Meeting & Agendas

Steve Schwelling, the Austin Community College (ACC) GIS Advisory Committee Chair, took attendance. Michael Chamberlain was not present. Mr. Schwelling also welcomed committee members, faculty, and introduced Rhonda Little as the new GIS Administrative Assistant.

Mr. Moran updated the Committee on growing enrollment and trends. See the attached document for the complete presentation. In summary, Mr. Moran stated that enrollment is going up; students are being hired as interns and GIS professionals; ACC GIS is incorporating recent industry trends in course curriculum (e.g. cloud computing and crowd sourcing); and ACC is assessing student comprehension of Program-Level Student Learning Outcomes (PLSO). Mr. Moran described four general student cohorts enrolled in GISC courses, including: students with a high school degree pursuing a certificate or degree; students enrolled in a four year university pursuing a certificate; students recently graduated from a four year university pursuing a certificate; and existing professional who are retraining or seeking additional training. Dr. Mary Beth Booth described students in GEOG courses as having more diverse interests, many of which are seeking GIS skills, but are not interested in a GIS certificate or degree. Mr. Moran discussed the effort to incorporate cloud computing into GISC 2459 Web-Enabled GIS and GISC 2479 Geospatial Data Management. The effort was funded by an Amazon Education Grant for $2,500 and a Perkins Grant for $6,500. The total bill was a little over $10,000 with a small cost overrun resulting from the desire to keep student projects running during the last two weeks of the Fall Semester. The Perkins Grant and ACC GIS budget will pay for the approximately $1,000 cost overrun. Mr. Moran suggested there are strategies learned from this initial effort that could reduce cloud computing cost in future semesters. Dr. Booth described how she utilizes cloud computing service ArcGIS Online in support of GEOG 2470 Introduction to GIS. Her students submit projects and homework via ArcGIS Online. Students love being able to upload homework and it significantly reduces ACC’s printing costs. Recent changes to ArcGIS Online’s pricing model require credits for some services, but not uploading projects to group folders. She suggested closely monitoring credits consumed as more instructors incorporate ArcGIS Online into their curriculum. Committee Member Devon Humphrey suggested utilizing ACC’s existing Microsoft SQL Server license, rather than an Amazon license, to reduce the overall costs of cloud computing. Mr. Moran suggested that the current pricing model is too expensive to create ArcGIS Desktop cloud computing instances for all students (as an alternative to installing ArcGIS Desktop on their home computers). Mr. Moran also suggested that Amazon is supportive of ACC’s efforts to incorporate cloud computing and encouraged instructors to allow students to create their own virtual computers. Mr. Moran concluded his update with a summary of the GIS Capstone course and its role in utilizing a semester-long project and a new competency exam to assess ACC GIS. He noted that five GIS Capstone students have now completed the exam with an average score of 84%. The ACC GIS Discipline Assessment Cycle Plan states a target average score of 80%. Committee Members Steve Schwelling and Michael Ouimet expressed appreciation for the GIS PLSO’s and assessment exam. Mr. Ouimet highlighted ACC’s ability to teach students what they need to hit the ground running.

Mr. Moran began by describing the Master Syllabi checklist and acknowledging Dr. Booth’s effort to create the original master syllabi for GEOG 2470 Introduction to GIS, GEOG 2471 Advanced Spatial Analysis in GIS, and other GEOG courses. Mr. Moran stated that he used the GEOG 2470 master syllabus as a template for the GISC master syllabi. Dr. Booth added that the original master syllabi were required by ACC about 10 years ago, but not all departments created them. Mr. Moran described the most substantive master syllabi update as the inclusion of the Workforce Education Course Manual (WECM), Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM), and Secretary Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) competencies as student learning outcomes. ACC Adjunct Instructor Teresa Howard commented that the master syllabi are very helpful for faculty. Dr. Booth added that faculty must be very clear when stating policies in their syllabi (e.g. Students with Disabilities, Withdrawal Policy, etc.). Having ACC approved language in the master syllabi is very helpful, but can bloat your syllabus. Her original 2-page syllabus is now 17 pages. The Committee took a break for members to collect their lunch before proceeding with the next agenda item.

