CR - 2.8
Faculty
The number of full-time faculty members is adequate to support the mission of the
institution and to ensure the quality and integrity of each of its academic programs.
(Core Requirement 2.8)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Germanna has adequate full time faculty to
I. support the learning centered mission of the college;
II. provide program coordination to insure quality instruction;
III. to insure quality instruction in the classroom at any site or modality with a
credentialed full or part time faculty member.
IV. insure students have access to full time faculty and qualified part time faculty in all
our programs.
I. Mission
Germanna Community College is a comprehensive institution of higher education
offering quality programs of instruction. The College provides residents of the area with
opportunities to pursue many educational goals. Our mission is to offer access to
affordable quality educational experiences to the residents of our region. Our mix of full
and part time faculty allow us to offer the training and education our students need to
meet employers' specific needs and provide students who want to continue their
education a sound base upon which to do so. Who We Are. Germanna determines the
number of faculty needed to achieve its mission by the criteria of providing, each
semester, regardless of enrollments, quality, accessible, learning opportunities to our
region.
Part time faculty add to the quality of Germanna's credit offerings. They bring
valuable "real world" experience to the classroom. For example, in our Dental Assisting
program we are able to place practicing dentists as part time faculty. In our
developmental English and Math classes we are able to place public school teachers with
years of experience teaching mathematics and English. With changing enrollments, and
an open admissions policy, employing part time faculty allow Germanna flexibility in
course offerings so we can meet student demand and achieve our mission of
accessibility.
II. Program Coordination
Germanna has adequate full time faculty in the role of program coordinator for every
program. Where we have programs or disciplines that are multi-disciplinary we have a
designated Lead Faculty member certified in that discipline. For example, in
the Physical Sciences we have Co- Chairs whose degrees are in Anatomy and Physiology
and Biology. Therefore, we have designated Lead Faculty in Chemistry, and Physics.
Program Coordinators and Lead Faculty are responsible to insure that all faculty are
qualified to teach the class to which they are assigned, select textbooks, approve syllabi,
observe faculty, take the lead and monitor the program assessment process, and any
other discipline or program specific duties.
Program Coordinators and Lead Faculty provide coordination at all of our sites including
our two campuses and three centers, our off-sites and our dual enrollment sites.
Below we have placed two tables illustrating our program coordinator/lead faculty
structure. The first table is alphabetical by individual. The second table is organized by
program/discipline.
Common acronyms that appear in the following tables:
CSC - Career Studies Certificate
AAS - Associate of Applied Science
AA&S - Associate of Arts and Sciences
AS - Associate of Science
Chairs and Lead Faculty
Credentials
Last
Name
Abrams
First
Name
Position
Beverly
Chair AA&S Education
AA&S Education K-8
AA&S Early Childhood MS - Child Care
Development
Administration (NOVA
Certificate Early
Southeastern University)
Childhood Education
CSC Early Childhood
Development
Education
BS - Elementary Education
(Radford University)
Anglin
Ashley
Chair - Foreign
Languages
Experience
Resume
Owner/Operator - The
Learning Ladder Childcare Abrams R
- 3.5 yrs.
Instructor - 9 yrs.
Ph.D. Comparative Lit, Cath.
Several Years teaching
U. American concentration
Italian and Spanish at
Italian and Spanish;
Anglin Re
Chair
AAS Licensed Practical
Nursing for Advanced
Placement
Cannova
Heather
Certificate in Practical
Nursing
MA Catholic, Romance
Languages Italian & Spanish
BA Linguistics , College
William & Mary
MSN Nursing Education
Walden
BA Comparative Literature
U.Va
AAS Nursing Germanna
Germanna, and Northern
Virginia CC
Part time Instructor in
Nursing, Germanna,
Cannova
Registered Nurse ER, ICU,
CSC Vocational Health
Care
Daigle
Laurie
Dowd
Amanda
Fasano
Fetea
Frank
Julie
Mirela
Don
Director, Clinical Ops
Rehab, Gentiva Health
Chair - Physical
M.A. Dance Biometrics, Texas Services
Therapy, program in
women's Univ.
development phase
BA Dance - UMd College Park Licensed Physical
Therapist in
Commonwealth of Va.
M.L.A Humanities, U. S. Fla.;
BA Humanities, U.S.Fla.
Adjunct teaching,
Chair, Humanities
AA Genl Studies, CC.
Germanna
Jacksonville
Instructor (Co-Chair - MS - Medical Sciences Sciences) Anatomy &
Pathology (University of
Adjunct Instructor - 3 yrs.
Physiology
Florida)
BS - Biology (Old Dominion
Analyst - 2 yrs.
University)
Ph.D. Theoretical Physics
U.Capetown So. Africa;
MSc. Theoretical Physics, U.
Assistance and Associate
Timisoaria Romania;
Professor Physics with 11
Lead Faculty - Physics
M.Sc. Optics, Un. Timisoaria, years at University of
Romania
Richmond
B.Sc. Physics, U Timisoara
Romania
Associate Professor
Chair AA&S Business
Administration
AAS Business
MA - Business Management
Professional Developer Management
(Central Michigan University) USMC - 7 yrs.
CSC Small Business
Management;
CSC Supervision
CSC Banking
CSC Business Core
BS - Business (Utica College
of Syracuse University)
BS - Urban Studies - (Virginia
Commonwealth University)
Officer Recruiter - USMC 2 yrs.
Daigle Re
Dowd Res
Fasano
Fetea_CV
Frank res
Greene
CSC American Sign
Stephanie
Language
Hammond Davyda
MA Communication Studies
Un.N.C.
BA English Christopher
Newport
Adjunct instructor,
Thomas Nelson CC;
Tidewater CC
Greene R
Professor (Co-Chair Engineering & Technical
Studies)
AS Engineering
AAS Technical Studies PhD - Environmental
and Industrial
HealthEngineering (University Research Scientist - 4 yrs. Hammon
Maintenance
of Alabama)
CSC Engineering
Technology
CSC Industrial
Maintenance
MS - Mechanical Engineering
(University of California)
Adjunct Instructor - 1.5
yrs.
BS - Mechanical Engineering
(Auburn University)
Hancock
Huff
Leigh
Assistant Professor
(Chair - English)
Cheryl
Associate Professor
(Chair - Humanities,
History, Philosophy &
Religion)
MA - Rhetoric &
Linguistics (University of S. Adjunct Instructor - 9 yrs.
California)
MA - English (California State Junior High School
HancockR
University)
Teacher - 4 yrs.
BA - English (University of
California)
M Litt - English (St. Andrews
University)
Adjunct Instructor - 2 yrs.
MS - Liberal Arts (St. John's
College Graduate Institute)
Huff Resu
BA - English (Douglass
College, Rutgers University)
Lauzon
Jean
Lennahan Jamie
Mesimer
Misty
Matheson Jessica
Miller
Gerald
Professor (Chair - Arts)
Certificate in Fine Arts MFA - Painting (University of
Certificate in Graphics Iowa)
Communications
MA - Painting (University of
Iowa)
BFA - Art & Philosophy
(Millikin University)
Lead Faculty Political
Ph.D. PSc U. Co. Boulder
Science
MA PSc U Co. Boulder
Ms community health, ODU
Chair Dental Assisting
BS Health Sci
AAS Dental Hygiene
Instructor (Co-Chair - MS - Biology (Austin Peay
Sciences) Biology
State University)
BS - Biology (Austin Peay
State University)
Chair
MS Operations Research, U.
CSC Microcomputer
Rochester;
Applications for
BS Math/Physics U.of AZ
Business;
Other courses at many other
CSC Networking
institutions
Adjunct Instructor - 4 yrs.
Lauzon R
graduate instructor
Lennahan
practicing dental hygienist Mesimer
Graduate Researcher - 1
yr.
Matheson
Graduate Assistant - .5 yr.
U.S. Army Signal Corps.;
National Command
Authority
Northrup Grumman
Miller Res
CSC Advanced
Networking
CSC E-Commerce
AAS Information
System Technology Information Mgt or
Network Security
AAS Information
System TechnologyNetworking
Mittura
Murphy
Karen
Lisa
DND Case Western,
Chair CSC Nurses Aide; anticipated Dec. 2013;
CSC Surgical Scrub
MSN, UVa,
Nursing
BSN Eastern Mennonite;
BS Psych Eastern Mennonite
Professor (Co-Chair PhD - Mathematics Education
Engineering & Technical
(University of Illinois)
Studies)
MS - Mathematics (University
of Illinois)
1998 to present Professor of Nursing,
Germanna;
Mittura R
Adjunct teaching SUNY;
Longwood; Marymount,
Asst. Professor of
Mathematics - 3 yrs.
Collegiate Professor - 1.5
yrs.
Murphy R
MS - Electrical Engineering
(University of Illinois)
BS - Systems Engineering
(Wright State University)
Noel
Jillian
Assistant Professor
Chair - Department of
Public Safety:
AAS Police Science
AAS Emergency
Ph.D. candidate, Capella
Medical Services,
University. Expected
Paramedic (Lead
graduation 2018; Has
Faculty: Wayne Perry)
completed 24 graduate credit
CSC Fire Science (Lead
hours in Criminal Justice.
Faculty: Kirk Twigg)
MBA - Business (Averett
CSC EMT - Intermediate
University)
(Lead Faculty: Wayne
Perry)
Certificate in Police
Science
CSC Police Science
BA - Criminal Justice (Old
Dominion University)
Parker
Patricia
Assistant Professor
(Chair - Developmental
Mathematics/Credit
Mathematics)
Adjunct Instructor - 4 yrs.,
Police Science.
Three years experience as
Armed Security Office with
Omniplex World Services;
Police Officer/Security - 12
yrs.
39 hours Graduate level
Mathematics Courses (Old
Associate Professor Dominion University, College
Rappahannock Community
of William & Mary, Christopher
College - 9 yrs.
Newport University, S.
Carolina State University)
MT - Mathematics (University Instructor - Career
of Virginia)
Switcher Program - 2 yrs.
Noel, J. R
P
BA - Mathematics (University
of Virginia)
Lead Faculty
Perry*
Pevey
Read
Wayne
BS American Public U.
Charles Town
AAS - Emergency
Medical Services,
MEd U. Mary Wash.
Paramedic
CSC EMT Intermediate; Fredericksburg
Carolyn
Lead Faculty Sociology
Ph.D. Sociology, U. Tx Austin
MA Sociology, U. Tx Austin
BA Sociology McNeese State,
Lk Charles LA
Professor (Chair Horticulture)
PhD - Horticulture & Botany
(University of Wisconsin)
Michael
MS - Horticulture (University
of Wisconsin)
Exec Director,
Rappahannock EMS
council
Perry Res
4 years teaching
Sociology at Germanna;
Pevey res
7 years teaching at
Auburn University
Adjunct Instructor Germanna Community
Read Res
College/Piedmont Virginia
Community College - 6yrs.
Horticulturist - 8 yrs.
BS - Horticultural Science
(Reading University , England)
Runnels
Sekinger
Pam
Vanessa
Lead Faculty Chemistry
PhD, Chemistry, Univ ME,
Orono;
BS Chem. Univ Me
BA Psych Univ ME Orone
Instructor (Chair Med - Reading (University of
Developmental English) Virginia)
BA - English (University of
Mary Washington)
Skinner
Sue
Stroffolino John
Trainum
Charles
AAS, Nursing
Chair Phy. Ed
CSC Pharmacy
Technician
Chair - accounting
CSC Accounting
CSC Legal Assistant
teaching assistant
runnels r
Adjunct Superviros - 3 yrs.
Adjunct Instructor - 2yrs.
Sekinger
Stafford HS Teacher - 9
yrs.
PostMastersCertificate,
Assoc. Prof. Nursing, GCC
Staff Nurse, Mary Washing
Virginia Commonwealth,
Hosp
Richmond, Va
Skinner R
U.S. Navy Nurse, over 30
MSN, Eastern Carolina
BSN Northern MI, Marquette, years active duty and
reserve
MI
Chair Heath, PhyEd.&
Grad. Study Kinesology, UVa
Health Tech.
MS PhyEd. U. DE
Personal Trainer
Stroffolin
BS PhyEd East Stroudsburg,
Wellness Ctr Coordinator
Stroudsburg, PA
JD, UVa - including 22
graduate hours of accounting:
Fedl Inc tax (3)
Trst/estates (6)
Est & Gift (3)
Several years experience
Tax probl (2)
trainum r
in accounting and tax law.
CorpIncTx (3)
Corp Reords (2)
Est Plng (2)
BS. Accounting
CPA - given three graduate
credit hours for CPA
Twigg*
Wilson
Wolfe
Kirk
Brent
Gayle
Lead Faculty,
Certificate in Fire
Science Technology
Certified Safety Professional,
Dec. 1989
MBA, Regents Univ.
BS Environ. Safety & Health
Instructor (Chair Automotive)
CSC Automotive
Technology, Automotive AAA Automotive Technology,
NVCC;
Diagnostics;
Technical Professional License
- Commonwealth of VA
CSC Automotice
technology automotive technician.
Miscellaneous Coursework
(Jame Madison University,
Germanna Community
College, Northern VA
Community College
Professor (Chair Social Sciences)
AA&S General Studies
Psychology
Specialization;
CSC Paraprofessional
Counseling.
PhD - Higher Education
(Florida State University)
MA - Developmental
Psychology (Ohio State
University)
BA - Psychology (Ohio State
University)
Chairs and Lead Faculty
By Program and Discipline
AA&S
AA&S
AA&S
AA&S
Name of Program
Business Administration
Education
Education K-8
General Studies
Faculty Coordinator
Don Frank
Bev Abrams
Bev Abrams
This is a multidiscipline
program – please see
below for discipline
specific coordinators.
Oversight of the entire
Program provided by the
Dean of Arts and
Sciences
Site Safety Mgr for
US Coast Guard
Health and Safety
Consultant
Twigg res
Automotive Technology
Instructor - 5 yrs.
Wilson Re
Automotive Technician 12 yrs.
Assist. Professor - Beirut
University - 3 yrs.
International Student
Office - 2 yrs.
Tallahassee Community
College - 2 yrs.
Wolfe res
AA&S General Studies –
Psychology Specialization
AA&S General Studies –
Radiologic Technology
Specialization
AA&S Liberal Arts
AA &S Science
AS Engineering
AAS Business Management
AAS Early Childhood
Development
AAS Emergency Medical Services
– Paramedic
Gayle Wolfe
Germanna only offers the
General Education portion
of this program. Thus,
this is a multidiscipline
program with dean
oversight. Please see
below for discipline
specific coordinators.
This is a multidiscipline
program with dean
oversight– please see
below for discipline
specific coordinators
This is a multidiscipline
program with dean
oversight. Please see
below for discipline
specific coordinators.
Davyda Hammond
Don Frank
Beverly Abrams
part of Department of
Public Safety
Jill Noel/ Wayne Perry
AAS Information System
Technology - Information
Gerald Miller
Management or Network Security
AAS Information System
Technology - Networking
Gerald Miller
AAS Nursing
Sue Skinner
AAS Licensed Practical Nursing
Heather Cannova
for Advanced Placement
AAS Police Science
Jillian Noel - Department
of Public Safety
AAS Technical Studies –
Industrial Maintenance
Davyda Hammond
Certificate in Early Childhood
Beverly Abrams
Education
Certificate in Fine Arts
Jean Lauzon
Certificate in Fire Science
Part of Dept of Public
Technology
Safety
Jill Noel/ Kirk Twigg*
Certificate in General Education – this is a multi-discipline
program. Please see
below for discipline
specific coordinators
Certificate in Graphic
Communications
Jean Lauzon
Certificate in Police Science
Jillian Noel
Certificate in Practical Nursing
Heather Cannova
Career Study Certificate (CSC) in
Charles Trainum
Accounting
CSC Allied Health Preparation
This program is
comprised of only general
CSC American Sign Language
CSC Automotive Technology –
Automotive Diagnostician
CSC Automotive Technology –
Automotive Technician
CSC Banking
CSC Business Core
CSC Dental Assisting
CSC E-Commerce
CSC Early Childhood
Development
CSC EMT Intermediate
CSC Engineering Technology
CSC Horticulture
CSC Industrial Maintenance
CSC Legal Assistant
CSC Microcomputer Applications
for Business
CSC Networking
CSC Advanced Networking
CSC Nurse Aide
CSC Paraprofessional Counseling
CSC Pharmacy Technician
CSC Police Science
CSC Small Business Management
CSC Supervision
CSC Surgical Scrub Nursing
CSC Vocational Health Care
education courses. All
courses are coordinated
by a coordinator or Lead
Faculty. Oversight is
provided by the Dean of
Nursing and Health
Technologies
Stephanie Greene
Brent Wilson
Brent Wilson
Don Frank
Don Frank
Misty Mesimer
Gerald Miller
Beverly Abrams
Jill Noel/ Wayne Perry*
Davyda Hammond
Michael Read
Davyda Hammond
Chuck Trainum
Gerald Miller
Gerald Miller
Gerald Miller
Karen Mittura
Gayle Wolfe
John Stroffolino
Jillian Noel
Don Frank
Don Frank
Karen Mittura
Heather Cannova
Program Coordinators, General Education,
by Discipline
English (for Credit)
Chair - Leigh Hancock
English (developmental) –
Chair - Vanessa Sekinger
Math (credit and developmental)
Chair - Patricia Parker
Social Sciences
Chair- Gayle Wolfe
Discipline specific lead faculty:
Psychology - Gayle Wolfe
Sociology – Carolyn Pevey
Political Science - Jamie Lennahan
Humanities
Chair – Amanda Dowd
Discipline specific lead faculty
Humanities - Amanda Dowd
History, Philosophy, Religion - Cheryl Huff
Science
Co – Chairs – Julie Fasano, Jessica Matheson
Discipline Specific Lead Faculty
Anatomy and Physiology – Julie Fasano
Biology – Jessica Matheson
Chemistry – Pam Runnels
Physics - Mirela Fetea
Communications –
Chair – Stephanie Greene
Foreign Languages
Chair – Ashley Anglin
Student Development
co-chairs - Mark Haines and Sarah Somerville
Mr. Haines and Dr. Somerville are full time coordinators
of Counseling at Germanna. Their credentials can be found
under Principle 3.2.8 under Other Administrators.
* In these cases a part time faculty member has been hired to serve as Lead Faculty to
assist the Chair in program coordination. The Chair of the Department of Public Safety,
Jillian Noel, is a full time faculty member. It was felt that as these are relatively new
programs they would benefit from the experience these two individuals bring. Germanna
Community College plans to hire a full time faculty member for these positions as the
program develops.
III. Quality Instruction in the classroom at every site and modality.
Commitment to Growth of Full time faculty
In the Fall of 2013 Germanna will employ 87 full time faculty (with two full time
positions in the process of being filled) and 243 part time faculty. Germanna is
committed to increasing the number of full time teaching faculty. As shown on the table
below, Germanna has increased full time faculty from 64 in 2009 to 87 for fall 2013.
This is a 34% increase in an environment of very tight financial resources.
Fall 2008
Full Time Teaching Faculty
Positions
Filled
67
65
Fall 2009
65
64
Fall 2010
69
68
Fall 2011
72
67
Fall 2012
81
78
Fall 2013
89
88
The information in this table is from the HuRMan System of the Department of Human
Resources of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Germanna has just hired an additional full
time faculty into our nursing program. This position would bring our total full time
faculty to 88 but is not yet reflected into the Department of Human Resources
Database. We are currently interviewing the two vacant positions.
Change in
Percent of Student Full Time Equivalent (FTE)
Taught by Full time Faculty
Fulltime
Academic Faculty
Year
FTE
2012-2013
3538
Parttime
Faculty
FTE
% FT
5001
41.4%
2011-2012
3025
5823 34.2%
2010-2011
2482
6156 28.7%
FTE = (course enrollment * credit hour)
/ 15
Dual Enrollment not included
These tables document the commitment made by Germanna leadership across the
College to increase the pool of full time faculty members in tight economy with rising
enrollments. Efficiencies implemented in the Division of Administrative Services in space
utilization and energy usage enabled the College to increase the percentage of total
revenue used to support instruction and student services by 61% since 2003. This
increase enabled the President to bring additional resources to hiring full time faculty.
Hiring and Credentialing
The criterion for accepting a candidates qualifications for teaching are the same for
part time and full time teaching faculty. For classes for which college credit is given
and which are expected to transfer to another institution of higher education, either two
year or four year program, Germanna follows the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools, Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) guidelines in requiring a Masters
degree with 18 credit hours in the teaching field or a masters degree plus eighteen
graduate credit hours in the teaching field in most cases. In a very
few cases alternative credentialing is documented where the College will accept
professional experience in the field en lieu of the master's degree. Alternative
credentialing must be approved by the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student
Services for every faculty member so credentialed. In the cases of classes that are not
expected to transfer Germanna follows SACSCOC guidelines on credentials. Germanna
keeps track of faculty credentials by utilizing the SACSCOC template for the faculty
roster. The attached is the template we use when tracking faculty credentials
FacultyRosterRpt.
The department chair does the first review of a part time faculty applicant's
qualifications. If the chair feels the candidate is qualified according to Germanna policy
and guidelines provided by SACSCOC she/he requests the candidates to come to GCC for
an interview and call their references. The file is given to the appropriate Dean for a
second review of credentials. The attached is an example of the Faculty Qualification
form showing a dean's approval. faculty qualifications .
Definitions and expectations of faculty:
Full time teaching faculty
Definition: A full time employee of Germanna Community College is a full time
employee of the Commonwealth of Virginia, works at least 40 hours a week, and is
eligible for the full benefits package offered by the Commonwealth of Virginia. A full
time teaching faculty is a full time employee of Germanna with teaching as their
primary responsibility. This is clearly reflected in the contract a teaching faculty is
offered. VCCS 34A-Teaching Faculty Master.
Expectations: Full time teaching faculty at the rank of Instructor or above are expected
to teach 30 credit hours in an academic year with all responsibilities that entails, serve
on two committees, keep their teaching subject and pedagogical knowledge up to
date, and advise students who have formally selected a program. (Students who are
not in a program such as new enrollees are advised by counselors in the Division of
Student Services.) Full time faculty at the rank of Instructor and above are expected to
work on two college wide committees a year. As illustrated in 2013-2014 CollegeWide Committees - FINAL Germanna has adequate full time faculty to give faculty
representation to committees when appropriate. As advisors, full time faculty are aided
by technology. All of a faculty member's advisees are loaded into their Blackboard
advising shell. In this way a faculty member can communicate with all students, offer
links to program information, graduation information, transfer updates, and other items
of interest. A full time faculty member must also maintain a minimum of ten office
hours per week to meet with their advisees and student. The attached is the relevant
section of the faculty handbook. 3.1 Faculty Responsibilities. A full time faculty
member at the rank of Associate Instructor teaches 33-39 credit hours in an academic
year and has limited other service requirements. These faculty do not serve on
committees nor advise students. They are expected to maintain their competencies
both in their subject matter and in their pedagogy and to maintain twelve office hours a
week.
Faculty may volunteer to teach more hours than is required for their contract. In the
2011-12 academic year Germanna had 38 faculty volunteering to teach overload. GCC
Faculty Overload 11-12 Fall Combined. Germanna is still finalizing the data for 201213. Because it allows students more access to experienced full time faculty, overloads
are allowed but not required. The reasons a faculty member may volunteer to teach
credit hours above the requirements of their contract vary by faculty member. Some
may wish to earn extra income. Some may be teaching a class that is one of their
special favorites. No faculty member is allowed to teach more than ten credit hours a
semester on overload and no faculty member is required to teach on overload. 3.5
faculty_handbook Overload Policy
Part time teaching faculty
Definition: A Part time teaching faculty member is either a part time employee of
Germanna Community College, not receiving Commonwealth benefits as a full time
employee, or is a full time employee of Germanna but does not have teaching as their
primary responsibility. For example, many of the Counselors at Germanna also teach
the Student Development course. These full time employees are considered part time
faculty for the purposes of this report. No part time teaching faculty member is allowed
to teach more than 10 credit hours a semester.
Expectations: Part time faculty are expected to teach their classes in the modality in
which they are offered and to meet the class the required number of contact hours. Part
time faculty are also expected to maintain at least one hour of office hours for each
class taught. Germanna makes available space on all of our campuses for part time
faculty to meet with students. Faculty office space in our newest building was
specifically designed with space for part time faculty but all of our campuses and centers
have space for students to meet with their instructor. Part time faculty are not expected
to serve on committees unless it is a committee that specifically needs the
representation of part time faculty. In this case a part time faculty member may
volunteer to serve on a committee and will be paid for their time.
All but one dual enrollment faculty is part time. In most cases, although these faculty
are part time members of the Germanna faculty, they are full time members of the High
School faculty. As full time members of the high school faculty they are in a
better position to mentor, guide, and advise dual enrollment students than a
full time faculty member sent from Germanna. Full time faculty who serve
as Program Coordinators or Lead Faculty at Germanna provide support in areas of
textbook selection, syllabus review, general education and program assessments, and
other support. Dual enrollment instructors at the high schools are given the same
support as part time faculty on one of our two campuses or three centers and are under
the supervision of the department chairs and the dean of instruction.
Data is provided showing the full time/part time faculty analysis for each dual
enrollment site and the programs for which we are approved to offer 50% or more of a
program by each site. OffCampusCoursesLocationsDual. Germanna uses this table to
insure compliance with policies concerning substantive change.
We provide here appendix 3 showing the faculty analysis for our dual enrollment
sites. Appendix 3.
Professional Development
To insure quality education in the classroom, Germanna has made a commitment to a
strong professional development program for full and part time faculty.

All faculty, full and part time, are offered access to tuition reimbursement. Part
time faculty become eligible for this benefit after teaching for one
year. educational aid and continuous learning request form with state purposes

Part-time faculty are provided with professional development through the parttime faculty workshop grant. The Dean of Arts and Sciences manages this
grant. This grant lead to the creation of the Part Time Faculty Mentoring
Committee, chaired by the Dean of Arts and Sciences, whose mission was to
create professional development opportunities for part time faculty. One of the
first actions of this committee was to use the grant to pay part time faculty to
attend on campus professional development opportunities. Each part time faculty
member is paid $15 an hour to attend professional development opportunities on
campus. These include Fall and Spring part time faculty convocation, the June
Faculty- to - faculty all day workshop, and fall and spring learning days. In
addition to these already existing opportunities, the Committee created a series of
mini-workshops open to all faculty but specifically designed around the concerns of
part time faculty identified in the task force report. These workshops, for which
part time faculty were paid to attend, are offered on Saturday mornings from
11am to 1pm (with lunch) and covered such topics as issues of on-line teaching,
dealing with the disruptive student, issues of the Federal Educational Records
Protection Act (FERPA), and assisting students with special needs. We have
attached agendas for a few of these workshops. PTWAgenda
2012;PTWAgenda0112;PTWAgenda41212.

New Faculty Academy
Starting in Fall 2012, Germanna instituted a professional development program for new
full time faculty. This group met one Friday a month to discuss different areas of
responsibility for a full time faculty member. New_Faculty_Academy.

During the academic year 2009 - 2010 the College created the Adjunct Faculty
Task Force to review the issues that are a concern of part time faculty. This task
force, made up of full and part time faculty, surveyed the part-time faculty to get
their input. This committee offered several suggestions. Revised final report
Adjunct Utilization Inclusion. As part of the input from this task force when two
administrators were hired (Dean of Arts and Sciences and Executive Director of
Human Resources) they were specifically tasked with developing programs for part
time faculty. Several professional development opportunities were developed and
changes were made to part time faculty pay.

The Virginia Community College System also offers professional development
opportunities. These opportunities, such as New Horizons, a convention to share
new ideas in pedagogy each spring, and the discipline specific peer review
meetings each fall, are also available to part time faculty. Germanna pays their
travel costs to attend these conferences.

All part time faculty, including those teaching dual enrollment, are invited to two
part time faculty convocations each year. At these convocations they are given
information on current issues facing the college by the President, training on the
Blackboard course management system, a security update, a discipline specific
meeting with the chair of their program, and other important updates. Part-Time
Faculty Convocation Fall 2012 agenda;Part-Time Faculty Convocation Fall 2013
agenda.

We have prepared for both types of faculty, part and full time, handbooks that
describes many of their rights and responsibilities. This year we have started an
update that will combine these two documents into one. Part-Time Faculty
Handbook -- Fall 2011; faculty_handbook.

