seton Family of Hospitals- University Medical Center-Brackenridge)

Tonya Hammond, RDCS, RVT (Seton Family of Hospitals-Seton Northwest)

Jessica Bright, RDCS, RVT (Seton Family of Hospitals-Seton Northwest)

Paul Torres, RDCS, RVT (St. David’s Medical Center- Main)

Seth Grueneberg, RDCS (St. David’s -South Austin Medical Center)

Ricky Rodriguez, RDCS (St. David’s Heart Hospital of Austin)

Kristy Kirchofer, RVS (St. David’s Cardiovascular Imaging Centers- Imaging Manager)

Chris Kountoupis, RDCS (St. David’s Cardiovascular Imaging Centers- Austin Heart South)

David Hope, RDCS (St. David’s Cardiovascular Imaging Centers-Post Oak South)

Lynn McDaniel, RCS, RVS (St. David’s Cardiovascular Imaging Centers-Post Oak South)

Brian Malinowski, RDCS, RVT (St. David’s Georgetown Medical Center)

Robert Foster, Public Member (Toppan Industries)

A. Sharing of DMS and VT sites primarily impacted by sharing of site for both Medical and Vascular placements “Danna” Cardiovascular sites have seen the impact also. Multiple locations have Vascular Students from other programs which limit our “acceptance” to the site for DCS students and Vascular students.

-Other programs on quarter schedules which conflict with ACC semester schedules for placements

B. Some sites repeatedly declining student placements or limiting student placement to one day/week…the day can conflict with lecture schedules

C. ACC Sonography students cannot be placed anywhere…we are required to stay within the ACC service area unless special arrangements can be made (those arrangements are not permanent)

D. Not all types of sonograms/exams are performed at each site so students must not only rotate (which is a good thing) but may be assigned to as many as three different sites during the semester (1 day at each site)

E. Hospitals performing many procedures so students do not get access to routine scans/exams

F. Departments too busy to let students scan; training new hires; student skill level prohibits participation

G. Some departments have “float” or temp sonographers which affect the continuity of learning/education in an already confusing profession

H. The Programs have noted that some sonographers need assistance from the Programs to work effectively with students (lack of employer training for clinical preceptors/instructors)

-The Sonography programs are planning training sessions, PPT presentations, etc. to help clinical sonographers work with students effectively

A.RRC open on Sat. which could increase availability of Sonography Lab on Saturdays

-“Danna”- Only certain areas of building 1000 and 2000 are open on the weekends. With advance notice and approval building 3000 can be open during designated times for the Sonography Open Labs. Requires significant pre-planning.

-Possible evening and weekend clinical rotations for short-term “out rotations” are being explored

C. Faculty and some students will attend SDMS Annual Conference in Dallas this year

D. Outreach to clinical affiliates to strengthen partnerships; approach unused clinical sites for student placements

A. Move ENGL 1300 English Comp I to first semester of curriculum; most applicants/students will have this course completed because all incoming/potential Health Sciences applicants must declare a major of Associate of Science in Pre-Health Sciences

B. Move DSAE 2303 Cardiovascular Concepts to third semester to sequence this course more closely to the remainder of the Vascular Sonography courses and to increase Sonography credit hours in the Summer 1 semester. Students can only receive Financial Aid if they take 6 or more credit hours in a semester, so students receiving Financial Aid will not receive any assistance during the Summer 1 semester. This was an unforeseen effect of the curriculum reorganization required when the State mandated 60 credit hours for AAS degrees.

C. Require DMSO 1210 Introduction to Sonography in first semester of both Programs; this course will contain significant sonographic sectional/relational anatomy as well as an overview of the Sonography profession. The removal of the 3-credit hour Sonographic Sectional Anatomy course due to the mandated curriculum revisions has affected student learning and understanding of the 3-dimensional body.