Dr. Booth updated the Committee on GEOG 2471 Advanced Spatial Analysis in GIS. She summarized the differences between GISC workforce courses and GEOG academic courses. She then described the history of the GEOG and GISC courses, beginning in 1988 when Clint Davis was the only full-time ACC Geography instructor. ACC hired Dr. Booth to create the GEOG 2470 Introduction to GIS course and later the GEOG 2471 Advanced Spatial Analysis in GIS course. Texas State agreed to accept both courses as academic transfer courses (i.e. unique needs courses). The status of GEOG 2470 and 2471 as academic transfer courses must be approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) every few years. The approval process has become more frequent and onerous. San Antonio College originally had five academic GIS courses that have been reduced to zero over time. All of San Antonio College’s courses are now offered as workforce, not academic, GIS courses. Dr. Booth then described the more recent process for seeking the THECB’s approval to offer GEOG 2470 and 2471 as academic transfer courses for another three years. ACC was able to make a strong case for approving GEOG 2470, but had a weaker case for approving GEOG 2471. Over the summer, Dr. Booth met with Committee Member Dr. Alberto Giordano. Dr. Giordano is also the new Texas State University (TSU) Geography Department Chair. Dr. Giordano explained that TSU students can no longer even take the TSU equivalent for GEOG 2471. As a result, it was more difficult to make a compelling case for approving GEOG 2471 as an academic transfer course. In December, the THECB approved ACC’s request to include GEOG 2470 as an academic transfer course, but denied our request for GEOG 2471. ACC is now the only community college in Texas that teaches a GIS academic course. Dr. Booth stated that ACC can only offer GEOG 2471 a limited number of times to provide students seeking the GIS AA Degree an opportunity to compete the course. The Social Science Task Force will consider this issue along with discontinuing the GIS AA Degree at their next meeting scheduled for the following Friday. Dr. Booth believes that discontinuing the GIS AA Degree will reduce confusion regarding GIS awards and how courses transfer to four-year colleges in Texas. Mr. Moran suggested that he would hold off submitting the minutes for this meeting to include the outcome of the SS Task Force’s discussion on the GIS AA Degree. The GIS Advisory Committee must now decide whether to reduce the number of hours required for the GIS Level I Certificate, GIS Level II Certificate, and the GIS AAS Degree; or replacing GEOG 2471 with a GISC alternative. Committee Chair Steve Schwelling clarified that the GIS Advisory Committee needs a four hour GISC course to replace the four hour GEOG 2471 course. A general discussion followed regarding what the GIS Advisory Committee should consider before making any recommendations on addressing GEOG 2471.

Mr. Moran began by walking the Committee through a typical GEOG 2471 syllabus, including the course calendar. He also noted which PLSOs are covered in GEOG 2471. He summarized that GEOG 2470 includes some competencies that are not covered in detail in other GISC courses, including: geodatabases, analyzing networks, analyzing continuous data, analyzing 3D data, and geostatistics. Students who take GEOG 2470 understand the basic concepts of GIS and how to utilize the core ArcGIS Standard software. Students who take GEOG 2471 are then introduced to higher-level analysis that supports most of our upper-level GISC courses. Mr. Moran believes it will negatively affect the program if we no longer teach those competencies to students. He recommended that the committee replace GEOG 2471 with a GISC alternative. Mr. Moran then referred the committee to the list of GISC approved courses in the THECB Workforce Education Course Manual (WECM). He specifically identified the four hour credit GISC 2420 Intermediate GIS as a logical alternative to GEOG 2471. Committee Chair Steve Schwelling asked if GISC 2479 Geospatal Data Management is a unique needs course and if it is endanger. Dr. Booth responded that GEOG 2479 is a THECB approved unique needs course that is only offered by ACC and is not threatened at this moment. Teresa Howard added that it is the ability to transfer academic unique needs courses that differentiates them from workforce unique needs courses. Committee Member Devon Humphrey asked if GEOG 2479 can be transferred to TSU. Mr. Moran responded that GEOG 2479 cannot be transferred. Mr. Moran went on to state that it would have been brutal if the THECB had disapproved GEOG 2471 as an academic transfer course when the GIS Department first started. He said it is still going to reduce enrollment, but not as much as if this had occurred a couple of years ago. Dr. Booth