Additional Professional development requirements for Distance Education
All full-time faculty at Germanna Community College (GCC) are required to be certified
to teach on-line. This is true regardless of whether they currently plan to teach on-line
or hybrid classes. Part time faculty are strongly encouraged to be certified to teach online. As of June 1, 2013, Germanna Community College currently has 95.8% of faculty
teaching on-line trained to do so. A total of 225 faculty have been certified to teach
online. To be certified to teach online the faculty member must pass EDU 285 Teaching
Online Program. This class is listed in the Virginia Community College Systems (VCCS)
master course file. TOP SyllabusGCCSummer2013 This class is a three credit class that
instructs educators in the method and practice for delivery of online course
content. This instruction includes instructional technology and instructional design
theory and practice, with skills and strategies that educators will use to engage students
and create a collaborative online environment. As a prerequisite for this course the
instructor must have a proficient working knowledge of Blackboard, the online course
delivery system used by Germanna Community College.
For advanced training Germanna also offers other more advanced courses. A faculty
member who completes all 15 hours of college credit classes in online teaching is a
Master On-line teacher.
At Germanna, this course is offered by the Distance Learning Committee, under the
guidance of the Dean of Academic Technology and Learning Support.
Germanna has continually offered faculty training on course reviewing and design by
using the College's own Quality Management (QM) rubric. QM_Standards_20112013. The rubric is used for reviewing online course as part of the online peer review
process.
Other Faculty training/workshops and professional development opportunities in online
teaching include Video conference, Camtasia, and Wimba Blackboard
Collaborative. These have been offered to faculty at faculty meetings, College Learning
Day, and fall and spring convocations.
Starting in Spring 2011, Germanna offered short weekend mini-workshops open to all
faculty members but especially designed for part-time faculty. In the 2011/2012
academic year, these mini-workshops were devoted to online teaching skills.
IV. Student Access to Full Time Faculty
In this part of the narrative we provide faculty analysis data and supporting narrative
for each of our programs, modalities, and sites. We have organized our data tables using
the SACSCOC Core Requirement 2.8 template as a model.
Peer Comparison
The attached VCCS FT-PT faculty ratios - excluding dual enrollment courses taught at
high schools shows Germanna full time / part time faculty ratio in against the rest of the
Virginia Community College System (VCCS). These data show Germanna as somewhat
below the mean for the VCCS. For the ten year period ending in 2012 Germanna has
been consistently in the top two growth schools in the VCCS. As the tables above show,
Germanna recognized early that the rapid growth and declining state support would
impact our full time / part time faculty ratio. Combined with reductions in state funding,
Germanna's mission and state charter as an open access institution, and rapid
population growth in our region, Germanna knew the full time / part time faculty ratio
would change. It is for this reason we initiated the initiatives discussed above in this
narrative to both channel resources to faculty hiring and to insure part time and full time
faculty were all offering high quality learning environments. The chart below illustrates
this environment.
Full Time Equivalent Enrollments and State Support by Full Time Equivalent
Methodology:
The method for analyzing full-time faculty adequacy across all the College's programs,
locations, and modes of delivery required use of the Student Information System (SIS)
and the College Catalog. The information on course sections and their locations, mode
of instruction, assigned faculty, student enrollment, and credit hours was taken from
SIS. For this analysis the College used student credit hours, the total number of credit
hours based on student enrollment. Credit hours are the best measurement for the
amount of contact hours students may have with full time faculty members and thus is
the best methodology for this report. A definition of full time faculty is provided
above. This definition is used in the College's Human Resource Management System
(HRMS).
Core requirements for each program were extracted from the college catalog. All
courses in the college catalog determined to be major field of study courses were
selected for the analysis of each program.
General Education is treated as a separate program on a separate table. Faculty
analysis is provided for each discipline within General Education by faculty status,
location, and mode of instruction. Dual Enrollment courses were not included in either
the core requirement or general education tables in this table. Faculty analysis tables
for Dual Enrollment sites are presented separately above.
Appendix 1:
This appendix is modeled after the template for CR 2.8 available on the SACSCOC
webpage. This appendix offers full / time part time faculty analysis for the core courses
of each program and the part time faculty analysis for the general education portion of
each program by location. At the end of this appendix we have also included the faculty
analysis for on-line courses. Appendix 1
Appendix 2:
This appendix offers full time / part time faculty analysis by program. Here, we separate
the program content area courses required for each program college - wide, by location
(on or off campus), and my instruction mode. These program data are followed by
General Education areas disaggregated by subject. The general education portion of this
appendix is organized using the same format as the program content data. As this
appendix provides the clearest analysis of student access to faculty, it is this
appendix for which the narrative below is written. Appendix 2
Appendix 3:
This appendix provides the full time / part time faculty analysis at all locations where we
offer dual enrollment. This appendix is attached to the section above discussing dual
enrollment.
Appendix 4:
This appendix provides the full time/part time faculty analysis at non-dual enrollment
locations, and online. Appendix 4
Overview
In addition to its strong core of full-time faculty, GCC’s part-time faculty is an invaluable
resource to the institution. The College’s commitment to general education, liberal arts,
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)-related, and health-related
programs is reinforced through the use of part faculty members who come from
established area employers and who bring years of experience and relevant, current
knowledge to our students. This enables the College to remain responsive and flexible
to community needs through the use of qualified full-time and part-time faculty who are
supportive of the College’s mission, its students’ needs, and the needs of local business
and industry partners.
GCC hired full time faculty in the 2012-2013 academic year in the disciplines of
Chemistry, English (2), Math, History, Psychology (2), Physics, Administration of Justice,
and Information Technology. Additionally in 2012-2013, the college hired a replacement
position for Accounting replacing a full-time faculty member who became Dean of
Professional and Technical Studies.
GCC’s current full-time faculty of 88 include seven (7) new full-time instructors
(Humanities, English ---2, Biology ----2, Art History, Automotive ) who were hired in
2013-2014 to improve student access and add to the pool of full time faculty. These
seven new hires represent new full time teaching faculty positions. Additionally, in
2013-2014, GCC added five full-time faculty replacement positions, (Math,
Communication Studies, History, Psychology, and Information Technology and Business)
and one position (Political Science) which was a replacement for a full-time faculty
member who moved to an administrative position as Dean of Arts and Sciences.
Support of Part time Faculty within the division
When it is necessary to utilize part time faculty, GCC has policies and procedures in
place that are designed to ensure that the quality and integrity of its programs are
maintained regardless of course delivery mode or instructional location. Upon hire, all
part-time faculty (adjunct instructors) are assigned a full time faculty member as a
contact/advisor/mentor. These full time faculty contacts: 1) serve as personal resource
coordinators, 2) provide assistance with syllabi preparation and the development of
course materials, and 3) provide Blackboard training for all faculty members (full time
and part time) conducted through numerous Blackboard workshops. Department chairs,
program heads, and lead faculty of each discipline generally serve in this capacity. Fulltime faculty members are readily available to part time faculty members via telephone
and e-mail and in person to serve as a resource for questions that may arise and to
facilitate consistency across classes in the curriculum or discipline. College staff
members provide technical support to all instructors, full-time and part-time, regardless
of instructional location or delivery mode. Deans, department chairs and/or program
heads visit part time faculty in the classroom or clinical setting to further ensure course
objectives are met and that academic integrity is guaranteed. ObservationRCarter;
ObservationRCarterpt2.
Program Narratives
Division of Arts and Sciences
As full time faculty are hired in the Division of Arts and Sciences, the data in the
appendices attached to this narrative as well as enrollment patterns in courses and
disciplines are used so new positions are added to those courses and disciplines with the
largest student demand. In this way each new faculty hire is in the subjects that will
result in the greatest increase in student access to full time faculty.
Within its Associate Degree Program offerings, Liberal Arts, General Studies , and
General Studies with a concentration in Psychology (AA&S) there are exhibited very
strong full-time faculty ratios, with program full time faculty percentages of fifty percent
(50%). Two programs have over forty percent (40%) of student credit hours taught by
full time faculty members. The Liberal Arts Degree Program in Spring 2013 had a 58%
fulltime faculty percentage with a 42% part-time faculty college wide. By location and
by mode of instruction the percentages depict the commitment by the college to ensure
the quality of courses.
Associate of Arts and Science in Liberal Arts
In the Liberal Arts Degree by location the percentage is 71% to 29% full time/part
time and by modality the ratio is 60% to 40% in face-to-face instruction. In the
distance education the numbers depict that a majority of student enrolled credit hours
are taught by full time faculty (53%) to part time faculty (47%). The number of
qualified part time faculty available to teach online is high. All faculty members
whether fulltime or part-time are required to possess a minimum level of certification to
teach online at GCC.
In Fall 2013, the percentage of full time faculty teaching the credits increased, 63% of
the credits were taught by fulltime faculty and 37% of the credits were taught by part
faculty.
General Studies (Psychology)
The General Studies (Psychology) percentage of credits taught by full time faculty in
Spring 2013 was 44% and the percentage of credits taught by part time faculty was
56%. For the Fall 2013 semester the percentage of credits was 51% fulltime to 49%
part time. By location the ratio of full time to part time is 57% compared to 43%. By
modality the face-to-face instruction continues to have a higher number of fulltime
faculty engaged in the delivering the course in person with 59% of fulltime faculty
teaching the credit hours as compared to 41%. In the distance education the numbers
depict that a higher number of part time faculty are engaged in the online delivery
modality, 25% to 75%. The number of qualified part time faculty available to teach
online is very high. All faculty whether fulltime or part time are required to possess a
minimum level of certification to teach online at GCC.
Associate of Arts and Science in Science
The AA&S in Science during the Spring 2013 the ratio of fulltime to was 37% full time to
63% part time faculty. For the Fall semester 2013, the percentage of credits taught by
full time faculty has increased to 52% with the part time percentage of 48%. By
location the percentage of credits taught by fulltime faculty are 53% and the percentage
of credits taught by taught part time faculty equate to 47%. By modality the face-toface sections depicts a percentage of courses taught by full-time faculty of 62% and
38% taught by part time faculty. In the distance education the numbers depict that a
higher number of part time faculty are engaged in the online delivery modality, 26% to
74%. The number of qualified part time faculty available to teach online is high. All
faculty members whether full time or part time are required to possess a minimum level
of certification to teach online at GCC. The TOP (Teaching Online Program) course
represents the minimum level of certification in the Virginia Community College
System.
General Education Areas
Classes within the general education area are offered in three modalities. The
modalities include traditional face-to-face courses, hybrid courses-a blended between
online and face-to-face instruction, and fully online courses. Appendix 2 contains a
comprehensive list of all courses that students may use to meet their general education
elective requirements. In order to provide students with a variety of elective options in
academic disciplines for which GCC has no full time faculty. Part time faculty are hired
to teach one to three sections, depending on the total number of credits for each section
of these limited elective courses. Part time faculty who teach these “optional” elective
courses are also under the direct supervision of full time faculty who are responsible for
program/discipline integrity in the respective content areas. Qualified part time English
and Science faculty were more readily available than part time faculty in other
disciplines. The English and Science Departments continue to lead the college in
building collaborative mentoring programs and ensuring the cycle of continuous
improvement by ensuring part time faculty and full time faculty meet and plan program
reviews. The members of the departments serve as mentors to new full time faculty
and new part time instructors.
Music, Religion, and Geography
With limited student credit hours music, religion, and geography as detailed in Appendix
2, the percentage of these classes taught by part time faculty has consistently been
100%. One of the instructors of geography who teaches a class every semester is a full
time non-teaching staff member who is considered part time in this analysis. GCC
is committed to the fact that there are no programs where these areas constitute a
major, nor are students required to take one or more courses from any specific general
education academic discipline other than English and math. Humanities (arts, music,
religion, and music), social sciences, and mathematics, etc., courses serve as general
education elective options from which students choose to meet their specific program
requirements. These additional courses are made available to allow students multiple
options for meeting general education requirements that are taught by part time faculty
who are demonstrated content experts from a wider academic community (e.g. religion,
art, music, etc.) than the full time faculty on staff at GCC.
Spanish and Physics
In two areas of study (Spanish and physics) the ratio of student credit hours taught by
full time remains consistently high. Fall 2013 shows Physics at 76% full time and
Spanish at 67% full time. The college employs two full time faculty members qualified to
teach Spanish who have been employed with the college for more than five years
each. The college employs one full time Physics instructor with more than 10 years of
experience both at the community college and the university level. The one faculty
member serves as lead faculty working collaboratively with the small part time
faculty pool.
Humanities, Chemistry, English Composition, Economics (disaggregated
courses)
The full time faculty members in these programs have teaching and professional
experience ranging from 3 to 20 years. The college hired a total of three new faculty
members for the academic year 2013-2014 in the disciplines of English and Humanities
recognizing the need to have experienced, dedicated instructors in areas where all
students must enroll in the courses to complete the degree program. Humanities
(disaggregated) had a ratio of full time to part time in the academic year of 16% full
time to 84% respectively. After hiring a full time instructor during the summer 2013 for
the fall semester, the ratio is now 65% to 35%. The ratio of full time to part-time
faculty in Chemistry has been consistently above 60% taught by full time faculty. With
the hiring of a full time Economics instructor in Fall 2013, Economics has improved to
69% of student credit hours taught by full time faculty. With the hiring of additional full
time faculty in Fall 2013, English Composition has increased to 56% of student credit
hours taught by full time faculty. All students are required to complete English
composition as a portion of the general studies program. The college hired two new
faculty members for the fall 2013 semester. The decision to increase the number of
hires was made to support the enrollment of the students needing this course for the
general education study area.
Art, History, Biology, English Literature, Math, Political Science
The full-time faculty members in these areas of study have teaching and professional
experience ranging from 1 to 20 years. The college hired new faculty in the disciplines
of art, biology, English and political science during the academic year 2013-2014. Prior
to Fall 2013, the political science courses were taught 100% by part-time faculty. With
the new hire, the full-time to part-time ratio in political science is now 63% to 37%
respectively. Art increased from 24% to 48% student credit hours taught by full time
faculty. Biology showed an increase from 24% to 49% student credit hours taught by
full time faculty. History also showed an increase from 37% to 54% student credit
hours taught by full time faculty. The college hired one new full time faculty member
during the academic year 2012-2013. The full time faculty members in this discipline
have a minimum of 8 years full time teaching experience to a maximum of 40 years of
experience. The faculty members in the department serve as active mentors for the
part time faculty in curriculum development and assessment. English Literature and
Mathematics remained steady above 50% student credit hours taught by full time
faculty.
Physical Sciences
Science as a discipline depicts a full time to part time ratio of 54% to 46% for the Fall
2013. In Spring 2013, science possessed a full time to part time ratio of 34% to
66%. The discipline has seen an increase in new faculty of 5 members during the last
two years. Biology (disaggregated) has seen an incremental increase in the number of
full time to part time credit hours respectively. For Spring 2013, the full time to part
time ratio was 24% to 76% college-wide. On campus the ratio was 27% to 73% full
time to part time respectively. In Fall 2013 the On campus ratio of full time to part time
is 49% to 51%. The commitment to increase the full time to part time ratio is
apparent. The biology faculty members have a minimum of three years teaching
experience to more than twenty years of experience.
Sociology
In the discipline of sociology (disaggregated from other social sciences), the full time to
part time ratio for Fall 2013 is 43% full-time and 57% part-time. The percentage of
student credit hours has improved from Spring 2013 during which time the ratio was
33% full time to 67% part time. The full time faculty member teaching sociology has
more than 10 years of experience teaching as well as 10 years professional
experience. The faculty member is actively involved in mentoring the part time faculty
and leading the discipline in assessment. The lead faculty members review all syllabi for
consistency and accuracy.
Communications
Communications full time / part time faculty ration ranged 33% full time to 67% part
time for the fall semester 2013. This range depicted a slight increase in full-time to part
time ratios by credit hour from Spring 2013. During the previous semester the ratio of
full time to part time was 23% to 77% respectively. The college has one full time
faculty member with one year full time experience. This faculty member has taught
communications at three colleges within the Virginia Community College System.
Psychology
In Fall 2013, Psychology (disaggregated from other social sciences) has 51% of the
student credits taught by full time faculty with 49% taught by part time faculty and
increase from 44% full to 56% part time. The college hired two new full time
psychologists during the academic year 2012-2013.
Health
Health courses for the Fall of 2013 have a full-time to part-time ratio of 41% and 59%
respectively. Health courses represents a very small portion of student enrollment at
the college. Health courses are made available to allow students options for meeting
general education requirements that are taught by part time faculty who are
demonstrated professional experts in their fields with appropriate certifications. The
students have the option to enroll in a health course or a physical education course to
complete the program requirements.
Physical Education
Physical Education courses also represent a very small number of the credit hours in the
general education areas of study. The ratio of full time to part time is 25% of the credits
taught by full time faculty and 75% of the credit hours taught by part time faculty. The
students have the option to enroll in a health course or a physical education course to
complete the program requirements.
Student Development Courses
The one-credit SDV is required as portion of the general education area. 2% of the SDV
courses are taught by full time administrative faculty. However, one-fourth of the SDV
courses or 25% of the total credit hours in SDV are taught by full time staff at the
college from the counseling center. Although these are full time employees of Germanna
they are considered part time faculty members. The college strives to provide the
professional expertise in the classroom required to help the student successfully
transition to college. The SDV course is highly recommended by the college to be
completed during the first 15 credit hours of enrollment at the college. Currently, this
class is required in the first 15 credit hours for all students enrolled in a developmental
English or mathematics class.
Career Studies Certificate in American Sign Language
The American Sign Language is a certificate which is consistently taught 100% by part
time faculty. The part time faculty members teaching American Sign Language are
involved in advisory boards, curriculum assessment and bring their knowledge and
expertise to students with full time faculty oversight. Full time faculty oversight
involves: program development, supervising part time faculty teaching other program
courses, and review of course materials and student performance. The part time faculty
members help to ensure the quality and integrity of instruction at GCC by maintaining
currency in their fields.
At annual advisory committee meetings, faculty in career and technical programs meet
with each other and local employers to discuss student performance and any proposed
program adjustments. The last CSC advisory board meeting was held in April of 2013
with a fall meeting scheduled shortly after the start of classes in the fall semester.
Summary - Division of Arts and Sciences
GCC’s commitment to the community and providing a quality education at an affordable
price continues to remain on the forefront of the college’s goals. This commitment
aligns with the mission, vision, and values the college emphasizes as indicators of
performance. The organization remains relevant to the community by reinventing its
role to provide continuous improvement models. The college’s academic master plan
and the delineation of funds support the commitment GCC has made in providing quality
educational courses both credit and non-credit to the service region. The data from
Appendix 2 clearly shows the percentages of full time faculty has continued to increase
and is sufficient to provide quality instruction. The commitment of the college to adhere
to the colleges’ mission, vision, and values while maintaining the commitment of access
to the community is evident with the continued input of resources to hire additional
faculty and provide the faculty with the needed resources to educate.
The Division of Professional and Technical Studies
Business Administration (AA&S), Business Management (AAS) and associated
Career Study Certificates (Accounting, Business Core, Banking, Small Business
Management, Supervision)
The Business department is currently staffed with two full time business professors, one
full time business/economics professor, one full time economics/marketing professor and
one full time accounting/law professor. In addition, six part time accounting professors,
eight part time business professors, three part time economic professors, and one part
time marketing professor complete this team. Individuals’ careers prior to teaching
range from small business owners to the former manager of the entire United States
Postal Service marketing program to a seasoned tax attorney. All have worked in their
fields and have taught for Germanna from one year to over twenty-five years. They are
a dedicated group who bring real world business, economic and accounting examples to
the classroom each day. Students can complete all the degrees and certificates during
the day or evening and online (all online instructors have completed an online
certification program or they team teach with a certified professor). Many of our
business students participate in our intern program under the guidance of a full time
Internship Coordinator.
In Appendix 2, the ratio of full time to part time faculty is calculated by student enrolled
credit hour for these programs. Both degrees and all certificates have over 50% of the
classes taught by full time faculty. This is an improvement over the previous two
years. The only exceptions to this pattern are off-campus programs. Two off campus
sites currently offer business classes: GEICO and Coffeewood Correctional
Center. Germanna normally offers 2-4 classes per semester at GEICO all geared
towards helping GEICO employees attain the Business Core Certificate. This certificate
was designed by GCC and GEICO to provide GEICO employees with the skills necessary
to be successful supervisors for this insurance company. Coffeewood, a medium
security prison located a few miles from our Culpeper site, is the other off site
location. As with GEICO, we offer limited classes due to the size of the “school” on the
property. Because only 4 – 8 classes are taught each semester the figures presented in
the appendix may be slightly skewed. For example, for the Business Administration AAS
degree, in Fall 2013 the full time / part time ratio was 23/77 but in the Spring of 2013 it
was 66/34. Similar patterns are present with the Business Certificates.
Early Childhood Education (AAS), Education (AA&S), Education (AA&S) and
associated Certificate and Career Study Certificate in Early Childhood Education
The Education Department is currently staffed by one full time Education Professor, one
part time Early Childhood Professor and three part time Education professors. The Early
Childhood professors both bring many years of experience to the college. Their
professional experience includes child development center director, remedial reading
teacher, Kindergarten teacher and both have taught Early Childhood classes for several
years. The department chair, a full time Germanna faculty member, belongs to local
and state organizations addressing the needs for superior child care. Because the
program is small, the department chair typically teaches the more advanced classes and
the part time instructor teaches entry level courses. At the associate degree level and
certificate level, the ratio is currently 45/55 and 39/61 respectively. The ratio for the
Career Studies Certificate reflects a full time / part time ratio of 32/68 is indicative of
the part time instructor teaching the entry level classes.
The Education degrees are designed to provide students with the proper transferable
courses to enter an education program at a four year school readily prepared to succeed
in the education field. Because all four year schools require the majority of the
education classes to be taken at their institution, Germanna only offers one Education
course, EDU 200. This course is taught by three part time instructors. One has his PhD
in education and is a retired principal. Another is completing her PhD in instructional
design. This individual is employed full time by Germanna as the college’s instructional
designer and worked for years in the county school system and is certified to teach in
public schools. The third instructor is currently a middle school teacher. A forty hour
practicum is required in this class. Students are paired with teachers in local
elementary, middle and high schools.
Engineering (AS), Technical Studies (AAS) and Engineering Technology (CSC)
The Engineering (AS), Technical Studies (AAS) and associated career study certificate
are overseen by co-chairs Dr. Davyda Hammond and Dr. Lisa Murphy both full time
teaching faculty at Germanna. Dr. Hammond has a PhD in Environmental Health
Engineering and an MS in Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Murphy has a PhD in
Mathematics Education and MS degrees in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering. Dr.
Hammond has and continues to conduct research through the National Science
Foundation. Dr. Murphy has taught college for most of her career. Dr. Hammond
oversees the mechanical engineering program. Dr. Murphy oversees the electrical
engineering concentration and the upper level math classes required of the
degrees. Both faculty members are two are extremely engaged chairs. They personally
man a study room for engineers in the engineering lab during the regular school
year. Additionally, they mentor the students when they compete in contests both locally
and state wide. Currently, the engineering program has three part time instructors. All
three work as engineers during the day.
The full time / part time ratios for the Engineering AS degree is currently 74/26, as it
was for Fall 2012. The Associate of Technical Studies degree ratio is 58/42, a slight
improvement over the 50/50 from previous semesters. Because this degree does have a
concentration of Information Technology (IT) courses in the Technical Foundation of the
degree ; the improvement in the ratio is attributable to the additional full time IT
professor hired last year. The Engineering Technology degree ratio of 62/38 reflects the
night time ENG120 class taught by one of the part engineering professors.
Information Systems Technology (AAS), Networking (AAS), and associated
Career Study Certificates (Advanced Networking, E-Commerce, Microcomputer
Applications for Business, and Networking)
The Information Technology (IT) Department is currently staffed with five full time
faculty and fourteen part time faculty. An additional full time faculty member was added
last year. Careers for these individuals range from Web Master, Software Design, and
programming custom software solutions, to a multitude of IT positions within the Army
and Department of Defense. Each of the full time professors have specializations in
networking, web design, programming etc. These individual full time faculty
members oversee the curriculum in these areas.
Ratios for this program are very good. The Networking degree and Information Systems
Technology have full time / part time ratios of 59/41 and 55/45 respectively. The
associated career study certificates have equally high ratios. Our IT students have
opportunities outside of the classroom to help nonprofits with their webpages and many
participate in our Intern Program.
Police Science (AAS )and associated certificates and Career Study Certificates
(Police Science Certificate, Fire Science Certificate, Police Science and Legal
Studies Career Study Certificates.
The Department of Public Safety is chaired by Ms. Jillian Noel. Jill has an MBA and is
working on a PhD in criminal justice in the next year. She has been both a police officer
and a security guard in a nuclear power plant. Her part time faculty for Police Science
are deputy sheriffs and state troopers. The Legal Assisting program is taught by Mr.
Dondrae Maiden, an attorney-advisor for the US Department of Interior. Mr. Charles
Trainum (our full time accounting and legal professor) helps by overseeing the
curriculum for this legal assisting career study certificate.
For Fall 2013 and Fall 2012, the ratio for FT/PT is 50/50 or above for the Police Science
degree and certificates. This past Spring the ratio was down to 35/65 due to a transition
in leadership. The former department chair retired in December. Ms. Noel was brought
on the previous Fall to insure a seamless transition thus the ratio increased for Fall 2013
with 2 full time professors. For Fall 2013, Ms. Noel has implemented a more concise
schedule which provides two benefits to students: more contact with the full time faculty
and a much needed pathway to graduation for the police science majors. Additionally,
she has recruited police officers and sheriffs to teach exciting new classes such as
Defensive Tactics and Firearms and Marksmanship. This program, like others, is staffed
with individuals who are professionals in the field. They bring exciting stories and sage
advice to the classroom.
The Fire Science Certificate is under the Department of Public Safety as well. Mr. Kirk
Twigg helps Ms. Noel with this program. Mr. Twigg is a part time fire science instructor
many years of experience in Fire Science and Environmental Health and Safety. The
current full time / part time ratio for the fire science program is 54/46.
Fine Art Certificate and Graphic Communications Certificate
The Art programs are chaired by Ms. Jean Lauzon. Her faculty members include: a full
time art historian faculty member and eight part time art, art history and computer
graphics instructors. Present and prior careers for the Fine Arts and Graphic
Communications faculty include two K-12 school art teachers, plasterer for historic
building restorations, freelance graphics designers for various magazines and other
publications, graphics artist for the Free Lance Star, adjunct instructor at community
colleges in Kentucky and Indiana, and Colonel, US Air Force, Logistics and Aircraft
Maintenance. All instructors have been published or had artworks displayed in galleries
and museum shows as well as having taught in their respective disciplines from one to
fifteen years. Ms. Lauzon’s faculty are truly engaged with their students and the
community. Last year, the art faculty and several students participated in a group chalk
art show in downtown Fredericksburg and are scheduled to participate again this
year. The students are also exposed to fine art each spring when they help hang the art
work of a nationally known artist for a show sponsored by one of art advisory board
members.
Full time / part time ratios for this program improved three fold with the hiring of a full
time art historian this Fall. They are now 58/42 for Fine Arts and 47/53 for Graphic
Communications versus a rate of approximately 25/75 in previous semesters. The
college is exploring the addition of an AAS in Multimedia; this addition will likely improve
ratios and provide more choices for students interested in computer graphics and web
design.
Automotive Diagnosis and Automotive Technician Career Study Certificates
The Automotive Program is chaired by Mr. Brent Wilson. This year, due to a rapid
increase in enrollment (triggered by the relocation of the program to a more populated
part of our service area) the college hired a second full time automotive
instructor. These two gentlemen are joined by four part time instructors. Careers for
these individuals range from automotive repair business owners, service managers, and
service technicians. Many have mentored and trained entry level technicians as they
enter the service industry. All have worked in their fields and have taught for Germanna
from one year to over twenty-five years.
The addition of the new full time instructor has flipped the ratio for this program from
10/90 in the past to 100/0 for this upcoming Fall. Mr. Wilson has always been very
involved with all of his automotive students both in and out of the classroom. He
believes in team teaching as a venue to help new instructors transition from the “shop”
to the classroom. Additionally, he helps his students with employment upon
graduation.
Horticulture Career Study Certificate
The horticulture program is chaired by Dr. Michael Read. Ms. Anita Tuttle joins Dr. Read
as a part time instructor. Dr. Read has a PhD in Horticulture and Botany. He was a
research horticulturist at General Mills for twelve years. He has owned and operated a
garden center and landscaping company, and has an extensive background in
hydroponic crop production. Ms. Tuttle is an environmental inspector for the Virginia
Department of Environmental Quality. She has taught classes at Germanna for the past
10 years; Dr. Read has taught community college classes since 1996. Because the
Horticulture program has always been relatively small, Dr. Read knows each of his
students and maintains contact with many of them after that have finished at GCC.
As the ratios indicate in the Appendix 2, Dr. Read teaches almost all horticulture
classes. For the academic year, 2012-2013 the ratio was 100/0. This Fall, due to
demands in his other field, Biology, Dr. Read has brought Ms. Tuttle back to teach the
intro class bringing the ration to 75/25.
Division of Nursing and Health Technologies
The Division of Nursing and Health Technologies uses both full and part time faculty to
accomplish the mission of the college and the health programs within the division. Fulltime faculty are responsible for curriculum development, evaluation, and revision. They
supervise and coordinate program delivery and in many cases clinical placement. Under
the guidance and mentoring of full-time faculty, part-time faculty assist with the delivery
of the clinical and laboratory instruction. On occasion, a part time faculty member may
deliver didactic instruction under the supervision of the full time faculty.
Full-time faculty workload ranges from 26-32 credits with the majority of faculty
carrying a 30 credit workload for the academic year. Overload is voluntary and not
required of faculty. Overload assignments result most frequently within the department
as faculty assume additional administrative assignments.
Associate in Applied Science: Nursing - RN Program
There are 15 full-time nursing faculty who are assigned to the AAS (RN)
Program. These faculty provide didactic classroom instruction to the students enrolled in
the program. In addition, there are 14 part time faculty who in conjunction with the fulltime faculty provide laboratory and clinical instruction for the students within the
program. The ratio of faculty to students in the classroom setting is set at one (1)
faculty to twenty (20) students and in the laboratory and clinical settings it is one (1)
faculty to ten (10) students. The clinical and laboratory ratio of one (1) faculty to ten
(10) students is mandated by the Virginia State Board of Nursing. Germanna is in
compliance with this recommendation. In the clinical settings, due the complexity of
patient need, a ratio of one (1) faculty to seven (7) students is often mandated by our
cooperating clinical agencies and is thus followed by the nursing department. All fulltime and adjunct nursing faculty are prepared with at least a Masters with a
concentration in nursing thus meeting the requirements set forth by the Accreditation
Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) and the Board of Nursing and helping to
ensure quality instruction.
Along with the formal educational preparation, the full time nursing faculty possesses
expertise in a variety of clinical areas and are assigned teaching responsibilities that
capture this expertise. Part time faculty typically are employed in the clinical setting and
provide clinical instruction in their area of expertise as well. This assignment
methodology strengthens the educational experiences provided to the students.
Oversight of these clinical and laboratory assignments is provided by the Lab and Clinical
Director who is one of the full time nursing faculty at the college.
Also augmenting student success is the small student to faculty ratio apparent in the
program. This ratio affords full-time faculty the opportunity to meet with and mentor
students throughout the program thereby fostering student success. Small clinical and
laboratory sessions afford students ample opportunities to converse with and explore
complex patient situations with the faculty. The opportunities for individualized
instruction and the carful assignment of faculty help to facilitate the learning centered
mission of the college.
Classes within the nursing sequence are offered in three modalities to provide additional
access and to meet student needs and preferences. All major clinical classes are offered
face to face on the Locust Grove campus and are team taught by the full-time
faculty. Most of the lessor credits supporting nursing classes are offered in three
modalities, face to face, hybrid, and online. Faculty teaching online and hybrid courses
are certified as they have completed an online teaching certification.
In Appendix 2, the ratio of full time to part time faculty is calculated by student enrolled
credit hour for this program. As the full time faculty team teach the didactic content
exclusively to students within the AAS Nursing program while also providing clinical
instruction, it is not surprising to see the ratio of 75% full time and 25% part time. To
ensure consistent and quality instruction, part time faculty in the department work
under the guidance and mentoring of the full time faculty to provide laboratory and
clinical instruction.
Nursing (LPN to RN) AAS
The Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) to RN program provides advanced placement to
qualified LPNs interested in completing the AAS Nursing degree. This program helps to
fulfill the mission of the college. The degree recognizes students’ prior education and
experience by offering advanced placement into the AAS RN program.
Students enrolled in the Nursing (LPN to RN) program enter the program in the second
year of study following a bridge course. Students are fully integrated into nursing classes
with the traditional nursing students in the AAS Nursing program for degree
completion. Students in the LPN to RN program enjoy the same faculty to student ratios
and instructional strategies afforded the AAS Nursing students. The only class that these
students complete as a separate LPN cohort is the bridge course in the program. This
three credit course has a laboratory and online didactic component and is taught
primarily by full-time nursing faculty. Classroom and lab ratios for this course are
consistent with those in the AAS nursing program and meet the mandates of the Board
of Nursing and ACEN. On occasion, a part time faculty member may facilitate this class
or assist with laboratory instruction. If this is the case, full time faculty provide
oversight and mentoring. Part time faculty facilitating the online portion of this class use
an identical Blackboard class as full time faculty to help ensure consistency in
teaching. These faculty are also certified in online instruction.
In Appendix 2, the ratio of full time to part time faculty is calculated by student
enrolled credit hour for this program. The full time faculty team teach the didactic
content to students and also provide lab and clinical instruction with a ratio of 68% full
time and 32% part time noted. To ensure consistent and quality instruction, adjunct
faculty in the department work under the guidance and mentoring of the full time faculty
to provide quality laboratory and clinical instruction.
Certificate Practical Nursing – PN Program
There are (2) two full-time nursing faculty who are assigned to the Certificate in
Practical Nursing (PN). The full time faculty provide the didactic classroom instruction to
the students enrolled in the program. There are five (5) adjunct faculty, active in
professional practice, who under the direction of the full time faculty provide laboratory
and clinical instruction within the program. This coordination and mentoring by full time
faculty ensures consistency of instruction in the lab and clinical settings.
The ratio of faculty to students in the classroom setting is set at one (1) faculty to
twenty (20) students and in the laboratory and clinical settings it is one (1) faculty to
ten (10) students. The clinical and laboratory ratio of one (1) faculty to ten (10)
students is mandated by the Virginia State Board of Nursing. Germanna is in compliance
with this recommendation. At times the clinical ratio of faculty to students may drop to
one (1) faculty to seven (7) students in the clinical setting. This ratio varies with the
complexity of care required by patients. The small laboratory and clinical ratios afford
students multiple opportunities to interact with faculty in both the clinical, laboratory,
and classroom settings.
All full-time and part time nursing faculty assigned to the Practical Nursing certificate
program are prepared with at least a Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) thus
meeting the requirements set forth the Board of Nursing. One faculty is prepared with
at Masters in Nursing, one with a Masters in an associated field and two other faculty are
enrolled in educational programs of study leading to a masters on nursing.
All major clinical classes are offered face to face format. Other nursing classes within the
practical nursing sequence may be offered in hybrid or online formats thereby providing
additional access to the program while addressing the individual needs and
preferences. Full time faculty teaching online and hybrid courses are certified as they
have completed an online teaching certification.
Coordination of this program is provided by a full time faculty member who is masters
prepared. The initial semester of the program is provided at Germanna and by dual
enrollment in one high school in the eastern and one high school in the western portion
of our service region. Interested students in the service area are funneled to these hub
schools for the initial semester of practical nursing instruction. Consistency and quality
are maintained as students use the same course materials and blackboard courses for
instruction. In addition, the program head for the practical nursing program provides
instruction at one high school and ongoing coordination and mentoring at the other high
school. After students have completed the initial semester of the program, they
graduate from high school, and transfer to Germanna to complete the certificate in
Practical Nursing. The college faculty student ratios discussed above are also maintained
in the high school.
In Appendix 2, the ratio of full time to part time faculty is calculated by student enrolled
credit hour for this program. The full time faculty teach the didactic content to students
and also providing lab and clinical instruction. Part time faculty provide instruction
primarily in the clinical and laboratory setting. To ensure consistent and quality
instruction, part faculty in the department work under the guidance and mentoring of
the full time faculty to provide quality laboratory and clinical instruction. In addition, the
lab and clinical director for Nursing makes regular rounds at off-site clinical sites to
ensure consistency in quality of clinical instruction and to answer questions the adjunct
faculty may encounter.
Vocational Health Care
This is the final year that the Vocational Health Care Certificate will be awarded at
Germanna. This certificate was designed to provide opportunities for individuals enrolled
in Fredericksburg Area School of Practical Nursing (FASPN) to complete the FASPN
program requirements in practical nursing and to then sit for the national licensure
examination for practical nursing. The final three students in this program will complete
the program this spring. Interested students from this site are now completing the
Practical Nursing Certificate at Germanna.
Vocational Health Care students transfer to Germanna for the last two semesters of the
practical nursing program at Germanna. These students are fully integrated with our
students enrolled in the Practical Nursing Certificate program. Students in the Vocational
Health Care certificate have the same faculty to student ratios and instructional
strategies afforded the students enrolled in the Practical Nursing Certificate program.
These students complete the first semester of the program at an area high school and
are admitted to complete the remainder of the program at the college. The full time to
part time ratios for these students are therefore similar to those for the Certificate in
Practical nursing statistics. It is noted in Appendix 2 that 100% of the classes for these
students are conducted by full time faculty.
Career Studies Certificate: Nurse Aide
There are (5) five part time faculty who are assigned to the Nurse Aid Career Studies
Certificate (CSC). Planning, oversight and program coordination is provided by a full
time nursing faculty who serves as program head for the certificate program. The
program head ensures quality instruction by interfacing closely with the part time faculty
and by guiding instruction through the creation of classroom and clinical schedules. In
addition, she works closely with part time faculty to facilitate classroom instruction and
ongoing curriculum development. The coordination and mentoring by full time faculty
ensures consistency of instruction in the classroom, lab, and clinical settings. The
program head is also routinely available for student consultation and to address any
student concerns when part time faculty may not be available.
As with other nursing programs, the State Board mandates a ratio of one (1) faculty to
ten (10) nurse aide students in the laboratory and clinical settings. Germanna is in
compliance with this recommendation. All part time faculty are prepared with a
minimum of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
Career Studies Certificate: Surgical Scrub
The Surgical Scrub Certificate prepares Licensed Practical Nurses to work as surgical
scrub nurses, assisting surgeons in performing surgical procedures within our
community. The program supports the mission of the college in that creation of the
certificate was based upon community feedback articulating critical needs in this
area. As the urgent community need has been somewhat satisfied, this program usually
runs once a year rather than each semester. The program head for this certificate is a
full time faculty with a Masters of Science in nursing. There is one part time faculty who
provides all classroom didactic and laboratory experiences and supervises clinical
placement in area hospitals. Clinical is facilitated as students work 1:1 with preceptors in
area operating rooms. This faculty member is prepared with a Bachelor’s of Science in
Nursing and specializes in Operating Room (OR) nursing. Student enrollment in this
program is limited by availability of operating room preceptor sites and usually runs
between 4-6 students. The small faculty to student ratio helps to insure that students
have access to quality individualized instruction and faculty consultation.
In Appendix 2, the ratio of full time to part time faculty is calculated by student enrolled
credit hour for this program. Although no full time faculty teach in this program,
oversight, coordination, and mentorship is supplied by the full-time program head.
The primary part time faculty member provides 100% of instruction in the classroom,
clinical, and laboratory settings. Percentages documented in Appendix 2 indicate that in
some cases 50% of the instruction is carried out by full time faculty when in fact this is
not the case. This percentage represents the inclusion of the program head in these
numbers for oversight purposes.
Career Studies Certificate: Pharmacy Technician
The Pharmacy Technician Certificate prepares students to assist and support licensed
pharmacists in providing health care and medications to patients in a variety of health
care settings. The program head for this certificate is a full time faculty with a M.S. in
Physical Education with a focus in Exercise Physiology. The program head is available
during regularly scheduled office hours for student consultation and discussion. Further,
the full-time program head facilitates admissions to the program, manages student
credentials, and obtains optimal clinical preceptor sites for students in the program. In
addition, clinical oversight and placements are scheduled by the full-time faculty
program head.
Quality is assured in the program as part time faculty approved by the Board of
Pharmacy provide didactic and laboratory instruction in the program. The Board of
Pharmacy mandates that faculty be either Pharmacists or Pharmacy technicians with one
year of experience and active in their practice. Other faculty wishing to teach in this
program must be deemed qualified by the board of Pharmacy. Faculty teaching in the
programs meet these qualifications and provide relevant clinical instruction to students.
In the clinical setting, students work 1:1 with area Pharmacy Technicians who serve as
preceptors. Student enrollment in this program is limited by availability of preceptor
sites and usually runs between 12-16 students per semester.
In Appendix 2, the ratio of full time to part time faculty is calculated by student enrolled
credit hour for this program. The ratio of full time to part time faculty varies with 0% to
24% of courses taught by full time faculty and with 100%-76% being part
time faculty. Hiring approved practicing professionals to provide instruction in this
program ensures a well-qualified and successful graduate. At times, board approved full
time nursing faculty teach health courses in this program accounting for the
24%. Again, ongoing oversight, coordination, and mentorship are supplied by the full
time program head for this program.
Certificate: Dental Assisting
Germanna Community College offers a Certificate in Dental Assisting. Accredited by the
Council of Dental Assisting (CoDA), the curriculum is designed to prepare selected
students to serve in a dynamic and growing health profession as valuable members of
the Dental Health team. There are two full time faculty who provide didactic and clinic
instruction to students within the program. One of these faculty members serves as the
program head for the program. Faculty/student ratios for laboratory are one (1) faculty
to ten (10) students and one (1) faculty to three (3) students for preclinical and clinical
sessions. Full and part-time faculty are chosen to teach classes based on their
credentials, experience, and availability.
In Appendix 2, the ratio of full time to part time faculty is calculated by student
enrolled credit hour for this program. The ratio of full time to part time faculty varies
with 37-84% of courses taught by full time faculty and with 17-63% being part
time faculty. These numbers reflect a time when a faculty member resigned and the
program director temporarily picked up teaching assignments. The later data from the
table shows clearly that the amount of full time faculty has continued to rise and is
sufficient to provide quality instruction.
Summation
Germanna Community College's goal, as expressed in the mission statement, is to
provide accessible, affordable, high quality learning experiences for all the residents of
our region. Germanna has shown a strong commitment to having adequate full time
faculty to support our mission to provide access to quality learning opportunities across
the curricula, at all sites, in all modalities. In an environment of increasing enrollments
and declining state funding per full time equivalent student, Germanna has increased
the number of full time faculty by 22 faculty members, an increase of 36%. We have
adequate full time faculty to provide program coordination, service to the college,
mentoring of other faculty, and access to students.
The employment of part time faculty gives Germanna the flexibility to provide access to
our region in an environment of changing enrollments while keeping our services
affordable. Our part time faculty frequently bring uniquely related experience to the
classroom and are closely mentored by dedicated full time faculty. Germanna has taken
steps to insure that the student experience is of the same high quality regardless of the
status of the faculty members employment. We hire qualified faculty, offer professional
development, and opportunities for students to meet with faculty.
Sources

