Meeting & Agendas

Jane called the meeting to order at 12:15 p.m.

Jane opened the meeting with a welcome to everyone and the board members introduced themselves. Jane also announced that Sarah Harkrider has joined the advisory board as a new member.

Jane provided all the members a copy of the minutes from the November 2012 Advisory Board meeting and explained the results of the survey and provided a status on the changes the members approved during the last meeting. The board was asked to review for approval. Minutes were approved by all members present.

Jane provided each of the members with a handout detailing the current year enrollment. She reported that enrollment is still on a decline. The current fall 2013 numbers are very close to the enrollment of fall 2008. She also shared that classes will be offered at the Hays campus and that could possibility increase the numbers in the future. Mary Joy Guzman asks if the classes were being marketed to area high school students. Jane explained that from past discussions it was determined that there are no high school courses that articulate with the Office Administration program. Jane also reported that there was a record number of 16 students graduated last spring, 6 in the summer, and 5 are scheduled to finish in the fall.

Jane opened the discussion proposing the change of POFT 1449 Admin Office Procedures to POFI 1441 Computer Apps II: Integrated Computer Applications. Jane explained that the choice of textbooks have been very poor for POFT 1449. Roni Cook explained that the change will consist of removing the customer service component and implementing an integrated computer applications component. Roni also talked about adding One Note, software that will allow note keeping and the ability to share notes. The Cloud, a web application is also being implemented but the computer technicians are concerned about the application breeching confidentiality. The members were asked for feedback about the application. Chaundra Tarver shared that her agency prefers the use of the Cloud because it removes the concern of information being shared over a network and protects the agencies confidentiality. Sarah Harkrider shared that her agency uses Google Docs and feels that the Cloud is new and there’s a concern about hackers gaining access to confidential information. She also suggested that we contact a firm that specializes in the concerns of data being hacked and securing information that is restricted. Roni Cook expressed her appreciation for the feedback and shared that she was going to consider having a speaker come in to talk about Google Docs. Marshall Levett responded and informed the members that Lara Niles specializes in Google Docs and works here at the college. Roni also shared that she will also begin to implement the use of PDF files and files management. She would like to teach students how to properly name and protect documents before dumping them into a drive or on a website. Marshall reminded Roni that everything will need to be accessible to all students. Roni thanked Jane and gave her the floor. Jane informed everyone that the integrated course would be a capstone course and students will have to complete prerequisites before registering. She also referenced the survey results that indicated the need for the ability to integrate various applications. Action: Jane asked the members to vote on the proposed changes and the vote was unanimous with all members in agreement with the changes.

Jane opened the discussion and Marshall said that ACC IRT does not support Windows 8 and if it does not improve, we will not transition into it. Jane also mentioned that the program is seriously considering going into MS Office 13 for the fall and due to the changes and agreement the college has with Microsoft, the change can happen without waiting on Computer Science to update their software. The group as whole concluded that the demand for Office 13 has been minimal. For the students to gain exposure, Chaundra Tarver suggested a fieldtrip to the Microsoft store and be required to answer a question about the product. Jane explained that if this change comes into existence, we will need to rewrite 6 courses and that would be an immediate project that faculty would need to get started. Mary Jo asked if the program talks to other colleges about software changes. Jane said that they have not communicated with any other school at this point. There is a contact at San Antonio College that she can call and hopefully gather some information. Chaundra Tarver suggested seeking assistance from New Horizons (http://www.newhorizons.com), a computer learning center and provided Jane with a contact person.

Jane opened the discussion explaining that SAM is an online resource for students that is specific to Word, Access, and PowerPoint. Jane also shared that after being exposed to this resource, students are scoring better on their objective tests. An online checker is another program that Yolonda Holland, an adjunct instructor, uses for Word I. Pat Tallent expressed her approval for the checker program and added that it encourages proofreading.

Jane opened the discussion with an overview of the survey results and shared that the survey produced only 16 responses. Members responded with suggestions of texting it out and passing it out at job fairs. Sarah offered to send it out to employers and other human resources professional in San Marcos that her company works with. Roni suggested using Chaundra’s resources at Workforce Solutions and gathering data by using key words in job openings. Chaundra will get her analyst to gather the data based on key words that match the questions we would like answered. Jane and Chaundra will communicate about what the needs are.

Meeting adjourned at 1:45 p.m.