agreed, saying that most student who are taking GEOG 2471 are going into the workforce. Committee Member Dr. Alberto Giordano described how TSU is using their GEO 2427 course to allow students to substitute GEOG 2471 as a waiver for higher, 3000-level GIS classes at TSU. This arrangement has served as a “good neighbor contract”. Dr. Booth followed by stating that GISC courses don’t transfer, although they may be accepted as a waiver for certain courses. Mr. Moran went on to say that the Geography Department at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) is considering moving some of their GIS classes to the freshman and sophomore level. This would give students GIS skills earlier in their academic career and may make it easier for community colleges to articulate with GIS courses at four-year colleges in Texas. Theresa Howard described how a number of University of Texas (UT) students that cannot get the GIS skills they want at UT, come to ACC. She believe this trend will continue. Committee Chair Steve Schwelling asked if GISC 2420 Intermediate GIS can satisfy the same professional competencies covered in GEOG 2471 Advanced Spatial Analysis in GIS. Mr. Moran answered that the WECM description for GISC 2420 was general enough to accommodate the competencies currently taught in GEOG 2471. Dr. Booth stated that unless GISC 2420 is a prerequisite for higher-level GISC courses, you cannot assume they will take it. Committee Chair Steve Schwelling said that we can replace GEOG 2471 with a GISC course and establish it as a prerequisite...that’s why we have a separate agenda item. Dr. Booth clarified that GEOG 2471 was never a prerequisite for the GISC courses; it was designed to prepare students to transfer to a four-year school. Mr. Moran asked if additional competencies can be added to the THECB competencies for GISC 2420 listed in WECM? Dr. Booth said no, as long as everything is included in the master syllabus. Mr. Moran went on to say that we can use the WECM GISC 2420 Intermediate GIS title along with an alternative title that students will be more responsive to. He said that student enrollment increased in GEOG 2471 after we changed the title from GIS II to Advanced Spatial Analysis in GIS. Mr. Moran suggested that the Committee needed to first consider if they want to replace GEOG 2471 with a GISC alternative; if so, they then need to consider which WECM-approved GISC course to utilize as an alternative. Committee Chair Steve Schwelling asked if any committee members would move to reduce the number of hours required to complete the GIS Level I Certificate, GIS Level II Certificate, and GIS AAS Degree by four hours. Committee Member Stephanie Jensen asked if voting to reducing the number of hours required for each award will satisfy the THECB’s award requirements? Mr. Moran stated that he was unsure, but would validate Ms. Jensen’s concern if the Committee recommended reducing the total number of hours for each award. After a brief pause, Committee Chair Steve Schwelling said that hearing no motion, would anyone make a motion to maintain the same number of hours required for each GIS award by replacing GEOG 2471 with a GISC alternative. Committee Member Devon Humphrey made a motion to maintain the same number of hours for each GIS award and replace GEOG 2471 with a GISC alternative. Committee Member Stephanie Jensen seconded the motion. Committee Chair Steve Schwelling then called for a discussion of the motion. Hearing no further discussion, Committee Chair Steve Schwelling called for a vote. The motion made by Committee Member Devon Humphrey to “ maintain the same number of hours for each GIS award and replace GEOG 2471 with a GISC alternative” was approved by unanimous vote. Committee Chair then called for a motion to address the GISC alternative. Committee Member Jacquelyn Bilbro made a motion to replace GEOG 2471 Advanced Spatial Analysis in GIS in the GIS Level I Certificate, GIS Level II Certificate, and GIS AAS Degree with GISC 2420 Intermediate GIS. Committee Member Tracy Haywood seconded the motion. Committee Chair Steve Schwelling then called for a discussion of the motion. Dr. Booth suggested that the WECM course descriptions for GISC 2420 Intermediate GIS was generic enough to accommodate the competencies currently taught in GEOG 2471 Advanced Spatial Analysis in GIS. Committee Member Jacquelyn Bilbro stated that she felt we could add additional outcomes to the first five outcomes listed in WECM. Mr. Moran agreed with her. Hearing no further discussion, Committee Chair Steve Schwelling called for a vote. The motion made by Committee Jacquelyn Bilbro to “replace GEOG 2471 Advanced Spatial Analysis in GIS in the GIS Level I Certificate, GIS Level II Certificate, and GIS AAS Degree with GISC 2420 Intermediate GIS” was approved by unanimous vote.

