Meeting & Agendas

Introductions made by all (Kipa Smith for Stephanie LeRoy), Liz Salinas, Sandra Eames, Liz Coccia, Jack Housworth, Lynn Beaman, Tom Allen, Yvonne Moduno and Rick Thompson. Three outgoing Board members will need to be replaced; Tom, Stephanie and LaDonna will serve two more years. The minutes will need to be corrected, listing Tom and Yvonne as 4-year members. Jack inquired about the qualifications and Liz C. said the selection would defer to whom the Board considered appropriate to serve. Tommie can no longer serve; and Ilana has not been able to attend any meetings. Liz C. recommended Kipa replacing Stephanie stating it would be beneficial to have someone familiar with long-term care facilities. At this time, no replacement has been found for Elizabeth Huss, ACC Continuing Education. Members were asked to forward to Liz C. names of potential new Board members.

A motion by Chair, Jack, to approve last year’s minutes was made; it was seconded by Sandra .

Update on 2012-13 Student Success Initiative Projects and Instructional Program Review (IPR) The Human Services (HUSE) department conducted an internal assessment regarding the changes previously approved by the Board. Mandatory student advising is now required for DAAC 1319-Introduction to Alcohol and Other Drug Addictions; RECT 1301-Introduction to Therapeutic Recreation; PSYT 1313, Psychology of Personal Adjustment and SCWK 1321, Orientation to Social Services. Students will meet with a department HUSE faculty person (obtaining a signature confirming the meeting) and will also receive a grade for this assignment. This move has been successful in correcting the misconceptions students’ have about their degree plans. Liz C. stated each faculty person has their own point system, but in this way we hope to assist students’ before they sign up for classes. The department has also completed an Internal Program Review (IPR) and recommendations were sent forth for the college to increase student service availability, allow for additional release time for the Department Chair, and request that the Administrative Assistant be assigned to only one department, instead of two. Update on 2012-13 Curriculum Changes Approved at October 2013 Meeting Reminded everyone that department curriculum changes were made last year with the assistance of the Advisory Committee. Human Sexuality was dropped from the Certificate program and the Curriculum Committee approved lowering class limits.

