Meeting & Agendas

GIS Advisory Committee Chair George Stebel welcomed everyone including new committee members Quanah Berkley and Dr. Nathan Currit. He then invited the entire committee to introduce themselves to each other.

Mr. Strebel invited Mr. Moran to update the Committee on growing enrollment and trends (see next page). In summary, Mr. Moran stated that enrollment seems to have leveled off. Possible reasons include market saturation, economic expansion, offering more summer semester courses, and TSU is improving their certificate program (offered by Dr. Booth). He listed professional successes including internships, new hires, advancements, and university transfers. He provided examples of student projects from the past year. Lastly, Mr. Moran discussed what's on the horizon, including moving ACC GIS to the Highland Campus; hiring a full-time GIS Faculty members; and adding a student success course to the GIS AAS Degree.

Mr. Strebel stated that Committee Member Mike Ouimet requested this item be added to the agenda and invited him to summarize this issue. Mr. Ouimet agreed and began by stating that he had served on the GIS Advisory Committee since its inception in 2008. He is considering stepping down and wondered if the Committee should consider a more formal process, like bylaws, for defining tenure. Dr. Booth talked about how the Workforce Education Course Manual (WECM) required set terms, varying from 1 to 3 years, for advisory committee when the GIS Advisory Committee was first formed in 2007. Subsequent revisions to the WECM in 2010 and 2014 didn’t have that requirement anymore. Dr. Booth suggested that the Coordinating Board might have eliminated that requirement because colleges in rural areas may have had difficulty filling advisory committee vacancies if no one could serve more than three years. Mr. Ouimet suggested that turnover would help the ACC GIS program create more professional connections. Committee Member Jacquelyn Bilbro asked what the turnover rate is? Mr. Moran responded that he does not know the exact turnover rate, but that one or two member step down every year. Mr. Ouimet agreed that some of the committee member positions are turning over, but that a number of the current committee members (like him) have been on the committee since its inception. Mr. Strebel asked what the process would be for formalizing committee member tenure. Mr. Moran stated the committee could adopt bylaws that define tenure. Committee Member Devon Humphrey countered that you better watch what you ask for. Committee Member Thomas Brown added that it might create a lot of extra work trying to fill committee membership slots that are vacated by rule. Committee Member Tracy Haywood stated that she would support formalizing tenure, but that the committee should be thoughtful about the rule. Mr. Strebel said that he thought the natural turnover rate was adequate. Mr. Ouimet offered that the bylaws do not have to be extensive. Committee Member Quanah Berkley asked if they could be flexible and Mr. Ouimet suggested that committee members could be given the opportunity to leave. Mr. Moran said that it was up to the committee to decide if and how they would implement a rule. Committee Member Richard Wade said that the committee only meets once a year and that it might take three meetings before a committee member feels they fully understand their role and how they can contribute. A three year tenure might not be enough. Ms. Bilbro followed by saying that each committee member was going to feel that their situation is unique. Dr. Booth offered that maybe the committee should meet more often...possibly two meetings per year. Mr. Wade made a motion to table any recommendation on creating bylaws. Ms. Bilbro seconded the motion. Mr. Strebel called for discussion. Mr. Wade suggested that the committee discuss other themes that might be included in new bylaws. Mr. Strebel suggested more meetings. Mr. Ouimet suggested voting. Mr. Wade suggested that a Fall meeting could correspond with the Texas GIS Forum. Ms. Haywood suggested that we increase the meeting time and noted that we ran over last year and it appears that we might run over again this year. Dr. Booth noted that we were 15 minutes from the scheduled end of the meetings and still had six agenda items to go. She suggested that the committee meet more often and for longer periods. Mr. Strebel called for a vote on Mr. Wade’s motion to table any recommendation on creating bylaws while continuing the discussion. The motion made by Committee Member Richard Wade to “table any recommendation on creating bylaws” was approved with ten committee members voting yes and Committee Member Mike Ouimet voting no. Mr. Stebel then made a motion that Mr. Moran summarize bylaw themes the committee could discuss at the next meeting. Mr. Wade seconded the motion and, hearing no discussion, Mr. Strebel called for a vote. The motion made by Committee Chair George Strebel that “Mr. Moran summarize bylaw themes the committee could discuss at the next meeting” was approved by unanimous vote.

