ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AND STANDARDS COUNCIL

The purpose of the Council is to provide direction for the College president in all matters included in academic affairs, including course outlines, award requirements, academic standards, course and program components, and the inventory of course and program offerings.

Friday, December 12, 2014

MINUTES

PRESENT: Cristen Cox, Kurt Dershem, Barb Embacher, Don Hermanson, Lori Hood,

Candy Mortenson-Klimpel, Diann Marten,Shayne Narjes, Darci Stanford, Dr. Susan Tarnowski,

Jay Wendelberger,

Absent: Ryan Langemeier, Brad Schloesser, Peter Wruck

Guests: Gale Bigbee

  1. Call Meeting to Order: Jay called meeting to order at 2:35p.m.
  1. Roll Call of Members
  1. Adoption of Agenda

6.a – program suspension / renewal – Gale Bigbee

Motion to Approve:Jay Wendelberger;Motion Seconded:Lori Hood;Motion Passed Unanimously

  1. Approval of Minutes (November 14, 2014)

Motion to Approve:Lori Hood;Motion Seconded:Cristen Cox;Motion Passed Unanimously

  1. Committee Reports - Oral &/or Written Q & A (30 Minutes)

a.Curriculum – Gale Bigbee (Oral)

New curriculum development process is working very well

Filling in gaps as the process moves ahead

Updated forms will be added to the CC website

Used new process and forms for new program proposals

Members are viewing CCO’s with more emphasis on integrity and keeping assessment in mind

Cross-walk forms have been developed to support MnTC goal area changes or new requests; it was determined that a cross-walk can be created in WIDS

CC meeting in January will be used to review and revise guidelines and by-laws

b.Faculty Professional Development – Lisa Lamor (Written)

Asking department chairs to look at faculty mentoring / need to be cautious of MSCF contract; Dr. Tarnowski noted that the contract is being kept in mind

c.Online Education / Quality Matters – Deb Salmon (Written)

d.Student Engagement – Beth Danberry (Written)

Build assessment process into this concept

What are the Best Practices, who is doing what, etc.

e.Student Learning – Wayne Whitmore (Written)

Spreadsheet attachment showing which courses are being covered; serves as a clearing house

Dr. Tarnowski asked for a matrix to determine all of the areas of assessment

Academic Affairs and Standards Council Minutes

December 12, 2014

Page 2

6.a.Information on Program Suspension and Renewal

Request for Carpentry and Mechatronics programs will be revitalized on the Faribault campus in 2015 / still on MnSCU inventory / never formally suspended

Need to review inventory and e-catalog to make changes necessary so they are accurate

Engineering Broadfield and Community Health Worker certificate will be suspended

  • Gale Bigbee sent e-meeting invite for comments on this request
  • A compilation of responses will be created and included in Program Navigator required documents
  • Gale shared concerns by Shawn Schroeder on the possible consequences of these actions on other programs

Shared Governance is the location for discussion with faculty on suspending programs

  • Request to consult faculty earlier
  • Barb Embacher gave some clarification on the rationale behind saving a certificate program by moving it into CBI
  • Some certificates are specialized and,in the past, were created to fulfill a need/request from the public

When suspending a program, it can be difficult and expensive to bring that program back

Carpentry is being brought back, as the need in business/industry has increased

6.b.Department Chair Discussion (5 Minutes Each)

Diann Marten – hiring faculty for chemistry, TPT for Faribault in chemistry; new adjunct mathematician position

Lori Hood – posted FT college readiness position was claimed by a laid-off faculty, will start in fall; some faculty have indicated that they will not come back for fall, working with Peter Wruck on combining some courses; continue discussion of EAP was requested

Kurt Dershem – no report

Don Hermanson – ok for spring, working with welding adjunct faculty

Shayne Narjes – division met with Dr. Parker, asked to include faculty with lots of experience in decision making, asking for ideas, rather than being informed after decisions were made – ex. budget process in the past; per Dr. Parker - another college has a budget committee. Discussion was held in Shared Governance on budgeting process / a revised process was announced. Concerns by Business faculty, with retirements coming up, concerns of what is happening on campus

Barb Embacher for Ryan Langemeier –working on safety procedural forms, to be reviewed and signed by students to be kept in files (using OSHA curriculum); NSF grant work is moving ahead, planning meetings are coming up – start in summer; maybe earlier; hiring process for new grant employees will be completed soon and announcements will be made soon. Looking to offer welding on NM campus.

