Meeting & Agendas

Department Chair Pam Soto called the meeting to order. The advisory board members introduced themselves and indicated what area they represented. Pam Soto also announced that four students have passed the ACES exams this semester.

Pam Soto described the responsibilities of the chair and vice chair and asked for nominations from the floor. Zeke Swinford volunteered to serve as Chair. That nomination was seconded and approved unanimously. Bethany Birkhinier was nominated and approved unanimously as vice chair.

Pam Soto reported that she was able to purchase the TRX system with 12 straps and a wall mount this spring with Perkins funding; it is housed at the Riverside campus. Faculty will be able to imbed the use of the equipment into their instruction. Pam asked for confirmation that this is equipment is seen in the facilities and that students need to have exposure during the program. All members confirmed that the TRX system is commonly found in a variety of facilities and it would be valuable for students to have experience with it while in school.

Pam Soto introduced discussion regarding previous discussions to produce video testimonials to distinguish the ACC program from others in the area as the preferred way to get certified. The program would like to have some members who serve as preceptor sites be part of the testimonial. Pam has talked with William Hosbein (HS computer support) regarding the videos and the suggestion was to make these into YouTube videos. Another benefit of the Youtube is that with certain keywords, individuals doing a search will find the program who otherwise would not have been aware of the ACC program. The committee felt that it was appropriate to parallel the ACC program to others in the community (6 week and weekend programs) but not to specifically identify those programs. Advisory members indicated they are willing to be contacted. It was suggested that Pam contact the Instructional Design Specialist assigned to the campus.

Pam Soto and Pat Recek discussed Senate Bill 497, passed by the 83rd Legislature, Regular Session, that requires tht students enrolled at a public institution of higher education not be required to complete more than the minimum number of semester credit hours (SCHs) than are required by the Southern Association of colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC) which is 60 to earn an associate degree. The implementation date for the revised curriculum is Fall 2015. Pam Soto provided a copy of the current degree plan. Thoughtful discussion followed. The recommendation by the committee was to remove COSC Introduction to Computing. That course is no longer required as meeting the general education requirements for a AAS. This would make the degree plan 60 SCHs. Pam Soto made a recommendation to keep the four restricted electives but to required Yoga as one of the electives. The rationale was that other KINE topics are addressed in some of the FITT classes, but yoga is not. The committee agreed that it was important for the students to have knowledge because many clients have issues with flexibility and other restrictions. The proposed change to the curriculum to remove Computing and make Yoga one of the restricted electives was unanimously approved. The revised curriculum will have to go to the ACC Curriculum Committee for final approval.

Pam asked the committee to review the learning goals and determine if they are still applicable to current trends in the field. The committee had very thoughtful discussion and suggestions for revisions were made to many of the goals. Pam will compile all the revisions and send out to the committee for final review.

No additional items were presented for discussion. Meeting adjourned at 4 pm.