Meeting & Agendas

Steve Schwelling, the ACC GIS Advisory Committee Chair welcomed everyone and asked if there was any old business. Hearing none, he requested that Mr. Moran provide the Committee with an update on the ACC GIS Program.

Mr. Moran updated the Committee on growing enrollment, awards, internships, recent hires, GIS curriculum, the ACC GIS Degree Plan Quick Reference Sheet, and the GIS@ACC website. See the attached document for the complete presentation. In summary, Moran stated that the ACC GIS Program continues to grow as more students enroll in the GEOG 2470 and GEOG 2471 courses as well complete the GIS Capstone course; an increasing number of students are being hired as part-time interns and full-time employees; and we continue to expand the GIS curriculum and resources available to faculty and students.

Dr. Booth described how she developed the GEOG 2470 Introduction to GIS course during her sabbatical and taught it for the first time during the Fall 2011 Semester. Twenty-four students enrolled in the first class, twenty-two students remained after add/drop, and sixteen students finished the class. Dr. Booth surveyed the students at the end of the course and found that 80% responded positively. For the Spring 2012 Semester, Dr. Booth said she moved the quizzes to the testing center because she found that some students were taking advantage of quizzes on Blackboard. Mr. Moran inquired about out-of-district students and testing. Dr. Booth responded that out-of-district students can take a test at an approved facility or with an approved proctor. Any student who requires this accommodation would need to inform the instructor at least two weeks before the test so that arrangements can be made. Dr. Booth noted that computer literacy is an especially difficult challenge when teaching an online computer course. Surprisingly, a number of students may be taking the online class because they are uncomfortable learning technology in a public setting. This is counterintuitive and may lead to these students struggling with the curriculum. Dr. Booth suggested developing a decision flowchart to aid students in selecting the best course format (i.e. traditional, hybird, online) for their learning style. Committee Member Michael Chamberlain suggested incorporating a skills assessment to aid students as well. Dr. Booth then discussed enrollment. She stated that the Spring 2012 GEOG 2470 online course was full and a number of students were on the wait-list. Committee Member Thomas Brown asked about enrollment compared to other programs at ACC. Dr. Booth and Mr. Moran both noted that we have data on school-wide enrollment, which has plateaued after several years of growing enrollment. ACC GIS continues to enjoy increased enrollment, but we are a very small program when compared to school-wide enrollment. Committee Member Stephanie Jensen asked how students in the GEOG 2470 online course access the required software. Dr. Booth explained that each student enrolled in an ACC GIS course is given a copy of ESRI ArcGIS Desktop ArcInfo Education Edition at the beginning of the semester. The software includes a one-year license and can be installed on a home computer. In addition to installing the software at home, students can access the software at the ACC Northridge and South Austin Campuses. A discussion ensued about the challenges of software being installed on individual home computers, each with a unique combination of hardware and software. Dr. Booth noted that the majority of her problems during the first few weeks involve installing the software on home computers. It seems that each problem is similar, but unique. Committee Members Shawn Devereaux and George Strebel suggested that ACC look into a cloud-based installation of ArcGIS utilizing Citrix or a hosting service like Amazon Web Service. If technically and financially feasible, this approach would reduce the number of software installation problems and allow students to utilize GIS at home or on any ACC open lab computer. Mr. Moran agreed to look into these cloud-based options.

Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) Dean Gaye Lynn Scott updated the Committee on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) reaffirmation of accreditation process. ACC's last accreditation visit focused on credentials, followed by a very stressful period as ACC reevaluated faculty credentials across the entire College. This time, ACC believes SACS will focus on clearly defined program outcomes and assessment. ACC has been working diligently to ensure that our credentials, outcomes, and assesments are complete and documented in our compliance report to be submitted to SACS this March. SACS will then return to ACC during the Fall semester for an official site visit. As part of the reaffirmation of accreditation process, ACC is developing a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). The QEP will focus on developmental math...beginning with a small pilot lab and then scaling up to over 300 seats located in the new Highland Mall facility. Dean Scott asked if the Committee had any questions. Committee Member Mike Ouimet asked how the GIS Advisory Committee can help ACC? Dean Scott responded that feedback is the key to maintaining a quality program that is an asset to students and employers. Committee Member Claire DeVaughn asked about ACC's plans for Highland Mall. Dean Scott described a general approach that includes utilizing the first floor for developmental classrooms and labs. This builds on the QEP described previously. The second floor will be utilized as ""swing space"". As older campuses are redeveloped (e.g. Rio Grande, Riverside, etc.), students from these campuses will be moved into Highland Mall. These students will then return to their respective campuses once they've been redeveloped. Rio Grande is slated as the next campus to be redeveloped. Dr. Booth asked about facilities to support expansion of online courses (and make GIS software accessible to students at all campuses). Dean Scott responded that possibly cloud-based computing would serve this purpose and that she would explore this and other options with the GIS Faculty.

Building on the previous agenda item, Mr. Moran described the GIS Department’s strategic planning activities over the past year. The ACC GIS Department must comply with a number of regulating agencies including SACS and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Additionally, there is a national effort sponsored by the US Department of Labor in coordination with the GeoTECH Center to identify professional competencies required of a GIS professional. This effort is called the Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM) and includes over 300 competencies. The ACC GIS Faculty has been working with the national GTCM effort to align these competencies with our GIS course objectives. Mr. Moran believes the current list of 300+ competencies is a bit overwhelming and is utilizing the strategic planning effort associated with the SACS accreditation visit to refine the list of competences down to 18 Program-Level Student Learning Outcomes. Mr. Moran then described a proposed process for assessing the learning outcomes using the GIS Capstone course required of all students seeking an ACC GIS AAS Degree, GIS Level I Certificate, and/or GIS Level II Certificate. His approach is to create a comprehensive exam that all students seeking a GIS award must pass to complete their GIS Capstone course. This exam would compliment the semester-long project or internship requirements already included in the GIS Capstone course. Mr. Moran proposed administering a non-binding GIS Level I exam to GIS Capstone students this Spring. The ACC GIS Faculty would then assess the assessment and determine the next course of action. Dr. Booth asked if the test would be an objective and/or subjective assessment. Mr. Moran responded that his plan is to create the test as an objective assessment that compliments the more subjective assessment associated with a semester-long project or internship. Mr. Moran suggested that his ultimate goal is a comprehensive programmatic framework, in which the ACC GIS Mission Statement, Value Statements, Award Goals, Program-Level Student Learning Outcomes, Course-Level Student Learning Outcomes all reinforce each other. Committee members reviewed the ACC GIS Value Statements, Goals, Outcomes and the ACC GIS Learning Outcomes and Assessment handouts that Mr. Moran provided.

Committee Chair Steve Schwelling asked Commitee members if there was any other business. Committee Member Shawn Devereaux relayed that he recently completed a GIS market salary survey for Austin. He found that there are 115 GIS-related employers in Austin. Committee Member George Strebel described the value of ACC in exposing students to GIS. Committee Member Thomas Brown emphasized the need for employees to understand information management, not just GIS. Committee Member Mike Ouimet suggested an annual survey of GIS Advisory Committee Members to keep up-to-date on how the GIS industry is evolving. Committee Chair Steve Schwelling reinforced the idea of focusing on utilizing GIS internships as a stepping stone to full-time employment. Hearing no other comments, Committee Chair Schwelling called for a motion to adjourn. Mr. Ouimet seconded and the motion to “close the meeting” was approved by unanimous vote.