Mr. Strebel stated that Ms. Bilbro requested this item be added to the agenda and invited her to summarize this issue. Ms. Bilbro said that she remembered a previous GIS Advisory Committee discussion where ACC GIS instructor Teresa Howard mentioned the possibility of requiring a computer programming prerequisite course as a prerequisite for GISC 2435 Programming for GIS. Mr. Moran responded that in preparing the meeting agenda, he contacted Ms. Howard to get her opinion on the need for a prerequisite. Ms. Howard replied that she likes the idea of a prerequisite, but worries that it might negatively affect enrollment in GISC 2435. Mr. Moran offered that ACC is implementing a new approach where prerequisites can be categorized as recommended or required. Ms. Howard said that she liked the idea of recommending a prerequisite, but not requiring it. Mr. Moran also mentioned that COSC 1315 Fundamentals of Programming is included as one of the courses in the restricted GIS elective for the GIS Level II Certificate and GIS AAS Degree. So students could take COSC 1315 as a credit toward their GIS award and as a recommended prerequisite for GISC 2435. Both Dr. Booth and Committee Member Stephanie Jensen suggested that Mr. Moran add an explanatory note to the restricted GIS elective in the course catalog.

Mr. Strebel asked that Mr. Moran update members on the GIS Certificate and Degree Plans recommended by the Committee last Spring. Mr. Moran reviewed the finalized GIS Certificates and Degree Plans that comply with SB 497; were recommended by the GIS Advisory Committee; and approved by the ACC Curriculum Committee with minor refinements. Mr. Moran pointed out that the difference between what the GIS Advisory Committee recommended and what the ACC Curriculum Committee approved is the 14-hour per week GISC 2264 Internship GIS Capstone. The GIS Advisory Committee recommended it be removed (while keeping the 7-hour per week GISC 2164 GIS Internship), but it turned out that the 2-hour credit for GISC 2264 might be needed for some students to comply with the SB 497 60-hour award requirement. So the ACC Curriculum Committee added GISC 2264 back into the approved curriculum.

Mr. Strebel invited Mr. Moran to update members on the Online GIS Level I Certificate. Mr. Moran reviewed the history of online GIS courses at ACC, beginning with the GEOG 2470 Introduction to GIS distance learning course created by Dr. Booth while on sabbatical in 2010. Since offering GEOG 2470 online, ACC has also offered GISC 1491 Introduction to Maps and Map Making; the GIS Capstone; and ITSW 1307 Introduction to Database: Access. At this point, only GISC 2420 Intermediate GIS and GISC 2401 Data Acquisition and Analysis in GIS have not been taught as an online course. Mr. Moran is scheduled to teach a GISC 2401 distance learning course this Summer and hopes that ACC can offer a GISC 2420 course during the Spring 2016 semester. At that point, ACC GIS will be in a position to offer all GIS Level I courses in an online format and begin marketing an online GIS Level I Certificate. Mr. Moran asked if there were any questions and there were none.

Mr. Strebel invited Dr. Booth to lead the discussion on the adoption of ArcGIS Pro in education and workforce. Dr. Booth stated that she is looking for direction from the Committee on when the ACC GIS program should consider adopting ArcGIS Pro. She said the ArcGIS Pro is a paradigm shift, similar to the transition from ArcView 3.x to ArcGIS 8.x and will require a significant amount of work and coordination to update the curriculum across all of our courses. Responses from committee members varied between “we are testing ArcGIS Pro” to “we’re still on ArcGIS 10.1.” The general consensus was that it will take longer than typical for organizations to migrate to ArcGIS Pro. In a previous discussion with Mr. Moran and reiterated by Dr. Booth to the Committee, ACC GIS Faculty should look for opportunities to incorporate ArcGIS Pro where feasible, but should hold off on adopting ArcGIS Pro as the core GIS platform until more organizations adopt this new version.

Mr. Strebel invited Mr. Moran to lead the discussion on GIS continuing education. Mr. Moran briefly mentioned that ACC was considering offering GIS continuing education courses. The courses would be targeted toward professionals that do not want to sign-up for a typical 16-week GIS course. Possible course topics included Introduction to GIS; Introduction to Cartography; Introduction to GPS; Disaster Mitigation and Management with GIS; GIS Mission Planning for Unmanned Aerial Systems; ArcGIS and GISP Certification Review Courses. Mr. Brown suggested there was a need for executive-level GIS training that includes project management, return on investment, etc. Ms. Jensen offered that governmental organizations are interested in anything related to emergency management.

Mr. Strebel asked if there was any other business. A few of the committee members suggested that we need to schedule the meetings for longer than 1.5 hours so that we don’t run over. Hearing not other business, Mr. Stebel adjourned the meeting.