Meeting & Agendas

Jane called the meeting to order at 1:07 p.m.

Jane opened the meeting with a welcome to everyone.

Jane reported that all course changes were approved by the curriculum committee and have since been added to the current college catalog.

Jane provided each of the members with a handout detailing the current year enrollment. She reports that enrollment has a significant drop from spring 2011. Board members responded with questions Q: Roni – Could the change in the registration process have a negative impact on enrollment? A: Marshall – No, I don’t think so. But other aspects such as the location and time of classes need to be considered when we see the numbers drop. Not enough course offering and prerequisites can also indirectly impact enrollment. Q: Wendy – How do the percentages weigh versus other programs? Q: Jane – Marshall, how does enrollment look across the college? A: Marshall – Enrollment is pretty much down across the college Q: Wendy – Do you think it’s a competition issue? Proprietary schools have been very aggressive. A: Jane – No, I don’t think so Q: John- Could it be a financial aid or student loan issue? A: Marshall – The government has made some major changes to financial aid and if students did not meet GPA and completion requirements, they were impacted by the changes. Q: Wendy – Who in the department tracks that type of data? Is there a system designed to track students on financial aid and or how many are attending because they receive aid? A: Pat – Typically, my students share that type of information A: Juanita – My students will usually ask me to complete a form from the sponsor, but I have seen a drop in request. The members agreed that a system needs to be adopted and put in place to keep track of student enrollment. The suggestion was made by Marshall Levett to submit a report request to OIE (Office of Institutional Effectiveness) to identify student enrollment and to see how financial aid has impacted the drop in enrollment. Jane contacted OIE and received a report indicating that many ACC programs experienced a decrease in enrollment for fall 2011. There was no report available regarding the impact for financial aid.

Jane opened the discussion on the topic by explaining the need for the course format to be changed to 2-2. In the 2 credit lecture hour and the 2 lab hour format, students will receive an additional 50 minutes of instruction and be introduced to more efficient tools that will promote learning. The new edition of the textbook provides students with online reviews and task oriented exercises and the opportunity to receive immediate feedback on their submissions. The board unanimously agreed to move forward on the change.

Jane opened the discussion on the topic by explaining the need for a course that is geared more towards the Office Administration program. She recognized the current course that is offered through CIS but explained the challenges the students are having because they have not been exposed to coding techniques. She asked the board if an Administrative Assistant is required to create websites or just maintain them. She opens the floor for discussion and provided the members with a handout of the software and textbooks that are available for the course. Members dialog on this issue include: Mary Jo – The task of creating versus maintaining depends on the company and a smaller company may require the administrative assistant to create and maintain the site, whereas a larger company may have an individual who specializes in the task to do it. Wendy – The talent opens the door to opportunity and expressed her belief in the need of the administrative assistant to acquire this knowledge. However, she acknowledged the difficulty in fully understanding the task without all the necessary tools to be successful and encouraged a course that teaches the coding aspect of the task. After looking over the handouts and further discussion on the course, the board agreed that more research is needed before a decision can be made on the design of the course and the most adequate materials needed for the student to successfully learn how to maintain websites. The following week Jane contacted four of the board members to confirm that most administrative assistants will be expected to maintain or edit webpages or perhaps create a basic web page. The new course will provide that training.

Jane opened the discussion by telling the board that she did not have any data to report on the survey this year because of the low response. Wendy Chance made several attempts to get the survey out to ARHMA members, but the effort yielded only 13 responses. Wendy Chance has offered to ask the members of the Texas Council for advice on the issue, and she suggested posting the survey on a social media website for professionals such as LinkedIn or Facebook. The suggestion was also made to consider other associations and to shorten the survey to reflect a length no longer than 10 minutes.

Jane announced that SACS (Southern Association of Colleges) will be visiting to determine if the college as a whole is following the criteria to remain accredited. The target areas for the assessment include student learning outcomes, master syllabi, and distance learning. The first visit will be in December 2011.

Meeting adjourned at 2:50 p.m.