Meeting & Agendas

A. Guided Pathways ACC’s newest initiative is to develop guided pathways for all students in several areas of study. The intent is to give students options between programs under the area of study if one particular program was not a good fit. Under the Guided Pathways, general education courses meet requirements for other programs thus eliminating students starting over to apply for a new program. As part of this, the college will also identify health science counselors to help advise students. The main difference is that these advisors can now focus on the nuances of each health science program instead of having to be generalists for all the college degree programs. B. HS Open House ACC hosted the first Open House to highlight all the Health Science programs. This was open to the community and allowed full access to all the program’s facilities. It was well attended and there are plans to continue this in the future. C. Online application process Health Sciences has transitioned to an online application process. Students upload all forms except the application and Work Skills Assessments to Certified Profile. The students create a lifetime account, for a nominal fee, and they will have lifetime access to any forms they have uploaded. This company will also handle the background checks and the drug screens.

A. Graduate Outcomes 1. Licensure pass rates The Class of 2015 had a 100% pass rate and that continues are streak of 100% first-attempt pass rate to eight years. 2. Graduation rates Class of 2014 = 90%; Class of 2015 = 95%; CAPTE’s new calculation for graduation rates only takes into account students that withdrew for academic reasons. 3. Employment rates Class of 2014 = 95%; Class of 2015 = have not been surveyed yet 4. Current student retention rates While the trend remains the same, students withdraw for academic reasons in the first fall semester; the numbers have not increased from the past year. On occasion, students have withdrawn semester two in the program, but we have had no instances in the past few years of students withdrawing after that point for academic reasons. B. Technology Acquisition 1. Anatomage This table allows students to use a program that holds a digitized scan of a cadaver. It is fully interactive and has many uses for class instruction, lab, and studying. It is an impressive system and one that is frequently shown to appropriate visitors to ACC and the community. 2. ExamSoft/iPads The program has transitioned to iPad testing instead of paper and scantron. This has decreased the time spent grading and the feedback for students has improved. The ExamSoft software generates reports that identify strong and weak content areas. This allows faculty to administer exams that are similar to the licensing exam. 3. GoPros (PTA MACS reliability study) These cameras have replaced our old cameras for lab exams. The quality of video has improved and is being used to record videos that will be used in a reliability study for the PTA MACS. 4. Handheld dynamometers The program has two that are used in the MMT labs to help students compare their force with that of the instructors. 5. UBE Old UBE was not working and this has replaced the old machine. 6. Misc. The program also has a new unloader for use in several courses. C. Advisory Committee Input/Suggestions If the committee can think of any skills or equipment that students are not exposed to in the program, the faculty welcome the input so the curriculum can reflect contemporary practice. D. Faculty 1. Adjunct hires Brian O’Neill joined the faculty since the last committee meeting. His primary responsibilities are in the Intro to PT course. The program is fully staffed at this moment with the exception of one fall course that is in need of an adjunct. 2. New activities The program director is now a CAPTE on-site reviewer. The purpose was primarily to help with the upcoming re-accreditation process. The self-study for the program starts in 2017 with the on-site visit in 2018. Because of these review visits, a new public complaint process is on the main PTA webpage now and a review of the program’s mission and philosophy statements is part of this agenda. After any necessary revisions, the faculty’s professional development will then tie into the mission of the program and the college.

