Minutes – PRC

26 April 2017 * 3:00 p.m.

Room 1108

Members:

x / Craig Carmena / x / Susan Meacham
x / Lenore Frigo / x / Frank Nigro
x / Rob McCandless / x / Michael Sloan

Guests:

x / Iva Weidenkeller / x / Will Breitbach

1.  Call to order: 3:00.

2.  Review of Mar. 29, 2017 minutes (1attachment): The minutes were reviewed and found to be accurate.

3.  News/reports (all):

A.  Follow-up on Ag degrees from Mar. 29; review of tracking chart (1 attachment): The two programs from last meeting underwent the mapping changes that we indicated. The program reviews have now been forwarded to College Council.

College Council is still deliberating how to respond to the 6 reviews we have forwarded at this point.

Of the remaining degrees, Frank will attempt to round up the program reviews for as many as possible for our May 10 meeting. The rest can be done in the fall.

B.  Follow up on 7 discontinuances: Discontinuance plans have been sent in. Frank will try to remind College Council to discuss discontinuance requests when they come in.

4.  Discussion/action items

A.  Discontinuance – CIS – Computer Networking AS degree (1 attachment): This is a voluntary discontinuance request from BAITS: The PRC voted to discontinue this degree. A new coding degree is being created that will replace this degree since the current degree would have to be radically altered to stay anyways. Michael Sloan confirmed that there would be no impact on classes.

B.  Two US/GS degrees up for review (2 attachments): The PRC will look at a draft evaluation of each program and consider factors that will allow us to finalize the evaluations. These are the first US/GS degrees the PRC has looked at under the new process:

University Studies: Biological Science AA Degree / PRC-PR
University Studies: Physical Sciences AA Degree / PRC-PR

The PRC reviewed the idea of reviewing the US/GS degrees. Both of these degrees were found to be healthy given the enrollments, course success and retention rates, mapping of SLOs to ISLOs, and awards. The PRC voted to approve both without qualification, but they wanted to suggest that faculty in biology and chemistry look to create AD-Ts in those areas. The completed PRC-Program Reviews for these will be sent to the counselors as well as the faculty for possible comment.

C.  Publication of learning outcomes information: This came up at Instructional Council in light of the accreditation standards. Dean Will Breitbach will attend the meeting to discuss this: One of the eligibility requirements under the ACCJC requires that outcomes data be published. It is believed this is so that students can make good decisions about the programs they choose to enroll in. The new program reviews that come to the PRC contain summarized PLO data that does not give specifics about individual instructors’ performance, so publishing the program reviews might meet the ER. The question came up of whether the PRC should decide on publishing program reviews publically (like on the PRC or VPI website). It was decided to run this by Senate.

D.  Accreditation QFE (Quality Focus Essay) (1 attachment): This essay is a required part of our accreditation Self Evaluation. Please review the parts about program review and come with your feedback or questions: The PRC reviewed this and made some suggestions about the timeline and the overall plan to rework learning outcomes and how they are assessed.

E.  Remaining programs to be reviewed this year:

General Studies: Agriculture Trades AS Degree / PRC-PR
University Studies: Agricultural Sciences AA Degree / PRC-PR
Ag – Equipment Operations and Maintenance Certificate / PR*
Ag – Horticulture – Irrigation Certificate / PR*
Ag – Horticulture and Landscaping AS Degree / PR*

F.  Other: PRC members for 2017-18: Craig Carmena indicated he’d be willing to serve at least one more year of the next 2 year stint. Lenore Frigo declined to serve another 2-year term. Frank will approach Senate about finding someone to take her place. Michael Sloan will also need to be replaced.

5.  Future meetings:

·  May 10 @ 3:00

6.  Parking lot:

·  Possible style sheet for writers of program reviews.

o  Notes on writing for an audience, editing.

o  Notes on explaining acronyms.