2013-2014 College-Wide Committees - FINAL

3.1 Faculty Responsibilities

3.5 faculty_handbook Overload Policy

Abrams Resume

Anglin Resume

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Appendix 3

Appendix 4

Cannova Resume

Climate SurveyCollege Council Presentation 012712-3
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Continuous Education Communication
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CoursesCoffeewood
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CoursesDanielTechCtr
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CoursesStaffordCtr
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Daigle Resume
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DE Faculty OrientationsummerAGENDA
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DE PTfaculty conv.
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department chair contract001

Dowd Resume
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educational aid and continuous learning request form with state purposes

faculty qualifications

faculty_handbook

FacultyRosterRpt
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Fasano

Fetea_CV_Abreviated_2013

Frank resume

GCC Faculty Overload 11-12 Fall Combined
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Gray Resume
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Greene Resume
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HammondD resume
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HancockResume
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Huff Resume
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IDOL Instructional Design for Online Learning SyllabusSU11
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Larsen Resume
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Lauzon Resume
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Learning Day Feb 2013-das
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Lennahan resume
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Matheson Resume
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Mesimer Resume
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Miller Resume
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Mittura Resume
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MODEL Syllabus - GCC SU13
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Murphy Resume
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New_Faculty_Academy
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Noel, J. Resume
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ObservationRCarter
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ObservationRCarterpt2
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OffCampusLocationsCoursesNonDual
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Parker P Resume
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Part-Time Faculty Convocation Fall 2012 agenda
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Part-Time Faculty Convocation Fall 2013 agenda
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Part-Time Faculty Convocation Spring 2013 agenda
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Part-Time Faculty Handbook -- Fall 2011

Perry Resume
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Pevey resume
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PTWAgenda 2012
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PTWAgenda0112
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PTWAgenda41212
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QM_Standards_2011-2013
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Read Resume
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Revised final report Adjunct Utilization Inclusion
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runnels resume
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Sekinger Resume
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Skinner Resume
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Stroffolino Resume

TOP SyllabusGCCSummer2013
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trainum resume
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Twigg resume

VCCS 34A-Teaching Faculty Master

VCCS FT-PT faculty ratios - excluding dual enrollment courses taught at high
schools
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VCCS professional development opportunities

Who We Are

Wilson Resume
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Wolfe resume
CR - 2.10
Student Support Services
The institution provides student support programs, services, and activities consistent
with its mission that are intended to promote student learning and enhance the
development of its students. (Core Requirement 2.10)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Germanna Community College (GCC) provides student support programs, services and
activities consistent with its mission that promote student learning and enhance the
development of its students. The institution offers a comprehensive student
development program to address the developmental needs of students and promote
student success. Programs and services adhere to a holistic view of students
emphasising the importance of engaging students in their own learning. Student
Support Services staff help students attain the skills necessary to pursue their
educational and personal development goals. Services and programs are offered to all
students enrolled in Germanna - at all our campuses and sites, at our dual enrollment
sites, at off campus locations, either face to face or online. All of our students can visit
one of our two campuses and receive services, and, as detailed below, many of our
services are available online. As a public institution some of our library services are
offered to the public at large.
From Fall 2008 to Fall 2012, Germanna Community College has grown significantly and
rapidly in total head count enrollment. Much of this growth came from traditional age
students ages 18-24 with the average age of a Germanna Community College students
remaining consistently slightly above age 24. Due to economic necessity and the appeal
of guaranteed admission agreements, many traditional age students chose to attend
Germanna Community College with a goal of transferring to a 4-year college or
university. This cohort of students increased the demand on Student Support Services
for innovative student development programming and activities. Transfer Counseling,
Student Activities, Recruiting, and New Student Advising enhanced and increased
programming to meet expanding needs of the past five years.
Student demographics are detailed in the following table:
Fall2007 Fall2008 Fall2009 Fall2010 Fall2011 Fall2012
Unduplicated Headcount
5891
6503
7047
7549
7787
7533
Female
3766
4064
4410
4647
4839
4642
Male
2125
2439
2637
2899
2946
2887
3
2
4
Gender Unknown*
African American
817
919
992
1078
1295
1200
Asian
151
182
222
222
196
180
4389
4797
5168
5563
5670
5623
276
327
353
361
384
333
Native American
45
30
37
38
35
34
Pacific Islander
27
34
25
35
40
48
186
214
250
252
167
115
24.5
24.2
24.3
24.4
24.3
24.3
939
1128
1120
1099
1132
1039
Caucasian
Hispanic
Ethnicity Unknown*
Average Age
Dual-Enrollment
The narrative below will show that Germanna offers a broad range of student services
reflecting the different needs of individual members of our diverse community.
GCC’s student services and support programs are organized in four main areas: 1)
Student Development; 2) Enrollment Services; 3) Student Activities; and 4) Learning
support. These units support the College strategic initiative to develop outreach
efforts, programs, and services that fulfill the promise of affordable access to
educational opportunities and workforce development for all the constituents of our
service area. Academic Master Plan 2011-2015 (Aug 2011) provides an active link to the
academic master plan. Students can learn about resources available to them and their
rights and responsibilities in the Student Handbook. A screen shot of the opening
webpage for this handbook shows the resources it offers to the student. Student
Handbook Screenshot. This is the method most used by the students. Students, if they
choose, can also download a copy of the handbook. Student-Handbook-2013-14.
STUDENT DEVELOPMENT
Student Development provides programs and services that support the holistic growth
and development of students. Student Development consists of Counseling, Disability
Services, Student Activities, and Middle College. Student Development also supports
programs for special populations including Career Coaches for high schools, and the
Great Expectations program for foster care youth.
Counseling
Germanna’s Mission states that the College provides “courses, programs, and services
that enable students to gain access to and succeed in higher
education” http://www.germanna.edu/About_Germanna/who-we-are.asp. Who We
Are provides an active link to Germanna's mission statement. Counseling is an
essential service which directly relates to and impacts the ability of students to gain
access and succeed in higher education.
Counseling Services provides a comprehensive program of support services to promote
student access, retention, success and achievement, as well as personal and social skill
development. Because of our mission of serviing all the members of our community,
and because of the diversity of our community, services include assessment , new
student orientation, student development courses, new student counseling
and academic advising, crisis intervention/referral and personal adjustment counseling,
support to students with disabilities, Veterans, support groups, career development, and
transfer planning. In the past five years, GCC has added 4 full-time Counselor positions
in order adquately provide these services.
A screen shot of the counseling webpage can be found at : CounselingWebPage
ScreenShot
I. Crisis Intervention and Referral
Germanna Community College provides Counseling Services which include Counselors
and para-professional counselors on staff with various areas of expertise to assist
general counseling concerns presented by students. Students who seek assistance with
issues that are getting in the way of their academic success can speak with someone by
walk-in and/or by appointment during regular hours of the office. Faculty and Staff
make referrals of students who they observe to be in distress in classes and on
campus. Referrals to the GCC Counseling Office are made in person, by phone, email,
and by web based alert systems described below (TIPS and the Student Assistance and
Intervention for Learning Success (SAILS) software). When Counselors meet with
students, a determination is made as to the severity of the issues and referral out to
community resources is made as appropriate. General issues that are common to
students such as stress management, time management, normal test anxiety, social and
academic adjustment to college expectations, communication skills, problem solving,
career, academic and personal decision-making veterans counseling, and priority setting
are typical of the topics GCC Counselors will address directly. Identification of mental
illness, clinical levels of distress and/or safety issues for the student or others are
triaged and appropriately referred to the community agencies and resources who are
equipped to address these levels of concerns. Further information about the partnerships
with community resources are described below.
The College has a permanent, ongoing risk and early intervention plan which includes
the Threat Assessment Team (TAT). The TAT is a group consisting of participation from
all areas of the College. Counseling Services contributes significantly to this group, with
several staff members regularly serving on the Team. Other areas of the College which
participate are Police and Security, Workforce, Disability Services, Veterans’ Support
Services, Human Resources, Instruction and Dean’s representing Allied Health
Technologies and Student Development. One of the College’s Counselors is a licensed
mental health clinician, and her expertise is highly regarded. The TAT meets regularly to
monitor concerns around the College. Meetings cover new and ongoing behavioral
concerns which have been identified in any area of the College. Meetings also discuss
training needs for the Team and for the entire College focusing on awareness, readiness,
appropriate intervention skills that faculty and staff can use to initially respond to a
person in distress. Planning for training needs, education of the College employees, and
for the TAT members is included in meetings as well.
TIPS is a web based incident report vehicle which has been instituted at Germanna. The
Dean of Student Development has worked with the TAT, GCC Police Chief and the VCCS
to purchase, set up and implement this reporting system to improve access to reporting
concerns and to increase the timeliness of communication and response from
appropriate College personnel. Emails, College Council presentations and frequent
reminders have been used to inform the College community of this vehicle of reporting
any concerns. TIPS software automatically notifies all TAT members and other key
personnel at the College and TIPS provides a communication and documentation
function to track the response to an incident, recording information, actions taken, plans
established and contact information needed to more cohesively respond and resolve
concerns as they occur.
GCC is making good headway in development of formalized memoranda of agreements
with community agencies which can provide the more sophisticated and longer term
support to students who are in distress. The two main community services boards which
serve the residents of Germanna’s service region are the Rappahannock-Rapidan
Community Services Board and the Rappahannock Community Services Board. A signed
memorandum of agreement is on file with the eastern end of Germanna’s service region,
and creates an established relationship with the Rappahannock Community Services
Board in Fredericksburg, Virginia. A similar Memorandum of Agreement was also signed
in July 2013 with the western region's Rappahannock-Rapidan Community Services
Board. These agreements will take the positive, ongoing relationship GCC has already
experienced with these agencies to a higher level, specifying the means and ways we
can better transition a students in distress from the initial support Counseling provides
at the College to the more in-depth, ongoing care and support they need from these
resources.
Germanna has a good history of developing and maintaining a strong professional
network of community resources to help serve our students. Various employees serve
on advisory boards for Goodwill, hospice, and other mental health organizations which
extend and enhance the resource base GCC can connect our students to for support.
Counseling Services periodically plans and implements training and educational
programs for the College’s faculty, staff and students. Webinars, speakers, fairs and
promotional literature is made accessible at all the locations to support a healthy
learning environment for all. Recent examples of programs include--ASIST training for
all employees which provides two intensive days of suicide prevention training; AVATAR
simulation training for faculty to engage in practical skill building related to
communication with students to be more aware and attuned to “red flag” behaviors or
verbal indicators of distress in students so that appropriate interventions can be
employed; “The Red Flag Campaign” which disseminates educational information in an
effort to raise awareness about signs of unhealthy relationships which can lead to
abuse; Webinar on responding to disruptive behaviors in the classroom; Webinar on
understanding the signs of psychotic and delusional students; speaker presentation by a
survivor of kidnap and rape—only to name a few.
II.
Transfer Counseling
Transfer Counseling is a heavily used service at GCC. Many students make the decision
to attend GCC with the intention of transferring to other institutions. Strong Guaranteed
Admission agreements are in place with all public 4-year instituions in
Virginia. Counselors assist students with transfer information and planning to support
the College’s mission of enabling student success. By using the variety of resources and
services described below, students are provided with information about how Germanna
programs facilitate transfer, what 4-year colleges and universities provide guaranteed
transfer options, what programs of study are at all colleges and universities across the
United States, as well as Virginia and neighboring states. Transfer data shows that most
of our students transfer within the state of Virginia. To enhance the communication with
area 4-years schools GCC hosts several events and programs to that end. GCC's
Transfer Counselor serves as the College's Chief Transfer Officer.
Counseling arranges on-site visits of the area 4-year schools. Many colleges and
universities will come to Germanna for on-the-spot acceptance visits where students can
present their transfer application materials and get quick feedback about acceptance. In
addition to the traditional transfer information activities, Counseling has also arranged
targeted transfer events for non-traditional transfer such as RN to BSN transfer options.
Students who are completing the Applied Science degree in Nursing for the registered
nursing license have had the opportunity to meet and discuss ways to transfer the
applied degree on to the 4-year school to advance to the Bachelor of Science degree in
Nursing. In recent years, GCC has also run non-traditional adult degree transfer fairs to
provide specific information to adult students who are not interested in the typical
transfer plan.
College and Transfer Fairs are coordinated every year by Counseling. In the fall
semester, Counseling hosts the annual college tour program where 4-year colleges and
universities travel across the state of Virginia to all high schools and community
colleges. This statewide program is sponsored by VACRAO, Virginia Association of
Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. An screen shot of the VACRAO web page
can be found at VACRAO.
On Campus workshops and transfer materials are planned and implemented by
Counseling on a regular basis. GCC has a Counseling web presence which provides one
place where students can go to obtain most all the transfer information they would ever
need. The web page provides access to guaranteed admission transfer agreements,
transfer guides, two-year college transfer grant options, transfer planning timelines,
access to the transfer counselor through the web, links to all the Virginia Colleges and
University websites, the VCCS resources for making Transfer easy, information about
Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the Virginia Wizard tool, Financial Aid and
Scholarship information and more. An screen shot of the transfer webpage can be found
at OnLineTransferWebPageScreenShot.
Because GCC wants students to have as much access to information as possible,
Counseling has made the materials and resources for students to establish and
implement a successful academic, career and transfer plan, along with the many links
and resources, there is also access on the front homepage to contact an online
Counselor over the internet live and by email. This resource has also been expanded to
provide online assistance for our nursing students as well. A screen shot for the student
resources webpage can be found at StudentResourcesWebPageScreenShot.
III.
Career Counseling and Development Services
The Career Central Network is one of Counseling’s newest resources to assist students
with Career exploration, planning and job placement. This web-based software draws
together the most current and powerful career and job resources, networking and job
searching tools in one convenient package. Students can receive help in developing their
resume and then post it through this service in order to find a job. Information here
helps the student learn strategies for improving their career building skills all through
GCC career services site. In addition to the new Career Center Network, GCC Counseling
has provided access to students’ needs to locate area jobs and career options by
providing web links to various newspapers, federal government job search tools, and
Virginia and National Job Search engines. A screen shot of the counseling center
webpage can be found at CounselingWebPage ScreenShot.
Counseling has worked with the VCCS developed career resource called Virginia
Educational Wizard for some time. This resource helps students do in-depth
assessments relating to their interests, values, and skills, which can then provide an
analysis of appropriate and related jobs and careers. Students can explore careers all
across Virginia and learn updated information about jobs in demand, salary expectations
and educational and/or credentialing requirements for careers of interest. Counselors
work with students to understand the results provided in these assessments and help
students use this information to develop their academic and career plans to enhance
chances of success. A screen shot of the career services webpage can be found at
CareerCenterWebPageScreenShot.
Counseling plans and implements a regular variety of programs, events and workshops
to support career exploration and planning. Fairs are sponsored regularly to educate
and inform students about careers. Employer fairs are also organized to support job
search and placement, especially for the applied science degree students. Most recently
the employer fairs have targeted administration of justice and allied health career
areas. Workshops on resume writing, effective interviewing skills and proper business
etiquette are offered throughout the year. Counseling employs a mobile ‘career cart’
strategy, where a counselor will mobilize the service on a rolling cart and reach out to
students in the hall and student lounge area to highlight and promote the services which
can be provided to assist students. This strategy has increased visibility and
engagement of students in career development planning.
To improve serve and add learning opportunities Germanna has added an experiential
learning coordinator, Cheri Ober. Ms. Ober's credentials are included in the principle
3.2.8 on the second table for Other Administrators. With Ms. Ober's direction we were
able to add internship opportunities for many of out students starting in 2012.
Germanna’s Experiential Learning Program facilitates student learning through active
participation in the workplace and/or community. It provides the student intern
opportunity to apply the skills and concepts learned in the classroom and also
contributes to our community economic development by providing employers with a
qualified, talented and motivated student worker that will bring new perspectives into
the workplace. Germanna Community College recognizes the value of the extended
classroom in preparing our students to carefully examine and explore their educational
and career interests under the direct guidance of professionals. This program supports
our vision to provide quality learning experiences that enable students to participate
effectively in the social, economic, political, intellectual, and cultural life of their
communities.
IV.
New Student Orientation and First Year Experience
Counseling has developed a First Year Experience model to bring all the various
initiatives and strategies together in a comprehensive plan for student success. The
First Year model provides a framework through which Counseling can holistically view
the foundational skills and essential components which will facilitate and foster success
of the new students. The First Year Experience model looks at the intended outcomes,
the picture of the confident, empowered and well prepared student, and then links the
initiatives and processes that are required, in the sequence and combination needed, to
bring about the desired result for every student. The model begins with the process of
orienting the student with pre-registration and initial advising resources. Students move
to new student counseling and specific program advising that results in a first semester
schedule. GCC implements the welcome day activities to reinforce students’
commitment to the matriculation process and is intended to help the student gain
confidence and comfort with steps taken and the start of the first semester. Through the
Student Development course and carefully planned events and programs in the first and
second semesters, the intention is the new student will emerge from this first year
experience, confident, empowered and well equipped to persist and succeed.
New student orientation information sessions are offered at different locations, times
and in both face-to-face format and online to provide prospective and new students the
necessary information they need to begin at Germanna and to establish a solid, positive
plan for success and completion of their educational goals. Students sign up for these
sessions by going to the Germanna front homepage and registering for a session
convenient to them. Information provided in these sessions assist the student in
understanding what Germanna can offer them, and how to start a program with the
College. Students learn about the placement testing and assessment expectations, how
to prepare for these assessments, what programs of study are offered, what documents
students need to submit for application, registration and transfer of any possible
previous credits they may have. Resources relating to financial aid, disability services,
military and veterans’ support, academic counseling, class registration and important
policies, procedures and deadlines are explained. Counseling Services developed the
New Student To Do List to inform students about the steps to getting started at the
College as well. A screen shot can be found at AdmissionsWebPageScreenShot. This
document is included in the admissions notification letter sent out to students who have
applied for admissions to Germanna. Counselors provide this document to students
when they come on campus for Orientation Information Sessions and for individual visits
with Counseling staff. It is believed that providing this information in a variety of ways,
through the New Student Orientation Information Sessions, during on campus visits, as
well as in the admissions notification letter will increase the chances that all students will
be better informed about the necessary steps to a successful beginning at the College.
In collaboration with all other Germanna departments, Counseling coordinates a special
Welcome Day event at the start of every year. The Welcome Day provides a Saturday
event just before the start of the fall semester where students can come on campus,
tour the facilities, go to the bookstore to obtain textbooks, talk to faculty representatives
from various disciplines and majors and have the opportunity to get acquainted with
staff. Refreshments, door prizes and carefully selected speakers and motivational
presenters help to create a welcoming start to their academic endeavors at Germanna.
The Student Development (SDV) course, College Success Skills, is required of all
curricular students except those in career studies certificates. Students are strongly
encouraged to take this course in their first 16 credits at Germanna. Students in a
developmental education course are required to take the Student Development course in
their first semester. GCC Counseling oversees the SDV offerings and many of the
counselors on staff teach sections. Careful planning is taken to ensure that a variety of
times, formats and locations are available to students. Weekend and hybrid formats
have been added to meet increased student demand. Specific attention is taken to link
SDV 108, a focused study skills version of the SDV course, with the developmental
English and math courses for starting students. Counselors firmly believe that
combining the support of the College Success Skills with the fundamentals of reading,
writing and mathematics can have a significant impact on the initial success and
persistence of students who are not quite ready for all college level
coursework. Working to make the initial semester a strong one will increase the
likelihood of students returning to Germanna and strengthening the chances students
ultimately completing academic goals.
During the students’ first and second semesters, Counseling provides the ongoing
resources of academic counseling, crisis intervention and referral, career services,
individual and group skill building initiatives (study skills, test taking strategy and
time/stress management workshops) in which students can participate and develop the
skills they individually need to strengthen to address their personal development and
growth as a successful student. Resources include a dedicated counseling services for
veterans transitioning from military to a higher education environment.
V.
New Student Academic Counseling and Advising
Academic counseling is at the heart of what Counseling Services provides; it is
counseling which fosters and nurtures holistic growth, learning and development of the
student. Counselors work with students, bringing together information about --interests, values, skills and prior experience, career goals, initial academic skill
assessments (placement test results or previous college coursework), and personal
/family obligations---to assist students in creating and implementing a solid, workable
academic and career plan for success. Counselors help students look at where they
have been, where they are now, and where they wish to be in the future, and help to
establish a reasonable way to use the past and present to build towards a better
future. This is what students come to Germanna for – to create a better future for
themselves and their families. Counselors help students figure out how to accomplish
that for them.
Bringing all the available information together with the assistance of Counseling,
students select an appropriate program of study that fits their intended goals and
develop an academic plan mapping out the classes needed to complete this program of
study. Academic Counseling then shifts into academic advising, which is the step by
step implementation of that plan. Students come to understand what they need to take
first, second and third. Students gain a deeper understanding of the progression from
admissions to completion and graduation. At that point, students are transitioned to
their faculty advisors for coaching and guidance through the curriculum
plan. Counseling is on hand throughout the students’ academic tenure at Germanna to
provide needed interventions, support and re-direction as appropriate.
VI.
Early Intervention
Throughout students’ enrollment at Germanna, Counseling is there to support,
encourage, and intervene as needed to help keep them on track and moving forward in
a positive direction toward their end goals. A regular part of that support has been an
early alert system of referral from faculty and staff who identify students in need of
some kind of intervention. Up until recently these referrals were made to the
Counseling Services Center by way of in person contact, email or the completion of an
early alert referral form. The referral form was available both in paper and online. Just
this year GCC has begun the set up and implementation of a new web-based system
called Student Assistance and Intervention for Learning Success (SAILS). This web
based program will allow Counseling to utilize a more sophisticated communication
system to receive information from faculty about students of concern. Faculty will gain
the ability to communicate with students directly to give them positive ‘pats on the back’
as well as check in on them if the instructor observes they are falling behind or
struggling in some way. Faculty will be able to much more easily notify Counseling of
students who are at risk of failing or are having some kind of difficulty which is getting in
the way of their success in their courses.
When Counseling Services has been notified of a struggling student, Counselors have
reached out to the student by a variety of means. Phone calls, email, and in-person
efforts are made to connect with the student and find out what seems to be the issues
and then the Counselor works with that student to identify was to solve the problem or
obtain additional resources and support to resolve the concern. The goal is for the
student to get back on a successful track with their studies. The addition of the SAILS
system will significantly enhance the current early alert intervention system GCC
Counseling has in place.
VII Career Coaching
Career Coaches are part-time GCC employees located at high schools in our service
region. Virginia Community Colleges High School Career Coaches are community college
employees who are based in local high schools to help high school students define their
career aspirations and to recognize community college and other postsecondary
programs, including apprenticeships and workforce training. The Career Coaches work
closely with students who are on track to graduate but have not finalized plans for after
graduation. GCC currently has a Career Coach position at Spotsylvania High School,
Caroline County High School, Culpeper County High School/Eastern View High School
(shared), Orange High School, and Madison County High School. A screenshot of the
career coach webpage screen shot can be found at CareerCoachVCCS ScreenShotText
Only.
VIII. Great Expectations
Great Expectations is a program at Germanna Community College for previous/current
area foster care youth (ages 16-24). The program is an exciting way for participants to
gain information about the services of the college, participate in a college experience,
and receive one-on-one mentoring with a current student from Germanna Community
College, A screen shot of the Great Expectations webpage can be found
at GreatExpectationsWebPageScreenShot.
Disability Services
Germanna Community College is committed to the full and total inclusion of all
individuals and is dedicated to the principle of individual empowerment. To this end,
services are provided to ensure equal access to all aspects of the college experience for
students with disabilities through the most appropriate accommodations. Services are
provided based on each student's individual needs. A screen shot of the disability
services webpage can be found at DisabilityServicesWebPageScreenShot.
Disability Services are available to students who self-identify and provide appropriate
documentation of their disability. Through accommodations and other support services
on campus, Germanna Community College strives to provide a quality experience for all
qualified students with disabilities. All services are provided at no charge. Since 2007,
the number of students with disabilities served by the College has grown from 100
students in 2007-2008 to 234 students in the 2011-2012 academic year. The majority
of this growth was in the disability categories of Emotional disabilities, Asperger's, and
Learning Disabilities. Total served by disability2007-12.
Students register for services with either the Coordinator of Disability Services or with
the Disability Services Counselor. Students’ disabilities are kept confidential and every
effort is made to identify the most appropriate accommodation reasonably available to
support students in their academic programs. Disability Services staff work with faculty
as appropriate to facilitate services. Scribes, note takers and test readers are hired and
trained to provide support as needed.
Disability Services maintains a presence on the Germanna website to provide
information for prospective students. A screen shot of this form can be found at
DisabilityServicesApptForm.
Middle College
The mission of the Germanna Community College Middle College Program is to provide a
unique learning environment to help our students achieve their academic, career, and
personal goals. The Middle College Program is designed to meet the needs of people
who are between 18-24 years old and have not graduated from high school. The
comprehensive goal of the program is to have the students complete the Middle College
Program, enroll in a certificate or degree program at Germanna Community College, and
enter the workforce. Academically, the focus of the program is to help students prepare
for the GED and earn college credit simultaneously. Our small class setting provides a
unique environment that engages the students in critical thinking and problem solving.
Every staff member serves as a mentor, advisor, and student advocate. A of the of this
webpage can be found at MiddleCollegeWebPageScreenShot.
Student Activities
Extracurricular activities are an integral part of the college experience. They allow
students and faculty to indulge in their common interests, whether they are social,
cultural, recreational, academic, community-based, or a combination. Involvement in
student organizations, events, or community service offers a variety of benefits.
Members gain experience in leadership and teamwork, are able to develop new skills
and interests, and as a result form new and lasting friendships.
GCC strives to offer opportunites that will entice students of all ages, ethnicities,
interests, and life situations to become involved in college life. GCC has a Student
Government Association with elected officers who actively participate on College
Council. The Alpha Lambda Psi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa is the college’s general honor
society. GCC has other active discipline based clubs and honor societies as well as
special interest and recreational clubs to provide students with an opportunity to
participate. The college also sponsors educational, cultural, and recreational activities
for the student body. For students with children, the Student Activities Office sponsors
opportunities for students to bring their children on campus for an outdoor movie or
picnic.
The College has a Student Activities Coordinator and a Student Activities Assistant to
coordinate activities on campus and facilitate club activities. Students Activities
maintains a Blackboard shell to communicate with students on upcoming events.
Some of the activities Germanna provided during the 2012 - 2013 academic year
included Athletic and Wellness Programs: Zumba Classes, dodge ball and soccer, and
Yoga classes; Cultural Programming: trip to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Trip to
the Martin Luther King memorial, and a Thinkfast Game Show to support Black History
Month; Social Programming: Winter Formal, three outdoor movies, and thirteen clubs;
Honors and Academic Programming: Phi Theta Kappa, Society of Human Resource
Management, and the Student Nursing Association; Leadership and Community Service
Programming: Guest speaker Tom Krieglestein of Swift Kick.
ENROLLMENT SERVICES
Enrollment Services encompasses a variety of services that assist prospect and new
student to matriculate at GCC. Enrollment services the units of Financial Aid, Admission
and Records, Recruiting, and the Welcome Center. The Dean of Enrollment
Services/Registrar oversees all units of Enrollment Services.
Financial Aid
GCC offers affordable access to its students through complete financial aid services and
programs at both the Locust Grove Campus and the Fredericksburg Area Campus. Staff
at Locust Grove and Fredericksburg Area Campuses is available to provide information
and assistance with financial aid programs. GCC also has a financial aid staff member
located at the Daniel Technology Center. Federal, state and local financial assistance is
offered to students, including student loans. The Financial Aid office administers a
thriving work-study program. The office also provides outreach to area high schools and
the community by attending high school financial aid programs and sponsoring a Super
Saturday program on campus. A screenshot of this webpage can be found at
FinancialAidWebPageScreenShot.
Admissions and Records
Admissions and Records office is supervised by two Assistant Registrars. This unit
processes all incoming records for prospective and current students including
applications, transcripts, domicile status, international student admissions, veterans’
benefits, and applications for graduations. A screenshot of this webpage can be found
at AdmissionsWebPageScreenShot. This office evaluates credits and mails transcripts,
enters curriculum changes, certifies students for graduation, and coordinates the
College’s graduation ceremony each year. Students may access their records either
online or through the student information system or by meeting with a staff member in
the Admissions and Records office at the Locust Grove or Fredericksburg Area Campus.
Welcome Center
All students that apply to the College are mailed a GCC Admissions packet which
includes information about registration, financial aid, and college
resources. Prospective and new students may also obtain this information in person
through the Welcome Center. The Welcome Center is currently in place at the
Fredericksburg Area Campus, the Locust Grove Campus, and the Daniel Technology
Center. Welcome Center staff members are trained to answer frequently asked
questions regarding the admissions, financial aid, and enrollment process. They can
assist students with registration in person and provide directions for online
registration. The Welcome Center helps students navigate the online registration
process and utilize the functions of the online student information system that include
registration, payment, financial aid status, transcript service, and degree audit.
In accordance with our mission, Who We Are, the Welcome Center is able to offer a
more student friendly experience. The student can come to one place to receive
assistance with the application and financial aid process, steps as a new student,
navigating myGCC, the transfer process, navigating the GCC website, among many
other things as well as turning in any necessary forms and/or documentation. With the
implementation of the Welcome Center, the staff evaluates the student information as a
whole to try to answer as many questions as possible in one place. They try to answer
even the unasked questions. The staff also tries to evaluate any other relevant issues
that may affect the student: Do they understand myGCC? MyGCC is the student portal
to online student services at Germanna Community College and any other Virginia
Community College. Through MyGCC, students are able to access the Student
Information System (SIS), Blackboard, and Student email using a common username
and password. On MyGCC, students my register for classes, pay for classes, view class
schedules, view financial aid status, view grades, obtain a degree progress report, drop
classes, and apply for graduation. Students may also access library services through
MyGCC. Staff in the Welcome Center also help the student determine if they have a hold
on their record. The goal of the Welcome Centers is to make the college experience a
little less overwhelming.
Recruiting
GCC has a College Recruiter reporting directly to the Dean of Enrollment
Services/Registrar. This position is responsible for outreach to build enrollment and
provide access to higher education. The Recruiter is a liaison to all high schools in the
service region. Outreach to underserviced populations including low-income, firstgeneration, and minority students is emphasized in the recruiting efforts. The College
Recruiter strives to ensure that prospective students are aware of what GCC has to offer
and how to access the College. This position was created in part to meet the increasing
demand over the past five years from traditional age prospective students in area high
schools for information about GCC. The postiion was established full-time in 2011.
Veterans Center
The College makes every effort to assist active-duty military personnel and veterans in
their academic pursuits. Many of Germanna programs of study are approved by the
state department of education for the payment of Veteran's educational benefits. The
College maintains a Veterans Center at the Fredericksburg Area Campus. The Center
serves as a one-stop location for benefits processing, information and referral, advising
and counseling, and a common area for veterans. The Veterans Center opened in Fall
2012.
LEARNING SUPPORT
Tutoring
Tutoring Services offers a variety of academic support programs for students. These
services are offered without charge. The services include individual and group
instructional sessions, workshops, online tutoring, and supplemental academic
materials. Online tutoring is provided for GCC students through Smarthinking in variety
of subject areas, Supplementary academic materials are available free of charge from
our Tutoring Centers at the Fredericksburg and Locust Grove campuses. Students may
also download and print these materials from the Tutoring Services Web Site. Tutoring
Services also offers a variety of online workshops and on-campus workshops on a
monthly basis at each campus. A a screen shot of this webpage can be found at
TutoringWebPageScreenShot. Tutoring Services has a full-time Coordinator overseeing
its operations college-wide.
All students enrolled as a student at Germanna Community College have access to all
tutoring students whether face - to - face or on-line; on one of our main campuses or
centers, or at an off-site such as Dual Enrollment at an area High School. Germanna
offers many student services online which are discussed in more detail below under the
Distance Learning and Off-Site subhead.
Testing
Testing Centers provide students with a wide range of testing and proctoring
services. The Testing Centers provide proctored academic testing for students enrolled
in distance education courses and make up tests for some traditional classes. A
screenshot of this webpage can be found at testingcenterwebpagescreenshot.
Assessment of college readiness and skill level is mandatory for all new students. Test
results are used to determine which classes students are eligible to take in order to
ensure likelihood of success at the college level. Placement testing for English and Math
are offered at Locust Grove and Fredericksburg Area Campuses, and special testing
times at the Daniel Technology Center. Testing Center operations are coordinated by a
full-time Testing Center manager. An active link to the screenshot of this webpage can
be found at PlacementTestingWebPageScreenShot.
Academic Computing Center
Academic Computing Centers (ACC) offer students a convenient and quiet open lab
environment to complete course assignments, review computer-based tutorials, access
and send email, and class registration assistance ACC staff members assist students
with software applications installed in the computer lab. Staffed labs are available at the
Fredericksburg Area Campus, the Locust Grove Campus and Daniel Technology
Center. Printing up to 25 pages is available to students free of charge. A screenshot of
this webpage can be found at AcademicComputingWebPageScreenShot.
Library
The Fredericksburg Campus Library is a state of the art information commons model
facility that is 12,000 square feet. Each of the seventy-two new computer stations is
loaded with a broad suite of software. This allows Germanna students to access scholarly
resources and create the content needed for their assignments all in one place. Students
may also choose to bring in their own hardware and connect to the campus’s wireless
network for students. The Fredericksburg Campus library has 222 seats. The Locust
Grove campus library consists of over 3,000 square feet and contains 20 computer
workstations that allow users access to library research materials. Students may also
choose to bring in their own hardware to access need resources via the campus’s
wireless network. The Locust Grove Campus library has 118 seats. The Daniel
Technology Center in Culpeper consists of over 600 square feet and contains 13
computer workstations that allow users access to library research materials. Students
may also choose to bring in their own hardware to access need resources via the
campus’s wireless network.
The Germanna library holds over 33,000 physical items in its collections. There are
approximately 29,000 books and 4,000 media items available for circulation or in house
use. Additionally the library system subscribes to 96 magazine and journal titles. The
bulk of the libraries collections are available to students online using their student ID
and password to provide access. The library subscribes to several e-book packages that
provide access to both reference materials and scholarly monographs to Germanna
students. For example the EBCSCO E-Book Academic Collection consists of over 114,000
monograph titles that are accessible over the web. Also the library subscribes to Safari
e-books which contains 20,192 titles specializing in technology, digital media, and
business books. Further, all Germanna students have access to several publishers digital
reference suites Gale Virtual Reference contains access to approximately 1,450
reference titles; 615 titles in Credo Reference; and several core titles in Oxford
Reference Online.
Lastly, the Library subscribes to over 130 databases and online resources to assure that
students have access to scholarly information. These include many providers with fulltext journal access. This includes access to thousands of scholarly journals. Examples
include EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete, and CINAHL Complete, JSTOR, Project
Muse and ProQuest’s Social Sciences Journals just to name a few. This provides
Germanna students and faculty with access to thousands of journal titles. To best see
scope of these e-collections use the category browse option in the E-Journal Finder. A
screenshot of this webpage can be found at LibraryDataBasesWebPageScreenShot.
The VCCS tutorial is available to Germanna students to use on their own or instructors
may choose to assign it as part of a graded assessment. The VCCS Connect for Success
has assessment components, called quizzes that are part of the self-paced tutorial. All
quizzes require the user to login with their Germanna log-in and it produces a report of
the result that is emailed to the student. These can be sent to the instructor and the
instructor can choose to add any or all of the modules into their Blackboard course.
Assessment of Student Services
Student services maintains a robust assessment process in the interest of continuous
improvement. The data and analysis is included in attachment to principle 3.3.1.1
discussed later in this report. We include data from 2008 in WEAVE and for this past
year in Compliance - Assist Planning Module. Included here as an example the tutoring
assessment for the goal of student use of tutoring services. Tutoring was selected as
one of the student services with a direct impact on student learning. In Principle 3.3.1.1
the Library goal of Information Literacy Training was selected. Turtoring Assessment
Sample
Distance Learning and Off-Site Student
Any student taking an online (all content taught on-line) or hybrid (a portion of the
content taught on-line and a portion face-to-face) class at Germanna Community
College or a student enrolling in a class at an off-site such as a dual enrollment class at
one of our area high schools, is a full Germanna student and has access to all student
services whether offered face to face or online. If a student in an online class or at
another site cannot or would rather not come on campus there are many online student
support offerings available to them.
Academic support services are available to students enrolled in distance education.
Students who are new to online learning are encouraged to complete the online distance
education orientation. Distance Learning -orientation to online learning. This website
provides information on the use of Blackboard and the College's various support services
as well as a general introduction to learning in a virtual environment.
Germanna now offers both face-to-face and distance learning students advising by a
college counselor via an online help-line. studentservices online chat.
Library services offer online instruction-- the Success Information Literacy Tutorial.
Students can access library instruction anywhere and anytime. The library provides
online students with over one hundred electronic databases, including over 50,000
electronic books and thousands of electronic journals titles. Live library assistance is
available online-- LCR Live, which gives online reference help to students (see the
details in library section above).
Distance learning students can contact any one of the College librarians by phone or
email or LRC Live services, the College librarian or LRC Live librarian will assist students
in related questions for searching any material needed for course assignments or
research projects. The library also offers an on-line tutorial available to all
students. Distance Learning Library Tutorial screen shot.
Distance Learning students have access to an abundance of free academic support
programs through Tutoring Services. Online tutoring in 49 subject areas is available
24/7 through Smarthinking. Distance education students can also submit online
appointment requests for sessions on campus or via Blackboard Collaborate through the
Tutoring Services’ website TutoringWebPageScreenShot. The website includes numerous
academic support materials including “Helpful Handouts,” citations materials, links to
reputable academic websites, and videos of study skills workshops and academic
tutorials.
Many of the college's distance education programs, such as the SmartMeasure
assessment tool, encourage their students to complete the Readiness for Education at a
Distance indicator during the advising process. This self-assessment assists students in
determining their ability to succeed in electronically-delivered courses by providing
information on technical abilities, learning preferences, and reading abilities. The results
of the assessment cannot be used to deny enrollment in distance education courses; it
serves as a resource for helping students to make informed course selection and
delivery choices TutoringWebPageScreenShot.
Germanna Community College subscribes to Atomic Learning DistanceLearningAtomic.
Atomic Learning provides thousands of useful video tutorials that will guide you through
the various software applications that GCC currently utilizes.
All GCC students, including face-to-face and distance learning students, are given access
to assess their courses. GCC has subscribed IOTA services to provide an assessment to
all courses offered by GCC through the web access DistanceLearningCourseEvaluations.
Information on tutoring services, library instruction, testing and helpdesk are inserted
into all the Blackboard course shells for easy access for each student.
Summation
Germanna offers student support services in the quality and quantity needed to support
our mission and student success. Services and programs are designed to enhance the
student experience and foster student success for a diverse student body. Staff
members steer students towards activities that will enrich their college experience and
increase the oddds that they will persist and benefit from college. The College creates
conditions that influence student success in a diverse student population by ensuring
students can access the support they need when they need it. These offerings are
available face to face at multiple locations and online. Student Services assesses its
services for access, satisfaction, and student learning.
Sources