Teresa Howard described her experiences teaching GISC 2250 Scripting for GIS. Originally she taught Python scripting during the second half of the semester, but the students really struggled with the limited time available to tackle this challenging topic. Since then, she has focused the curriculum for GISC 2250 on ArcGIS ModelBuilder, but has found that there is an increasing demand among students and employers for Python scripting. Ms. Howard said that given her experience, she felt ACC should offer to courses, GISC 2250 Scripting for GIS that focuses on ArcGIS ModelBuilder; and a second GISC course that focuses on Python scripting for GIS. Ms. Howard then called the Committee’s attention to the supporting documentation provided in the agenda packet. She suggested that WECM approved GISC 2435 Programming for GIS as a good candidate for offering Python scripting for GIS. She then introduced a draft syllabus for GISC 2435 that included a description; course textbooks Python Scripting for ArcGIS by Paul Zandbergin, Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist by Allen Downey, and Think Python - an online book by Allen B. Downey; WECM, GTCM, and SCANS Competencies learning outcomes; and a proposed course calendar. Dr. Booth asked how the proposed GISC 2435 will fit into the hours currently required for the GIS Level II Certificate and GIS AAS Degree. Mr. Moran said that he had spoken with Dianne Olla with ACC Instructional Support Services and she said that we could either establish professional tracks or offer GISC 2435 along with a couple of other GISC courses as a restricted GIS elective. The GIS elective might require students to take two of the following three courses: GISC 2435 Programming for GIS, GISC 2459 Web-enabled GIS, and GISC 2479 Geospatial Data Management. It is up to the Committee on which approach to take. Teresa Howard added that GISC 2250 Scripting for GIS would continue to be offered in the Fall, along side GISC 2459 Web-enabled GIS and GISC 2479 Geospatial Data Management. The proposed GISC 2435 Programming for GIS would be offered in the Spring and would not directly compete with the existing courses. Students could then take the combination of higher-level GISC courses that best suits their professional interest. Dr. Booth asked if we had thought about what professional tracks would be offered. Mr. Moran suggested tracks that might include senior analyst, web programming, and enterprise database. He went on to say that offering tracks is attractive, he felt the GIS Department was still too new to restrict which courses students take. He felt that offering a restricted GIS elective in which student select two of three GIS courses was more attractive in the short term. Ms. Howard added that we don’t want to take students away from the other classes. Committee Chairman Steve Schwelling asked if we need to decide today? Mr. Moran answered that the Committee does not need to decide on offering professional tracks or a restricted GIS elective. They could simply vote on whether to offer the proposed GISC 2435 Programming for GIS and address how it fits in the GIS awards later. Dr. Booth expressed concern that offering professional tracks might restrict enrollment, endangering classes. ACC has been more aggressive with cancelling classes that do not meet the minimum enrollment. Mr. Moran stated that with the restricted GIS elective, we can track which courses students are taking and use that to inform the adoption of professional tracks in the future. Committee Member George Strebel made a motion to approve the addition of GISC 2435 Programming for GIS to the GIS Level II Certificate and GIS AAS Degree. Committee Member Michael Ouimet seconded the motion. Committee Chair Steve Schwelling then called for a discussion of the motion. Hearing no further discussion, Committee Chair Steve Schwelling called for a vote. The motion made by Committee Member George Strebel to “approve the addition of GISC 2435 Programming for GIS to the GIS Level II Certificate and GIS AAS Degree” was approved by unanimous vote. Committee Member Tracy Haywood followed-up with a motion to create a GIS elective for the GIS Level I Certificate and GIS AAS Degree restricted to GISC 2435 Programming for GIS, GISC 2459 Web-enabled GIS, and GISC 2479 Geospatial Data Management where students must select two of these three courses. Committee Member Kristi Teykl seconded the motion. Committee Chair Steve Schwelling then called for a discussion of the motion. Hearing no further discussion, Committee Chair Steve Schwelling called for a vote. The motion made by Committee Member Tracy Haywood to “create a GIS elective for the GIS Level I Certificate and GIS AAS Degree restricted to GISC 2435 Programming for GIS, GISC 2459 Web-enabled GIS, and GISC 2479 Geospatial Data Management where students must select two of these three courses” was approved by unanimous vote.

