CE/VCT Kickoff Meeting Report
Meeting Date: July 17, 2002
Meeting Purpose: To provide information needed to help Continuing Education
become active with VCT and to address questions.
Colleges represented at meeting:
Alamo Comm. Col. District:
- Northwest Vista College
- Saint Philip’s College
- San Antonio College
Austin Comm. College
Blinn College
Central Texas College
Coastal Bend College
Dallas Comm. Col. District:
- Brookhaven College
- Eastfield College
- El Centro College
- Mountain View College
Del Mar College
El Paso Comm. College
Galveston College
Houston Comm. Col. System
Kilgore College
Laredo Comm. College
Lee College
McClennan Comm. College
Midland College
N. Harris Montgomery Comm. Col.
North Central Texas College
Northeast Texas Comm. College
Paris Junior College
San Jacinto College
South Plains College
Southwest Texas Jr. College
Tarrant County College
Temple College
Trinity Valley Comm. College
TSTC-Harlingen
TSTC-Waco
Tyler Jr. College
Victoria College
Weatherford College
Wharton County Jr. College
Welcome, Introductions, Opening Comments
Jim Walker, President of Texas Administrators of Continuing Education (TACE) opened the
meeting by stating that the CE/VCT Kickoff meeting was a benchmark event for Continuing
Education, one of only a few such affairs in the history of TACE. He then introduced Dr. Kay
Hale, the Coordinating Board liaison to TACE; Ron Thomson, Director of VCT; Dr. Pat Smith,
Director of Texas Partners for Workforce Distance Learning, Temple College; Dr. Kay Young,
Chair of the TACE Distance Learning Committee, Weatherford College; and Aleta Garcia, VCT
Special Projects Coordinator. Jim shared these additional observations:

Credit course numbers over the past four years attest to VCT’s success:
o Total VCT enrollments since the Fall of 1998 total 6,644 as of 7-17-02, with
3,488 of that number belonging to the current academic year.
o In FY 02, 45 two-year college districts/systems participated in VCT.
o Courses with VCT enrollments in FY 02 total 851 as of the meeting date.
o On a scale of 1 (very dissatisfied) to 6 (very satisfied), overall satisfaction with
VCT last year (FY 01) was 5.35.

Dialog regarding CE’s participation in VCT began about three years ago, and CE is now
well positioned to use in-place technology to be on the cutting edge of training.
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
VCT can greatly facilitate training of the Texas workforce, and it will be very beneficial
to CE.

Making VCT work within the realm of CE should be easier than it was for credit courses.
CE has worked for a long time in a spirit of sharing.
Ron Thomson assured those present that CE has always been included in the original vision for
VCT, and he expressed his belief that the optimum moment for CE to become VCT active has
arrived.
PowerPoint slides with VCT data referred to by Jim:
 VCT Enrollments by fiscal year
 College participation in VCT and number of courses
 VCT Evaluation
Speaker: Dr. Kay Hale
Dr. Kay Hale, Coordinating Board liaison to TACE and long-term “cheerleader” for CE, began
remarks with, “VCT, what a concept!” Ten years ago, she continued, the thought of students
enrolling in their local colleges to take courses from other colleges around the state would have
been unimaginable, and Texas is fortunate that a service like VCT exists. Key points of her
address included:

CE, according to Coordinating Board data, is the fastest growing segment of community
colleges.

The Coordinating Board is open to making changes that remove roadblocks to students
taking WECM courses through VCT.

What is best for the student should be everyone’s first concern, even if it means
questioning current rules. She used as an example a recent inquiry about a Coordinating
Board “rule” that for a class to make it must have ten students. The reality is that no such
CB rule exists; the number of students required to make a class is a local decision.

