Meeting & Agendas

Welcome and Introductions; Thanks to all of our clinical partners!

Updates for DMS and Vascular Programs * 2015 Class/Graduation in December of 2015 o 12 students with 92% pass rate on ARDMS SPI exam; all 12 requested admission to the ESC-VT Program * 2014 Graduates o 14 graduates with 93% pass rate on ARDMS AB & OB exams o 14 admitted to the ESC-VT with currently 6 enrolled Attrition due to 8 students acquiring Sonographer jobs (hold RDMS credentials) * 2013 Graduates o ARDMS exam results: 100% AB and 90% OB o 4 VT graduates with 100% pass rate o 3 DMS (non-VT Program) graduates also obtained RVT credentials * State of Texas and JRC-DMS approval of Program revisions and curricular changes which will be posted in the ACC 2015-2016 Catalog and effective for the 2016 admission class o Medical-Vascular Program consisting of 2 awards: AAS in DMS and ATC in Medical-Vascular o Students are able to obtain financial aid for ATC (Advanced Technical Certificate) * MedSim no longer in business but we obtained additional Modules including F.A.S.T. scans * Declinations from clinical sites continue: some ARA sites, CTMC for summer of 2015, Austin Regional Clinic declined student placements since last summer * Changes in Sonographers at some sites may affect clinical placements for Summer and Fall 2015.

DMS and VT PROGRAM CHALLENGES * Number of clinical sites for OB student placements continues to be low and declining o May affect students abilities to obtain competencies for OB o Graduates do not have skills needed for MFM positions * Sharing of some clinical sites with other CAAHEP accredited Programs impacts placements but so far schedules have worked out; possible issues with curricular changes coming in 2016 * Vascular Program attrition is still a major threat to the program. Students continue to withdraw from the Program because they receive full time employment with the promise of on the job training in vascular. In some cases, students are told they really do not need to complete the VT Program (lack of support from clinical sites and some sonographers) o ARDMS does not require formal education to take the vascular registry if they are already credentialed in General or Cardiac ultrasound. o Students are unable to receive financial aid for this additional semester. o Changes to Program structure and curriculum will alleviate this problem after 2017. * Recent requirement from JRC-DMS for all competencies to be performed in the clinical setting with only a few exams for which a Program can request an exemption o Not all sites that perform vascular scans/exams perform the entire range of scans/exams o ACC can only utilize sites in the Austin and Central Texas region; all VT students cannot rotate through only one or two sites.

DISCUSSION Program revision to Medical-Vascular Program was well received. Ms. Swearengin shared that the THECB has awarded an exemption to Sonography to allow up to 65 credit hours instead of the 60 hours maximum. She recommended that the Medical-Vascular Program structure and credit hours not be revised at this time but possibly returning DSVT 1110 Intro to Vascular Technology and Pathophysiology back into the curriculum could occur before the publication of the 2016-2017 ACC Catalog. Ms. Swearengin felt strongly that the required pre-requisites should not be changed at this time or next year. Discussion regarding the new Applicant Ranking Worksheet format; TEAS V (formerly HOBET V) exam content, structure and application requirement was reviewed with the group Addition of College Success Course requirement for all students with less than 12 credit hours; Sonography is not required to add EDUC 1301 Effective Learning as all applicants must have 15 credit hours of pre-requisite courses to apply. Ms. Swearengin stated that all Sonography students could benefit from information on Effective Learning in Sonography and that faculty can work with the Psychology department for modules to be included in one or more first semester Sonographer courses. ACC will develop a Blackboard site for all faculty to access effective leaning information and modules. Any ACC faculty member will be able to teach EDUC 1301 after completing the required in-house training Sonography website will be updated to reflect all changes to the Programs including a new requirement of publication of CAAHEP Outcomes (Attrition, Credential Success Rates, & Job Placement) on the website. The committee felt this would be good as it applies to all CAAHEP Sonography Programs. Ms. Swearengin stated that a button on the left side of the Sonography website screen will allow easy access to this information. She asked the committee's feedback on other Outcomes or Data that could also be published in the same location, such as Scholarships awarded, SPI pass rates, etc. The committee approved of those inclusions in the data. Ms. Swearengin shared some student responses to a question on a Clinical Assignment: ""What are the top two or three things you learned during these last few weeks?"" The committee appreciated the student's comments and observations. Discussion of admission numbers, semester scheduled, and clinical placements in light of the Program revisions. The committee expressed concern with overwhelming clinical sites with students from two levels and more than one Program (ACC and others). The Sonography faculty felt that a slight reduction in admission numbers would be needed during the transition to the new Program format but that admissions could increase in the future dependent on available clinical sites for student placements. Personnel Resource Surveys were completed