Dr. Booth described discussions with a number of students where they struggled in some of ACC’s GIS courses. Specifically, she mentioned GISC 1491 Maps and Map Making and GISC 2479 Geospatial Data Management. GISC 1491 does not have a GIS prerequisite. Students who have taken GEOG 2470 Introduction to GIS enjoy the course, while students have not taken GEOG 2470 struggle till the last three weeks of the course. She also stated that some students enrolled in GISC 2479 have not taken ITSW 1307 Introduction to Database: Access. Again, students who have taken ITSW 1307 enjoyed the course, while students who have not taken ITSW 1307 had a more difficult time. Dr. Booth added that there is also support for establishing GISC 2420 Intermediate GIS, the alternative to GEOG 2471 Advanced Spatial Analysis in GIS, as a prerequisite for the higher-level GIS Level II Certificate and GIS AAS Degree courses. She concluded by stating there are really three issues: establishing GEOG 2470 Introduction to GIS as a prerequisite for GISC 1491 Maps and Map Making; establishing ITSW 1307 Introduction to Database: Access as a prerequisite for GISC 2479 Geospatial Data Management; and establishing the proposed GISC 2420 Intermediate GIS as a prerequisite for the following GIS Level II Certificate and GIS AAS Degree courses: GISC 1401 Cartography and Geography in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems; GISC 1421 Introduction to Raster-Based Geographic Information Systems (GIS); GISC 2231 Advanced Problems in Geographic Information Systems (GIS); GISC 2250 Scripting for Geographic Information Systems (GIS); GISC 2435 Programming for GIS ~This would be a newly added course as well~ GISC 2459 Web-Served Geographic Information Systems (GIS); and GISC 2479 Geospatial Data Management GISC 1391 GIS Capstone Independent Study GISC 2164 GIS Capstone 7 hr/wk Internship GISC 2264 GIS Capstone 14 hr/wk Internship GISC 2280 GIS Capstone Work Study Committee Chair Steve Schwelling suggested that the Committee might be jumping the gun a bit on establishing all of the prerequisites. Specifically, he questioned whether you can establish GEOG 2470 as a prerequisite for GISC 1491 and still complete the GIS Level I Certificate course work in a year. Mr. Moran answered that he was unsure if the THECB included the summer session in their definition of a year. He stated that he could research this question and then follow-up with the Committee with an email vote if required. Mr. Schwelling said that he would be more comfortable with that approach. Committee Member Jacquelyn Bilbro made a motion to establish ITSW 1307 Introduction to Database: Access as a prerequisite for GISC 2479 Geospatial Data Management. Committee Member George Strebel seconded the motion. Committee Chair Steve Schwelling then called for a discussion of the motion. Hearing no further discussion, Committee Chair Steve Schwelling called for a vote. The motion made by Committee Member Jacquelyn Bilbro to “establish ITSW 1307 Introduction to Database: Access as a prerequisite for GISC 2479 Geospatial Data Management” was approved by unanimous vote. A general discussion followed regarding the recommendation to establish the proposed GISC 2420 Intermediate GIS as a prerequisite for the higher-level GIS courses. Teresa Howard expressed her desire to have GISC 2420 as a prerequisite for GISC 2250 and the proposed GISC 2435 courses. She also felt that ACC GIS instructors Chris Williams and Brent Porter would also benefit from the prerequisite. Committee Member Stephanie Jensen asked if Ms. Howard could explain why students in her course would benefit from the proposed prerequisite. Ms. Howard responded that much of the curriculum in GISC 2250 focuses on using ModelBuilder to automate geoprocesses (e.g. clipping, overlay analysis, summary statistics, etc.). Students actually would be introduced to these geoprocesses in the proposed GISC 2420 Intermediate GIS course. Committee Member Jacquelyn Bilbro asked if Mr. Moran could explain