Candy Mortensen-Klimpel – finished tough semester of ‘raising the bar’ to assist students in meeting accreditation course requirements – students are succeeding; faculty are offering more hybrid courses as it was proving that online courses were very difficult

Cristen Cox – finalizing hiring for adjuncts

Academic Affairs and Standards Council Minutes

December 12, 2014

Page 3

Darci Stanford for Social and Behavior Sciences – will serve as interim department chair for Social & Behavior Sciences; new adjuncts to be hired

OLD BUSINESS:

  1. Campus Input on Credential Reports– STANDING AGENDA ITEM

Per Don Hermanson, under review is Agribusiness – meeting has been postponed or canceled until January

NEW BUSINESS:

  1. Curriculum Committee Decision Appeals / Discussion

How will AASC handle appeals that cannot be resolved by the Curriculum Committee; need a process in place

A process is being createdin order for a faculty member to be able to appeal to AASC if a resolution cannot be reached at the Curriculum Committee level

Process proposal: allow faculty to come to AASC meeting for 8 – 10 minutes, present case, then ask faculty member to leave the meeting for a discussion by AASC but remain available for questions and results. There will have to be a vote by AASC and majority will rule.

Add process or procedure to by-laws

A reminder that all faculty are notified electronically of ‘intentions’ of proposed changes to be considered at upcoming CC meetings

Who will contact faculty – the office of Student and Academic Affairs will contact the faculty

Motion to Approve (see below): Shayne Narjes;Motion Seconded: Don Hermanson;Motion Passed Unanimously

If a course is brought to CC and for some reason, such as disputes relating to goal areas, and CC cannot approve, faculty can present to AASC for up to 10 minutes, not to include questions by committee members and a vote by AASC committee will take place to determine the outcome. Include – 10 minutes presentation, followed by asking faculty member to leave the room but be available for questions.

Need to include requirement for faculty to talk to chairs to be added to the agenda

Maybe have Gale present the issue or action that was taken by the Curriculum Committee, to department chairs.

Ask department chairs to share this information at meetings

If AASC cannot decide (which is giving up faculty input into curriculum), the action can be referred to the VP.

  1. Policy Review
  2. Degree Requirements / #4000-02 (ATTACHMENT) - TABLE

AFA proposal is going to HLC, this degree needs to be included in the policy

Check number of credits noted in policy

  1. Emergency Procedures / #3000-20 (ATTACHMENT)- TABLE

There are a number of emergency procedures / policies on file

Dr. Long and Al Kluever agree that there should be 1 policy that covers all emergency issues, and then maybe only one for those emergencies that affect students

  • The HRPolicy Committee will review and make suggestions

Academic Affairs and Standards Council Minutes

December 12, 2014

Page 4

  1. Grade Change / #3000-22 (ATTACHMENT) - TABLE

Dr. Roan stated that grade changes are submitted in written format

Should grade dispute procedure be a separate policy

  • Should include MSCF contractual language in policy

Add #4 under purpose – refer to grade appeal

Concern on allowing 2 years to appeal a grade (typically is 1 semester)

  • Exceptions can be made

Differences in incomplete and grade change

Concern on requiring a ‘proper signature;’ can be considered signed if faculty log-in with StarID

Request to remove dispute Procedure and come back with a separate Grade Dispute Procedure – combine with student appeal process

  1. Graduation / #3000-23 (ATTACHMENT)- TABLE

Check on diploma programs and number of credits

Concern on students completing multiple programs in one department will be granted the highest award only if the content of the lower awards is included in the higher. If you earned more than 1 award they should be listed separately

  • Can only count a student one time, even if they complete more than 1 award

Certificate completions do not count on enrollment numbers

Concern on ‘Academic Review’ section

Concern on ‘ Transfer’ section – there is a separate Transfer policy

Delete ‘one graduation ceremony on both campuses’ need to reword

Need to be able to review policies before the meeting; look at possibility of new Academic Forgiveness Policy – have grades that were earned in the past and students are requesting to have them not counted in current GPA - invite Donna Marzolf or other experts to give input to policy wording

Adjourn at 4:00 p.m.

Academic Affairs and Standards Council Minutes

December 12, 2014

Page 5

From: Gale Bigbee
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2014 11:07 AM
Subject: Information Items and Invitation for Feedback to CC

  1. After reviewing the 5 items listed below for Curriculum Committee, there really is no need for a formal meeting this Friday since these items are coming forward as information only for MnSCU purposes. Here’s my input on each item:
  2. Adding Carpentry – program is still on MnSCU inventory for Faribault; information only
  3. Adding Mechatronics – program is on MnSCU inventory for Faribault campus as well as NM; information only
  4. Closing Drywall – this can come forward at the February meeting
  5. Suspending Engineering Broad Field Degree – curriculum committee was never involved in the decision to suspend – this was an administrative action; information only
  6. Suspending Community Health Worker certificate – curriculum committee was never involved in the decision to suspend – this was an administrative action; information only

FIRST NAME / LAST NAME / RESPONSE
Gale / Bigbee
Tony / Bryson / X
Dave / Gilmore
Becky
Harold / Miller
Chromy / X
Candy
Rebecca / Mortenson-Klimpel
Barnack / X
Laurie / Oelslager / X
Shawn / Schroeder / X
Pam / Schweim / X
Jim / Zwaschka / X
Karen
Becky / Snay
Davis / X
Michele / Brielmaier / X
Lisa / Lamor / NON-VOTING MEMBER
Donna / Marzolf / X
Dr. Susan / Tarnowksi
Peter / Wruck / X

RESPONSE – 10 out of 14