- Dr. Lines and Heather commented that increasing the sectional/relational education for all Sonography students will be beneficial

D. Removal of HPRS 1206 Medical Terminology from the curriculum; unfortunately even with the exemption to have 65 credit hours in the AAS portion of each Program, requiring all students to take DMSO 1210 and HPRS 1206 is not possible. Medical Terminology teaching will be done in DMSO 1271 Foundations of Sonography and DSAE 1271 Foundations of Echocardiography using programmed learning materials

-Proposed application process would give .5 credit for completion of any Medical Terminology course in high school, college, or other training program; the Medical Terminology taught within the Sonography courses listed above would build on previous knowledge

E. Change of the course designation of DSAE 1291 Special Topics: Foundations of Echocardiography to DSAE 1271, which is a Local Needs number; this removes the confusion resulting when there are two Special Topics courses in the curriculum

F. Regina stressed that the format and total credit hours of each Program will remain the same when the above changes are applied.

G. All members signified approval of curriculum revisions after brief discussions of the changes/revisions

Regina stated that these are ideas for discussion and that changes to the Admissions Process will be finalized by the Programs this summer

a. Applicant’s state 1st and 2nd choice when applying. This would improve the total applicant pool for the Programs and ensure each Program could admit the best qualified applicants

1. Current applicant pool is low this year; Pat confirmed that the entire college is experiencing a reduction in enrollment as well as other Health Sciences programs Dr. Lines: Not sure how that would help, could be more confusing Janet: They will choose their preference and it will be considered but only the top (so many # for that year) scores will be accepted and then divided between the two programs.

Heather stated she felt that she had trouble deciding which program she wanted when she applied for admission; she felt having the applicants select DMVS or DCVS or Either would help

Members at the Round Rock Campus agreed that having a wider choice would be better for applicants and the Programs

b. Reducing the multiplier for the GPA in pre-requisite courses (currently using 10) to slightly even out the points across the Ranking Worksheet; GPA would still be a large part of the total points on the Ranking Worksheet

c. TEAS Test Scores: possible decrease in percentage assigned to total score and adding a percentage from the reading score (as 5% of total and 5% of Reading score). Regina explained that the TEAS test consists of four areas: Reading, Math, Science, and English and Language Usage

1. Regina mentioned that Reading scores seem to be a good predictor in Health Sciences and Pat agreed that there was some evidence of this at other Nursing programs

2. Dr. Lines agreed that Reading scores would probably be good to single out. He asked if there would be a minimum score cutoff and if we are using other testing scores such as SAT; Regina stated that we don’t use SAT or other scores because all of our applicants have at least 15 credit hours of college with any applicants having degrees, even Masters degrees, so a cut-score is too punitive and if under scrutiny might not be defensible. She stated that using the TEAS Reading score could be done, but since we use TEAS as a point-in-time test (applicants take the test only once; they can study for the test) the Programs get a better idea of what the applicant has retained from his/her previous education. Using the combination of total TEAS score and Reading score to comprise that criterion on the Ranking worksheet could give much better information for ranking.

d. Decreased points for completion of Co-requisites “Jordan” the core-requisites should count for something, finishing them early is helpful with the full work load “Heather” and others agreed that completing co-reds helps students focus on Sonography courses Regina stated that the majority of applicants/students have completed almost all co-requisites prior to application either due to having those courses in a previous degree or completing the courses as part of the required major at ACC. All ACC Health Sciences programs applicants must select the Associate of Science in Pre-Health Sciences major and those gen ed courses are within that degree.

Financial aid will not pay for any college courses that are not included in a degree plan. Once an applicant is admitted to a HS program, the HS division changes the student’s major to the appropriate program.

a. Regina stated that many programs are moving towards a more holistic approach to admissions with the inclusion of essay questions that are scored on a standard rubric

-Issues with timing, types of questions, scoring rubric, etc. would have to be resolved; possibly having only the top 30 applicants complete the essay questions in writing

-“Will” stated that he finds sonographers are not able to use computers to write even technical reports, so he felt having the applicants submit their answers on computer (without spell check, grammar fix, etc.) would be best and less time consuming when scoring; he also said he would not be interested in handwriting (grading) but more about their ability to type, master word and formatting;

“Sherri” mentioned worksheets and not being able to interpret handwriting;

