Minutes of the Evaluation and Assessment Committee
The meeting was called to order on March 29, 2016 at 1 p.m. in Room 5208.
Members Present:
Sue Cochrane, Cheryl Cunningham (Chair), Peter Dorman, Jessie Hogan, Jim Lemons, Shannon McDermott, Kris Ogden, Jeff Laub, Pam Reynolds (Recorder), and Kevin Riley
Members Absent:
Jim Bell, Margie Jones, Nathan Kolb, Muriel Mickles, Gary Randolph, and Xavier Retnam
Cheryl received word from Jim B., Nathan, Gary, and Margie they would not be able to attend today’s meeting due to a previous commitment.
Meeting Minutes from the January 12, 2016 meeting:
Due to missing the February 16, 2016 meeting for inclement weather, Cheryl announced that Pam had a copy of the January 12 meeting minutes. She asked if anyone would like to review the minutes and make any changes. Everyone agreed to the minutes and Sue made the motion to approve the minutes.
Old Business:
Report by the (OIESP) Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning from Kris.
Kris announced the Compliance committee will be dissolved at the end of the academic year. It was decided the Compliance committee’s objectives were being dealt with in other committees. The OIESP and the Evaluation and Assessment Committee would share the responsibilities of the Compliance committee’s goals.
Peter asked about the status of the Guided Pathways development and partnerships with the high schools. Kris stated the language was a little complicated but they are structuring the development with the high schools. This development will be on our website where they can follow the path they have chosen and we will also always have a catalog to follow. Jessie thought that this is a great idea and we should have been doing this all along. Kris said now that we have the resources she is asking the faculty to contribute a lot more. Kris has created the SSLT (Student Success Leadership Team). She needs input.
Kris announced the Great College To Work For survey. The VCCS is requiring the completion of this survey. At this time the faculty has the lowest response rate. Cheryl mentioned there may be a problem with the response rate due to the fact that the survey email was going into their “Clutter” account. Kris is going to look into this problem. She stated that 74 adjunct instructors had been sent this email. She would like for full-time faculty to spread the word to the adjuncts about the survey. The deadline is April 8.
Update on Recommendation of the IOTA Premium Software for Student Evaluations from the Faculty Association from Kris.
Kris announced that all the evaluations are moving along as planned. She attended the faculty association meeting where the acquisition of the new IOTA Premium software was presented. They approved the presentation and we have acquired the software. At this time, there have been no issues with the software through our Distance Education department and Blackboard.
Kris mentioned there would be a webinar on April 5 and April 7 demonstrating the new software. If anyone is interested in participating in the webinar, she will be glad to send you the link.
Oversight of the Employee Manual Update by Jessie.
Jessie stated this is a great college to work for. She also stated we have a problem with the employee manual. The management of the employee manual does not fall under anyone’s job description. Dr. Capps would like everyone to keep their eyes and ears open for updates on the manual.
Kris mentioned that the problem is the policy needs to be current and have ownership. At this time, John Poole was the only one that could make changes. Since he has now retired, there is no owner. Kris will be happy to look into who should be doing this job. She believes the main job should be done through Human Resources. We need to have a policy stating dates, facilitators, etc.
Jim L. mentioned this needs to be limited to who makes the changes to the manual. Peter stated we needed a “gatekeeper” for the policy. Jim L. believes there are ideas that did not end up in the manual and are falling into a “black box” and not being followed through. Jessie thinks our committee should be the committee to make sure there is no “black box” so ideas would not be overlooked.
Kris announced this would be a great committee to maintain the manual. Since this is a “compliance issue” she will be glad to keep us updated.
New Business:
Cheryl asked if there was any new business. At this time, there was no new business.
Agenda topics for next meeting:
· Update on the ongoing assessments from Kris
· Update on the employee manual from Jessie and Kris
Our next meeting is TBD.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:50 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Pam Reynolds