Meeting & Agendas

Mervin Jones requested a motion to approve minutes, the initial motion was made by Lisa Marie Coppoletta, seconded by Emily Olson followed by all Committee approved. The minutes were approved.

Mervin: Discusses definitions of; Active/Inactive students in the following link: https://catalog.austincc.edu/college-entry/determine-your-eligibility-to-attend/active-inactive-students/ and ask the committee members if they have any questions regarding the definition. LMC: Asked whether students who file a complaint about a class/ professor and then withdraw from the class, should the complaint still be addressed? Mervin: Answered the question by stating complaints do not go away. All submitted complaints must be taken seriously and addressed. Similarly, if a professor files a student conduct referral or complaint about a student, due process procedures are followed. Jim: Provides an example and relates it to the ACC catalog, which refers to the section in Student Standard Conduct under definitions of student. Ultimately the problem remains and Student Affairs Deans ensure due process is followed. Eileen: Asked if the Firefighter Academy was open enrollment. (in the chat) Jim: Provided clarity and explained that the Fire Academy has an application process. (in the chat) Mervin: Thank you Jim and any other questions? Troy: Brings up a scenario about Student Life activities with students. He was informed that students who are not registered for the current semester should not be allowed to participate in such activities. This decision was made by the ACC Risk Management Team. Mervin: Provided examples of students who want to take advantage of mental health services offered by ACC. These can not be rendered to students if they are not actively enrolled. Eileen: The Department of Education said summer is considered a bridge between the spring and fall semesters. It has to be brought up by the insurance company (it is our policy) that students are covered under the Federal Government Definition. Patty: An active student. Active students are defined as currently enrolled students, plus 12 months after the last day of the last course the student was enrolled in. Mervin checked into this matter and learned that this was the case. Only enrolled students can take advantage of such activities since ACC insurance is included in tuition. Mervin: Transition to the next topic and Troy takes the lead on that: SL/SGA representation regarding the SGA advocate pool selection/training

Troy: Points out that the Annual student SGA retreat and training is upcoming beginning August 15 through the 18th for SGA officers who want to also serve and be trained as Student Advocates. Troy believes that this training should be for all Student Government Officers to have a larger pool of Student Advocates to support those who need the support. Ask Mervin for his perspective. Mervin: Shares a thought about the positive aspects of peer-to-peer approaches between students in college and research shows it is much more effective than Administration/Faculty/Staff supportive approaches. Troy: Ask Myles any thoughts. Myles: Likes the idea of all or more SGA Officers to be trained. Would student advocates be part of the GROW program? LMC: Asks Troy, are SGA officers going to be given an overview of their responsibilities after training? She expressed concern on behalf of SGA officers to understand what their role actually is. Troy: Replies, this is the purpose of the training. To ensure the trained Student Advocates understand the disciplinary process and share this knowledge to help other students through the process much easier. The students are not alone. Charleen: This model works with an Advising group. It does help students to navigate the process. Provide proper training/knowledge of content/processes and expectations for their roles. They are not attorneys and they have to stay professional. Myles: Would student advocates be part of the GROW program? or is this based on volunteering? Troy: Student Government associates are Grow associates and non-student members are not Grow associates. Mervin: Clarifying the SGA members in the Grow program are getting paid for hours that work and non-Grow members are paid or not paid? Troy: We don’t require non-SGA members to be Grow associates to be part of Student Advocacy. Myles: Are all SGA members expected to do the work of student advocates? And would the advocacy work take time/effort away from SGA’s main projects? Troy: Anything a Student does as SGA is going to be part of the Grow program. Charleen: The more people can get experience and training around these roles the better they will be able to explain for both sides. Hope things get better in the future. LMC: Agrees that Student Advocacy is a good ‘exemplar model’ being used by student groups. Then she addresses Charlene as an adjunct faculty and her team has a similar Model to help students. Charleen: Yes this would be a good time to raise the idea to HR (Erika Breedlove who is assigned to all things faculty). Since we had the Chancellor Town Halls today that have discussed how we can grow all the right ways. Patty: Who will be conducting the training? Troy: I will and will send out invitations to others to help. Myles: Are all members of SGA expected to be active associates and will they prioritize advocacy? Will SGA officers spread themselves thin? Myles expresses concerns about SGA officers not feeling pressure or obligations to spread themselves thin because of additional duties and responsibilities. Troy: No to earlier questions. Ultimately we would like the students to make their own decision about participation. Eileen: States SGA officers being part of Student Advocacy is a good experience for their future resume and job market. She asked questions about GROW to learn more about this opportunity. Link to GROW website: https://students.austincc.edu/career-services/acc-grow/

Patty: A person visiting a campus to take the TSI test and is caught or alleged to cheat is a violation. This is not Academic Integrity (a policy that belongs to faculty) because the test is not an Academic course. It would be a Student Conduct violation. More clarification of testing using unauthorized items will come after meeting with Executive Deans and Dr. Reinhart today. Eileen: Agree with Patty. It is a Student Conduct violation. Mervin: Clarifies that there have been changes within testing in past years.

Thank everyone for their participation and time.

Meeting Adjourned: 12:00 pm

Next Meeting Date: September 2024,  but the specific date has not been determined yet.

Time: 11:00 am - 12:30 pm

Location: Zoom