Regina stated she could the benefit of each method; she also mentioned that we are using essay questions and technical reports in our courses to help with both word processing and hand-writing

Pat stated that we might need our legal counsel to look over the questions and scoring rubric to avoid issues

Pat asked if there would there be a questions bank, objective to asking questions, Legal issues-should have someone look at the process and questions, so no problems for future; be very thoughtful of questions, rubric for questions,

Having more than one interviewer- fairness;

“several people” yes, more of a panel; “Janet” said yes, absolutely and should assess integrity and select maybe 5 questions in each category;

“Ashley” they need to communicate well versus looking good # wise on paper

Regina expressed concerns with scheduling and how time-consuming doing interviews would be; also if all interviews are not done on the same day, will some applicants give others a “heads-up” about the questions;

several members felt that even if some applicants thought they would be prepared, evaluating the applicants eye-contact, ability to formulate an answer within a short time, cohesiveness of answer, etc. were very important and that the interview panel should be able to discern “buffed-up” answers

Dr. Lines and others felt that there could be a fairness issue of whom interviewed whom;

“Regina” it would be a small portion of the ranking and if done well could be very useful;

Regina asked Jessica if her Program (Univ. of Wisconsin) did interviews and she replied yes, her program did interviews

“Sherri??” how many applicants are there each year?

“Regina” past years 11-75 and this year 49; “Pat” colleges are seeing a decrease over all in admissions

“LeighAnn” Who would be on the panel? Bringing in people from Clinical areas? Will suggested using WebEx to add panel members since CI’s work during the day

Will asked about spatial reasoning?;

“Regina” yes, the USA tests spatial reasoning and hand-eye coordination; the data is fairly good for this portion of the test

“Jordan” it would be better to have the panel instead of the one on one interviews;

Dr. Lines: seems like a long drawn out process, maybe set up scenarios with a group effort, would see personalities like if one dominates and takes over everything

Heather stated that eye contact and comprehension (understanding questions) were important as those are skills needed by sonographers

“Michael”: maybe only interview those with scores below 60 to lessen burden

“Ashley”: maybe a “sorority rush” type of interview process

a. 7:48pm- Pat needed to leave the meeting; students Heather/ Jordan/ Daniel asked to exit the meeting

a. Attrition continues to be over JRC-DMS 20% threshold

Regina/Janet went to the CCI Symposium included “SAS” accommodation issues

JRC was there, no program has been put on probation for attrition as long as they are submitting an action plan,

Janet asked them how to “fix their pitfalls” could they divide out types of withdrawals;

“Janet” we are dealing with many more “mental health issues” than our qualifications allow;

“Danna” are there specific Health Sciences Counselors being assigned that are more equipped to deal with these issues?;

“Regina” Yes,…..

Lyons leaves at 8pm;

“Janet” advising suggestions for improvement, can’t discourage even if we see flags, can only state this will be difficult for you since you did poorly in English (or whatever), this is a strenuous program with lots of studying, beneficial to devote more time to study, working during program might not be realistic, we spoke with Sheryl Goss (JRC-DMS Board) about being able to separate out issues for types of withdrawals

Regina noted that all of the changes that are proposed are intended to help the most qualified applicants enter the program (and help potential applicants decided if Sonography is the right fit) and students be successful. Unfortunately, it can take several years for the results of changes to prove helpful or not.

Thanks to all that attended. More discussion about changes to the Admission Process will occur in the next month. The minutes and PPT will be sent out to all members.