Academic Master Plan 2011-2015 (Aug 2011)

AcademicComputingWebPageScreenShot

AdmissionsWebPageScreenShot

CareerCenterWebPageScreenShot

CareerCoachVCCS ScreenShotText Only

CareerExplorationWebPageScreenShot

CounselingWebPage ScreenShot

DisabilityServicesApptForm

DisabilityServicesWebPageScreenShot

Distance Learning Library Tutorial screen shot

Distance Learning -orientation to online learning

DistanceLearningAtomic

DistanceLearningCourseEvaluations

FinancialAidWebPageScreenShot

GreatExpectationsWebPageScreenShot

High School Career Coach Program at Germanna Community College

LibraryDataBasesWebPageScreenShot

MiddleCollegeWebPageScreenShot

OnLineTransferWebPageScreenShot

PlacementTestingWebPageScreenShot

Student Handbook Screenshot

Student-Handbook-2013-14

StudentResourcesWebPageScreenShot

studentservices online chat

testingcenterwebpagescreenshot

Total served by disability2007-12

TransferInformation WebPageScreen Shot

Turtoring Assessment Sample

TutoringWebPageScreenShot

VACRAO

Who We Are
CS - 3.2.8
Governance and Administration: Qualified administrative/academic officers
The institution has qualified administrative and academic officers with the experience
and competence to lead the institution. (Comprehensive Standard 3.2.8)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
I. Qualified Administrators
Germanna Community College (GCC) has qualified administrative and academic officers
with the necessary education, experience, competence and capacity to provide
leadership for the institution. The Office of Human Resources maintains the official
personnel records which verify the qualifications of each administrative and academic
officer. The records include a Commonwealth of Virginia application of employment,
official transcripts for colleges and universities attended, notification that the individual
has passed a background check, is allowed to work in the United States (I-9),
and records of evaluations. Files of all key administrators are reviewed periodically by
the Germanna Accreditation Compliance Audit Committee in a process of continuous
review of all SACSCOC principles.
The Germanna Organizational Chart attached 08 27 20163 Organization Chart shows
the senior administrative positions with names of the incumbent. The first set
of rosters, on the next several pages, show the senior administrators down to the level
of Dean of Instruction or other instructional and student support deans. The table
provides a very abbreviated brief summary of their qualifications and a link to each
incumbent's resume. The second roster shows other administrators, either faculty
ranked or staff positions, down to the level of coordinator that have roles mentioned in
this report. This roster also provides a very brief description of the individual's
credentials and a link to each resume. Department Chairs for each program and Lead
Faculty for discipline specific support in multi-disciplinary departments are provided with
their credentials in principle 3.4.11 and principle 2.8.
Senior Administrators
Last
Name
First
Name
Position
Education
Experience
Resu
Brehm
Brehm
Rick
VP - Finances &
Administrations
MBA - (James Madison
University)
Business Manager - Lord Fairfax Job D
CC - 10 yrs.
Presid
Admin
Admin
Locus
Camp
Brock
Elliott
Deborah
Charles
Douglas
Frederick Pamela
Gray
Guest
Hieber
Lisk
BA - Business Administration Fin Accounting Support (James Madison University) Shenandoah - 2 yrs.
Dean of Arts and Sciences,
Executive Director PhD - Public Policy &
Germanna CC
Organizational Planning Administration (Virginia
& Assessment
Commonwealth University) Interim Director, Wilder School
- VCS - 2 yrs.
MA - Government, Public
Asst. Director, Operations Administration (George
Wilder School - VCU - 5 yrs.
Washington University)
BA - Political Science
(George Washington
University)
Vice President
Institutional
Advancement
Denise
Dean - Professional
Studies
Alison
Dean of Enrollment
Services/Registrar
Patti
ADean, Nursing and
Health Technologies
Job D
Direct
Planni
Elliott
MPA, American U. Wash. DC Chief Advancement Officer,
BA. Univ. Florida
Baylor Univ. Sch. of Law
Doctoral Work - Student
Dean - Student Services Personnel Services
(University of Virginia)
Shashuna Dean - Arts & Sciences
Brock
MEd - Counseling (University
of Virginia)
BA - Psychology (James
Monroe University)
Doctoral Candidate;
Community College
Leadership; ODU
MS - Biology (Alabama State
University)
BS - Biology (Alabama State
University)
MS- Accounting (Liberty
University)
MBA - (James Madison
University)
BA - Business Administration
(Virginia Tech)
MEd - Student Personnel
Services (University of South
Carolina)
BS Business Administration
(University of South
Carolina)
Coordinator of Workforce - 1 yr.
Vice
Advan
12EW
Frede
EWP 2
develo
Program Director - Education
for Independence - 4 yrs.
Counselor - GCC - 3 yrs.
Gray R
Biology Lab Manager - 2 yrs.
JobDe
Arts&s
studie
Adjunct Instructor - 1 yr.
Guest
Department Chair - Business - 2
yrs.; many years experience as JobDe
Arts&s
accounting professional
studie
Accountant/Controller - 5 yrs.
Instructor - Business - 2 yrs.
Associate Dean of Admission University of Mary Washington - Heibe
13 yrs.
Assistant Dean of Admissions EWP
University of Mary Washington Servic
6 yrs.
Doc.Arts Comm Coll Ed.
Nursing Instructor
focus nursing;Geo Mason Un.
Chair of RN degree program
MS Nursing Univ. MD
Germanna
BS nursing, UVa
Lisk re
Job D
Nursin
Techn
Ryals
Reggie
Executive Director Human Resources
MBA - Economics (Old
Dominion University )
Human Resources for 4 private
sector businesses - 13 yrs.
Ryals
Execu
Resou
BS - Business Administration
(East Carolina University)
Sam
David
PhD - Higher Education
(Michigan State University)
President
VP - Academic Affairs Pensacola CC - 3 yrs.
Sam
Academic Dean, Dean of Faculty
- Jackson State CC
Job D
Dir. Enrollment Mgt,- Oakland
CC
MA - English Literature
Academic Dean - 5 yrs.
(Eastern Michigan University)
BA - English Literature
(Eastern Michigan University)
Wesle
Wesley
Jeanne
Woolford Ann
Yong
Yanyan
VP - Workforce
Development &
Community Relations
PhD - Education (Texas A &
M)
Associate VP Corporate College Job D
Presid
- 6 yrs.
Devel
Relati
MA - Theatre (Arizona State Director - Workforce and
University)
Economic Development - 7 yrs.
BS - Speech & Drama
(Ovachila University)
Woolf
VP - Academic Affairs & PhD - Urban Services (Old
Post ACE Fellow - Tidewater CC
Student Services
Dominion University)
- 1 yr.
Job D
Presid
MA - English (New York
Dean - Languages & Speech - 3
University)
yrs.
BA - English (Brooklyn
College)
yong
VP - Academic
PhD - Instructional
Coordinator of Instruction
Technology & Learning Technology (Southern Illinois
Job D
Design at Tidewater CC - 8 yrs.
University)
Support
Acade
Learn
MS - Curriculum &
Interim Assoc. VP - Educational
Instruction (Southern Illinois Technology at Tidewater CC - 1
University)
yr.
Director of Academic
BA - Language Teaching
Technology - Daytona Beach CC
(Beijing)
- 1 yr.
Other Administrators
Last Name
First
Name
Position
Education
Experience
Re
Bartlett
Bowers
Judi
Karen
Associate Director of
Instruction - Stafford
Center
Librarian
BA - Social Science (Chapman
University)
Adjunct Instructor Information Systems
MA - Information Systems
(Webster University)
Mentor at Germanna
Community College
MBA (Webster)
ABD Leadership (Capella Univ.
Online)
Other Administrative
functions at GCC
BS - Library Science (Radford
University)
Substitute teacher
MS - Library Science (Catholic
University))
Credits (University of Southern
Carolina, University of Mary
Washington, Germanna
Community College)
Branch
Craig
Chief of Security
BS - Health & PE (Virginia State
University)
Ba
Ba
Bo
Bo
Libr
Librarian
Bra
Interim Police Chief
Bra
Police Lieutenant
Police Officer
Bueter
Bynum
Davis
Ruth
Carolyn
Jason
Electronic
Services Librarian
Team Leader - GMU Libraries
BS - Environmental Science
(University of Toledo)
Circulation Assistant - GMU
Libraries
MS Higher Ed. Walden Univ.
Middle College Program
BS - English (East Carolina
Coordinator
University)
AA (Martin Community College)
Financial Services
Manager
Bu
MLS - Academic Librarianship
(Clarion University of PA)
BS - Commercial Accounting
(University of Virginia)
Bu
FLS - Marketing
By
Byn
English Teacher
Jr. Accountant - Private Firm
Da
Da
AA (Piedmont Virginia Community
College)
Fenwick
Garland
Building & Grounds
Superintendent
BS - Recreation Administration
(Radford University)
Facility Supervisor - Pratt
Medical
Fe
Fen
Cabinet Maker/Remodeler
Gentry
Graziano
Paula
Canice
Associate Dean of
Assessment
Coordinator - Dual
Enrollment
MEd (University of Illinois)
Assistant Dean at Germanna
Community College
BA - English (University of St.
Frances)
Director of Adult Education
MPA - (Virginia Tech)
Student Services Specialist Germanna Community
College - 9 yrs.
Ge
Ge
Gr
Gr
BS - Urban Studies - (Virginia
Commonwealth University)
Haines
Mark
Coordinator of
Counseling
BLS - Psychology (Bowling Green
GCC Disability Coordinator
University)
Ha
Ha
MEd - Rehabilitation
of Georgia)
(University
Coastal Georgia Counselor
Larsen
Jacque
Systems Analyst
AS - Computer Science
(Rappahannock Community
College)
Network Analyst - VDOT
32 years experience, IT field
Lyons
Ann
Coordinator - Tutoring
Centers
MS - Education (Purdue
University)
Tutoring Center Coordinator 3 yrs.
BA - Psychology (Earlham
College)
Asst. to Dean - Skidmore
College - 14 yrs.
Asst. Direct of Fin Aid Perdue - 2 yr.
BS - Early Childhood (James
Madison University)
Education Technology
Specialist
Mersiowsky Juliette
Instructional Designer
La
La
Lyo
Lyo
Me
Me
Med - Curriculum & Instruction
ABD (Grand Canyon University)
Ober
Cheri
Experiential Learning
Coordinator
PWD - Workforce (University of
Virginia)
Business & Career
Coordinator
Ob
Ob
MS Administration/HR (CMU)
BA - Communications (Penn State
University)
Oberle
George
Coordinator - Libraries
ABD - History (George Mason
University)
Head of Johnson Center
Library - George Mason
University - 5 yrs.
Ob
Ob
MLS - Library Science (University
Previous library experience
of Maryland)
BA - History (George Mason
University)
Somerville Sarah
Coordinator of
Counseling
BA - Psychology (University of
Virginia)
Counselor
So
Som
MEd (University of Richmond)
Doct. Ed. Community College
Leadership, NC State Univ.
Stevens
Carol
Student Success
Specialist
D.Ed. Educ. Leadership
Ste
Delaware State
Sr. Asst Dean Acad. Success
M.S. Educ. Higher Ed. Admin. Old Univ. Mary Washington
Ste
Dominion
B.A. Soc. Hunter Col.
Stevens
Winfred Disability Coordinator
MS - Adult Education (Marshall
University)
Coordinator of Disability at
George Mason University
BA - Communications (Marshall
University)
Advisor at George Mason
University
Ste
Ste
Ta
Taylor
Barbara Director of Marketing
BA - University of Mary
Washington
Journalism (University of Arizona)
Chief Operator officer &
President
Job
Mar
Info
Vernon
Marc
MEd. Teaching, VCU, Richmond, Senior Enrollment Advisor,
Va.
Un. Phoenix, Richmond.
Coordinator of Financial
MPA, Executive ldership, VCU,
Financial Aid Director, VCU
Aid
Richmond, Va.
Sch. of Med
BS. Poli Sci, ODU, Norfolk, Va.
The position of Coordinator of Testing became vacant this year. This
positions is currently an active search.
II. Evaluation of Senior Administrators
Evaluation is an important component for all employees at Germanna, including senior
administrators. The College President is evaluated every year by the Chancellor of the
Virginia Community College System and the Local College Board against the Germanna
specific goals of the Chancellor's Goals and overall performance. Chancellors Goals
2013-14 Draft. These specific goals, (under the broad pillars of: Accessibility,
Affordability, Student Success, Workforce, and Administration)are the Germanna part of
the Virginia Community College System's 2015 Plan, and are negotiated each year
between the College president and the Chancellor of the VCCS. As part of this process
the Local Board 2013 College Board members and Affiliations evaluates the President,
providing important feedback to the Chancellor. This process starts in April of each year
with the Direct Reports to the President reporting on the achievement of their division
against the Germanna specific portion of the Chancellor's goals. The report prepared
this summer is attached. Achievement of GCC 2012-2013 Chancellor's Goals Final3 In
the spring the local board is sent a draft of this report with a link to a survey to evaluate
the president against several criterion. This report, the results of the survey, and the
local boards overall recommendation, is part of the package available to the
Chancellor. We have attached a letter confirming Dr. Sam's evaluation by the
Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System. Signed letter to Dr Sam 20112013 evaluation confirmation.
Other administrators are evaluated each year by their supervisor. The plan for
evaluation of administrative faculty rank personnel incorporates the principles and
concepts of the Faculty Improvement and Evaluation System as delineated in Section
4.4.1 of the GCC Faculty Handbook, attached. Evaluation of Administrative Faculty. The
purpose of evaluation is to enhance job performance. The review process must be a
progressive and cooperative undertaking between the administrative faculty member
and his or her immediate supervisor. Criteria shall include:
I.
II.
III.
Effectiveness in the performance of tasks delineated in the appropriate position
description.
Effectiveness in establishing and maintaining positive professional relationships
with colleagues, supervisor, students, and the community as applicable.
Effectiveness in maintaining a current competence in the particular discipline or
field of specialization as appropriate to the specific administrative position
description.
Ve
Fin
IV.
Adherence to policies, procedures and regulations of the College and VCCS.
Between July 1 and August 31 each administrative faculty member works with his or
her supervisor to establish annual goals and objectives that are consistent with the
College’s Strategic Plan. The strategic plan is attached here and is compatible with the
Chancellors Goals discussed above. Goals and objectives may be amended at any time
by mutual written consent. We have attached, as evidence of implementation, an
evaluation of a Vice President, a Dean, and a Coordinator. Admin Evaluations.
III. Professional Development
The College makes available to administrators and administrative staff many
professional development opportunities. These opportunities include tuition
reimbursement for college courses, the President's Leadership Team, the President's
Leadership Academy, and College Learning Day.
Tuition Reimbursement: All full time administrators and staff have available to them
tuition reimbursement of up to $500 per semester. The tuition reimbursement form is
attached. Continuous Education Communication. This is in addition to the one class a
semester they can take free from Germanna. educational aid and continuous learning
request form with state purposes
Leadership Team:
All administrators down to the level of coordinator, direct report to
a Dean, are members of the Leadership Team and attend the Leadership Team meetings
and retreats. The purpose of the Leadership Team is to set aside time every month to
discuss important issues facing Germanna Community College, the Virginia Community
College System, Community Colleges, and higher education in general. This group
reads and discusses scholarly articles and texts on issues of concern and hears from
other departments issues affecting the whole College. A typical subject of a recent
meeting was that conducted by the Executive Director of Human Resource Management
on the results of the Climate Survey. Climate SurveyCollege Council Presentation
012712-3 Every other year since 2007, the Office of Human Resource Management has
conducted a survey of full and part time employees of Germanna, teaching and nonteaching. The survey asked questions about employees perceptions of their job, their
supervisor, and Germanna as a whole. The data on this report was presented to the
Leadership Team, as well as the College Council, for discussions of possible
improvement.
President's Leaderhip Academy: A second significant professional development
opportunity open to many staff at the coordinator level and below is the President's
Leadership Academy. This year long academy, open full and part time employees in
teaching and non-teaching positions, exposes employees to many issues in the
operation of the College. They meet with the President, key administrators, community
leaders, and members of the Local Board.
College Learning Day: An important professional development opportunity mandatory
for all full time employees and encouraged for all part time employees are the twice
annual in-service professional development opportunity, which we call College Learning
Day. College Learning Day is offered early in the fall and spring semesters. The first
few hours in the morning are open for topics of general interest. For example our
Spring 2013 learning day spent the morning listening to a panel of current students
discuss student issues and concerns. This was followed by a report card on
achievement of the Germanna Community College strategic plan at the five year
mark. Learning Day Feb 2013-das. Late mornings and afternoons are scheduled as
break out sessions with a variety of topics. These may include changes to the state
offered health insurance plan, improvements in pedagogy- especially related to online
teaching, and discussion of the budget.
Distance Learning
Germanna Community College offers a variety of professional development that can be
useful to administrators. The Distance Learning website distance learning faculty
resources offers several programs. Some of these are not related directly to distance
education but are online resources all Germanna employees can take advantage of to
help them perform their professional duties. These include Blackboard, SafeAssign,
Respondus, MS Office, PeopleSoft, Atomic Learning, and Merlot.
In addition to these general purpose online professional development offerings,
Germanna makes available four types of classes helping to develop online teaching
skills. The first in the series, EDU 285 Teaching Online Program (TOP), is required for
all faculty teaching online. All full time faculty must pass EDU 285 within three years of
their initial full time hiring.
Germanna also has administrative officers dedicated to academic technology and
student support. This division coordinates online learning by students and teaching by
faculty and provides support and data college to create an environment of continuous
improvement. The table below provides the names, title, and responsibilities,
educational and professional qualifications. Germanna has a dean of Academic
Technology and Learning Support, Dr. Yanyan Yong, whose credentials are given above.
Administrators in the Division of Academic Technology and Student Support
Name
Title
Responsibilities
Educational
Qualifications
Professional
Experience
Ms. Juliette
Mersiowsky
Instructional
Designer
Organize and conduct training for
faculty and instructional staff in the
use of technology-enhanced tools for
academic
Manage Quality Matters
implementation and peer reviews for
college,
Play a leadership role in the
consultation and production of
courseware incorporating web-based
interactions digitized audio and video.
Assesses faculty and staff needs for
educational technology.
Advises faculty in the selection and
use of effective multimedia
development tools and software.
Provides guidance for developing
face-to-face, hybrid, and online
courses
Develop, facilitate and manage
workshops and professional
development courses for faculty
Manage and facilitate peer reviews of
online courses
Mr. Forrest
Smith
Instructional
Systems
Administrator
Provide Blackboard support to faculty
Relay information from/to the VCCS
Create Blackboard shells
Maintain correct enrollment in
Blackboard shells
Maintain back-ups of Blackboard
shells
Manage the Student Technical Help
Desk (STHD)
Provide student support for myVCCS
services
Blackboard
SIS
Student email
Maintain accurate information on the
DL and STHD websites
BS – Early
Childhood
Education –
James Madison
University,
Harrisonburg,
VA
M.Ed. –
Curriculum &
Instruction,
Instructional
Technology –
George Mason
University, VA
Quality Matters
– certified
(course
reviewer)
ETLO –
(Educational
Technology
Leaders
Online) –
certified online
course
developer,
course
facilitator
Master Online
Instructor –
VCCS
Certification
University of
Richmond
BA: Computer
Science /
Religion
College
teaching
experience –
since 1998 –
142 credits
taught at
multiple
institutions
K-12 –
teaching – 13
years’
experience –
classroom
teacher,
professional
developer,
instructional
technology
resource
teacher, gifted
education
resource
teacher
Developed
online courses
Taught online,
hybrid and
face-to-face
formats
Worked in
Technical
Services at
Washington &
Lee University
Worked in,
and later
managed, a
high-end
computer and
multimedia
lab at
University of
Richmond
Managed the
Academic
Computing
Center at the
Fredericksburg
Area Campus
of Germanna
Community
College
Managed the
Testing Center
at the
Fredericksburg
Area Campus
of Germanna
Community
College
Muneeb
Mobashar
Academic
Technology
Support
Answering helpdesk questions
regarding Blackboard, SIS, and
Germanna website. Additional
technical support on software such as
Microsoft Office.
Gaining knowledge and
comprehension of new educational
technology in order to train faculty on
new software that is available to
them.
Training and Assisting faculty on the
functionality of the Blackboard
Learning Management System
through 1-on-1 and group workshops.
Working with IOTA course evaluation
software in order to create, deploy
course evaluations. Provide support
to students and instructors pertaining
to access of course evaluations.
On site Instructional support such as,
assisting instructors with classroom
podiums and their functionality.
Providing support as well
collaborating with other departments
in the Academic Technology and
Learning Support division in order to
better serve technical
needs/problems of faculty, staff and
students.
BA EnglishUniversity of
Mary
Washington
13 credit hours
completed of
MAEd in
Instructional
TechnologyVA Tech
resigned this
position July
2013. Position
has been
approved for
hire.
Blackboard
admin training.
IOTA Course
evaluation
software
training
eVA
procurement &
VCCS SIS
training
Camtasia and
SnagIt training
Adobe
contribute
training
SMART Podium
training.
Summation
Through narrative and resumes we have shown that Germanna has qualified
administrators at all levels with the necessary education and experience to provide the
leadership needed to achieve our mission and promote student success. In addition to
hiring qualified individuals, Germanna offers professional development opportunities to
enhance administrators' leadership skills and provide leadership to Germanna beyond
their divisions.
Sources