A. 60-credit hour changes 1. Intro to A&P The new prerequisite is BIOL 2404 Intro to A&P. This replaced the old requirements of Human Anatomy and Human Physiology. The faculty have determined that this course helped increase our applicant pool this past year since it removed four credit hours for students to take. Faculty were concerned about the impact on the preparedness of students, but no major changes in retention were seen after this transition in the fall of 2015. 2. Functional Anatomy This course changed from 1513 to 1413 (once less credit hour). As a result, the course design changed to a flipped classroom model. Students listen to lectures before class and the classroom meetings are used for discussion and focusing on concepts that are more complex. Student course evaluations indicated that the course was still effective for learning. The course evaluations showed that students did use the textbook more than in previous years. Test grades also did not differ from the old course format. The program will evaluate the performance of this new classroom format at the third year. 3. Clinical III This course changed from 2461 to 2361 (one less credit hour). Students have not yet taken this class but since none of the objectives or clinical time has changed, no changes in outcome measures are anticipated. 4. Manual Therapy and other Identified Curriculum Weaknesses Patty: Students evaluate their academic preparation with what they were asked to do in clinicals and what was seen in the clinic that was not presented in the program’s curriculum. Manual therapy was consistently mentioned in these evaluations and the program has started to incorporate more peripheral joint mobilizations into the curriculum. While not taught to competency, they are exposed to more manual therapy now. Cervical joint mobilization is also a frequently mentioned skill, but not something currently allowed by CAPTE. Students also stated that there should be more opportunities to practice on actual patients, as opposed to classmates. The faculty has discussed the feasibility of a pro-bono clinic, but has not progressed more than just discussion. Currently the students have a few lab activities where instructors role-play a patient role to provide a more realistic experience. Students stated that they would like more time in the nursing lab practicing with lines and tubes. They have one cardiac rehab lab where students work the patients (the instructors) connected to various lines and tubes. Patty Collier will generate these reports on an annual basis. CIs are asked at the midterm visit to identify any weaknesses in the students to corroborate the student data. B. CAPTE changes to length of program CAPTE Standards allows programs to deliver the curriculum in “no more than 5 semesters or 80 academic weeks or 104 calendar weeks. This potentially allows the program to lighten the second fall semester by moving a course to the summer semester. The faculty will discuss the pros and cons and bring this to the advisory committee. C. Students with Disabilities at Clinical Affiliations Students with needing testing or classroom accommodations can get these through the Students Accessibility Services (SAS). Patty attended a workshop that discussed the various ways in which nursing and medical schools have violated these rules. Instructors should avoid blanket statements that claim a student cannot do the skills, work, etc., do to a disability, physical or otherwise. If students can meet technical standards, they get the chance to apply to the program with any necessary accommodations. What is the process in a clinical setting? Students that need accommodations in a clinical setting should include a discussion with the student, the faculty, SAS, and a representative of the clinic or facility. In this way, all interested parties can have input and all things are considered. The process needs to be individualized and no blanket statements made. Schools adhere to laws regarding education, not future employment. Advisory committee shared instances of when this happened in their respective facilities and how faculty or clinicians handled the process. It is also important to make sure that students are aware of technical standards before applying to the program. It should be before the new class orientation and before the first semester. D. Advisory Committee Contemporary Practice Input The Advisory Committee was asked to notify the program if there are any shifts in practice.

A. 2015 Applicant pool 1. Number Accepted Applicant pool increased in 2015 to 53 qualified applicants from mid 30s in the last three years. Due to this increase, the PTA Program accepted two additional students, 22. Limited clinical sites limit the program’s ability to accept more. 2. Retention While the trend remains the same, students withdraw for academic reasons in the first fall semester; the numbers have not increased from the past year. On occasion, students have withdrawn semester two in the program, but we have had no instances in the past few years of students withdrawing after that point for academic reasons. Three-year aggregated data will be used to further evaluate the changes made to the curriculum from the 60-credit hour rule. B. Public complaint process As mentioned earlier in the meeting (II-D-2), a public complaint process is available on the website. C. Updated Employer Survey The employer survey is now online and ready to send. The student survey dealing with employment will ask students to provide employer contact information to compile a more targeted email list. The survey will be sent to this list of employers after the program director compiles the graduate survey responses. D. Intro to PT update Interest in this course continues remains high. We run the course every semester in a 9-week, hybrid format. There are 40 seats in each semester with a petition list that greatly outnumbers the space available. E. CAPTE Re-accreditation 1. Mission statement review Advisory committee and faculty reviewed the current PTA philosophy, mission statement, and program goals to ensure they were consistent with any changes made to the ACC. The ACC policy stating the mission, values, goals, etc., had amended dates of May 2011, May 2012, July 2012, and January 2016, per the ACC website. 2. Advisory Committee Input Use terminology from the ACC statements to our PTA statements. The APTA vision statement should be used to match language. Statements on diversity in the current PTA goals only address graduates treating a diverse patient population, not that the students themselves are a diverse population. The PTA Mission repeats a statement from the program’s Philosophy statement. • Change terminology to match ACC’s statements and APTA’s statements • Add a statement that includes graduating students of diverse backgrounds (or attempting to) o Add more directed activities that target these diverse or minority recruitment, e.g., school fairs, asking high schools to bring small groups to view and use the Anatomage table • We could also add a goal that there is community outreach to teach the community about the profession of the physical therapy and PTAs specifically. • “Community Development” is an important theme in the ACC statements and can be worked into our goals, specifically PTA goal number three so it does not only mention patients but also the community. • Other buzzwords found in the ACC statements include “affordability” and “open access” • Could also tie in PTA goal number one to ACC’s statement regarding using data for best practices • Consider re-writing the Philosophy statement • Do not list specific interventions to avoid limitations 3. New Program Director Requirements Program Directors now need 9-credit hours (shown on a transcript) that cover “educational theory and methodology”, “instructional design”, “student evaluation”, and “outcome assessment.” Program Director has a Masters in Education, which included these requirements. 4. Advisory Committee Meetings during SSR In preparation or during our self-study year, it may be necessary to call an additional meeting of the Advisory Committee. Addendum: The CAPTE on-site team will want to interview Advisory Committee members and the program director will help coordinate schedules for those members that can accommodate this during the on-site visit.

Ryan Hilmer was selected as the PTA Student of the Year by TPTA.

UTMB bridge program requirements were discussed and several former students have been accepted to start the bridge program in their upcoming class.

Meeting adjourned at 22:30