Meeting & Agendas

Meeting was called to order at 1:08 p.m.

Jane handed out a copy of the Spring 2010 Industry Survey, she asked the members to look at item #1 that she believe to be odd because 55% of the of the respondents indicated no test required. Members dialog on this issue include: Comment: Wendy - the problem maybe that the employer may not have a way to administer keyboarding test. Comment: Roni – Problem solved, we could add no test available to the survey Q: Jane asked Wendy if her company currently performs testing for employers. A: Wendy answered, yes. Comment: Wendy - The workforce center has a lab that provides testing for job seekers and most employers will accept the testing scores.

Meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m.

Jane announced the joining of two new members, Melissa Edenburn, current member of the adjunct faculty (and medical specialist) and John Zeiter of Intel Corporation. She also asked all of the members to introduce themselves.

Jane provided a handout of the November 4, 2009, advisory board meeting minutes and asked all members to review the minutes and approve. All in attendance approved.

Jane provided a handout of the Office Administration enrollments for the last four years. In the report, it was noted that flex courses decreased by 55 students in enrollment and traditional courses increased by 63 students in enrollment. Jane attributed the increase to the five new traditional courses at the Round Rock campus this semester. Q: Chaundra Tarver – How do people from rural areas respond to the flex schedule? A: Jane Billingsley – Everyone enjoys the flexibility, it provides an opportunity for people with school aged children and infants to work from home and those who work full-time jobs to come in on the weekends.

Jane made the suggestion that we delete the legal transcription course. Members dialog on this issue include: Comment: Wendy – I believe that there are several things that are going on with the need for legal transcription. Many attorneys currently work from templates and they may be outsourcing as well. Comment: Marshall – Companies have software that can do transcription for them, the field is changing so much that the actual transcriptionist is not needed. Comment: Melissa – On the medical side we are dropping the transcriptionist program. There is currently a large company that offers the transcription services (Spheris) and they hire and train their own transcriptionist. Comment: Chaundra – Technology is also providing several types of software that could be used. All the members agreed that it is time to delete POFL 1359 Legal Transcription from the curriculum.

Jane provided the members with a handout from the Workforce Education Course Manual (WECM) that details the course description for POFM 1309 and POFM 1317. She also explained the role that WECM plays in the decision as to what courses a college can offer to the student. Michelle Edenburn, the current instructor for medical office procedures (POFM 1309), is proposing the change of the course to medical administrative support (POFM 1317). Melissa believes that the change is needed because the POFM 1317 medical administrative support course offers a more accurate description of what she is currently teaching. The course description and the course outcomes are in line with the current course objectives. She would like to keep the professional and medical ethics aspect of POFM 1309 while continuing to teach based on the depiction of POFM 1317. They will not have to buy coding books. A great deal of that information is free online through the Medicare website. Jane also shared that we cannot change the description but we can add to it as it pertains to our workforce. Course Descriptions: POFM 1309 - Introduction to basic medical office skills including telephone techniques, filing and indexing, mail handling, appointment scheduling, correspondence, and business transactions. Emphasis on human relations and customer service skills. POFM 1317 - Instruction in medical office procedures including appointment scheduling, medical records creation and maintenance, telephone communications, coding, billing, collecting, and third party reimbursement. Course Outcomes: POFM 1309 – Explain professional and medical ethics; discuss interpersonal expectations; schedule and monitor patient appointments; manage medical documents; and apply HIPAA concepts. POFM 1317 - Schedule patient appointments; create, document, and maintain patient medical records; correlate coding, billing, collecting, and filing procedures; and apply HIPAA concepts Members dialog on this issue include: Comment: Melissa – My class is not a coding based course,it will touch on coding but it is not the same as a 16 week course that may be taught in the Health Sciences program. Comment: Marshall – There is already so much confusion already with medical coding and other coding courses. So be prepared for the questions about the content of the course. Comment: Melissa – The coding aspect is only a part of the description. Comment: Jane – The title is going to be Medical Administrative Support and does not suggest that it is a coding course. All members approved the proposed change

Jane provided the members with a handout from Workforce Education Course Manual (WECM) that details the course description for POFT 1313 and POFT 1413 Professional Workforce and a course content outline. Phillip Jordan the current instructor for POFT 2331 Administrative Systems: Office Management proposed the adoption of POFT 1313 as an Office Management II course. The advanced course would offer the following: Part 2 Interpersonal Skills (continued) -Motivating others -Managing conflict) Part 3 Group Skills -Empowering and Delegating -Building Effective Teams and Teamwork -Leading Positive Change Conducting Interviews Courses will be: POFT 2331 – Office Management I POFT 1313 – Office Management II This advance course will only be available to students in the degree program and they must complete POFT 2331 before taking POFT 1313. The proposed textbook Developing Management Skills by David Whetten and Kim Cameron was passed around for the members to view. Phillip explained how the chapters within the book build on top of each other and the course aspects are based on the premise practical learning and not theory. Members agreed to move forward with the recommendation and Jane will take the new course to the curriculum committee for approval.

Jane explained that currently, the associate’s degree in the office administration program requires a minimum of five general education courses (Speech, Math, English, Government, Social and Behavioral, and Humanities) and the state dictates which of the courses fit appropriately within the curriculum of that degree. Last year the program Introduced Technical and Business Writing as a choice for students to take instead of English Composition I because of the practical it offers in business writing. Members voiced their opinion of not making it a choice. They would like to see the Intro to Tech Business Writing a requirement. Members dialog on this issue include: Comment: Wendy proposed that the technical writing course becomes a requirement and not a choice. Comment: Pat suggested leaving the English Comp I as it is and Jane replied that she can just substitute it if it is needed. Comment: Marshall voiced his concerns and questioned if the 2311 Technical Writing course would be considered a general education course. Jane replied and reported that the course was approved last year for general education. Q: Roni asked Charles Quinn if the course is online and in the classroom. A: Charles answered and yes it is All were in favor and Jane will take the proposed change to the curriculum committee. The discussion continued with the original proposal of changing the current speech course requirement. Jane proposed that the oral communication requirement be changed to a choice of the student. Currently the degree plan list Speech 1318 Interpersonal Communication. Jane would like to change it to any of the courses under the oral communication umbrella (1311 Intro to Speech, 1315 Public Speaking, 1318 Interpersonal Communication, and 1321 Business and Professional Communication). All of the courses will be accepted by the state. All members were in favor of making the change and giving the students more choices. Comment: Jane offered the completion totals for last year in the Office Administration program. The program had 25 completers and it was a new record for the program.

Roni Cook shared that the outside factors play a huge part in the operation of the Round Rock campus and how well the transition has gone for the department. She reported the different courses that are being taught by the OA full-time and adjunct faculty and complimented the collaboration between Office Administration and other Business Studies departments. She believes this to be the best part of the move and in spite of the learning curve that she has been subjected to, it’s a great adventure. Roni asked Charles to offer additional information. Charles took the floor and shared information that the campus has been the only college that has opened at capacity according to sources outside of ACC. Roni also shared that she learned through facebook that the Round Rock campus was the youngest with respect to the age of students. She performed a study which produced an average age of 27 to 28.