08 27 20163 Organization Chart

2012-13 Final-Germanna Community College Goals 12-13 Final

2013 College Board members and Affiliations

Abrams Resume

Academic Master Plan 2011-2015 (Aug 2011)

Achievement of GCC 2012-2013 Chancellor's Goals Final3

Admin Evaluations

Administrators and Chairs Credentials

Bartlett EWP

Bartlett Resume

Bowers resume

Bowers Duties of the LGC Librarian

Branch EWP

Branch Resume

Brehm Resume

Brock Resume

Bueter Resume

Bueter-EWP

Bynum EWP

Bynum Resume

Chancellors Goals 2013-14 Draft

Climate SurveyCollege Council Presentation 012712-3

Continuous Education Communication

Davis J EWP

Davis J Resume

Department Chairs roster Spring 2013

distance learning faculty resources

educational aid and continuous learning request form with state purposes

EducationalAidandContinuousLearningRequestForm

Elliott Resume

Evaluation of Administrative Faculty

EWP 2013 dean student development

EWP Dean Enrollment Services

Executive Director of Human Resources job desc.

faculty_handbook

Fenwick EWP

Fenwick resume

Financial Aid EWP

Frederick Resume

Gentry EWP

Gentry Resume

Germanna Professional Development Opportunities

Gray Resume

Graziano EWP

Graziano Resume

Guest Resume

Haines Resume

HainesEWP2013

HancockResume

Heiber resume

Huff Resume

Job Descriptio Executive Director of Organizational Planning and Assessment

Job Description College Librarian

Job Description Coordinator of Dual Enrollment

Job Description Coordinator of Library Services

Job Description Dean of Academic Technology and Learning Support

Job Description Dean of Nursing and Health Technologies

Job Description Dean of Workforce Business Services

Job Description Director of Marketing and Public Information

Job Description Faculty

Job Description President

Job Description Vice President for Acad. Affairs

Job Description Vice President for Finance and Administration and Chief
Administrative Officer of the Locust Grove Campus Area Campus

Job Description Vice President for Workforce Development and Community
Relations

JobDescription Deans of Arts&science and Prof tech studies

Larsen EWP

Larsen Resume

Lauzon Resume

Learning Day Feb 2013-das

Lisk resume
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Lyons EWP

Lyons Resume
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Mersiowsky EWP
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Mersiowsky Resume
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Mesimer Resume
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Mihalcoe Resume
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Murphy Resume
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Noel, J. Resume
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Ober EWP
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Ober Resume
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Oberle EWP
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Oberle Resume
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Ogle Resume
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OKeefe Resume
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Rooker Resume

Ryals Resume

Sam Resume
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sample - department chair contract001
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Sekinger Resume
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Sherman Resume
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Signed letter to Dr Sam 2011-2013 evaluation confirmation

Somerville EWP
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Somerville Resume
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Steven C EWP
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Stevens C Resume
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Stevens Resume
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Stevens W EWP
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Taylor Resume
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VCCS Evaluation Policy

VCCS professional development opportunities

Vernon Resume

Viarella Resume

Vice President for Advancement Final 11 6 12EWP

Wesley resume

Wolfe resume

Woolford Resume

yong resume

Zitz Resume
CS - 3.3.1
Institutional Effectiveness: Educational programs
The institution identifies expected outcomes, assesses the extent to which it achieves
these outcomes, and provides evidence of improvement based on analysis of the results
in the following area: (Comprehensive Standard 3.3.1)
3.3.1.1 educational programs, to include student learning outcomes
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Overview of Assessment at Germanna
Since our last reaffirmation Germanna has made significant progress in assessment of
student learning outcomes. With the dedication and involvement of key administrators
and the commitment of the entire College, we have developed and implemented
assessment plans for all educational programs that use multiple evaluative tools in an
effort to measure the entire concept of student learning. We will describe in this
narrative the entire assessment cycle and the many instruments we use to triangulate
our measurements. We will provide the student learning outcomes we have identified
for every program, the improved infrastructure put in place to develop and implement
our assessment plans, and the methods we use to communicate the plan and the
analysis to the College Community.
Germanna Community College identifies expected student learning outcomes, assesses
the extent to which it achieves those outcomes, and provides evidence of improvement
based on analysis of the results. Professional and Technical StudiesAssessment
Plan;General Education Assessment Plan (2012-2013);Nursing and Health Technologies
Assessment Plan 2011-2012. Included in the attached Assessment plans are the
identified student learning outcomes for every program and the assessment tool(s) for
each student learning outcome. These will be discussed in more detail below.
The Virginia Community College System approved Student Learning Outcomes for the
General Education Program in May
2006. VCCS_Gen_Ed_Goals___SLOs___Approved_May_2006. It is against these goals
that we assess the General Education program. Germanna has developed program
specific learning outcomes for each of its programs.
Germanna has I) devoted appropriate resources to student learning outcome
assessment and has created an infrastructure that creates a culture of assessment
throughout the College; II) Using these resources, Germanna has developed an
assessment plan for each educational program, administrative office, and student
support services that assesses across the curricula and triangulates assessment, in an
attempt to assess the entire breadth of the concept of student learning and student
success; III) has developed a method of reporting that communicates assessment,
improvements, and overall health of our programs in a way that is understandable to all
in the College community; and IV) we have built into our assessment process a way of
assessing the assessment. In this way we have a culture of continuous improvement of
not only student learning, but how we assess student learning.
We will discuss these points in detail below. We provide as part of this report an
attachment to four years of our assessment data for all of our programs rather than a
sample. These assessment data show the entire assessment cycle for all of Germanna
programs. However, as these attachments are voluminous, we will also provide, in the
body of the report and as attachments, a sample of our programs and their assessment
cycle.
I. Infrastructure in support of Assessment
Germanna has devoted resources and created the organizational infrastructure
necessary to satisfactorily implement assessment for each program and use that
assessment in a College wide culture of continuous improvement.
Assessment Planning Committee
The Assessment Planning Committee is chaired by the chief academic officer of
Germanna, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Services. The Deans of
Arts and Sciences, Nursing and Health Technologies, and Professional and Technical
Studies, the Executive Director of Organizational Planning and Assessment, the Dean of
Student Development, the Dean of Enrollment Services, the Dean of Instructional
Technologies and Academic Support, the Student Success Specialist, a faculty
department chair, as well as the Associate Dean for Academic Assessment and Faculty
Resources, constitute the remaining membership of the Assessment Planning
Committee.
For the most part, the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Services
convenes biweekly meetings of this committee to review the progress of assessment of
student learning outcomes as well as program reviews, as outlined in the Academic
Program Review and Assessment of Student Learning (APRASL) planning document. In
these meetings, minutes are recorded and action items noted for accountability and
reporting.
This committee created and approved the College wide assessment reporting: Academic
Program Review and Assessment of Student Learning (APRASL). 12 12 17 Assessment
Planning Committee Minutes. The first program reports were written in fall 2011 and
shared with the College as a whole via the College Council. Detailed information on this
reporting mechanism is shared below in part III of this narrative. In addition to creating,
using, and continuously improving APRASL this committee works on the implementation
of the nationally normed testing, creation of learning outcomes based assessment for
student support services, and serves as a venue for decision makers to discuss
assessment outcomes with the goal of closing the loop on continuous improvement
General Education Assessment Committee
The goal of this committee is to develop, implement and use for continuous
improvement assessment across the general education curricula. This committee is
chaired by the Dean of Arts and Sciences and has full time faculty representation for all
disciplines represented in the general education program. In the past three years this
committee has mapped the Student Learning Outcomes at the Program level, what the
Virginia Community College System refers to as Program Level Learning Outcomes
(PLLO), down to the student skills level, against the curricula, identifying assessment
points for all the PLLO's and developed independently graded (not by the class
instructor) common assessments embedded in the learning experience of each
assessment Gen Ed Committee minutes Jan 11 2013 More on these embedded
assessments, the valuable data they have produced, and plans for expansion, is below
in part II of this narrative.
Leadership Team
The President of the College created the Leadership Team in 2008 shortly after his
arrival. The Leadership Team is discussed in some detail throughout the rest of the Fifth
Year Interim Report so we will only briefly describe it in the narrative for this
principle. The membership of this group includes all decision makers down to the level
of coordinator (a direct report to a dean). The purpose of this group is to discuss issues
of interest to the entire college. This is another venue in which communication
concerning assessment of Student Learning Outcomes, student success
measurements, and of Administrative Outcomes can occur.
Office of Organizational Planning and Assessment
The College has committed human resources to the Office of Organizational Planning
and Assessment. This office consists of a full time Executive Director, reporting directly
to the President of the College, and a full time Institutional Researcher who plays a
major role in collecting and disseminating to decision makers data on student success
and student achievement. This office coordinates the nationally normed testing each
spring and collects information on student satisfaction and success. In addition to the
two full time positions, this office has access to an administrative assistant who plays a
vital role in communication with SACSCOC, other accrediting bodies, and maintaining
files. The executive director of this office serves as the College's SACSCOC liaison.
Coordinator of Academic Assessment
This position reports to a Dean of Instruction and was implemented to ensure dedicated
attention to Germanna's assessment of student learning and program reviews. This
position is a vital piece of the process of implementation of ideas that develop in the
various committees. The individual in this position trained all the program chairs, lead
faculty, and administrators in Compliance Assist. She developed and enforces the
APRASL reporting process described below. Her position reporting to a Dean of
Instruction keeps open a communication link between the Office of Planning and
Assessment and Instruction.
SACSCOC Compliance Committee
Starting in February 2011 Dr. David Sam, the President of Germanna, created this
committee and charged it with conducting continuous internal audits of compliance
against the principles of accreditation. This committee is chaired by a Dean of
Instruction, currently the Dean of Professional and Technical Studies. This committee
has members that are representative of the school and people who are comfortable with
data and with an audit environment. Current members are the Librarian, the
Coordinator of the Dental Assisting program, and a Procurement Analyst of the
College. The Executive Director of Organizational Planning and Assessment is a
permanent ex-officio member of the committee. In addition to providing one of the
improvements to the College's coordination of substantive changes, this committee
provides additional oversight and institution wide involvement in the assessment
process. This committee reports directly to the President and meets at least once a
month.
Planning and Assessment Software
Starting in Fall 2008, Germanna began using the planning software WEAVE. This
software asks the institution to document for each program the assessment cycle: What
is your goal? What are your measureable objectives towards achievement of the
goal? What are your measurements? What are the results? Have you achieved your
goals? What is your plan of action based on the results of your assessment? What
resources do you need to implement this action plan. Starting in Fall 2012, Germanna
chose to end its relationship with WEAVE and use the planning module of Compliance
Assist.
The planning module of Compliance Assist, as did the previous WEAVE data package,
allows us to store data we have collected on all our programs documenting the entire
assessment. Changing to Compliance - Assist from WEAVE gave us the freedom to
develop a customized "tree" around which our data are organized. Tree - official with
names. Compliance Assist also allowed us to store links to important assessment
documents, such as the raw data of the embedded assessments. We created as an
element of the tree all of our educational programs, student services programs,
workforce development and administrative programs. In this tree we tied all of
our programs to the five pillars of the Germanna Strategic plan and developed a crosswalk to the Chancellor's Goals. In this way we can tie assessment of student learning
outcomes to strategic planning. In the next phase of using Compliance-Assist we will tie
the Action entry to the annual budget requests so that we can tie the budget to planning
to student learning outcome assessment.
Training
In addition to creating a sound structure to support assessment, the college has
invested resources into administrative and faculty training. Just some of the training in
support of assessment includes:





The Dean of Nursing and Health Technologies attended Chair Training sponsored
by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) in December
2012.
The Chair of the Associate of Applied Science in Nursing attended ACEN sponsored
Site Reviewer training in Spring 2013.
The Coordinator of Academic Assessment, Dean of Professional and Technical
Studies, the Dean of Nursing and Health Technologies, the Dean of Student
Development attended the Institute on Best Practices in Institutional Effectiveness
in July 2012.
The Student Success Specialist, the Dean of Professional and Technical Studies,
the Coordinator of Counseling for the Fredericksburg Campus, a Counselor, and
the Chair of the Math discipline attended the Institute on Advising sponsored by
the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) spring 2013.
Sent three deans, the president, two vice presidents, and the executive director of
organizational planning and assessment to SACSCOC annual meetings and
summer institutes.
II. Programmatic Assessment Plans
Identification of General Education Program Level Learning Outcomes - student
learning outcomes at the program level.
Germanna has identified accepted General Education Program Level Learning Outcomes
(PLLOs). These PLLOs articulate higher level knowledge students attain from the
General Education Curricula. The seven areas for the PLLO's are Communication,
Critical Thinking, Cultural and Social Understanding, Personal Development,
Quantitative Reasoning, and Scientific Reasoning. Each area is further defined
with five to six skills the student should have upon completion of the General Education
Curricula. These Student Learning Outcomes are used across the Virginia Community
College System. VCCS_Gen_Ed_Goals___SLOs___Approved_May_2006. The entire
table of 35 areas the student should show ability in is attached. Gen Ed Outcomes Matrix
-- Assoc degree, Revised Nov 2012. These areas include such skills as 1.1: Understand
and Interpret Complex Materials; 2.1: discriminate among degrees of credibility,
accuracy, and reliability of references drawn from given data.
Beyond General Education, Germanna has identified and approved student learning
outcomes for each of its programs. These program specific learning outcomes are
clearly identified in the assessment plans attached to this narrative and described below.
General Education Assessment Plan (2012-2013);Nursing and Health Technologies
Assessment Plan 2011-2012;Professional and Technical StudiesAssessment Plan. There
are a few programs, such as "Advanced Networking" that are new. We are
still formalizing the student learning outcomes and the assessment cycle for this
program. The attachments provide our assessment plan for all our programs. we provide
below one of the shorter Career Studies Certificates to illustrate the format. The
assessment data stored in Compliance - Assist is collected and analyzed against these
assessment plans.
Academic Program: Accounting Career Studies Certificate
Program-Level Learning Outcomes
1. Business Literacy: Define key business terms and discuss management and
business functions such as leadership, organizations and their behavior.
2. Computational Skills:
1. Describe the mathematics underlying payroll, depreciation, inventory and
financial statements and to apply basic mathematical operations to business
processes and problems..
2. Complete the accounting cycle for any form of business and demonstrate
basic understanding of budgeting and cost-volume-profit analysis.
3. Complete the accounting cycle through the use of electronic accounting
software.
Assessment Plan
1.
Course(s) in
which
assessment is
conducted
BUS 100
2. a.
BUS 121
2.b.
ACC 211
ACC 212
2.c.
ACC 215
PLLO
Assessment Method
Usually embedded into courses; may be test,
performance; demonstration; project etc.
Assessment Tool: This outcome will be measured by
administering a multiple choice exam covering the
concepts related to this outcome.
Benchmark: 75% of the students will achieve a 75 or
better on this embedded assessment.
Assessment Tool: This outcome will be measured by
administering a final exam covering the concepts
related to this outcome.
Benchmark:75% of students will achieve a 75 or
better on this embedded assessment.
Assessment Tool: These outcomes will be measured
by having the students complete a table measuring
the students’ understanding of assets, liabilities and
equity accounts in ACC 211 and by a multiple choice
exam covering managerial accounting concepts in
ACC 212
Benchmark:: 75% of the students will achieve a 75
or better on each embedded assessment
Assessment Tool: This outcome will be measured by
administering a multiple choice exam covering the
concepts related to this outcome.
Target Goal: 75% of the students will achieve a 75
or better on this embedded assessment.
During this
semester*
(past, current
or future)
Every semester
Every Semester
Every Semester
Every Semester
Every Semester
Triangulation
Assessment must answer several questions for an institution of higher
education. Because no one measurement can adequately answer all questions or
adequately measure the entire concept of student learning, Germanna uses more than
one measurement for general education and program assessment of student learning
outcomes. We use 1) Nationally Normed Tests and Virginia Community College
System system wide tests; 2) independently (not by the instructor) evaluated common
embedded assessments; 3) Program Specific Measurements. These include for example
transfer data for students whose plan was to transfer to another institution, licensure
testing information for programs for which a student needs a state license, annual
program reports for each program using student success data, survey's of students, skill
sets, and other measures of success.
Measurement Instruments
Externally Normed Tests
National Norming
Starting in 2008 Germanna began administering to students graduating with an
Associates degree four nationally normed tests to test Germanna graduates against the
nation as a whole. Each year we send a letter to students asking them to take the tests
offered by ACT's Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) on Critical
Thinking, Quantitative Reasoning, and Scientific Reasoning. In addition in
2012 we asked them to take the Madison Assessment Information Literacy Test (ILT).
The information provided by these examinations over five years gives Germanna
valuable information on how well our students are performing against national norms on
our Program Level Learning Outcomes. We are able to assess if Germanna as a whole
is performing adequately compared to the nation as a whole and to other Community
Colleges in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
It is a challenge to get students to participate in these voluntary tests. Germanna has
chosen to stay with voluntary nationally normed testing as we feel it is more likely that
the student will take the test seriously and do their best. The Assessment Planning
Committee has looked at the participation data each year and developed measures to
increase participation. In the Spring 2011 testing cycle this committee created several
initiatives designed to increase participation and performance. These included
advertising that the top three performers would be invited to lunch with the president,
students who performed above the national average would receive mention on their
transcripts, have their names included in the commencement program, and receive a
medallion to wear with their graduation regalia at commencement. That year we did see
an increase in participation. However, the Spring 2012 testing cycle saw a drop in
attendance. We had continued the same incentives for participation but due to the
earthquake of August 2011 we lost a great deal of our testing capacity and were not
sure we could accommodate a large volume to test takers. Therefore, that year we
randomly sampled students inviting 75 of the approximately 300 students graduating
with an associate degree. Participation, at 14, was very low that year. This was
discussed at some length in the Assessment Planning Committee. Assessment Planning
Committee Minutes 5 7 12. As students who took the tests complained that the four
hour time needed to take all four tests was too long, in Spring 2013 Germanna decided
to ask students to take two tests each rather than all four. The testing day and times
were randomly assigned specific tests so we would not have selection bias on which
tests the students took. Participation did increase to 40 out of approximately 300
graduates. However, this Committee will continue to explore ways to further increase
the number of students taking the tests as well as the quality of the effort they give the
test. Assessment Planning Committee 12 6 10
Tables summarizing the data on the CAAP examinations are below. Data is missing
for 2012. Germanna offered the examination in spring 2012. However, due to the
earthquake of August 2011 we lost much of our testing capacity. To adjust to this
reduced capacity we sent letters to a random sample of our graduating students. That
year only 14 students took the test - too few to be statistically significant. We therefore
do not have data on either the CAAP or ILT data for that year. We discuss below in the
section on Continuous Improvement discussions we are having about improving the
participation in these examinations.
Germanna's benchmark in the nationally normed, CAAP, exams and the exams normed
against the rest of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) is that we meet or
exceed the national or VCCS norm. As discussed above in the section on triangulation,
the purpose of tests at this level is to assess Germanna as a whole against the nation
and the state. In generally, Germanna performs at or above the national and state
averages. These
Externally Normed Testing
Norming Against the Virginia Community College System
Student learning at Germanna is also assessed against the rest of the Virginia
Community College System (VCCS). In addition to the Germanna initiated nationally
normed tests, the Virginia Community College System also has a schedule of
assessment against the Program Level Learning Outcomes (PLLOs). The information is
shared with each community college.
state council of higher education
for Virginia (SCHEV)
core area cycle
April 17, 2008
Timetable for Community Colleges
Pre-Assessment
Core Areas
AY 2008-2009
Written Communication OR
Quantitative Reasoning
Written Communication OR
Quantitative Reasoning
Scientific Reasoning
Critical Thanking
Oral Communication
Information Literacy OR
Institution-Specific
Emerging Issue
AY 2009-10
AY
AY
AY
AY
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
Post Assessment
(no later than)
AY 2011-2012
AY 2012-2013
AY
AY
AY
AY
2013-2014
2014-2015
2015-2016
2016-2017
We attach here data from Quantitative Reasoning, Scientific Reasoning, Critical Thinking,
and Written Communication, and Oral Competencies. Oral Competencies was completed
in Spring 2013. Germanna did participate and met its goal in number of students
participating. This assessment was evaluated independently (by communications
instructors from the other Virginia community colleges) using a common
rubric. Germanna did quite well compared to the VCCS average on all of the
competencies assessed. Germanna OCA Preliminary Report. GCC_2009-10 Writing;
Assessments Results; GCC_CCTST_Table07 (critical thinking) ;
GCC_QRSRS05 (Quantitative and Scientific Reasoning.) Again, as in the nationally
normed tests, Germanna is somewhat above the state average and has met our
benchmark.
Embedded Assessments for General Education
Nationally and state normed data is valuable in providing context for the rest of
Germanna's assessment plan. However, data collected at the colleg level could be
masking problems occurring at the section level. Having shown that, in general,
Germanna as a whole is performing well when compared to other similar
institutions, Germanna desired to collect data that would help us assess, independent of
instructors' grading, student learning in different modalities, at different locations, from
different faculty types. Therefore, Germanna set about developing common,
independently graded, assessments, in our classes.
We started this process against the Program Level Learning Outcomes with the 35
specific skills of our General Education program. During the academic year 2009 2010 the members of this committee studies best practices in general education
assessment. During the academic year 2010 - 2011 the General Education Assessment
Committee, working with the discipline faculty, mapped the general education curricula
against the general education student learning outcomes at the program level (PLLOs).
This committee has representatives of all the disciplines represented in the General
Education Curricula. Therefore, development of the General Education assessments is
appropriately faculty driven and controlled. At this stage, the committee and disciplines
were identifying what we we called assessment points. These are courses at which the
student is expected to master, at the community college level, the Learning
Outcome. This matrix Gen Ed Outcomes Matrix -- Assoc degree, Revised Nov
2012 illustrates that students who complete the entire general education curricula will be
assessed at a minimum of one point against all of the Program Level Learning
Outcomes . If a class is not on this matrix but is in the general education curricula, it is
a class that is expected to Introduce or Reinforce learning of the concept, but not
mastery.
In the academic year 2011- 2012, having mapped the curricula against the Program
Level Learning Outcomes the previous year, the General Education Assessment
Committee developed assessments that are a common experience in each of the courses
identified as assessment points. To provide valuable information for continuous
improvement these common assessments are different for each discipline. Mathematics
and the Social Sciences developed questions to be included in the final examinations for
all the assessment points. English Composition required a paper due near the end of
the term on a common topic. Instructors were required to use these common
embedded assessments in their classes. They were strongly encouraged to make
successful completion of the assessments part of the student's grade. This would
encourage the student to take the assessment seriously and do their best. This would
increase the value of the data. However, the faculty grade was not the data used for
program wide data. This data was derived independently. For each assessment, a
committee of faculty, independently assessed student learning using an independent
rubric.
In academic year 2012-2013 the General Education Assessment Committee mapped
the curricula and created embedded assessments against the General Education
Certificate. This certificate, at 33 hours meant to be completed in one year, is a smaller
portion of the entire general education requirements. By mapping against this certificate
we are reaching more students, providing checkpoints to assess learning before the
completion of general education, and have taken an important first step in assessment
of the general education portion of the non-transfer Associate of Applied Sciences and
Certificates, which have a smaller general education program than the transfer
Associates degrees. Gen Ed Outcomes Matrix-GE Cert, Revised November 2012.
Not only was student learning assessed independently, but equally important it was
collected at the section level. At Germanna, the section code is an indicator of a great
deal about the course. The location of the course is part of the section code so we can
tell if the course was offered at the Fredericksburg Area Campus, the Locust Grove
Campus, Daniel Technology Center, or Stafford Center. We can tell if the class was
offered at a high school offering dual enrollment classes, if it was offered at one of our
other sites. We can tell if the class was offered on-line or face to face, thus having very
valuable data for our QEP, which is on improving online learning. As we gain more data
we will be able to assess if students are learning equally from part time or full time
faculty; at night or during the day; during the week or on weekends, from male or
female faculty, etc. As we continue to collect this data we will be able to see which
faculty may benefit from additional professional development to improve their pedagogy.
The results of the embedded assessments are discussed in the program entries in the
Compliance Assist - Planning Module that we have attached. Improvements made to
instruction as a result of the data available from embedded assessments are offered in
the section below on Communicating Assessment Data and Continuous
Improvement. We attach here samples of the embedded assessment data. We have
included Life Sciences for 2013 and our English Composition II (ENG 112) class as
samples as they are subjects that cover several learning outcomes. Copy of General
Assessments SP13Embedded Assessments SP12ENG112.
For the academic year 2013-2014 this committee will map the general education
portion of the Associate of Applied Sciences and Certificates. They will also map and
develop independently graded common embedded assessments for the courses not
considered Mastery classes but rather Introduce or Reinforce the student learning
outcome. In this way the College is developing common, independently assessed,
assessments at a course level. Thus providing valuable data for continuous
improvement.
SENSE and Graduating Student Surveys
In the fall of 2010 Germanna conducted a Survey of Entering Student Engagement. This
survey was administered to all students in ENG111 our entry level composition
class. Although early connections, high expectations and aspirations, and a clear
academic plan and pathways are important components for success, the data from this
survey showed that Germanna scored lower than similar sized colleges in these areas of
student engagement. SENSE2010Main Survey_means. Our response to this data is
discussed in more detail in principle 4.1, Student Achievement. Although we
recognize that this data does not assesses student learning, assessing student
engagement and satisfaction plays an important role in a culture of continuous
improvement. We have developed several initiatives to respond to this disappointing
data. We will conduct both this survey and the Community College Survey of Student
Engagement (CCSSE) in 2014 to assess if these initiatives have improved students'
sense of engagement. As a result of the analysis of this data the following changes were
made to tutoring services:

Insure students are aware of available academic support programs on campus.