Eastview: Dr. Lines, Regina Swearengin, Leigh Ann Iselt, Jessica Hejny, Luis Garza, Will Lindsley, Sherri Lynn, Pat Recek, Heather Lawrence

Round Rock: Janet Barlow, Danna Thomas, Billy McClanahan, Ashley Wells, Michael Owen, Jordan Stubbs, Daniel Polston

Online: Dr. S Szczytowski, Tonna Hollins, Emily Rodriequez, Rita Dailey

Advanced Imaging, ADC, ARA, BB Imaging, Baylor Scott & White, Cedar Park Regional MC, CTMC, Cornerstone OB/Gyn, Heart Hospital, Metroplex (Killeen), Dr. Darby’s office (OB/Gyn), St. David’s Hospitals, St. David’s CVIC, and Seton Hospitals

A. 100% pass rate on all ARDMS exams for 2016 DCS and DMS December graduates (noted that there is a typographical error on the PPT slide as year should be 2016, not 2017)

-12 DMS and 7 DCS graduates

B. 2017 VT graduates have 100% pass rate on ARDMS VT exam (12/12)

C. 2015 outcomes are posted on Sonography website as required by CAAHEP and JRC-DMS

D. Regina reminded the members that there will not be any Sonography graduates until August of 2018 due to the curricula changes effective Fall 2016

-Some members expressed surprise; Regina stated that this is the only year that ACC will not have DMS and DCS graduates because of the changes to the curricula

-Will asked if future graduating classes will be yearly in August and Regina confirmed that schedule

-Regina also reminded the members that all students will be graduating with Cardiac and Vascular OR Medical and Vascular…Vascular is no longer optional

A. Surveys will be sent out during December of 2017 for December 2016 graduates; several graduating classes may be surveyed using a Google survey to capture more data from graduates

-Previous graduate surveys are 4 or 5 on a Likert scale in most categories; no results below the cut-score of 3

-Some employers commented on graduate work-ethic and other soft skills as being less than desired to poor

 The Programs will continue to stress professional behaviors and employer expectation

 The Programs have noted student comments about observation of sonographer non-professional behaviors and/or attitudes during their clinical rotations

 Regina stated that some graduates revert to old attitudes and behaviors once they are not held to the standards, rules, regulations and requirements of the Sonography Programs and that students sometimes do as they see, not as they are taught

A. 6 DCVS and 12 DMVS students are beginning their 3rd semester of their Programs and are attending clinical one day/week. This is primarily an observational rotation with weekly assignments to focus the students attention on specific areas and practices in the clinical sites

B. Classes will begin their 2nd year of their Program in Fall of 2017 and will be attending clinical rotations 2 days/week and another day on-campus for Vascular clinical

C. The bulk of the Senior Student clinical rotations hours are in the Spring and Summer with attendance at clinical sites 4 days/week in the final semester of the Program

-Clinical rotations will include Cardiac and Vascular sites OR Medical and Vascular sites so that the students continue to hone their clinical skills in all of their Program specialties

D. Regina again stated that graduation will be at the end of the summer semester beginning in 2018

A. College continues to refine the Guided Pathways process for incoming ACC students

-10 Areas of Study (health science is one area of study) that conduct group information sessions, have assigned Advisors and Counselors, and are intended to track new ACC students and guide students till the student is admitted to a program; once a student is admitted to a Program, the Program faculty take over the advising and guiding along with referrals to an Area of Study Counselor as needed

-Regina noted that the process has not been very smooth especially with Counselors; the previous Health Sciences Counselor has been relocated into another building but it accessible to HS students

B. ACC is changing the website appearance and platform; all Health Science Programs will be revised

C. Sonography is currently updating and revising Program information in the current website which will be transferred to the new website format in the future (possibly by Fall of 2017)

-The online information session Sonography portion has been expanded from a single PPT presentation to 3: one on the Profession in general, one on the ACC Sonography Programs, and one on the ACC Sonography Programs Application and Admission process

-Regina stated that the expanded and more detailed PPT presentations for the online information session will answer nearly all potential applicant questions and reduce the amount of time spent clarifying misunderstandings and misinformation obtained from various sources

A. Jessica Hejny, BS, RDCS, RVT (full-time faculty_ is now the Vascular Sonography (Technology) Program Director/Concentration Coordinator. She is teaching at both the Eastview and Round Rock Campuses. She is expecting her first child so other faculty will need to cover her courses while she is out for maternity leave. Plans are in place to utilize current faculty and hourly positions to fill the gaps.