Human Services Club Update Rick updated everyone on the activities of the HUSE student Club. He stated club activity was very active last year and that the Club was also nominated for an award. This year’s activities have been limited to one event so far. Yvonne suggested joining forces with another school, and mentioned she had an excellent Program Specialist who could meet with ACC people to combine activities (a mentoring opportunity). Discipline Assessment Cycle 2013 – 14 Liz C. stated that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS) requires an assessment of all students. For two years, we’ve used the Internship supervisor portion of the Internship package to identify whether or not students are meeting standards (work place skills) and the results show that students always are. Because student needs are currently being met no intervention is necessary at this point. A discussion with other HUSE faculty indicates that what is common to all students is that they all have to take SCWK 1301, Ethics for Social Service Professionals as part of their degree program. Only the Therapeutic Recreation Certificate students are exempt from taking Ethics’s. Liz C. proposed the creation of an online Ethic’s quiz for all Internship I students. If a student fails the quiz a second time an individual plan would be necessary to help the student with their specific struggles. Board members discussed the importance of ethics in the workplace and approved this assessment measure. Curriculum changes: Therapeutic Recreation; Substance Abuse in the CJ System; AAS degrees with Language Electives Liz S. updated everyone about last year’s Advisory Committee decision to eliminate RECT 1342, Therapeutic Recreation Leadership II in order to allow the addition of RECT 1391, Special Topics in Recreational Therapy (equating to Texas State University’s (TSU) course). Lynn shared that a lot of students have a desire to take Spanish. ASL is already listed as an elective in the General Human Services Degree and Lynn requested the Board also consider adding Spanish as an alternate elective. Jack motioned for the addition; seconded by Sandra E. She continued that another advantage in making this change is that TSU will accept the elective and students will be a lot further along (credit-wise) when they arrive at TSU. Liz C. confirmed the Board’s approval to add Spanish I and II in both the General Human Services and Therapeutic Recreation, AAS’s. Kipa stated their biggest concern is hiring people with experience. They are in need of people who can do program special level work (Program Specialists) and would hire ACC students (even those students who have lower level education). She added their hiring has doubled and she expects it will increase. They also expect to hire ten employees in the summer (field work, or volunteers). Liz S. reported that “Therapeutic Recreation” is now being referred to as Therapeutic Recreation/Recreational Therapy (TR/RT). She suggested changing wording to reflect the updated terminology, as well as listing the Therapeutic Recreation program with other therapies within the healthcare area like PTA and OTA. In conducting an internet search for Recreation Therapy programs, she found the ACC program is not listed (specifically because the terminology doesn’t indicate “Recreation Therapy”). She believes it may be a marketing issue and suggests “Recreational Therapy” be added to the current terminology. The new department course being offered, RECT 1391-Special Topics in Recreational Therapy, is causing some confusion because the title differs from the other HUSE courses listed under Therapeutic Recreation. She also found that Therapeutic Recreation is considered a discovery major because most students fall into it rather than seek it out; and they typically take Therapeutic Recreation as an elective. Liz C. advised that the ‘Addictions Counseling in the Criminal Justice System’ Certificate is the only Certificate in HUSE where students aren’t required to enroll in PSYT 1313, Psychology of Personal Adjustment. Liz C. requested the Board’s approval to add PSYT 1313 to the Criminal Justice Certificate and with their approval, will present the information to the Curriculum committee. Jack motioned for the Board’s approval; it was seconded by Tom. The addition of PSYT 1313 will also increase the total number of credit hours for the Certificate from 29 to 32 credit hours. New Higher Education Coordinating Board Rules Regarding Certificates and Degrees There are changes in the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) rules that may impact students in Level 1 certificates whereby if they do not pass a portion of the reading and writing test they will be allowed to take courses that have a reading and writing prerequisite. The other Co-Board change is that Associates degrees will be limited to 60 hours in 2015. The Workforce Education Vice President cautioned there was no immediate need to shorten program hours but that hours would need to be reduced by January 2015, unless an exception is granted to a department. Liz C. asked that everyone begin to think about the coming changes and determine which classes students might be able to omit. Rick suggested possibly dropping one of the two Internship classes (field-based classes). In regards to the Therapeutic Recreation degree, Liz S. stated that PSYT 2339, Counseling Theories may be a possibility. Update on RGC Building Renovations Liz C. reported that HUSE will not be relocating. Highland Mall is opening and will be the primary location for developmental reading and writing labs. The initial plan was that Rio Grande campus (RGC) would close; however bond elections have been delayed from 2014 to 2015 and there isn’t sufficient money to proceed. To avoid having a vacant building, RGC will remain open until further notice. Some discipline “classroom” sections are being relocated to other campuses (Highland Mall and other outlying campuses). HUSE has elected to keep all sections at RGC; and the campus relocation of varied sections will allow for a better selection of classroom space here at RGC. HUSE will not be increasing the “number” of sections taught but will have more options in classroom selection. Liz C. stated this impact will be reflected in fewer library hours, fewer student services and the campus would be closing at 5pm each day. Marketing Strategies Jack mentioned he had initially wanted to bring a group to tour RGC and inquired about how to set that up. Liz C. stated arrangements would need to be made on an individual basis but to keep in mind that even recruiters do not use RGC because there is nothing tour-worthy. Liz S. reported that the17th Annual College and Career Expo had about 3,000 attendees, some from high schools (via the Workforce Education program). She did speak with students and Instructors about HUSE courses. Pflugerville High School requested ACC send someone to come and speak about the program; so she will follow up. Liz S. also mentioned that Sandra, Lynn, and Liz C. also attended the College and Career Expo. Liz C. has asked ACC’s Marketing department to create a video to be shown on ACC’s Channel 19 (spotlighting the Therapeutic Recreation program, in particular). Updates/Recommendations from Board Members Yvonne provided a list of approved transferrable math and science classes and suggested ACC students take math at Park University. Meeting adjourned at 10:50am.