A tutoring section was included within the template for the Syllabus Creator, so all
faculty would be encouraged to discuss academic support with students while
reviewing the syllabus on the first day of class each semester.
Tutors visited all Developmental Math (MTE) classes the first day of each
semester.
Tutoring Services staff also conducted over 200 presentations to most Student
Development classes and provided informational sessions for other classes as
requested by instructors.
One of the most successful additions to academic support services was the
addition of a new full-time Math Instructional Assistant position.
A walk-in Math Center has opened with multiple computer areas for students to
work on assignments.
A tutor was assigned to the Engineering Lab to assist students during the spring
2013 semester.
A new Writing Center was opened within the Fredericksburg Tutoring Center
The Supplemental Instruction (SI) Program was also expanded during the 20132014 academic year, and a total of 15 SI Leaders were assigned to Nursing,
Chemistry, Biology, and Anatomy and Physiology classes.
All of the analysis of this data can be found in the report generated by the Student
Success Specialist. Student Success Report2012-2013. This report was developed in the
2012 - 2013 academic year but is making recommendations for the 2013-2014
academic year and is so titled.
In addition to the SENSE survey, Germanna has also surveyed our graduating students
each semester. GradsurveySpring2013SurveySummary_06072013. These data show
that the students are satisfied with the education they are receiving at Germanna. The
respondents indicate they are successfully transferring and employed. The results of
these surveys are routinely discussed in the Assessment Planning Meetings. 13 01 28
Assessment Planning Committee Minutes.
Program Specific Assessments
The College uses the planning module of Compliance - Assist to hold the information on
the assessment cycle of all of our instructional programs. The College started using
Compliance Assist in Fall 2012. Prior to that time we used WEAVE to store the
information on the assessment cycle. We attach here all the data. The first attachment
contains the historical data from the WEAVE account for academic years 2008-2009, and
2009-2010, WEAVE0810Combined PDFs; This second attachment contains the
historical data for academic years 2001-2012. WEAVE2011-2012; The data for 20102011 is missing. When WEAVE copied the data for deliver to Compliance - Assist this
year was deleted and we have not yet been able to locate it in another source. For our
own records, we will continue to search for other sources of this missing year. Finally,
this final attachment provides the Compliance-Assist Planning module data for academic
year 2012 - 2013. Compliance Assist Planning Data 2012-2013. The Compliance - Assist
Planning Modules gives us the ability to link to documents valuable to program
coordinators and administrators. To include it in this report we must save it as a PDF
file. Therefore, the links in these attachments are not active.
..
This data is voluminous so we include here some sample programs that reflect the
assessment cycle for the instructional programs at Germanna. First we attach the
information stored for the Associate of Arts and Sciences in General
Studies. Compliance Assist Planning Data AA&SGeneral Studies. This is by far the
largest program at Germanna with close to 2000 individual students selecting this
program. It is our primary transfer degree. As a transfer Associates Degree this
program reflects the largest general education content. That focus on general education
is reflected in how this program is organized in Compliance - Assist. We organized this
program by Student Learning Outcomes at the Program Level (PLLOs). In the
attachment you will see for example that for PLLO 1.1 Communication of Complex Ideas
both English 112 and the Communications (CST) courses were assigned assessment
classes. You will see the benchmarks, measurement, analysis, and plans for
improvement for both of the disciplines assessing this PLLO.
We offer below a sample of the Compliance Assist entry for the first PLLO in the AA&S in
General Studies: We also attach here the rubric used by the English faculty to assess the
embedded assessment that helped measure student learning against this
outcome. AREA 1 Communication 1 1 rubric. The Compliance - Assist Planning module
is a web based tool. On the web the blue links below are active and provide important
information to Department Chairs and other decision makers. This example is copied
from our Compliance - Assist Planning module. The blue links do not work in this
forma.t nor in any of the Compliance - Assist links as they are saved as PDFs and are
not active.
Understand and interpret complex material
Measurements
SPRING 2013
Measure 1: Communication Studies and Theatre Courses 100 and 126
Faculty choose an oral presentation that students will prepare and present individually and evaluate
that presentation for the General Education Communications assessment. The presentation is
evaluated using the National Communication Association rubric which has been cross-referenced to the
College's General Education Outcomes.
Benchmark: Eighty percent of students will complete the assessment with a rating of 1.5 or higher
(out of two possible points for the outcome). The student's efforts will be assessed as either a 0, 1 or
2 on a scale of 0-2.
Method: Instructors determined which oral presentation in their classes would be assessed using the
common rubric which focuses on communication skills identified by the National Communication
Association as most valuable. Instructors assessed students using the NCA Competent Speaker
Speech Evaluation Form. Instructors submitted the results to the department chair for
compilation. Spreadsheet results are attached.
Measure 2: English
Essay written in response to a TED Talk video and a writing prompt. Scored holistically according to a
rubric and read by a group of five English faculty members.
Benchmark: We expected 70% of the students to complete the assessment successfully.Our results
were 82.9% of the essays scored were successful in scoring a 3 or a 4 per the rubric.
Method:
The ENG 112 Area 1 Assessment was created by the Area 1 and 2 Assessment Committee in Fall
2012; accessible media was selected (a TED Talk about research regarding Blue Zones and longevity)
for its appropriate topic and material presented with supporting data. Two writing prompts were
drafted as well as a rubric to assess for Area 1. A digital packet was created to distribute the material
to faculty so that they could administer the assessment to their ENG 112 students in Spring 2013.
Essays were collected from all ENG 112 students; within each section, three essays were selected
randomly to undergo the holistic scoring process per the rubric. Successful completion was measured
by a score of 3 or 4 on the essay. Essays scoring 1 or 2 were not considered passing. See spreadsheet
Results below.
CST Communication Materials
CST Assessment - Instructions to Faculty
National Communication Association Competent Speaker Evaluation Form
English Communication Materials
Gen Ed 1.1
Letter to English Faculty Re: Assessment
Student Assessment Material
Transcript of TED Talk
Results & Analysis
CST Results and Analysis
102 students were assessed. The mean for this group was 1.588 out of a possible 2.0 points. The
benchmark was met. However, when online students were compared to face-to-face students, the
face-to-face students scored 1.630 compared to the online student's mean of 1.554. Online students
fell below both the mean for all students (by 3%) and below face-to-face students (by 5%).
English Results and Analysis
Of the essays scored by the holistic readers, 82.9% were scored a 3 or higher on the rubric. A 3 was
passing.
We scored a random sample of the essays, three from each section of ENG 112.
Refinement of the rubric may affect the passing rate, as we used a 1-4 point scale; a 5-point scale
would offer more refinement and areas of discernment.
CST Assessment
Rubric - National Communication Association Oral Competencies
Spreadsheet - CST Assessment Data
English Anchor Essays
Discussion
Raw Data
Scored Example Essay
Scored Example Essay
Scored Example Essay
Scored Example Essay
Scored Example Essay
Scored Example Essay
Scored Example Essay
Scored Example Essay
English Area 1 Rubric
Area 1 Rubric
ENGLISH DEPT. Improvement Planning
Outcome Results: 2012-2013
English Holistic Scoring Team
Holistic Reading Team Photo April 2013
English Results
2012 and 2013 Area 1 Spreadsheet
Raw Data from Holistic Scoring Readers
English Assessment Narrative Spring 2013
English Dual Enrollment Narrative
Action
CST Action Plan
Online faculty will add additional instructional time regarding the skills students need to understand
and interpret complex material. We will also interact with the College's Library staff and with Tutoring
Services to determine the accessibility of additional resources to assist students in developing this
important skill. This issue will be discussed with faculty in the Fall 2013 semester and will be
implemented fully in Spring 2014.
English Action Plan
Our reading/scoring committee discussed the assessment instrument and process after the second
round of readings. We were encouraged by the students’ work but felt that the rubrics needed to be
refined to show a greater delineation. To this end, we will rework the Area 1 Communication rubric to
reflect a 1-5 scale, reflecting a range of Emerging to Excellent.
Other concerns include streamlining the process for Dual Enrollment instructors and students. The
assessment materials were pre-loaded into DE Blackboard shells and retrieved by the English
Department Chair in March in order to expedite and ensure Dual Enrollment participation.
Plan:
Our plan is to reconvene our reading/scoring team prior to scoring the 2013-14 assessments and
rework the rubric.
Discuss Area 1 with English faculty at a Fall workshop to include sharing assignments that reflect Area
1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 and complete faculty improvement plans.
Faculty Improvement Plans to be shared with department and posted to Compliance Assist this Fall.
For a contrast we attach the Compliance-Assist assessment cycle data for the Associate
of Applied Science in Nursing, our largest applied associates degree, the Associate
of Applied Science in Management, our second largest applied associates degree, and
the Career Studies Certificate (CSC) in Automotive Technology, our fastest growing
certificate. These examples will also show the complete assessment cycle -- from goal
to measurement to analysis to plans for improvement. These programs are organized
around the Student Learning Outcomes identified in the Assessment Plan for each
program. (the assessment plans are attached above.) Compliance Assist Planning Data
AASBusinessMgt;ComplianceAssistPlanningDataAutomotiveTechnologyCSC;ComplianceA
ssistPlanningDataAASNursing. These examples show a range of approaches to
assessment that, while asking the same questions, are tailored to the needs of very
different programs.
The compliance-assist data management system also includes assessment entries for
Administrative Services and Student Support Services. These entries are in the process
of being completed for the academic year 2012-2013. Although, not part of the Fifth
Year Interim Report, we include here an example from each of these divisions to
illustrate the work we are doing in these areas. These programs were chosen as they are
very important to student learning and success and thus have some relevance to the
Fifth Year report.
Administrative Services Programs
The outcome measurements are designed to show achievement of the Chancellor's
Goals and the Germanna Strategic Plan which is an outgrowth of the Chancellors
Goals. Our organizational tree in Compliance Assist links these outcomes to the
Germanna Strategic Plan. Outcome measures for our administrative services
programs are different than those developed for our educational programs. These ask
the same questions but are measuring support for the educational
programs. Compliance Assist also collects this data in a manner that it can be used for
continuous improvement. We attach the entire Compliance Assist report but as that is
voluminous, I include a screen shot here of Technology goal 3d Access to Software. I
include this as an example because it is closely related to support for faculty both full
and part time and their ability to offer quality instruction. The Technology portion of
the planning module is several pages long but we felt this example would show
our use of our planning software to support assessment, the strategic plan, and
continuous improvement.
3.d: Access to Software, applications and tools for Faculty, Staff and adjuncts.
Provide software access, applications and tools for faculty, staff and adjuncts in order be be more
effecient in thier job.
Measurements
Provide software access, applications and tools as new releases are available, developed, or discovered
and tested
Maintain licensing based on business needs
Provide faculty and staff access to administrative tools
Results & Analysis
Offer online training to Faculty, staff and adjuncts that can be accessed from anywhere.
We continued to maintain and renew licenses to support all business needs of the college
We began very preliminary phases of upgrading the email system by starting the configuration and
migrating a few test accounts
We upgraded Sharepoint system- 10 departments were moved onto the Sharepoint system to improve
business processes. Using Sharepoint, adjunct employees are now able to more easily access
resources that were previously not available to them
Action
We will continue to look at software, applications and tools to help improve the
efficiencies and access availbilty and continue to investigate ways to improve faculty and staff to help
their jobs become more efficient.
Email upgrade will be finished within the next fiscal year
Continue to move more departments onto the Sharepoint system
Student Support Services
Assessment at Germanna also includes Student Support Services. Each of the elements
of support we offer to students is assessed annually. We have chosen to offer in this
narrative the assessment cycle for the Library Information Literacy Instruction
Program. Information Literacy is one of the Program Level Learning Outcomes for which
we assess student learning with nationally normed, state normed, and embedded
assessments. In this area the Library is directly connected to student learning and
success. As with all other of the examples we have included in the narrative we provide
all data since collected and analyzed since 2008 as attachments to this narrative. As
this data is voluminous we offer this sample as an illustration of the whole
Library
Library Purpose
The mission of the library is to support the college curriculum, to meet the research and
information needs of the college community, to promote information literacy and life-long learning,
to provide instruction in the use of library resources, and to encourage leisure reading and
listening.
1: Develop Information Literacy Instruction Program
The Library will provide students with access to library instruction in order to promote information
literacy outcomes.
Measurements
1. Develop and deliver in-person library instruction sessions based on ACRL Information Literacy
Outcomes.
2. Provide access to the VCCS Information Literacy Tutorial "Connect For Success."
3. Develop an assessment instrument and embed that tool into Blackboard using a pilot group of
instructional faculty from different disciplines to measure in-person library instruction.


ACRL Information Literacy
ENG Spring 2013
Results & Analysis
Action
During Academic Year 2013-2014 the library will begin a pilot with select faculty members to
develop and implement assessment of library instruction and compare that data with the ILT
quizzes available through the VCCS.
During Academic Year 2013-2014 the library wil develop and deliver an orientation session for the
high school librarians in order to promote the access to Germanna library resources for students
enrolled in dual enrollment classes.
Communicating Assessment Data and Continuous Improvement
III. College Wide Assessment Reporting: Academic Program Review and
Assessment of Student Learning (APRASL)
Germanna's commitment to assessment of student learning outcomes, student success,
and assessment of program health as produced a great deal of data. Germanna has
developed a system where we can keep track of this data and use the data collected for
continuous approval. This system Academic Program Review and Assessment of Student
Learning (APRASL) is also discussed in detail below. Several of the annual and five year
program reports created under our APRASL system are attached to this report. We are
aware that in these reports we are addressing student success data such as retention
and graduation, program health data such as enrollments and demographics, and
institutional effectiveness data such as program level assessments against student
learning outcomes. This is intentional. No one type of data can be viewed in
isolation. More importantly, for administrators to make sound decisions about the
institution they should use all the data that is being collected. Germanna is collecting a
large amount of assessment data all over the College. These reports enable us to
put develop one report for each program, in a uniform, easy to understand format in a
way that a large amount of data can be processed and used for continuous
improvement. These reports are discussed in the meetings of the Assessment Planning
Committee and are presented in summary fashion to the College Council.
The deans of instruction, using student success measurements, (discussed in detail in
principle 4.1), the data from the nationally normed and Commonwealth of Virginia
normed tests, and the data from embedded assessments, write each year a report on
every program at Germanna. A larger Five Year Report is written on selected programs
on a schedule so each program does a five year report every five years. These reports
are shared with the Assessment Planning Committee.12 12 17 Assessment Planning
Committee Minutes. Summaries of these reports are shared with the College community
in the College Council. 02College Council MINUTES February 24 2012. We are attaching
to this narrative the report for the Associates of Arts and Science in General Studies, the
Associates of Applied Science in Nursing, the Associates of Arts and Sciences in Business
Administration and the report for the Certificate in Fire Science Technology . We have
selected these as a sample because they are our transfer degrees and the applied
degree with the largest enrollments. Fire Science is one of our newer
certificates. Annual Review 2010-2011BUSINESS ADMINISTATIONAutomotive
Diagnostician and Automotive Technician - 2012Fire Science Technology - 2012General
Education - 2012Nursing -annualreport 2012. As in the Compliance - Assist data above,
these are very different programs with very different assessment needs. This reporting
format provides the uniformity needed to communicate the results to the larger
Germanna community with the flexibility needed to serve the needs of the individual
program.
Each program is given a more thorough review every five years. As samples we attach
five year program reviews for English as a Second Language and Paraprofessional
Counseling. English as a Second Lanuage - 2011 Five-Year ReviewParaprofessional
Counseling CSC - 2012 Five-Year Review. The findings from these five year reviews
provide faculty with a synopsis of the strength of their programs and an opportunity to
see trends and respond.
The timing of these annual report findings allows for requests for adjustment to
operational budgets or for programmatic and student support changes in the next
year. The five-year reports, on the other hand, provide long-term information that
should inform major changes to a program, if needed. Significant changes were
suggested for both of these programs as a result of the thorough analysis they received
in these reviews.
Below are tables detailing when programs are up for five year reviews and the
suggested core area cycle:
Academic Program REVIEWS
Tentative Schedule FOR FIVE-YEAR REVIEWS
2012-2013
2013-2014
2015-2016
ESL
General
Education
Certificate
2014-2015
General Studies
Including non-allied
health specialization
degrees (e.g., Gen
Studies-Education;
Gen StudiesScience; Gen
Studies-Psychology)
ASL
Liberal Arts
(Foreign
Language
only)
Developmental
Studies
HLT, PED
Certified
Nursing
Assistant
PNE, RN,
Vocational Health
Care
Dental
Assisting
Surgical Scrub
Nursing
HCT
Dental Assisting
Early Childhood
Development
Automotive
Arts & Sciences
Nursing & Health
Technologies
Professional &
Technical Studies
2
Paraprofe
Radiol
Student Development
Engineering
Fire Science
Technology
Horticulture
Technical
Studies
Other New Programs
Information
System
Technology
SDV – all
courses
As the Dean or Program Coordinator prepares the program APRASL report they use the
following table. We believe that by using the same format for every program
complicated data can be communicated in a way the entire College can understand.
Benchmark Criteria
AY: 2011-2012
FTES Benchmark
(List programs and
benchmarks.)
Enrollment growth
Student
Demographic Breakout
Student Persistence
Diversity of Successful
Students
Graduates (including
demographic breakout)
Transfers to Senior
Institutions
Student Learning
Outcomes Assessment
Student Satisfaction with
Program Advising
FT/PT Faculty Ratio
Adjunct Availability
Faculty Credentials
Variety of delivery
modes: FTF, online,
hybrid, IV
Internships/Cooperatives
Germanna Community College
Annual Review of Academic Programs
Program/Discipline Discussed in this Annual Review:
Po
Le
Add criteria as warranted. Strengths, threats, opportunities, and challenges should be included in a timely way s
can plan appropriately.
Some examples of improvements made based on Assessment of Student Learning
Outcomes
A thorough reading of the data collected in Compliance-Assist and attached above would
offer many changes made at the course level as a result of assessment of student
learning outcomes. As an illustration for the convenience of the reader - we offer just a
very few here:
Administration of Justice 100
More assignments from the textbook to encourage students to do the reading; more
written work to strengthen writing skills; use more videos to make learning more reality
based; require a written report after field trips.
Networking courses
ITN 156 and ITN 157 will be scheduled as 8 week classes rather than 16 week classes
from student suggestions.
The purchase of Cisco routers and switches has doubled the available equipment;
Saturday volunteer labs have been made available and are conducted;The tutoring
center has hired a Cisco (Exploration Series) qualified tutor; Students who have
completed the course of instruction have volunteered to provide classroom support
assisting in network design, Packet Tracer activities, and hands-on labs when conducted;
Videos/YouTube/POD casts have been screened as to their applicability and where
applicable have been integrated into classroom instruction; identification of needed
improvements to facilities have been identified.
Psychology
Psychology is developing a power point teaching the difference in causation and
correlation that will be shared with all full and part time faculty.
Dental Assisting
Developed a new student workshop to cover medical terminology, communication, and
professionalism in the dental field; have students work on the dental assisting national
exam through out the curriculum.
English 112 (our second level composition class) will more closely focus on
argumentative writing. The faculty decided that implementing prescriptive guidelines on
the major paper required for this class will should not infringe on an instructors'
academic freedom and is needed to develop skills in making complex arguments.
IV Assessing Assessment --areas for continuous improvement

Germanna has built into the planning module of Compliance Assist a rubric for
assessing the assessment instruments for each program. This is a new initiative
this year so we do not yet have data. We will require that the department chairs
and program coordinators use this rubric to make continuous improvement to the
assessment instruments for each program.Assessing our Assessment Program
(rev). Next year we will assess general education Program Level Learning Outcome
(PLLO) 7.4 (co-relational versus causal relationships) in Math 240 (statistics) in
addition to having it assessed by the social sciences. We will add assessment
points to the classes that introduce and reinforce a subject to serve as touchpoints before the student graduates.

The Virginia Community College System is working with the four year transfer
partners in Virginia that are part of the General Articulation Agreement develop a
system so data on success of students who transfer from a Virginia community
college can be shared with each College. Germanna will work with the VCCS on
the development of this database as this data is an important measurement of
student learning.

Germanna will spend the next year exploring e-portfolios and capstone and the
possible implementation of one or both in our programs. We believe that eportfolios or capstone courses combined with the data from nationally normed
tests, embedded common general education assessments, and program specific
assessments, will provide another point of data that will help us assess across the
curricula.

Germanna will continue explore methods to increase student participation in the
nationally normed tests. This will include alternatives such as using different tests
so that they are conducted on-line rather than paper and pencil and including the
tests as a graded assessment in the capstone course.

Germanna will continue to create a culture of assessment across the College. We
will add workshops on assessment to College Learning Day (every September and
February) and Part time faculty convocations; This spring, as a step in the
continuous improvement of assessment the Assessment Planning Committee
surveyed the faculty to get faculty input into assessment improvement. 13 01 28
Assessment Planning Committee Minutes. We will continue these types of efforts
to create a culture of assessment. We will continue to require training in
assessment for all administrators, coordinators, and faculty. Assessment training
will be added to this years New Faculty Academy schedule. This year all program
coordinators were trained in our new data storage system (Compliance Assist). We will next year train all teaching faculty members. This year we did
not assess PLLOs 2.6 (under Critical Thinking: Use problem solving
skills); and 3.2 (Under Cultural and Social Understanding: Describe their own as
well as others personal ethical systems and values within social institutions) . We
will provide additional training next year to correct for this type of problem. We
will work closely with coordinators to insure all outcomes are assessed
appropriately, recorded in Compliance-Assist, reported to the Germanna
community, and used for continuous improvement.

Assessment Results will formally be communicated with the Leadership Team
which includes administrators across the College, Academic Reports Meetings,
Departmental Faculty Meetings, and Learning Days.

Work with the Divisions of Administrative Services and Student Development to
develop outcome benchmarks related to student learning where possible.
Summation
In the past five years Germanna has devoted significant financial and human
resources to assessment of student learning outcomes. We have identified learning
outcomes for general education and for every one of our programs.We
have developed assessment plans for every program against every outcome. We have
developed plans that use multiple types of measurement at the national, state, and class
section levels. We have developed and implemented measurement of student learning
against these outcomes and have used this data for continuous improvement of student
learning. We have developed a method of communicating large amounts of program
specific data in student learning and student success to the larger Germanna
Community, creating a culture of assessment across the College.
Finally, Germanna has developed a better process of evaluating the
effectiveness of the entire assessment system for continuous improvement. Assessment
will never become static. At Germanna there is a program in place for continuous
improvement in not only student learning, but in how we assess student learning and
how we communicate and use the results.
Sources

02College Council MINUTES February 24 2012

12 12 17 Assessment Planning Committee Minutes

13 01 14 Assessment Planning Committee Minutes

13 01 28 Assessment Planning Committee Minutes

130816 Faculty Meeting Agenda (3)

Annual Review 2010-2011BUSINESS ADMINISTATION

AREA 1 Communication 1 1 rubric

Assessing our Assessment Program (rev)

Assessment Planning Committee 12 19 11 (2) (2)

Assessment Planning Committee 12 6 10

Assessment Planning Committee 3 14 11

Assessment Planning Committee Minutes 5 7 12

Automotive Diagnostician and Automotive Technician - 2012

Business Administration - 2012

Compliance Assist Planning Data 2012-2013

Compliance Assist Planning Data AA&SGeneral Studies

Compliance Assist Planning Data AASBusinessMgt

ComplianceAssistPlanningDataAASNursing

ComplianceAssistPlanningDataAutomotiveTechnologyCSC

Copy of General Assessments SP13

Embedded Assessments SP12ENG112

English as a Second Lanuage - 2011 Five-Year Review

Faculty Institutes on Quality Application - Germanna

Fire Science Technology - 2012

GCC_2009-10 Writing Assessments Results

GCC_CCTST_Table07

GCC_QRSRS05

Gen Ed Committee minutes Dec 14 2012

Gen Ed Committee minutes Jan 11 2013

Gen Ed committee minutes Oct 12 2012

Gen Ed Outcomes Matrix -- Assoc degree, Revised Nov 2012

Gen Ed Outcomes Matrix-GE Cert, Revised November 2012

GenEd committee minutes Nov 9 2012

General Education - 2012

General Education Assessment Plan (2012-2013)

General Studies - 2012

General Studies -annualreport 2012

Germanna OCA Preliminary Report

GradsurveySpring2013SurveySummary_06072013

New Faculty Orientation_Agenda 8-16-2013 FAC

Nursing and Health Technologies Assessment Plan 2011-2012

Nursing -annualreport 2012

Paraprofessional Counseling CSC - 2012 Five-Year Review

Part-Time Faculty Convocation Fall 2013 agenda

Paula Gentry Assessment Duties 2008-Present

Professional and Technical StudiesAssessment Plan

Science -annual report 2012

SENSE2010Main Survey_means

Student Success PresentationDAS

Student Success Report2012-2013

Tree - official with names

VCCS Report Information Literacy Assessment_1112_20121122

VCCS_Gen_Ed_Goals___SLOs___Approved_May_2006

VCCS_Report_QRAssessment0809_revised_20100524

VCCS_Report_SRAssessment1011_20111107

WEAVE0810Combined PDFs

WEAVE2011-2012
CS - 3.4.3
Educational Programs: All: Admission policies
The institution publishes admissions policies that are consistent with its mission.
(Comprehensive Standard 3.4.3)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Germanna Community College Admissions Policies
General Admission to the College
Germanna Community College admissions policies are published in the catalog and are
on the Germanna webpage. AdmissionsWebPageScreenShot . Germanna policies are
in accordance with the policies of the Virginia Community College System. VCCS
AdmissionsPolicyMnlSec6 Individuals are eligible for admission to Germanna Community
College if they are high school graduates or the equivalent, or if they are eighteen years
of age or older and able to benefit from a program at the Community College. Dual
enrollment students will be admitted according to the provisions in the current Virginia
Plan for dual enrollment. Other persons not meeting these admissions criteria may apply
to the college for special consideration for admittance. The College reserves the right to
evaluate and document special cases and to refuse or revoke admission if the College
determines that the applicant or student poses a threat, is a potential danger, is
significantly disruptive to the College, or if such refusal or revocation is considered to be
in the best interest of the College. The College also reserves the right to refuse
admission for applicants that have been expelled or suspended from, or determined to
be a threat, potential danger or significantly disruptive by, another college. Students
whose admission is revoked after enrollment must be given due process. By accepting
an offer of admission, the student agrees to adhere to the statement of student rights
and responsibilities included in the Student Handbook portion of this catalog.
All individuals, including dual enrollment, must complete the Virginia Placement Test
(VPT) in English Reading and Writing and in Mathematics for placement into a college
level class. Students who do not place into a college level class will be required to
successfully complete developmental education courses in English reading and writing
and/or mathematics. Individuals with a score of 500 or above on the SATs waive the
requirement to take the VPT placement tests. PlacementTestingWebPageScreenShot
As this report is being written the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) is revising
policy 6.0.1. The Virginia Placement Test is designed in such a way that it creates a
floor below which a student is deemed to not have the potential to benefit from the
college experience. Germanna has developed courses offering basic skills in reading,
writing, and mathematics to help these students qualify for developmental education
classes.
Curricular Students
Curricular students are those who wish to pursue, on a full- or part-time basis, the
completion of a degree or certificate offered by the College. For curricular students, the
following items are required for official admission:




A completed College Application for Admission with social security number
requested.
A completed Application for Virginia Domicile (for students requesting in-state
tuition rates).
An official high school or GED transcript.
Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended.
High school transcripts may not be required if the record is more than ten years old or
the student has completed 20 semester hours (or equivalent) at a regionally-accredited
college or university. However, admission to the nursing programs requires submission
of high school and college transcripts.
Noncurricular Students
Noncurricular students do not currently intend to apply credits toward completion of a
program of study (degree or certificate) offered by the College. A noncurricular student
is, therefore, not formally admitted to one of the curricula. For noncurricular students,
the following items are required for admission:


A completed College Application for Admission.
A completed Application for Virginia Domicile (for persons requesting in-state
tuition rates).
Second Level Admissions Programs
A. Dental Assisting
The Dental Assisting Program admits one class each year. Six students were admitted
in the initial class of 2012. Twelve students will be admitted in 2013 and subsequent
years.
Currently, the program does not plan on admittance of students with advanced
standing. If the program did consider this, policies and procedures would need to be
established to verify students are at the same academic and clinical level of all other
students.
There are not any formal prerequisites required for admission into the program. There
are weighted criteria to determine student admission. Admission selection committee
members use objective and subjective data for consideration. Points are given for
courses completed toward the degree. Applicants receive 4 points for an A, 3 points for a
B, 2 points for a C, and 1 point if they are enrolled in the course at the time of
application. Points are awarded for GPA as well. Students with a 3.6 – 4.0 receive 4
points, 3.0 – 3.5 receive 3 points, 2.9 – 2.4 receive 2 points, and 2.3 – 2.0 receive 1
point. Scores on the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS test) and repeat of classes
are considered in situations of equal applicant scoring. Essay questions and letters of
recommendation make up the subjective aspect of the application. These too are used
in situations of equal applicant scoring.
Prospective dental assisting students submit their applications and supporting
credentials to the Program Director who verifies that all documentation is
submitted. Completed applications are then submitted to the Office of Admissions and
Records. That department scores and redacts all applications and forwards them to the
selection committee for review. The selection committee reviews the blinded
applications independently and develops a recommendation list for admission. The
selection committee then meets to discuss recommendations and make a final
determination of who admission is offered to. The selection committee is comprised of
faculty from the dental department, counseling, science, and volunteer members of the
advisory committee who do not have a conflict of interest on serving. Specific
individuals vary each year. The Program Director serves as the chair of committee and
does not vote unless there is a tie.
Applicants are informed about the program’s criteria and procedures for admission,
program goals, essential functions and employment opportunities through the
department website, college catalog, and information sessions. Cert-Dental-Assisting2013Dental Assisting Screen Shot
Students who do not meet the program’s admissions criteria are not admitted to the
program. In accordance with the Germanna mission to provide learning opportunities
for all students and all members of our region, Who We Are applicants may meet with
advisors to register for developmental courses, explore other opportunities, and
strengthen their applications for the following year.
B. Nursing
Admission Requirements for All Applicants to the Associates of Applied Science in
Nursing:
• Applicants must have official high school transcripts validating completion of high
school or official documentation of GED on file in the Office of Admissions and Records.
Applicants must have official college transcripts on file in the Office of Admissions and
Records.
• One unit of high school biology with lab, one unit of high school chemistry with lab,
and one unit of high school algebra or equivalents with a minimum grade of “C” within
five years prior to applying to the nursing program. Equivalents include college BIO 101,
CHM 125, and MTE 1, 2, 3, and 4 completed prior to applying to the nursing program.
• Demonstration of successful challenge of Germanna’ s computer competency test prior
to applying to the nursing program or college computer literacy skills course completed
within five years prior to applying to the nursing program.
• Completion of placement tests with scores showing readiness for college-level reading,
writing, and math courses. Applicants with previous college courses may be exempt
from the placement tests.
• Pre-admission nursing tests of essential academic skills are required. Scores on the
preadmission nursing tests are expected to be at least at the 45th program percentile
for admission to the nursing program. Preadmission nursing test scores are accepted if
completed within three years prior to applying to the nursing program. Applicant is
responsible for cost of preadmission nursing tests. LPN to RN applicants are exempt
from preadmission nursing tests if prerequisites of biology, chemistry, and algebra or
equivalents have been completed with a minimum grade of “C” within five years prior to
applying to the nursing program.
• A 2.5 cumulative average in academic work is required.
• The application process includes receipt of a completed College application, official
transcripts of all secondary and postsecondary courses attempted or completed, and a
completed request for transcript analyses form by the Office of Admissions and Records.
Applicants are to submit the completed Nursing Program application, transcripts, and a
copy of their preadmission nursing test scores to the Nursing Office. Applicants must
subscribe to an on-line criminal history report. Summary outcomes of the report should
be submitted for review with the nursing application. Applicants are responsible for fees
associated with this report. Applicants who have willfully committed a
felony/misdemeanor may not be offered admission. A Board of Nursing may deny any
application for licensure if the applicant has willfully committed a felony/misdemeanor
under laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia or of the United States.
• Applicants must have signed student/advisor worksheets on file in the Nursing Office
prior to applying to the nursing program. The attached is an example of this
worksheet. 6.2012 Nursing - RN advising checklist.
This screenshot of the
webpage offers the reader an active screen shot that illustrates what is offered in the
Nursing and Health Technologies portion of the Germanna webpage.
• Requirements for admission into the nursing program are specific and admission is
selective and competitive.
• The number of credits completed in the Allied Healthcare Preparation Career Study
Certificate (Pre-nursing) or its equivalent will be noted in the application process.
• If there are more qualified applicants than space available for offer of admission,
applicants with the highest number of credits completed in the Allied Healthcare
Preparation Career Study Certificate or equivalent courses will receive priority
consideration for offers of admission.
• Residents of Germanna’s service region (Caroline, Culpeper, King George, Madison,
Orange, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and the City of Fredericksburg) will be offered priority
consideration for offers of admission.
• Applicants with GPAs higher than 2.5 will receive priority consideration for offers of
admission.
• Applicants who have completed the anatomy, physiology, and microbiology courses in
the Allied Health Care Preparation Career Study Certificate or equivalent courses will
receive priority consideration for offers of admission.
• Applicants are expected to have earned “C” or better in all courses in the Allied Health
Care Preparation Career Study Certificate or equivalent courses. Nursing students must
earn at least “C” in the NUR major courses to remain in the program. The minimum
passing grade is 80 (C) in the nursing program.
• LPN to RN applicants must complete the anatomy, physiology, and microbiology
courses in the degree and the LPN to RN Transition course prior to offers of admission to
the program.
Admission Requirements for Practical Nursing program
These admission requirements are published in the catalog and appear on Germanna's
webpage. Cert-Practical-Nursing-2013
Admission Requirements:
• Official high school transcripts validating completion of high school or official
documentation of GED on file in the Office of Admissions and Records.
• Official college transcripts for all secondary and postsecondary courses attempted or
completed, and a completed request for transcript analyses form must be on file in the
Germanna Community College Office of Admissions and Records.
• Applicants must have completed the following courses or their equivalent with a
minimum grade of “C” within 5 years of applying for admission; one unit of high school
biology with lab, one unit of high school chemistry with lab, and one unit of high school
algebra. Equivalents include college BIO 101, CHM 125, and MTE 1-4.
• Applicants must have completed a high school computer literacy skills course or ITE
115 with a minimum grade of “C” within the five years prior to applying to the nursing
program. Students completing the high school course must show validation by also
successfully passing the GCC Computer Competency Exam.
• Completion of placement tests with scores showing readiness for college-level reading,
writing, and math courses. Applicants with previous college courses may be exempt
from placement tests.
• Standardized pre-admission nursing tests are required. Scores on the preadmission
nursing tests are expected to be at least at the 45th program percentile for admission to
the nursing program. Preadmission nursing test scores are accepted for three years.
Applicant is responsible for cost of preadmission nursing tests.
• A 2.5 cumulative average in academic work is required.
• Applicants must subscribe to an on-line criminal history report. The summary report
results will be communicated to the Nursing Office by the report vendor. Applicants
convicted of committing a felony/misdemeanor may not be offered admission. The Board
of Nursing may deny any applicant licensure if the applicant has willfully committed a
felony/misdemeanor under laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia or of the United
States.
• Applicants are to submit the completed Nursing Program application to the Nursing
Office by the established deadline. A completed application includes the application
itself, a copy of their preadmission nursing test scores, the summary outcomes of the
criminal history report, and a copy of all transcripts.
• Applicants must have a signed student/advisor worksheet on file in the Nursing Office
prior to applying to the nursing program.
• Requirements for admission into the nursing program are specific and admission is
selective and competitive.
• If there are more qualified applicants than space available for offer of admission,
applicants with the highest number of credits completed in the Allied Healthcare
Preparation Career Study Certificate or equivalent courses will receive priority
consideration for offers of admission.
• Residents of Germanna’s service region (Caroline, Culpeper, King George, Madison,
Orange, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and the City of Fredericksburg) will be offered priority
consideration for offers of admission.
• Applicants with GPAs higher than 2.5 will receive priority consideration for offers of
admission.
• Applicants who have completed NAS 150, Human Biology, or the anatomy, physiology,
and microbiology courses in the Allied Health Care Preparation Career Study Certificate
or equivalent courses will receive priority consideration for offers of admission.
• Applicants are expected to have earned “C” or better in all courses in the Allied Health
Care Preparation Career Study Certificate or equivalent courses. Nursing students must
earn at least “C” in the NUR major courses to remain in the program. The minimum
passing grade is 80 (C) in the nursing program.
Distance Learning
Germanna does not have different admissions requirements for new students who plan
to take online classes. They can apply online if that is more convenient for them. If a
student is already a student, they must have a grade point average of at least 2.0 to be
allowed to take online classes. A signature of a dean of instruction is required to wave
this requirement.
Summation
The admission policies for Germanna Community College are clearly published in its
catalog.
Sources

6.2012 Nursing - RN advising checklist

AdmissionsWebPageScreenShot

Cert-Dental-Assisting-2013

Cert-Practical-Nursing-2013

Dental Assisting Screen Shot

Division of Nursing And Health Technologies

Nursing Application

PlacementTestingWebPageScreenShot

Recruitment Brochure

Recruitment documents2

VCCS AdmissionsPolicyMnlSec6

Who We Are
CS - 3.4.11
Educational Programs: All: Academic program coordination
For each major in a degree program, the institution assigns responsibility for program
coordination, as well as for curriculum development and review, to persons academically
qualified in the field. In those degree programs for which the institution does not identify
a major, this requirement applies to a curricular area or concentration.
(Comprehensive Standard 3.4.11)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Qualified Coordinators
At Germanna Community College (GCC) all courses, certificates and degree programs
and disciplines are coordinated by discipline qualified faculty. The chairs and faculty
coordinate the Germanna programs under the supervision and with the assistance of the
Deans of instruction. All syllabi, with student learning outcomes, are approved by the
chair of the discipline or their designee within the department. If the department is a
mixed - discipline department, such as Social Sciences, or physical sciences then the
chair will delegate to a discipline appropriate faculty member discipline specific duties
such as review of syllabi, mentoring of part time faculty, and textbook selection. The
credentials of these discipline specific faculty, termed here Lead Faculty, are also
included in the tables below.
In addition to the chairs and lead faculty, program coordination is also supported by the
Deans of Instruction and the Curriculum Committee. The roles of these groups is also
discussed below. All of the current Deans of Instruction have been teaching faculty and
have been program chairs at Germanna. Thus, they are able to take an informed lead
in program coordination.
The roster of qualified coordinators is below in two tables. The first table is alphabetic
by the name of the Chair or Lead Faculty. The second table is organized by program
with a column indicating which faculty member serves as Chair or Lead Faculty for mulitdiscipline programs.
Common acronyms used in the tables below:
CSC - Career Studies Certificate
AAS - Associate of Applied Science
AA& S - Associate of Arts and Science
AS - Associate of Science
Chairs and Lead Faculty
Credentials
Last
Name
Abrams
First
Name
Position
Beverly
Chair AA&S Education
AA&S Education K-8
AA&S Early Childhood MS - Child Care
Development
Administration (NOVA
Certificate Early
Southeastern University)
Childhood Education
CSC Early Childhood
Development
Education
BS - Elementary Education
(Radford University)
Anglin
Cannova
Ashley
Heather
Chair - Foreign
Languages
Daigle
Laurie
Dowd
Amanda
Fasano
Fetea
Julie
Mirela
AAS Nursing Germanna
Resumes
Owner/Operator - The
Learning Ladder Childcare Abrams R
- 3.5 yrs.
Instructor - 9 yrs.
Ph.D. Comparative Lit, Cath.
U. American concentration
Several Years teaching
Italian and Spanish;
Italian and Spanish at
MA Catholic, Romance
Germanna, and Northern
Languages Italian & Spanish
Virginia CC
BA Linguistics , College
William & Mary
MSN Nursing Education
Walden
Chair
AAS Licensed Practical
BA Comparative Literature
Nursing for Advanced
U.Va
Placement
Certificate in Practical
Nursing
Experience
Adjunct Instructor in
Nursing, Germanna,
Anglin Re
Cannova
Registered Nurse ER, ICU,
etc.
state Licensure to practice as
an RN current
Chair - Physical
M.A. Dance Biometrics, Texas
Therapy, program in
women's Univ.
development phase
BA Dance - UMd College Park
M.L.A Humanities, U. S. Fla.;
BA Humanities, U.S.Fla.
Adjunct teaching,
Chair, Humanities
AA Genl Studies, CC.
Germanna
Jacksonville
Instructor (Co-Chair - MS - Medical Sciences Sciences) Anatomy &
Pathology (University of
Adjunct Instructor - 3 yrs.
Physiology
Florida)
BS - Biology (Old Dominion
Analyst - 2 yrs.
University)
Ph.D. Theoretical Physics
U.Capetown So. Africa;
MSc. Theoretical Physics, U.
Assistance and Associate
Timisoaria Romania;
Professor Physics with 11
Lead Faculty - Physics
M.Sc. Optics, Un. Timisoaria, years at University of
Romania
Richmond
B.Sc. Physics, U Timisoara
Romania
Daigle Re
Dowd Res
Fasano
Fetea_CV
Frank
Don
Associate Professor
Chair AA&S Business
Administration
AAS Business
Management
CSC Small Business
Management;
CSC Supervision
CSC Banking
CSC Business Core
MA - Business Management
Professional Developer (Central Michigan University) USMC - 7 yrs.
BS - Business (Utica College
of Syracuse University)
Frank res
Officer Recruiter - USMC 2 yrs.
BS - Urban Studies - (Virginia
Commonwealth University)
Greene
CSC American Sign
Stephanie
Language
Hammond Davyda
MA Communication Studies
Un.N.C.
BA English Christopher
Newport
Adjunct instructor,
Thomas Nelson CC;
Tidewater CC
Greene R
Professor (Co-Chair Engineering & Technical
Studies)
AS Engineering
AAS Technical Studies PhD - Environmental
and Industrial
HealthEngineering (University Research Scientist - 4 yrs. Hammon
Maintenance
of Alabama)
CSC Engineering
Technology
CSC Industrial
Maintenance
MS - Mechanical Engineering
(University of California)
Adjunct Instructor - 1.5
yrs.
BS - Mechanical Engineering
(Auburn University)
Hancock
Huff
Leigh
Assistant Professor
(Chair - English)
Cheryl
Associate Professor
(Chair - Humanities,
History, Philosophy &
Religion)
MA - Rhetoric &
Linguistics (University of S. Adjunct Instructor - 9 yrs.
California)
MA - English (California State Junior High School
HancockR
University)
Teacher - 4 yrs.
BA - English (University of
California)
M Litt - English (St. Andrews
University)
Adjunct Instructor - 2 yrs.
MS - Liberal Arts (St. John's
College Graduate Institute)
Huff Resu
BA - English (Douglass
College, Rutgers University)
Lauzon
Jean
Professor (Chair - Arts)
Certificate in Fine Arts MFA - Painting (University of
Certificate in Graphics Iowa)
Communications
MA - Painting (University of
Iowa)
Adjunct Instructor - 4 yrs.
Lauzon R
Lennahan Jamie
Mesimer
Misty
Matheson Jessica
Miller
Mittura
Murphy
Lead Faculty, Political
Science
Chair CSC Dental
Assisting
Instructor (Co-Chair Sciences) Biology
BFA - Art & Philosophy
(Millikin University)
PhD. POLI UCo Boulder
graduate instructor
MA POLI , U CO Boulder
MSCH mstr sci community
health;AAS dental hygiene bs practicing dental
health science
hygienist.
MS - Biology (Austin Peay
State University)
BS - Biology (Austin Peay
State University)
Gerald
Chair
CSC Microcomputer
Applications for
Business;
CSC Networking
CSC Advanced
Networking
CSC E-Commerce
AAS Information
System Technology Information Mgt or
Network Security
AAS Information
System TechnologyNetworking
Karen
DND Case Western,
Chair CSC Nurses Aide; anticipated Dec. 2013;
CSC Surgical Scrub
MSN, UVa,
Nursing
BSN Eastern Mennonite;
BS Psych Eastern Mennonite
Lisa
Graduate Researcher - 1
yr.
1998 to present Professor of Nursing,
Germanna;
Jillian
Miller Res
Mittura R
Asst. Professor of
Mathematics - 3 yrs.
Collegiate Professor - 1.5
yrs.
BS - Systems Engineering
(Wright State University)
Noel
Matheson
Adjunct teaching SUNY;
Longwood; Marymount,
MS - Electrical Engineering
(University of Illinois)
Assistant Professor
Chair AAS Police Science
AAS Emergency
Ph.D. candidate, Capella
Medical Services,
University. Expected
Paramedic (Lead
graduation 2018; Has
Faculty: Wayne Perry)
completed 24 graduate credit
CSC Fire Science (Lead
hours in Criminal Justice.
Faculty: Kirk Twigg)
MBA - Business (Averett
CSC EMT - Intermediate
University)
(Lead Faculty: Wayne
Perry)
Certificate in Police
Science
CSC Police Science
Mesimer
Graduate Assistant - .5 yr.
MS Operations Research, U.
U.S. Army Signal Corps.;
Rochester;
National Command
BS Math/Physics U.of AZ
Authority
Other courses at many other
Northrup Grumman
institutions
Professor (Co-Chair PhD - Mathematics Education
Engineering & Technical
(University of Illinois)
Studies)
MS - Mathematics (University
of Illinois)
Lennahan
Adjunct Instructor - 4 yrs.,
Police Science.
Three years experience as
Armed Security Office with
Omniplex World Services;
Murphy R
BA - Criminal Justice (Old
Dominion University)
Parker
Patricia
Assistant Professor
(Chair - Developmental
Mathematics/Credit
Mathematics)
Lead Faculty
Perry *
Pevey
Read
Wayne
Carolyn
Michael
AAS - Emergency
Medical Services,
Paramedic
CSC EMT Intermediate;
Police Officer/Security - 12
yrs.
Various Graduate level
Mathematics Courses (Old
Associate Professor Dominion University, College
Rappahannock Community
of William & Mary, Christopher
College - 9 yrs.
Newport University, S.
Carolina State University)
MT - Mathematics (University Instructor - Career
of Virginia)
Switcher Program - 2 yrs.
BA - Mathematics (University
of Virginia)
Noel, J. R
Pa
National Registry paramedic,
GWU, Wash. DC
Executive Director,
BS American Public,
Rappahannock Emergency Perry Res
Univ. Charles Town, WV.
Medical Services Council
MEd Univ. Mary Washington
Lead Faculty Sociology
Ph.D. Sociology, U. Tx Austin
MA Sociology, U. Tx Austin
BA Sociology McNeese State,
Lk Charles LA
Professor (Chair Horticulture)
PhD - Horticulture & Botany
(University of Wisconsin)
MS - Horticulture (University
of Wisconsin)
4 years teaching
Sociology at Germanna;
Pevey res
7 years teaching at
Auburn University
Adjunct Instructor Germanna Community
Read Res
College/Piedmont Virginia
Community College - 6yrs.
Horticulturist - 8 yrs.
BS - Horticultural Science
(Reading University , England)
Runnels
Sekinger
Pam
Vanessa
Lead Faculty Chemistry
PhD, Chemistry, Univ ME,
Orono;
BS Chem. Univ Me
BA Psych Univ ME Orone
Instructor (Chair Med - Reading (University of
Developmental English) Virginia)
BA - English (University of
Mary Washington)
Skinner
Sue
Stroffolino John
Chair, AAS, Nursing
Chair, Physical
Education;
CSC Pharmacy
Technician
teaching assistant
runnels r
Adjunct Superviros - 3 yrs.
Adjunct Instructor - 2yrs.
Sekinger
Stafford HS Teacher - 9
yrs.
Post Masters Cert. in Nursing Assoc Prof, Nursing,
Education, VCU, Richmond,
Germanna
Va.
Staff nurse, Mary
Skinner R
MSN, Eastern Carolina
Washington Hosp.
Univ. Greenville, NC
Navy Nurse, Over 30 years
active duty and reserve
BSN, N. MI,Marquette, MI.
25 hours Graduate study
beyond Masters, Kinesology, Instructor, Germanna
and Exercise Physiology;
Wellness Ctr Coordinator
Stroffolin
MS Physical Education U. of
Fitness Specialist
DE
BS Physical Education East
Stroudsberg, PA
Trainum
Twigg*
Wilson
Wolfe
Charles
Kirk
Brent
Gayle
Chair - accounting
CSC Accounting
CSC Legal Assistant
Lead Faculty,
Certificate in Fire
Science Technology
JD, UVa - including 22
graduate hours of accounting:
Fedl Inc tax (3)
Trst/estates (6)
Est & Gift (3)
Tax probl (2)
Several years experience
trainum r
CorpIncTx (3)
in accounting and tax law.
Corp Reords (2)
Est Plng (2)
BS. Accounting
CPA - given three graduate
credit hours for CPA
Certified Safety Professional,
Dec 1989
BS Environmental Safety &
Health Engineering, OK state,
Stillwater
MBA, Regents, Va. Beach, Va.
Instructor (Chair Automotive)
CSC Automotive
AAA Automotive Technology,
Technology, Automotive
NVCC;
Diagnostics;
Technical Professional License
- Commonwealth of VA
CSC Automotice
technology automotive technician.
Miscellaneous Coursework
(Jame Madison University,
Germanna Community
College, Northern VA
Community College
Professor (Chair - Social
Sciences)
AA&S General Studies
Psychology
Specialization;
CSC Paraprofessional
Counseling.
PhD - Higher Education
(Florida State University)
MA - Developmental
Psychology (Ohio State
University)
BA - Psychology (Ohio State
University)
Chairs and Lead Faculty
By Program and Discipline
Name of Program
AA&S Business Administration
Faculty Coordinator
Don Frank
Site, Env Safety and
Health mgr Honelywell;
Health and Safety
Consultant.
Fire Protection Engineer
Twigg res
Automotive Technology
Instructor - 5 yrs.
Wilson Re
Automotive Technician 12 yrs.
Assist. Professor - Beirut
University - 3 yrs.
International Student
Office - 2 yrs.
Tallahassee Community
College - 2 yrs.
Wolfe res
AA&S Education
AA&S Education K-8
AA&S General Studies
AA&S General Studies –
Psychology Specialization
AA&S General Studies –
Radiologic Technology
Specialization
AA&S Liberal Arts
AA &S Science
AS Engineering
AAS Business Management
AAS Early Childhood
Development
AAS Emergency Medical Services
– Paramedic
AAS Information System
Technology - Information
Management or Network Security
AAS Information System
Technology - Networking
AAS Nursing
AAS Licensed Practical Nursing
for Advanced Placement
AAS Police Science
AAS Technical Studies –
Industrial Maintenance
Certificate in Early Childhood
Education
Certificate in Fine Arts
Certificate in Fire Science
Technology
Certificate in General Education –
Bev Abrams
Bev Abrams
This is a multidiscipline
program – please see
below for discipline
specific coordinators.
Oversight of the entire
Program provided by the
Dean of Arts and
Sciences
Gayle Wolfe
Germanna only offers the
General Education portion
of this program. Thus,
this is a multidiscipline
program with dean
oversight. Please see
below for discipline
specific coordinators.
This is a multidiscipline
program with dean
oversight– please see
below for discipline
specific coordinators
This is a multidiscipline
program with dean
oversight. Please see
below for discipline
specific coordinators.
Davyda Hammond
Don Frank
Beverly Abrams
Jill Noel/ Wayne Perry*
Gerald Miller
Gerald Miller
Sue Skinner
Heather Cannova
Jillian Noel
Davyda Hammond
Beverly Abrams
Jean Lauzon
Jill Noel/ Kirk Twigg*
this is a multi-discipline
program. Please see
below for discipline
specific coordinators
Certificate in Graphic
Communications
Certificate in Police Science
Certificate in Practical Nursing
Career Study Certificate (CSC) in
Accounting
CSC Allied Health Preparation
CSC American Sign Language
CSC Automotive Technology –
Automotive Diagnostician
CSC Automotive Technology –
Automotive Technician
CSC Banking
CSC Business Core
CS Dental Assisting
CSC E-Commerce
CSC Early Childhood
Development
CSC EMT Intermediate
CSC Engineering Technology
CSC Horticulture
CSC Industrial Maintenance
CSC Legal Assistant
CSC Microcomputer Applications
for Business
CSC Networking
CSC Advanced Networking
CSC Nurse Aide
CSC Paraprofessional Counseling
CSC Pharmacy Technician
CSC Police Science
CSC Small Business Management
CSC Supervision
CSC Surgical Scrub Nursing
CSC Vocational Health Care
Jean Lauzon
Jillian Noel
Heather Cannova
Charles Trainum
This program is
comprised of only general
education courses. All
courses are coordinated
by a coordinator or Lead
Faculty. Oversight is
provided by the Dean of
Nursing and Health
Technologies
Stephanie Green
Brent Wilson
Brent Wilson
Don Frank
Don Frank
Misty Mesimer
Gerald Miller
Beverly Abrams
Jill Noel/ Wayne Perry*
Davyda Hammond
Michael Read
Davyda Hammond
Chuck Trainum
Gerald Miller
Gerald Miller
Gerald Miller
Karen Mittura
Gayle Wolfe
John Stroffolino
Jillian Noel
Don Frank
Don Frank
Karen Mittura
Heather Cannova
Program Coordinators, General Education,
by Discipline
English (for Credit)
Chair - Leigh Hancock
English (developmental) –
Chair - Vanessa Sekinger
Math (credit and developmental)
Chair - Patricia Parker
Social Sciences
Chair- Gayle Wolfe
Discipline specific lead faculty:
Psychology - Gayle Wolfe
Sociology – Carolyn Pevey
Political Science - Jamie Lennahan
Humanities
Chair – Amanda Dowd
Discipline specific lead faculty
Humanities - Amanda Dowd
History, Philosophy, Religion - Cheryl Huff
Science
Co – Chairs – Julie Fasano, Jessica Matheson
Discipline Specific Lead Faculty
Anatomy and Physiology – Julie Fasano
Biology – Jessica Matheson
Chemistry – Pam Runnels
Physics - Mirela Fetea
Communications –
Chair – Stephanie Green
Foreign Languages
Chair – Ashley Anglin
Student Development
co-chairs - Mark Haines and Sarah Somerville
Mr. Haines and Dr. Somerville are full time coordinators
of Counseling at Germanna. Their credentials can be found
under Principle 3.2.8 under Other Administrators.
I. Role of the Chairs
All Germanna disciplines are coordinated by chairs with discipline specific qualifications.
The roster of chairs for current for Spring 2013 is above and provides the qualifications
of the chairs and lead faculty that help coordinate programs at all sites. Support is
provided by the chairs for the Fredericksburg Area Campus, the Locust Grove Campus,
the Daniel Technology Center, the Stafford Center and all off-sites, including all area
high schools offering dual enrollment. If a department is a mixed discipline department,
such as Social Sciences, Physical Sciences, or Humanities the chair will delegate
discipline specific tasks to a full time faculty member in that discipline. For the
Humanities, where there are several disciplines where only a few classes are offered, a
full time faculty member takes the lead in coordinating discipline specific tasks. This
faculty member will work with full and part time faculty on these tasks. The duties of
the chairs is covered in great detail in the chairs handbook. Dept.Chair Manual 12-13
FINAL However the primary coordinating duties of the chairs is covered in the contract
they sign each year. sample - department chair contract001 Chairs must:
Manage the process to recruit, hire, evaluate, coach, and mentor adjunct and dual
enrollment faculty per College procedures and policies.
Schedule at least one meeting each semester
Review adjunct and dual enrollment course outlines in coordination with Dean's staff
Attend adjunct and dual enrollment orientations and conduct training sessions(s) for
discipline faculty
Evaluate and observe part-time and dual enrollment faculty per College policies and
procedure
Support professional development for adjunct and dual enrollment faculty.
Manage the process to ensure all department assessment commitments are completed
satisfactorily
Manage the process to ensure accurate textbook information is provided to Division
Office by assigned deadlines.
Manage the process to ensure student learning outcomes for each program are clearly
defined, disseminated, and assessed per College policies and procedures.
Manage student complaints following College policies and procedures.
Promote collaboration within the department by developing clear department goals and
objectives and engaging all faculty to assist in their development and implementation.
Have a minimum of two faculty meetings each semester
Send copies of minutes via e-mail to Academic Deans.
Inform Deans on issue or concerns affecting departments and/or College.
Manage process to ensure curriculum plans meet student and program requirements
and make changes following College policies and procures, as necessary.
Manage the process to ensure course content summaries are completed and filed for
each course offered.
Manage department program/annual reviews per College policies and procedures.
Review course schedules in collaboration with department faculty and ensure
curriculum plans are closely followed.
Review student transcripts to determine transfer acceptance and complete
substitution approvals, as necessary.
Manage departmental budgets in coordination with Deans.
Manage review of course outlines to ensure all components, especially those related
to accreditation, are included.
Lead advisory committees.
Ensure membership is current and active
Coordinate at least one meeting each academic year
Ensure minutes are submitted to Academic Deans.
Utilize committee to improve program
Serve as the contact for issues concerning the department
Mast the advising technique for Education Majors
Complete other duties deemed relevant by Department Chair and Academic
Deans.
*Part time Faculty as Lead Faculty
In two cases above, Kirk Twigg in Fire Science, and Wayne Perry in Emergency Medical
Technology, Germanna has asked a part time person to serve in a coordinating role. In
both cases these are relatively small and relatively new programs. It was felt by
Germanna administrators that the long career specific experience these two
professionals bring to these programs is so valuable that the programs in general and
students in particular will benefit from their expertise. However, in recognition of their
part time status, we have paired them with Jillian Noel, a full time faculty member, as
chair of the program. Ms. Noel brings to the role over a decade in law enforcement and
several years as an instructor. As a full time faculty member Ms. Noel is able to provide
coordination in mentoring and observing faculty, approving syllabi, selecting
textbooks. Paired with Mr. Twigg and Mr. Perry with their advanced knowledge of the
field, the students are able to receive a quality learning experience. As these programs
develop Germanna plans to hire full time instructors into these positions.
II. The Role of the Deans of Instruction
The Deans of Instruction play an important role in program coordination. Their role in
providing a quality learning environment is discussed throughout the narrative for this
Fifth Year Interim Report. As a brief summary of their role: They supervise all full and
part time faculty. They assist, mentor, and train the chairs. They implement
Germanna, Virginia Community College System, and Commonwealth of Virginia
policies. They help students and are the first official contact in a student
complaint. They assure all faculty have the appropriate credentials to teach the class to
which they are assigned. They implement, monitor, and analyze assessment
results. They take the lead in closing the loop and using assessment and student
success data to provide continuous improvement to Germanna's educational
programs. The deans, their credentials, and their resumes are included in the table that
is part of Principle 3.2.8 earlier in this report. However, here we would like to provide a
brief summary linking the experience of the Deans of Instruction at Germanna to their
role in program coordination. All of the Dean's of Instruction at Germanna have been in
the role of chair and been in the role of classroom instructor at Germanna. This
experience is extremely valuable in their role in program coordination.
Denise Guest - Dean of Professional and Technical Studies. Prior to this position, Ms.
Guest was chair of the Business Department and taught accounting.
Shashuna Gray - Dean of Arts and Sciences. Prior to this position, Ms. Gray served as
Assistant to the Dean of Arts and Sciences, Chair of the Department of Physical
Sciences, and taught Biology.
Patti Lisk - Dean of Nursing and Health Technologies. Prior to this position, Dr. Lisk
served as Chair of the Associate of Applied Sciences in Registered Nursing and taught
Nursing.
Pam Frederick - Dean of Student Support Services. Prior to this position, Ms. Frederick
was a student counselor.
III. The role of the curriculum committee
The purpose of the committee is to provide guidance, standards, and oversight of the
curriculum and the curriculum approval process at Germanna Community College. This
committee reviews existing and proposed credit programs and related courses, and makes
recommendations to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Services for
approval and disapproval of items presented to the committee. The committee also works,
as appropriate, with the program review process.
Membership to the Curriculum Committee is comprised of one faculty member from the
following discipline areas: (1) math; (2) science; (3) information technology; (4)
humanities/fine arts/foreign languages; (5) social sciences; (6) Allied Health/health/PE;
(7) business/economics; and (8) an occupational/technical (discipline area not
specified). Membership also includes one Dean of Instruction, one Counselor and one
Librarian. These members have voting privileges. Ex-officio members include the Vice
President of Academic Affairs and Students Services; two Deans of Instruction; the
Coordinator
of
Admissions
and
Records;
and
a
Workforce
Technology
representative. These members do not have voting privileges.
Items that reach the curriculum committee for review and recommendation must first go
through a lengthy review process by the discipline. As the Curriculum Change Form Updated 12 11 09 approval sheet shows, before the curriculum committee sees a proposed
change it has been reviewed by the discipline chair and several full time faculty. The
membership and role of the curriculum committee is clearly stated in Germanna policy
manual in Curriculum Committee Guidelines Feb1309.
Curriculum Committee and Substantive Change
Before the change is implemented or is forwarded to the next approval level, the change
must be reviewed by the Executive Director for Organizational Planning and
Assessment. This position serves as the accreditation liaison with SACSCOC. This is one
of the steps Germanna has taken to insure compliance with Principle 3.12 on Substantive
Change.
Distance Education and off-sight
Discipline specific program coordination is provided by the chairs and lead faculty for all
programs listed above, regardless of on-line, hybrid, or face to face modalities. The
Deans, Chairs, and Lead Faculty provide coordination regardless of the site at which the
course or program is taught. Our campuses and three Germanna sites, our are high
schools offering dual enrollment, and other off site programs all receive the same
program coordination.
Summary
Germanna has in the role of chair, lead faculty, and dean individuals qualified to provide
program coordination in all of our degrees, certificates, and disciplines. With qualified
deans taking the lead, and with the oversight of the curriculum committee, all Germanna
programs and courses either on or off campus, face to face, online, or hybrid, traditional
students or dual enrollment, receive oversight and coordination.
Sources