B. Randy Bobbitt is in the hiring process for Adjunct Faculty so that he can teach an Intro to Pediatric Echocardiography in Fall of 2017. Randy is an experienced Pediatric Echocardiographer and has been a guest lecturer in a previous ACC DCS course.

C. Purchase of the SonoSim products to replace the UltraSim simulator; UltraSim is still working so DMS and VT will continue to use it as long as possible

D. Additional cases for the DCS Vimedix simulator were obtained; hope for funding to obtain more cases in the next budget cycle

E. DCS is using a new product: Echo Test and Teach. Janet shared information about this product that allows the DCS faculty to upload images for student review and analysis outside of classroom and lab hours. Some technical problems had been encountered but the product is now working well and students will purchase access to it through the ACC bookstore

E. A new Parks Flo-Lab and upgrades to the current Parks Flo-Lab have been purchased to replace the broken Viasys unit (Viasys is out of business and the unit could not be repaired); each campus will have an updated Parks for Vascular teaching and student use

F. In discussion for the remodel of the Sonography Lab at RRC to add more scanning stations and obtain a functional, dedicated Sonography classroom that is connected to the Sono lab. It remains to be seen if the budget for the project will be sufficient to accommodate all requests. Project will start in late Spring and continue through Summer of 2018; this will impact the use of the RRC Sonography Lab for DCS and VT

G. Possible additional clinical sites at Seton Heart Institute, Seton Maternal Fetal Medicine and Baylor Scott & White in Lakeway, Cedar Park, and Pflugerville. Pat confirmed that our current affiliation agreements with Seton and Baylor S&W should cover these sites for Sonography placements

H. Sonography will begin using Trajecsys online clinical record keeping for the Junior (incoming) students in Fall of 2017. Students will pay a one-time fee (Financial Aid should cover this fee) for the full two years of the Program.

-Plan to begin with using Attendance feature and add other features and processes as we become more familiar with the system. Evaluations may be done using Trajecys once faculty explore this function. The system is completely customizable to the types of evaluations and forms currently used by the Programs.

I. Re-activation of the local Medical-Vascular Ultrasound Society (Texas Ultrasound Society)

Congratulations to Michael Owen RDCS, RVT for receiving 2nd place in the Echovation Challenge 2017 held during the American Society of Echocardiography conference in Baltimore earlier this year. Michael develop an app for iPhone and Android: Diastolic and Valvular Function in Seconds. A big round of applause from all attendees! Michael competed with physicians and businesses for this award. During his acceptance remarks, Michael credited his passion for Echocardiography to his instructors and especially Janet Barlow. We are very proud of his accomplishment and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. ACC Marketing will most likely contact Michael to feature his accomplishment.

Congratulations to Kathleen Farmer, current DMVS student, who received the first ever ACC Alumni Network Scholarship. Kathleen was featured in a story posted by Marketing on the ACC website.

A. CAAHEP Self-Study for re-accreditation for all Programs is due in September of 2017; will likely have a site visit in Spring of 2018

B. CAAHEP Standards for accreditation of Sonography Programs are out for review and comment; possible changes to Learning Concentrations: separating ABD/Superficial and OB/Gyn; possible changes to competencies

-Most proposed changes are good and make the Standards more professional and specific

-No date posted for implementation

C. State of Texas mandate for Program of Study in process; still unclear as to expectations and impact for Sonography Programs

-Most likely will require a common process for students who want to transfer from one college to another

-This process is already in place at each Program but will need to be a standardized format to meet the State’s requirement

-A standardized process will be submitted to all Sonography programs for adoption D. Campus Carry for Community Colleges goes into effect in Fall of 2017

-Pat shared ACC’s process for coming up with exclusion zones and mentioned several zones that will apply to Health Sciences rooms and campuses (such as daycare facilities, Sonography labs, Dental Hygiene lab, conference rooms where high-stakes student conferences are held, etc.). Pat noted that faculty offices are not excluded and she stated that Health Sciences faculty that meet with students to discuss issues, progress, dismissal should be held in a HS Dean’s conference room. The ACC Board of Trustees has not finalized the exclusion zones at this time.