Meeting & Agendas

In attendance: James Mulhall, Ron Modesty, James Hogue, Moises Cases, Keith Glass, Andy Berke, Perry Dillard, Jesus Casas, TaNeisha Page, Linton Brooks, Donna Crenshaw, Cliff Burnette, Igor Alvarado, John Zeiter, Michelle Samples, Tim O’Grady, William Morrison, Vidal Almanza, Alberto Quinonez, and Cecilia Galliano

Dr. Quinonez started talking about the purpose of the meeting and explaining the reason for the meeting. He stated that Workforce Education Advisory Committees at Austin Community College are business and industry representative groups that advice on curriculum development, instructor qualifications, equipment and facilities to prepare future graduates according to industry employment needs.

Dr. Quinonez stated that the objective to meet with industry is to overview of ACC Electronics Curriculum (AAS & Certificate in Nanoelectronics; Networking/Computer Electronics; Automation, Robotics & Controls; Electronics Technician; Bio-instrumentation Technology). Dr. Quinonez opened the Survey Monkey link and explained the results of the student survey to the group to give them an idea the population of the department and the results of the student survey. Mr. Morrison stated that the Survey Monkey results may be off since he gives extra credit to his students for responding the survey and that is why it shows that most of the students are in the Renewable Energy degree plan. Dr. Quinonez stated that Mr. Morrison has a question in regards to making adjustments into the curriculum. Mr. Morrison stated that he would like to see 3Phase added into other 9 courses since some of the students that register into AC Circuits seem to be lacking the knowledge. The group discussed the importance of having 3Phase incorporated into several of the courses. They all agreed that is needed as one of the modules in all 9 courses. The group also discussed the need to add leadership skills, probability analysis, generic tools class, trouble shooting and soft skills into the courses. Industry offered to visit ACC and speak to students about the real life skills needed for their jobs. Dr. Quinonez stated that a review exam before graduation might be a good idea where students take a comprehensive course and review what they have learned since they seem to be failing industry entry level tests. Another suggestion was to have them take the test at the senior level or even have them do a project with a combine topic where the student gets the opportunity to review all that is been learned. The group fell comfortable about the idea and suggested creating a group project because it gives them an opportunity to work as a team and students can take different roles. Dr. Quinonez wants to know if Principles of Qualities is necessary in the course curriculum since it teaches basic statistics, control charts, manufacturing concepts. The group discussed the importance of this course and agreed that is needed. Some of the members suggested coming by and visiting classrooms to speak to students and make them aware of what is expected of them once they get hired. They were referring to soft skills. Soldering skills was discussed and industry did not see an urgency for the student to know this skill.

Dr. Quinonez stated that the group needs to nominate a Chair and a Vice-Chair and we will be sending them an e-mail to vote through SurveyMonkey.

The group discussed internships and Dr. Quinonez explained that we are still offering it and it is an elective. Ms. Galliano explained the process and stated that we use the same process for job postings. Industry was very interested on this subject. We discussed sending the links to various materials for the members to review current curriculum/programs with some focus on the Quality syllabus and text book. We’ll need to request the members to give suggestions on frequency of this meeting, Dr. Quinonez feedback on this 1ast set of thoughts. Can always have good ideas, but implementation can be challenging. We also discussed the Dept. looking to set up some speaker sessions, so we would need to see possibility and timing and then look for volunteers from the group. Adjourn