DE

Minutes March 20, 2007

Attendees: Jan, Novak (chair), Norman Buchwald, Desmond Chun, Gene Groppetti, Scott Hildreth, Judy O?Toole, Hilal Ozdemir, Andrew Pierson, Pam Shen, Ramona Silver, Lani Wilson, Wanda Wong

Jan announced that she has received Staff Development funding to compensate our adjunct instructors (Lisa, Pam, and Ramona) for their committee work this semester. Scott recognized Jan for obtaining this approval and perhaps setting a precedent for the college overall in terms of adjunct compensation for committee work. Jan also advised the committee she is working on the Program Review Timeline for the five rocks we have identified. We then discussed the following items:

Proposal reviews:
Jan provided an update on proposal reviews for Spring 2007. Terri Barton?s BUS-50B/E late start courses for this semester have been approved. Jan noted that Jim Baum?s ATEC-52 class is being offered on a Dean-approved ?exigent? basis, but has not been approved by the committee, and will need to complete the entire review process next semester.

Each member of the committee provided updates on the proposals for which they are ?guides?. The overall proposal status is quite good, with most reviews and feedback on written proposals completed and very few serious concerns noted. We are awaiting feedback on our comments from several ?fast track? instructors, and agreed that these proposals will not be approved until we?ve received satisfactory feedback on our suggestions. A particular concern is ?cookie-cutter? proposals that aren?t specific to the course being proposed.

For our new online instructors, committee members promised to provide Jan with written feedback on outstanding proposals to include in our ?separate review? documentation. Once all of that is completed, the next stage in the review process is the course demonstration by each proposer, which is targeted for completion by early May. There is a strong consensus among committee members that course demonstrations be conducted in-person with the proposer versus reviewing the proposer?s website independently, but that the independent option is acceptable if that?s the only reasonable option. In that case, written feedback should be provided to the reviewer.

Faculty Association contract clause:
Pam Shen posed questions about the new Faculty Association contract clause that provides a right to teach a ?new? online class three times. Questions include the definition of ?new? (a course never before taught online vs. a new section), and how this impacts seniority rights. Jan will contact the FA for clarification on this issue.

Incentives:
The current online course proposal incentive plan has ended with the proposals we?re considering for this summer and fall, and the committee discussed ideas for future incentives. As we?re uncertain how large a role the incentives played in the recent expansion of online courses, Scott suggested we survey those who participated in the incentive program to try to better understand the motivating power of the current program. Jan agreed to conduct an informal email survey, and to provide feedback to the committee. The general thinking of the committee is that we may want to better target underrepresented disciplines or focus more on training in any future incentive programs.

Other topics:
Future topics for discussion and possible sub-committee work include the development of an online survey for our online students to be implemented in Fall 2007, and a prioritization of Blackboard issues and needs. This discussion was tabled for a future meeting.

March 21 Planning Meeting:
Jan distributed a tentative agenda for Wednesday?s meeting, and encouraged all committee members to attend. The agenda will focus on development of an online teaching curriculum, development of an online teaching community, and ideas to motivate more faculty to teach online.

Handouts:
Agenda for March 21 Special Meeting