SANTA BARBARA CITY COLLEGE
Committee on Teaching and Learning
Minutes
September 10, 2001
3:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Present: J. Alpert (ESL/Foreign Language), S. Broderick (Academic Support), P. Chavez-Nunez (ESL/Foreign Language), D. Kiley (Library), M. Lawson (Senate Liaison), G. Lewin (Chair), D. Mackie (Academic Support), J. Millward (English), M. Muraoka (Health Technologies), J. Pike (Learning Support Services), J. Simpson (Sciences and Technologies), C. Solberg (Social Sciences), J. Ullom (Administrative Liaison), P. Zwehl-Burke (Fine Arts).
1. Transition: Debbie Mackie passed "the gavel" to Gerry Lewin, the new chairperson.
2. Committee Duties: The list of committee duties was corrected by Debbie Mackie and Jerry Pike. They expressed a concern that the following three functions and responsibilites had been removed in 1999: "1. Reviews and recommends policy for the operation of LSS; 2. Reviews budget requests for tutors; 3. Advises the Tutorial Center Supervisor regarding tutorial allocations to depts."
Jerry Pike requested another line be added, as follows: "Serves as liaison between faculty and LSS staff on policies affecting utilization of the LSS, its resources and other faculty matters."
Mary Lawson will take this inquiry to Senate Steering Committee.
Mary Lawson clarified how the Senate Liaison works, the procedure to submit proposals to Senate, and the role of committees in making recommendations to the Senate as the governing body. She handed out a copy of "The Local Board Policy on Collegial Consultation" as reference information.
3. Voting: A motion was made to support a maximum of two votes per division on issues of resources or budget, but in other issues each member would have a vote. A vote was taken and the motion passed. (M/S/C Broderick/Chavez-Nunez) CTL needs to submit a description of our voting procedures to the Senate.
4. Proposal: Gerry Lewin proposed a plan to disseminate student success ideas and methods through the division membership using email. Once a year, each division representative would present, or invite a member of his/her division, to present to the committee something that promotes student success, i.e. research, a method, information, a case study, an article, a list of resources. Members could alter a summary they receive so it might be applied most relevantly in their fields, and send it out to members of their divisions by email. This is more efficient than requiring faculty go to another website. In addition to the email distribution, two offers have been made to follow up by posting on websites.
Discussion: Jack noted that the Professional Development Seminar website has been receiving 5X as many hits as the average website (15 vs. 3). He suggested featuring a "Bright Story of the Month" from one division each month on the PDS site. Jodi Simpson pointed out that we could advertise something that already exists here. Pat asked for resources that suggest things you can do in the last few minutes of class. Jodi added that might be helpful with the new calendar and longer teaching periods. David said it would be best if it were a voluntary endeavor. Jack said he thinks we don't need more methods, but rather a systematic method of dealing with student retention. We decided to take time to consider the plan before deciding upon it.
5. Institutional Plan: Jack Ullom related his experience at Asilomar, Monterey, where he and Keith attended an International Seminar on Student Retention offered by the South West Institute for Student Success (SWISS). He provided a copy of the topics and recommendations from the seminar. SBCC was rated with 44 points (out of 100) on a Student Retention Institutional Readiness Survey, which means we are doing okay but have a lot more work to do. Jack mentioned development of a Student Retention Team from CTL, Matriculation and Assessment committees to attend a conference Nov. 1-3, 2001 in Az. Other recommendations included: create an institutional emphasis on student success and retention; implement broader based Assessment tools for orientation and the classroom (SASSI); incorporate AIM strategies in Gateway Program; develop a well-defined institutional Early Alert System and new Student Profile; develop new policies for disqualification and readmission; investigate other means besides Gateway for supplemental instruction in areas such as math.
Discussion: Jack would like CTL to help develop a systematic method to obtain consistent retention results for the institution. CTL could recommend strategies for student retention and help identify road blocks. Lack of attendance is the biggest factor in predicting failure. One solution might be to ask the SPA or tutor to call students who are not attending, as the Gateway Program does now. Finding tutors can be a problem for some disciplines, but Curt noted that professors must be recruiting tutors all the time. Jack mentioned that attention to the regular cadre of students is part of the institutional systematic approach. Now we have a record number of withdrawals from school this semester. Mimi asked if we are talking about setting up rules to follow, and Jack said it is more like setting up a lifeline. Gerry said we should identify what systems already exist, and Jack replied that no administrative structure exists now, and the self-referral system does not work. Julie asked if Jack is referring to a process that is taken as seriously by faculty as the final drop system. Jack wants the school to intervene proactively, and not wait five weeks into the semester to assess students. His choice is to assess students by the end of the second week using CATs or other methods. Early identification of students will help retention. We will continue a dialogue about the topic in future meetings.
6. PD 100: Student Success Course: Debbie Mackie reported on the status of the Student Success classes now in progress. Five sections exist with a total of 171 students. It is a transferable course under the CSU Transfer Guidelines under "General Pattern". The teachers include Gaby Siemion, Scott Brewer, Elida Moreno, Gil Robledo and Debbie Mackie. Gil uses a different book from The Master Student. The teachers meet together to discuss common issues and progress.
7. Faculty Development Seminar: Jack Ullom described the face-to-face training being given to new faculty, using the online course as a basis for twelve lessons that could be used for SBCC Flex Days as well. To log in to the Faculty Development Seminar, go to http://www.4sbccfaculty.org, and enter "faculty" as the user name; the password is "seminar".
Jack mentioned the new faculty appreciated finding course outlines accessible at the following url: http://curr.sbcc.net/.
Jerry Pike is interested in getting ideas from faculty about teaching applications of the FDS and other technological resources available through the LSS. The committee moved into the CAI Lab to explore the FDS online course.
The next meeting is Monday, Sept. 24, 2001.