Minutes of the Evaluation and Assessment Committee
The meeting was called to order on February 14, 2017 at 1 p.m. in Room 2207.
Members Present:
Fazi Arabi, Cheryl Cunningham (Chair), Peter Dorman, Kirk Gomes, Jim Lemons, Shannon McDermott, Kris Ogden, Gary Randolph, Pam Reynolds (Recorder), Kevin Riley, and Cynthia Wallin
Members Absent:
Sue Cochrane, Jessy Hogan, Nathan Kolb, and Muriel Mickles
Cheryl received a notice stating Nathan would be out of the office beginning February 10, 2017 and will return February 17, 2017.
Meeting Minutes from the January 12, 2017 meeting:
Cheryl asked if anyone had any changes to the meeting minutes from January 12, 2017. She reminded everyone the minutes are always on Communication Central. Peter made the motion to approve the minutes and Cindy seconded the motion. Everyone agreed to the minutes.
Old Business:
Report by the (OIESP) Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning from Kris.
Kris was excited to report how well the Guided Pathways process is going. She thanked everyone for their hard work. They are still working on creating different aspects of the procedure; for example, fixing the footnotes so all footnotes would be consistent. They are hoping to launch the new website in March. She will try to send everyone a link so they can view the website and offer any feedback (positive or negative). Cheryl likes the Guided Pathways process. It really helps her when she is advising her students in her program. Kris mentioned Peter had mapped the Lynchburg City Schools early college students to the process and how clear it was to the students. When the integration of systems are complete, the student will be able to progress in an easier fashion. For example, the student will be flagged if they are not taking the right classes. Overall, everyone believes the Guided Pathways process will help the students when they get ready for their classes.
Kris announced the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) were scheduled for this spring semester. She handed out a list of courses that were randomly picked for the surveys. The faculty on the list will receive a packet when they return from spring break. It will be mandatory to administer these surveys. It should take about 50 minutes and they need to be returned to the division office by April 14, 2017. Fazi asked what was the meaning of CCSSE. Kris explained it was a national survey from Texas. It showed the level of engagement from community college students. These surveys show the whole experience of the student, not just in the class where they are being surveyed.
Kris stated that Kevin is working with Pam on the graduate assessments and making sure all the information is in the system. They have changes in process to eliminate a lot of the manual work. Jim announced how much he appreciates the good job Kris and Kevin are doing with the pathway system. It has helped with the culinary program and the health science programs.
Jim announced there were some issues with registration as far as the EMT programs. It will not let the student enroll in some of the courses if they were registered for a different curriculum. He asked if there was a way you could be in a triple major since many of the EMT programs follow the same path. Kris stated you could be in more than one curriculum but it would have to be entered in manually. He believes more attention may be needed in academic advising.
Cheryl mentioned the software might need tweaking. For example, if a student needs MTH 120 but takes a higher math, the system will kick them out. It also presents problems with course substitutions. If a student takes another class that will substitute, financial aid will not pay for the course and it kicks the student out. Kris may be able to query a common substitution report, but it will have to be entered manually.
Kris is concerned with the significant changes in the MTH courses. She is asking for faculty to bring all issues to their attention. She and Kevin may have to manually fix any issues until they receive a new system. Cindy suggested all three deans need to sit down and see what needs to be fixed. Jim stated whatever was done it needed to be consistent.
Kris announced there had been lots of improvements, but there were still lots to be done.
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 and Kevin
· Update on the ongoing Guided Pathways process from Kris
Our next meeting is March 28, 2017 in Room 2207.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Pam Reynolds