VCT may be looked to as a model for effectively and efficiently serving students.
Kay concluded by sharing a story about a student who was so pleased with her experience of
taking courses through VCT that she wanted to know where she could purchase a VCT t-shirt.
The student, of course, received a diplomatic explanation that VCT is a service to colleges, not a
stand-alone institution and, therefore, has no t-shirts. Kay then disappeared behind the
presentation screen and quickly reappeared, modeling just such a shirt. It was presented to Ron
Thomson.
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Texas Partners for Workforce Distance Learning
Dr. Pat Smith provided an update on the progress of “Texas Partners for Workforce Distance
Learning,” a Perkins-funded project for which she is project director. Her presentation addressed:

Project goals
o Demonstrate that VCT is efficient and cost effective for Continuing Education
o Develop new distance learning curricula
o Implement statewide collaborative development and delivery

Project methodology
o TACE Statewide Advisory Committee to guide the project
o Surveys of colleges to determine CE courses currently offered online
o Research regarding CE needs of various occupations and opportunities for online
courses
o Input from audiences at presentations

Project results
o Compilation of a list of approximately 100 occupations requiring CEU’s,
including number of CEU’s required and how often
 Viewable in the products area of the project website,
http://www.templejc.edu/workforce/TPWDL/default.htm
 Also accessible from the Projects area of the VCT website
http://www.vct.org
o Ten occupations identified as top priorities by the advisory committee:
 Counselors (various types)
 EMS
 Social Workers
 Childcare Administrator
 Real Estate
 Accountants and Auditors
 Nursing Aids
 Radiology Techs
 Nursing (RN & LVN)—clinical focus
 Medication Aide
o Up to 100 occupations to be investigated for CE opportunities by end of project
o Two courses already developed
 Medication Aide Update (8 hrs.) – already developed by Weatherford
College
 Emergency Care Assistant (60+ hrs.) – now under collaborative
development by several other colleges
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o Identification of helpful websites
 America’s Learning eXchange
http://www.alx.org
 TSSB Recognized Certifications
http://www.tssb.org/wwwpages/tssb8_c.htm
 Regulator Boards & Colleges in North America
http://www.clearhq.org/boards.htm
 America’s Career InfoNet – licensed occupations
http://www.acinet.org/acinet/lois_agency.htm?stfips=48&by=state8x=32&
y=8
 Fathom: The Source for Online Learning
http://www.fathom.com/home/home/jhtml
VCT Orientation/Overview
Fundamental VCT Principles. Ron Thomson began by affirming two fundamental VCT
principles that assure that VCT operates as a member-driven organization:
1. It is first and foremost a service of the Texas Association of Community Colleges
(TACC).
2. It is a collaborative of all Texas public two-year colleges.
VCT History. Ron reminded everyone that VCT began as an initiative of community college
presidents. They saw that distance learning was changing the face of higher education, and Texas
two-year colleges needed to respond proactively. In meetings during the summer and fall of
1996, they conceived the host-provider model under which VCT operates, and they appointed a
TACC VCT advisory committee to begin addressing issues that the model posed. The committee
began meeting in February of 1997, and in the fall of semester of 1998, VCT was launched as a
pilot project. Concluding a successful pilot in the summer of 2001, it began operating as an ongoing service in the 2001 fall semester.
Mission. The mission of VCT is to enhance access to higher education by sharing distance
learning resources among member colleges. Those resources include course, faculty, student
services, technology, and administrative support.
Host-Provider Model. The host-provider model is the strategy for sharing resources on a
statewide scale: local (host) colleges enroll students to take courses offered by remote (provider)
colleges. The host college enrolls students, provides student services, and transcripts courses.
Collecting all tuition and fees, the host colleges pays the provider college an instructional lease
fee, an amount determined by the provider that typically does not exceed what the host receives
in contact-hour reimbursement from the state. The fee structure may need to be modified for CE.
Critical Key. A critical key to making VCT’s host-provider model work is the common course
numbering system. Without common course numbers, it would be much more difficult to locally
transcript courses that are provided by remote colleges.
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Governance. Governance of the Virtual College of Texas rests squarely with the Texas
Association of Community Colleges. For operational guidance, VCT relies upon the counsel of
the TACC Distance Learning Advisory Committee, the TACE Distance Learning Advisory
Committee, and extensive input from member colleges.
After reviewing what VCT is and how it operates, Ron emphasized what VCT is NOT:
 a maker of policy or regulations
 a decision-maker regarding its role or scope
 a referee among member institutions
Ron called attention to the foundational documents of VCT listed below. He then made a
presentation that synthesized basic VCT agreements contained in all of them, followed by a more
detailed look at the VCT Operations Manual. Each document is available at the VCT website
(www.vct.org).