why students in GISC 1401 GIS & GPS would benefit from the proposed prerequisite. Mr. Moran responded that out of all the higher-level GISC courses, students in GISC 1401 can get by without the proposed prerequisite. He followed by saying instructors could choose to waive the prerequisite on a case by case basis. Committee Member Stephanie Jensen said that she could support a motion to approve GISC 2420 Intermediate GIS as a prerequisite knowing that the instructor could waive the requirement. Committee Chair Steve Schwelling asked if anyone would like to make a motion in support of establishing a prerequisite for the higher-level GIS courses. Committee Member Devon Humphrey made a motion to establish the proposed GISC 2250 Intermediate GIS as a prerequisite for the following GIS Level II Certificate and GIS AAS Degree courses: GISC 1401 Cartography and Geography in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems; GISC 1421 Introduction to Raster-Based Geographic Information Systems (GIS); GISC 2231 Advanced Problems in Geographic Information Systems (GIS); GISC 2250 Scripting for Geographic Information Systems (GIS); GISC 2435 Programming for GIS ~This would be a newly added course as well~ GISC 2459 Web-Served Geographic Information Systems (GIS); and GISC 2479 Geospatial Data Management GISC 1391 GIS Capstone Independent Study GISC 2164 GIS Capstone 7 hr/wk Internship GISC 2264 GIS Capstone 14 hr/wk Internship GISC 2280 GIS Capstone Work Study Committee Member Stephanie Jensen seconded the motion. Committee Chair Steve Schwelling then called for a discussion of the motion. Hearing no further discussion, Committee Chair Steve Schwelling called for a vote. The motion made by Committee Member Devon Humphrey to “establish the proposed GISC 2250 Intermediate GIS as a prerequisite for the following GIS Level II Certificate and GIS AAS Degree courses: GISC 1401 Cartography and Geography in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems; GISC 1421 Introduction to Raster-Based Geographic Information Systems (GIS); GISC 2231 Advanced Problems in Geographic Information Systems (GIS); GISC 2250 Scripting for Geographic Information Systems (GIS); GISC 2435 Programming for GIS ~This would be a newly added course as well~ GISC 2459 Web-Served Geographic Information Systems (GIS); and GISC 2479 Geospatial Data Management GISC 1391 GIS Capstone Independent Study GISC 2164 GIS Capstone 7 hr/wk Internship GISC 2264 GIS Capstone 14 hr/wk Internship GISC 2280 GIS Capstone Work Study” was approved by unanimous vote.

Sean Moran updated the Committee on the recently drafted GIS Academic Master Plan (AMP). He summarized that ACC is working to have the academic master planning process drive the annual budgeting process. Mr. Moran highlighted the GIS Department AMP goals, including: Expand Physical and Online GIS Classrooms Initiate Institutional Support for Cloud Computing Establish Professional Incubator for Workplace Competencies Provide Institutional Funding for Workforce Tutors A general discussion followed. Committee Chair Steve Schwelling asked what the Committee could do to support the planning process. Mr. Moran stated that given the abbreviated process for the 2013 AMP, he could only update the Committee because the plan had already been submitted. In future years, he hopes to incorporate the Committee in the planning process.

Committee Chair Steve Schwelling stated that this concludes our formal business. Committee Member Michael Ouimet suggested Committee Members attend a social gathering later this year. Committee Member Stephanie Jensen announced the GIS Happy Hour that takes place the second Wednesday of every month. Dr. Booth said that the GIS@ACC website Announcements are a good place to check for professional and social opportunities. Committee Member Michael Ouimet made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Committee Member Kristi Teykl seconded the motion. Committee Chair Steve Schwelling adjourned the meeting by unanimous vote.