VCT MOU
o one-page document specifying basic VCT agreements
o signed by all Texas two-year college presidents or chancellors
“Guidelines for CE Provider and Host Responsibilities”
o a summary of issues and responsibilities related to VCT and who (host or
provider) is responsible for addressing them
VCT Operations Manual
This document delineates actions that four categories of college personnel need to take to
make VCT work at member colleges. These actions are to be taken in these four different
time periods:
o Before a course begins
o During registration
o During a course
o End of course
Note: The Operations Manual that the above link goes to has not yet been customized
specifically for Continuing Education. Customization of the manual for CE will be
accomplished soon.
Trust among member colleges, Ron emphasized, is essential for VCT’s success.
Ron’s PowerPoint Slides
Next Steps
CE departments need to take seven steps listed below to participate actively in VCT. Each step is
explained in Next Steps for Continuing Education & VCT.
 Appoint VCT Coordinator.
 Specify the CE phone number that appears on the list of VCT member colleges accessed
from the first page of the VCT website.
 Appoint CE host and provider course contacts.
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



Enter courses into the VCT online catalog.
Orient local offices to CE operations with VCT.
Market courses locally.
Enroll students.
Panel Discussion
A panel consisting of Jim Walker, Kay Hale, Kay Young, Pat Smith, and Ron Thomson
addressed questions about CE/VCT posed by CE representatives at the meeting.
Approximately three-fourths of the discussion revolved around issues related to money: course
lease fee, census date, withdrawal policies, and refund policies. It was quickly acknowledged
that CE, unlike credit courses, is expected to show a profit. Consequently, some of the basic
VCT agreements related to financial issues may need to be modified for CE. Central to the
discussion was the issue of fairness: how should these issues be addressed so that both host and
provider colleges are treated equitably so that neither sides loses money. It became apparent that
these issues would not be resolved at this meeting, and it was handed to the TACE Distance
Learning Advisory Committee to address. Kay Young, chair of the committee, collected business
cards from other CE administrators interested in working with the committee to address the
money-related issues. The committee will offer a set of recommendations to TACE.
The following comments, questions, and observation also were shared during the panel
discussion;

There are great opportunities for addressing through VCT the recertification requirements of
Texas’ seventy-some-odd state licensing boards. Practitioners in occupations that mandate
CEU’s comprise a very large market.

Most colleges have potential customers whom they cannot serve because they lack the
expertise. Through VCT, these colleges could benefit from the expertise of other colleges
and use their courses to serve those customers.

Texas Partners for Workforce Education is doing the legwork and laying the foundation for
groups of colleges to form consortia to develop courses required for recertification.

Some licensing bodies require proctored exams before accepting CEU credits. All two-year
colleges have testing centers or other means for proctoring exams.

How do colleges manage to develop courses? Are people just paying people right and left.
The response to that question took several forms: courses may come from voluntary
individual initiative; private developers that offer good deals; release time for faculty; and
grants. It was pointed out again that the research conducted by Texas Partners for Workforce
Education will identify priority occupations that require CEU’s to maintain certification. This
hard data will provide the basis for writing grants that should be very attractive to funding
agencies, including the Coordinating Board.
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
Will more CE courses be listed in the 2002 fall online catalog than there were in the spring
and summer? Response: Yes. More courses are already listed in the fall catalog than in the
two previous terms.

Question: How do you determine if a student is a good candidate for taking courses online?
Some online self-assessments are available, although research data suggests that they have
not been particularly effective at qualifying students as good candidates for distance learning.
A student services area is being considered for the VCT website. It has been proposed that a
self-assessment instrument be included there.
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