Abrams Resume

Anglin Resume

Cannova Resume

Curriculum Change Form - Updated 12 11 09

Curriculum Committee Guidelines Feb1309

Daigle Resume

Davis J Resume

Dept.Chair Manual 12-13 FINAL

Dowd Resume

Fasano

Fetea_CV_Abreviated_2013

Frank resume

Greene Resume

HammondD resume

HancockResume

Huff Resume

Lauzon Resume

Lennahan resume

Matheson Resume

Mesimer Resume

Miller Resume

Mittura Resume

Murphy Resume

Noel, J. Resume

Parker P Resume

Perry Resume

Pevey resume

Read Resume

runnels resume

sample - department chair contract001

Sekinger Resume

Skinner Resume

Stroffolino Resume

trainum resume

Twigg resume

Wilson Resume

Wolfe resume
CS - 3.11.3
Physical Resources: Physical facilities
The institution operates and maintains physical facilities, both on and off campus, that
appropriately serve the needs of the institution's educational programs, support
services, and other mission-related activities. (Comprehensive Standard 3.11.3)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Overview
Germanna Community College owns two campuses and a center, leases two facilities in
Stafford County, leases office space in the City of Fredericksburg, offers dual enrollment
in most high schools, and operates in a number of other locations, such as public
libraries via either facilities use agreements or memorandums of understanding. The
original college campus is the Locust Grove Campus (LGC) in Orange County
approximately equidistant from the City of Fredericksburg and the Town of Culpeper
along State Route 3. The Fredericksburg Area Campus (FAC) opened in 1997 and quickly
became the more populated campus due to its proximity to the highest population
centers in the College’s service region and its location along Interstate 95 and U.S.
Route 1. The youngest College-owned location is the Culpeper site just outside the Town
of Culpeper and adjacent to U.S. Rt. 29. The College began leasing 5,000 square feet of
classroom and office space in northern Stafford County in August 2009. Enrollment in
the Stafford Center space reached capacity in its first full semester. In April 2012 the
College through its related Educational Foundation, Inc. began leasing about 2,330
square feet of office space in the City of Fredericksburg for institutional advancement
functions such as fundraising, public information, and marketing. In August 2012 the
College entered into a lease for 11,000 square feet to house the College’s Automotive
Program, including faculty offices. The Automotive Center is approximately six miles
south of the Stafford Center and approximately fifteen miles north of FAC. The College
neither owns nor maintains the high school sites or other locations. The College will pay
for use of space when required but attempts to limit those costs whenever possible.
The College owns approximately 203 acres of land Land Holdings_081908 and it has
about 292,461 square feet of building space Buildings Report_2013 02 27. Nearly
167,000 square feet of the building space is located on the FAC, which hosts about twothirds of all on-campus enrollments. Since 1997 the College has maintained a consistent
amount of space per full-time equivalent student. Of the total building space 151,690
square feet, or 52% of the total, has been constructed or leased within the last ten
years. To help highlight this a graph showing College owned space over time is included
Buildings Report_Sq Ft Graph. Most recently, the College completed a 50,000 square
foot academic building that houses a campus library, engineering classrooms and labs,
and science classrooms and labs. The campus library, which previously occupied about
3,500 square feet now occupies over 12,500 square feet and offers classroom space to
permit the College to teach students proper research techniques. A three-story parking
garage adjacent to this new academic building was completed in early January 2013.
This garage, the College’s first parking structure, provides 360+/- spaces, which will
facilitate continued growth on the campus. Additionally, repairs were completed in
December 2012 on the College’s largest building, which was damaged by an earthquake
in August 2011.
Germanna believes that its facilities play an important role in recruitment and retention
of students and employees alike. Any large organization with multiple locations will
constantly face challenges in maintaining and providing new facilities to satisfy changing
teaching and learning styles, changes in technology, and changes in user preferences.
Germanna’s commitment is evidenced by the condition of its facilities and the financial
support it provides to the operation and maintenance of plant. Over the eleven year
period from FY 2001-02 through 2011-12, the College spent an average of 10.76% of its
revenues on facilities maintenance. We are projecting that we will exceed that average
for FY 2012-13. As a result of reduced utilities consumption through improved
efficiencies and deliberate efforts to reduce usage, physical plant operations and
maintenance spending declined in recent years. That decline was exaggerated in FY
2011-12 when the College lost its largest academic building (V. Earl Dickinson Building
on the Fredericksburg Area Campus) for eleven months of the year. That building
comprised about one third of all college-owned space at the time of the August 2011
earthquake. Spending rebounded significantly in FY 2012-13 when a 51,942 square foot
academic building opened for the whole year and the damaged building was brought
back online for the final six months of the fiscal year. Historically, the College’s spending
on physical plant has exceeded the average for the Virginia Community College System.
Attached are Facilities Maintenance Ratios (Operation and Maintenance of Plant
expenses divided by the sum of operating and non-operating revenues) Facilities
Maintenance Ratio. We’ve projected the FY 2012-13 ratio for Germanna based on
relative cash-based expenses and revenues for both FY12 and FY13. The VCCS ratio was
projected based on an average of the most recent three years.
Master Plan
The College has an internally generated Facilities Master Plan Facilities Master
Plan_Internal_All Sites_2012; Facilities Master Plan Rendering LGC; Facilities Master
Plan Rendering Culpeper that projects continued growth at both campuses and the
Culpeper site in accordance with rapid growth of the population in the service region.
This plan is informed by other planning documents, especially the Academic Master Plan
Academic Master Plan 2013-17. A copy of the 2013-2017 Academic Master Plan is
included. The plan also includes a future permanent site/campus in Stafford County and
future expansion into Caroline County for a total of five campuses or sites. The narrative
for the plan is supported by renderings prepared by architectural firms. When the
College engages firms in capital projects we typically require they revisit our campus
plans to validate the physical layout and provide a visual reference. The State Board for
Community Colleges requires that campus master plans be updated every ten years;
however, they have typically only requested the renderings and not the supporting data
or analysis. The FAC master plan rendering was approved by the State Board in March
2010 and the LGC master plan rendering was approved March 2005. The Facilities
Master Plan is attached with the approved renderings. The rendering for the Culpeper
site has not been approved by the State Board because the site is not a campus. In
March 2013 the college contracted with Stantec, an architectural and engineering firm,
to provide a comprehensive campus master plan for its Fredericksburg Area Campus
Facilities Master Plan_FAC_2013 06 03 and a feasibility study for a site in Stafford
County Facilities Master Plan_Stafford Feasibility Study_2013 06 03. The study by
Stantec includes analysis of the service region population and economy, transportation
issues, room utilization, utilities mapping, environmental restrictions, common design
elements and charettes designed to help identify future programs and unique enrollment
factors.
Space Management
Each fall the College updates the inventory of rooms, especially on-campus spaces.
Beginning in 2013, the College will begin updating the room inventory twice per year.
While the physical dimensions of rooms do not typically change often, the use of the
space and, therefore, “ownership” of space can change frequently in a community
college environment. The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) maintains the
Facilities Utilization Management System (FUMS) application to collect and analyze room
assignments, as well as space and seat usage. Certain college personnel have been
granted access to update the database and the VCCS makes reports available as early
as mid-term each fall and spring semester for College personnel to analyze data. The
State Council for Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) conducts a statewide analysis of
classroom and class lab space utilization every two years. The SCHEV analysis is
incorporated into capital improvement plans for the Commonwealth.
In 2011, to help ensure the College was effectively utilizing existing space, the
institution contracted with Stantec to conduct a classroom utilization study Space
Utilization_FAC_2011 which revealed better usage than the College was otherwise
reporting to the State. Changes to procedures enabled the College to better reflect its
usage, which will help justify additional facilities sponsored by the State. Additionally,
some best practices were learned to aid with both daily management and future building
programming. As part of our campus master plan study for FAC, space utilization is
being revisited by Stantec in 2013 Space Utilization_Spring 2013_2013 04 23. A 5%
decline in enrollment for 2012-13 and the opening of the Science and Engineering
Building/Information Commons in that same year results in lowering of excessive
utilization statistics for the Fredericksburg Area Campus in the spring 2013 semester. In
essence, the overcrowding of the Fredericksburg Area Campus felt for several years has
eased and capacity for on-campus growth exists as of the 2012-13 reports.
Maintenance
The College uses the MaintStar application for asset and maintenance management.
Employees may submit work order requests via a College email address (Maintenance)
or enter a request directly into MaintStar. The email requests are read by the
administrative assistant in the Facilities Management department and either entered into
the MaintStar application or handed to a Facilities manager depending upon the nature
of the request. The College relies upon the software application to produce work orders
for repairs as well as preventative and cyclical maintenance. Sample reports and work
orders are provided Mainstar Work Orders; Mainstar_System Equip Hist_DTC Bldg
Inspec; Mainstar_System Equip Hist_FAC1 Boiler Inspec; Mainstar_System Equip
Hist_FAC1 Chiller Inspec.
Facilities Condition
The Commonwealth of Virginia requires its agencies to report its facilities’ condition in
the Facilities Inventory Condition and Assessment System. Building conditions are used
to help determine capital improvement dollar allocations and assess agency operations.
Each year the College endeavors to conduct assessments of 25% or more of its facilities.
Typically, the College contracts with an outside vendor to conduct these assessments to
help ensure objectivity with the assessments and not permit one facility to be treated
differently than other facilities. Reports from these assessments serve as the deferred
maintenance report for the College, serve as source data for the College to request
capital improvement funds from the Commonwealth or the VCCS, and/or serve as
source data for input into the MaintStar asset and maintenance management
application. The Commonwealth of Virginia has a statewide contract with VFA, Inc. to
conduct facilities assessments. Germanna uses this contract to undertake its
assessments. Per VFA, “to calculate the FCI for a building, divide the total estimated
cost to complete deferred maintenance projects for the building by its estimated
replacement value. The lower the FCI, the lower the need for remedial or renewal
funding relative to the facility’s value. For example, an FCI of 0.1 signifies a 10 percent
deficiency, which is generally considered low, and an FCI of 0.7 means that a building
needs extensive repairs or replacement.” Germanna’s FCI is .02 for the Culpeper Site
Facilities Condition Report_Culpeper_June 2013, .08 for the Locust Grove Campus
Facilities Condition Report_LGC_June 2013, and .01 for the Fredericksburg Area Campus
Facilities Condition Report_FAC_June 2013. Germanna’s worst campus is still considered
to have very little maintenance deficiency per VFA. Over half of the College’s overall
deficiencies, in estimated repair costs, are contained on the Locust Grove Campus. A
replacement project for the D. French Slaughter Building is contained in the College’s
six-year capital outlay plan and currently ranks as the 9th highest priority capital project
within the VCCS. Current thought is that the three modular buildings would also be
razed and their programs moved to the replacement Slaughter Building.
Capital Improvements
As a state agency, the College’s capital improvements must be approved by the
Commonwealth of Virginia, regardless of funding source. Every two years the College
submits an updated Six-Year Capital Outlay Plan and a Maintenance Reserve Request
(for projects with costs of less than $250,000), which are attached Capital
Outlay_Germanna Summary of Requests 2014-20; Capital Plans 2016-18 State Board
Approved; Capital Plans 2018-20 State Board Approved. The VCCS reviews the plans
submitted by its twenty-three member colleges and develops a System prioritization.
The prioritized VCCS submission is sent to SCHEV and the Department of Planning &
Budget, which together make recommendations to the Governor that incorporate agency
priorities, space utilization, facilities conditions and other relevant factors. The
replacement of the 40+ year old D. French Slaughter Building currently ranks as the 9th
highest priority for the VCCS. Preliminary design work is anticipated to begin for this
replacement project in the 2013-14 year. The College will continue occupying the
existing building(s) until the new construction is completed and then the original building
and, likely, three modular buildings will be demolished. Initial thoughts are to construct
a like sized building on three floors and improve building usage efficiencies by 5-10%
and utilities by a similar amount.
The College’s Six-Year Plan does not include a new campus development in Stafford
County even though a feasibility study has been conducted because the institution does
not yet own land on which to develop the campus at the time of the report submission.
It is anticipated that two gifts of land will result in 32-34 acres being made available in
the central part of Stafford County within an urban area concept near an existing
hospital and County government offices. The College’s six-year capital plans also do not
include several energy savings projects the College is hoping to initiate in the near
future. The three most significant energy savings projects, which likely would be
financed via alternative financing methods, include a natural gas line run to the Culpeper
site, photovoltaic cells at the Fredericksburg Area Campus, and LED external lighting at
all College-owned sites.
Sustainability
The College is actively involved in sustainability initiatives. Pursuant to two separate
gubernatorial executive orders (#54 in 2003 and #48 in 2007) Germanna has decreased
energy consumption by approximately thirty percent. Part of this was accomplished via
an energy performance management contract, which has resulted in saving over 1,500
tons of CO2 and about $350,000 since the contract began in mid-2008. Reports on
energy savings from this program are shared with the Germanna community every
quarter via the College’s intranet, Germanna Central.
Germanna also recently completed its first LEEDS silver project by opening a 51,942
square foot Science and Engineering Building/Information Commons in May 2012. All
subsequent projects will meet or exceed LEED Silver requirements.
Technology
The College believes it is in very good condition presently with technology and is actively
planning for future improvements. The College was honored to receive top 10 (mid-sized
college) ranking by the Center For Digital Education in their Digital Community Colleges
Survey for both 2011 2011 Digital Community Colleges Survey Winners Announced and
2012 2012 Digital Community Colleges Survey Winners Announcement. For over a
decade the College has provided smart podiums containing computer, DVD and/or VCR,
and overhead projector access in every classroom. Where needed, other electronic
teaching aids are provided as well. Additionally, the College has nine integrated video
(IV) classrooms, five conference rooms with IV, and one mobile IV unit. The virtual
nursing hospital with its simulated patients is a very important component to the
consistently high nursing certification scores received by our nursing program graduates.
Finally, the newest classroom building for the College was constructed as an open
learning environment. Mechanical rooms have large windows so students, especially
those in science and engineering programs, can observe the infrastructure of the
building and it also has a large monitor displaying key building automation control data
so they can observe how the building is working at that particular time. The College also
deploys monitors throughout buildings to communicate important events as well as
safety and security messages. Furthermore, voice over IP (VOIP) phones are located in
every classroom and are programmed to function as loud speakers and listening devices
in the event of emergencies. The College is in the process of updating emergency call
boxes in parking areas to broadcast these same safety/security messages outdoors via
the VOIP network. Future projects include increasing the network bandwidth at all
locations, improving network wireless coverage, and improving digital/cellular access
with distributed antenna systems. The College is also migrating software applications to
virtual servers, increasing the number of virtual servers, and deploying virtual desktops.
Policies are being developed to assist with the management of personal devices being
used for college purposes, especially in classroom environments.
Assessments
The College surveys students about their satisfaction with our facilities via a Currently
Enrolled Student Survey. The 2010 survey, which is the latest, is included with
supporting documents in the Institutional Effectiveness folder. Survey results were
generally positive for the facilities related items – appearance, comfort, cleanliness, and
parking. All comments made regarding facilities conditions are included. Based on the
total population surveyed, the number of issues was statistically insignificant; however,
the Administrative Services Division addresses the survey each year during one or more
staff meetings and follow up is conducted by the Vice President with the Facilities
Manager for facilities related issues. At the divisional staff meeting, each department
manager and supervisor are asked to share their plans for addressing the issue and all
persons are invited to comment on both the issues raised and possible responses to the
issues.
Summation
We have shown through narrative and supporting documents that Germanna Community
College operates and maintains physical facilities that appropriately serve the needs of
the institution's educational programs, support services, and other mission-related
activities.
Sources

2011 Digital Community Colleges Survey Winners Announced

2012 Digital Community Colleges Survey Winners Announcement

Academic Master Plan 2013-17

Buildings Report_2013 02 27

Buildings Report_Sq Ft Graph

Capital Outlay_Germanna Summary of Requests 2014-20

Capital Plans 2014-16 State Board Approved and Prioritized

Capital Plans 2016-18 State Board Approved

Capital Plans 2018-20 State Board Approved

Facilities Condition Report_Culpeper_June 2013

Facilities Condition Report_FAC_June 2013

Facilities Condition Report_LGC_June 2013

Facilities Maintenance Ratio

Facilities Master Plan Rendering Culpeper

Facilities Master Plan Rendering LGC

Facilities Master Plan_FAC_2013 06 03

Facilities Master Plan_Internal_All Sites_2012

Facilities Master Plan_Stafford Feasibility Study_2013 06 03

Land Holdings_081908

Mainstar Work Orders

Mainstar_System Equip Hist_DTC Bldg Inspec

Mainstar_System Equip Hist_FAC1 Boiler Inspec

Mainstar_System Equip Hist_FAC1 Chiller Inspec

Space Utilization_FAC_2011

Space Utilization_Spring 2013_2013 04 23
FR - 4.1
Student Achievement
The institution evaluates success with respect to student achievement consistent with its
mission. Criteria may include: enrollment data; retention, graduation, course
completion, and job placement rates; state licensing examinations; student portfolios; or
other means of demonstrating achievement of goals. (Federal Requirement 4.1)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Germanna Community College is an open access comprehensive institution and
consistent with its mission “provides accessible, quality education and training
opportunities that meet our communities’ changing learning needs.”Who We Are
Student Achievement is documented in this report which shows successful course
completion percentages, retention, graduation and transfer percentages, as well
as, statistics showing successful completion of state licensing examinations,
percentages of program completers who are employed and student success
initiatives.
Each faculty member is required to use our syllabus creator to insure that students
receive learning outcomes and goals of each course. Syllabus creator is both online and
a MSWord based template that locks in the required elements of the syllabus. Required
elements include Student Learning Outcomes, Scheduled class times, textbook, and
common embedded assessments if the class is identified as an assessment class.
We include in our discussion here the benchmarks against which we judge our progress
on student achievement. These benchmarks are tied to our college strategic plan and
are therefore included in the Academic Master Plan. Academic Master Plan 2009-13
v3 We have attached here the master plan in effect when we developed these
benchmarks and collected the data. The master plan is updated each year.
Successful Course Completion Statistics & Criteria
The benchmark for student success and course completion is objective 1.2 of
the Academic Master Plan "to improve persistence, retention, and student
success by at least 2% increments each year."
The completions of individual courses are assessed by each individual instructor using
course-specific examinations. A student is considered to have successfully completed a
course by earning a grade of A, B, C or D. At Germanna Community College successful
course completion ranged from 73% to 71% with an overall average of 73.3% over a
five year period. (See table 1) This success rate varied by discipline. Grades by
Discipline. The attached is a report which gives detail on grades by discipline. This
report was drawn from student success data collected since 2008. Germanna has not
realized our goal of annual improvement in success in grades. This information was
shared by the Student Success Specialist with faculty at faculty meetings, with College
leadership at the Leadership Team Meetings and with the College at a whole at College
Learning Days. Additionally, a academic success program was piloted for students in
academic jeopardy and there are plans to make this a required program.
Table 1 – Successful Course Completion by Academic Year
Academic Year
2007-2008
2008-2009
2009-2010
2010-2011
2011-2012
Total Course
Enrollment
30,986
32,854
38,398
41,876
44,075
Percentage
(A,B,C grades)
68.2%
68.4%
69.9%
69.6%
67.0%
Passing
(grade of D)
4.8%
4.8%
5.0%
4.8%
4.9%
Overall
Average
Overall
73.0%
73.2%
74.9%
74.4%
71.0%
73.3%
Student Success and Retention
The Benchmark/Measurement for Student Success and Retention are in the
Academic Master Plan under Objective 1.2, Tactic 2: “Improve year-to year
retention rates for full-and part-time students by at least 3% over AY 200809.”
The most recent retention data available for the VCCS is the AY 2011-2012 fall-to-fall
retention rates which is 41.6% for all students and 51.6% for first-time curricular
enrollers. The National average for 2-year public colleges was 59.2% of full-time
students and 39.7% of part-time students who were retained from the fall of 2008 –
2009. Waller, L.R., Tietjen-Smith, T, A National Study of Community College Retention
Rates …, Retrieved December 6, 2011. An accessible link to this article is provided
at: National Collegiate Retention ACT
According to an American College Testing (ACT) study the 2012 the mean retention rate
for two-year public colleges with open admissions like Germanna is
55.3. ACTNationalRetentionRates
At Germanna Community College the higher retention rate is among AY 2011-2012 firsttime curricular enrollers at 52.7% while the fall-to-fall retention for all students is at
40.4%. Although this is lower than the national average as reported by ACT, it is
consistent with the Virginia Community College System's averages. This data is from the
Virginia Community College System Institutional Research webpage. The chart below
summarizes the fall to spring retention rates for first time, Curricular enrollers.
In order to address some of our concerns about persistence, the Germanna Community
College Office of Academic and Student Services hired a Student Success Specialist
in 2011. We are updating the Academic Master Plan to include the following objectives
and tactics for the improvement of our retention and persistence rates:



Objective 5.3 Enhance Academic Quality and Student Success – Tactic 5:
Develop and implement a plan for department chairs to routinely be informed of
students in their programs, to monitor student progress, and communicate
program information with curricular students.
Objective 5.3 – Tactic 7: Create and develop a plan for support of students on
academic probation.
Objective 5.4 Provide learning support that align with the needs of
students and faculty – Tactic 2: Provide accessible advising for students by
strengthening advising system.
Objective 5.6: Enhance student engagement through early connections for
students. – Tactic 1: Using SENSE and CCSSE data, study student behaviors and
systems that enhance student success and implement new success strategies.
Graduation Student Success Goals
Germanna's strategic plan includes the following student success goal:
“Increase the number of students graduating, transferring or completing a
workforce credential by 50%, including increasing the success of students from
underserved populations by 75%.” This goal is reflected in our Academic
Master Plan as Objective 2.2, Tactic 1 “…improved student graduation and
transfer rates by at least 2% increments each year; improved transfer student
success rates by at least 2% increments each year…”
Germanna Community College has increased the total number of graduates since 200708 by 85% from 547 in 2008-09 to 1,012 in 2012-13. This data is stored on the Virginia
Community College Systems (VCCS) Institutional Research website. An accessible link to
this data is provided at VCCS Graduate and Award Data2011-2012.
Germanna's under-represented (URP) population graduation numbers almost tripled
(minus 18 students) from 164 in 2007-2008 to 482 in 2011-12. Although enrollment of
URPs has declined slightly the success of this population has shown a steady increase
since 2007-08. Under Represented Population Reports (VCCS) 2007-2013
Graduation and Transfer Rates
The Germanna Community College rates of graduation and transfers are based on
cohorts of students who are first-time, full-time and program placed. Graduates are
students earning an award in three academic years, plus the following summer.
Although we are pleased to see that our students are successfully transferring to four
year colleges, Germanna Community College needs to increase graduation rates. The
chart below indicates that transfer rates of first-time, full-time, program placed students
have gone up at a higher rate while graduation rates have improved slightly. This may
be an indicator of more of these students are seeking to transfer prior to completing the
associate degree and more four-year colleges may be actively recruiting those
students. five year period.
VCCS Insitiutional Research data show transfer rates for graduates completing an AA,
AS, AA&S transfer degree program has increased from 16.7% in 2010-2011 to 22.4% in
2011-2012. VCCS Transfer Rates2010-2012.
VCCS used National Student Clearinghouse Data to determine enrollment at another
institutions. This does not include graduates who transferred. VCCS Graduation
Rates2012; VCCS Graduation Rates10-11.
Job Placement
Germanna Community College awardees are employed at a slightly higher percentage
compared to the entire VCCS. 64% of all VCCS awards found employment within six
months of completing their program in both 2008-09 and 2009-10. An average of 67%
of Germanna Community College program completers found employment within six
months for the academic years 2008-09 and 2009-10. The Virginia Community College
System tracks the employment of its graduates using records from the Virginia
Employment Commission. According to the April 2012 Student Success Snapshot
newsletter published by the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), Health Care
graduates are employed at a higher rate than other graduates. These graduates fulfill a
need in doctors’ offices, hospitals and other medical facilities in Virginia. The newsletter
shows that Germanna Community College had a slightly higher percentage of employed
program completers in all areas in 2008-09 and 2009-10 compared with the entire
VCCS. StudentSuccessSnapshot_22_20120417.
Institutions of higher education in Virginia rely largely on data available through the
Virginia Employment Commission. If a graduate of one of our programs is a federal
employee or is employed outside of the state of Virginia, they would not be captured in
this data. Thus, the official data on employment understates true employment levels.
An effort is made by Germanna to determine where our graduates are working. A letter
is sent each year to all students earning a degree or a certificate offering employment
preparation services and to inquire about post graduation plans. Responses included
acceptance to four year colleges and others indicated employment status. A list of
employers includes:
Lord Fairfax Community College
Quantico Military Base
Germanna Community College
University of Mary Washington
Geico
Spotsylvania School System
Stafford County School System
Prince William County
COSTCO
Wal-Mart
Target
Best Buy
Lowe’s
Unions Ban
Mary Washington Hospital
Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center
Health South
Proffered Pediatrics
Department of Defense
Student Success Initiatives
Germanna Community College uses these findings to make data driven decisions to
improve student success and has implemented the following student success initiatives
to help increase retention to graduation with an award. Many of the suggestions below
are in the Student Success Report Student Success Reportage-2013 prepared by the
Student Success Committee chaired by the student success specialist.
1. Emphasize the two-year college transfer grant available to qualified graduates.
Qualified Associate Degree recipients may be eligible for up to $6000.00 in State Grant
monies to transfer to a Virginia Four year institution.
2. Increase student engagement through orientation and welcome day programs.
Studies have shown that the earlier the student is engaged the more likely they are to
persist through graduation. A required orientation program is planned for new students
and was piloted in the spring of 2013. In the fall of 2012 Germanna Community College
welcomed new students with a festive orientation/information half day program the
Saturday before the start of classes. Students were able to hear a greeting from the
College President, tour the buildings and win door prizes. Deans and teaching faculty
were available at both campuses, the Stafford Site, and the Daniel Technology Center to
discuss their subjects and describe their classes. Germanna repeated this Weclome Day
program this summer with even greater attendance. Orientation Summer 2013. We will
continue to collect data on this program to see if there is an improvement in retention
and student success.
3. Develop a student success webpage
Student Success WebpageScreenShot As part of our college readiness program students
can visit this webpage for success tips and links to campus resources designed to help
with their success.
4. Pilot a program for students who are in academic jeopardy.
Starting in the fall of 2012 a pilot program for students who ended the spring semester
with less than 2.0 GPA was implemented on the Fredericksburg campus. The
students received extra assistive counseling and advising to assist with their success and
participated in a success workshop.
5. Require that all developmental students take SDV 100, College Success Skills, in their
first semester.
Students who place into developmental classes are now required to take the College
Success Skills class in their first semester of enrollment. Other new students are
encouraged to take this class as one of their first classes.
6. Offer free tutoring, library resources, counseling, career services and computer labs.
The Tutoring Center launched a new Writing Center in January of 2013.
7. A Student Success Specialist was hired in the 2011-2012 academic year.
The Student Success Specialist is responsible for collecting and disseminating student
success data to deans and faculty, as well as collaborating with students, faculty,
administrators, and staff to create new and expanded innovative strategies designed to
engage students and lead to improved persistence and academic success.
The data in this report prepared by the Student Success Specialist was discussed with
faculty at faculty meetings,Faculty Meeting Agenda 2-22-2013 FAC, leadership team
meetings, College Learning Days, and assessment planning committee meetings. In
this way the relevant data is presented in a manner that is easy to understand so
changes can be made at all levels.
8. Establishment of a New Faculty Academy for the professional development of
faculty.
The New Faculty Academy started in fall of 2012. The new faculty met one Friday a
month and attendance was mandatory. Discussion topics included student success
issues, advising, and community college pedagogy. New_Faculty_Academy
9. Track program plan declarations and distribute to insure students are advised
correctly and that they are in the right program plan.
10. Monitor the success and failure of students in the various disciplines and ask deans
and departmental chairpersons to assess reasons why students may be
disproportionately unsuccessful in certain disciplines.
11. Two committees, The Student Success Committee, chaired by the Student
Success Specialist, and the Learning Centered College Committee, chaired by a faculty
member with the President as a member, are devoted to improving student
success. These committees collect data to be used for decision making, inform decision
makers of trends, develop and implement new programs, and use data to make
improvements to advising and other direct student services.
12. Another example of using data for continuous improvement has been our use of the
Survey of Entering Student Engagement data. SENSE2010Main Survey_means. As the
data show, Germanna scored lower than the national benchmark in providing
information to students regarding academic skills. Under the leadership of the student
success specialist:
The Tutoring Center



increased their outreach to be proactive in contacting students in academic
jeopardy
developed supplemental instruction sessions for classes with a low student success
rate
created a Google survey so the Deans of Instruction could contact tutoring when a
student was taking a class for the third time. This enabled tutors to directly
contact those students and set up an appointment.
In addition to changes made by the Tutoring Center, the Division of Student
Development piloted the new student orientation program in the spring 2013 semester.
The above are just some examples of the entire Student Success and Retention Program
developed by the Student Success Committee, with the Student Success Coordinator as
chair. The entire report Student Success Report2012-2013 is available here. This
report offers a plan on improving retention for 2013-2014 and has been shared at
faculty meetings, the Leadership Team meetings, and with the deans of instruction.
Program Level Student Success Reports
Germanna has developed a way of reporting in a uniform, easy to understand format,
student success data such as retention and enrollment and programmatic success
against student learning outcomes. We prepare a Academic Program Review and
Assessment of Student Learning Report (APRASL) for every program every year since
2011. These reports are discussed by the deans and the Vice President for Academic
Affairs and Student Services in the Assessment Planning Committee, and are shared
with the college community in the College Council. On a rotating basis programs
undergo a more thorough analysis in the Five Year Report. The annual and the five year
reports are stored in Germanna Central, our password protected online document
storage system. We are aware that these reports discuss student achievement and
success data, program enrollment data, and programmatic level achievement of defined
Student Learning Outcomes (Institutional Effectiveness). The assessment of all is
essential for continuous improvement. Using these reports Germanna is able to
communicate a great deal of data in a way that faculty and coordinators. We attach
here several samples showing a cross section of programmatic offerings at
Germanna. Business Administration - 2012;Automotive Diagnostician and Automotive
Technician - 2012;English as a Second Lanuage - 2011 Five-Year Review;Fire Science
Technology - 2012; As these annual and five year reports are a mechanism to
communicate our voluminous data in student achievement and success; program
health, and student learning outcome assessment you will see multiple kinds of data in
these reports. We did not include here the APRASL report for the programs in the
division of Nursing and Health Technologies. Some examples of those reports are
included in the discussion of Institutional Effectiveness, Comprehensive
Standard 3.3.1.1. Below we offer data on the Nursing and Health Technology programs
in another format.
Nursing
The nursing program evaluates success with respect to student achievement consistent
with its mission.
Outcomes regarding program completion, employment, graduate satisfaction, job
placement, and employer satisfaction are collected annually and in some cases
biannually. These are presented below.
Program Outcomes- AAS- RN Program
Area
Licensure Exam
Pass Rates*
Year
Expected Level
of Achievement
Current Year
One Year
Previous
Two Years
Previous
at or above the
national
passing
average
2012
93.5
2011
90.5%
2010
91.95%
Program
Completion Rates
Job Placement
Rates
Graduate
Satisfaction**
Employer
Satisfaction**
2012
pending
2010
78%
85%
n = 47
2012
4.3
86%
85%
n= 5
Range – 4.2-4.4
Mean – 4.32or
86.4%
n= 44
2011
3.73
74.5%
n= 13
Range – 3.0 –
4.15
Mean - 3.80
76%
80%
2009
76%
90%
2010
-
-
Many of the rest of our programs in the Nursing and Health Technology Division must
record their data in a similar format. Those programs are attached Other
HealthTechnologiesStudentSuccess.
State Licensing Information
The Division of Nursing and Health Technologies offer programs in Nursing, Pharmacy
Technician, and Dental Assisting that have national or state licensing exams. The
Practical Nursing Program has an average National Council Licensure Examination
(NCLEX) pass rate of 84.2% for 2009 – 2012. Practical Nursing pass rates at Germanna
are benchmarked against national NCLEX-PN mean pass rates. The pass rate in 2012
for this program was 84% and the national mean in 2012 was 84%. The Virginia mean
for this period was 77.13%.
The Registered Nurse/Associate Degree in Nursing Program has an average NCLEX pass
rate of 92.04% for 2009 – 2012. AAS Nursing pass rates at Germanna are
benchmarked against national NCLEX-RN mean pass rates. The pass rate in 2012 for
this program was 93.55 % and the national mean in 2012 was 89.32%.
Distance Learning
The number of distance learning course offerings increased from 138 to 421 from 2008
to 2012. Student enrollment in distance learning courses increased dramatically as can
be seen below.
Total GCC
Unduplicated
Number of DL
Students
Year
Headcount
Headcount
Percent
2007-2008
8184
3118
38%
2008-2009
9117
3399
37%
2009-2010
9774
4707
48%
2010-2011
10569
5483
52%
2011-2012*
10696
7150
67%
2012-2013
10328
5696
55%
*In FA 2011 an earthquake and the resulting damage to the main building in
Fredericksburg resulted in many classes being switched from face-to-face to hybrid or
online during the first week of classes.
The GCC data indicates the increase in distance learning enrollment for the period was
82.6%. The table below summarizes success (A, B or C) and non-success rates (D, F,
or W) on an annual basis. It does not include hybrid, dual enrollment or off-campus
classes. As can be seen, the passing rate and failure rate is as the same level as faceto-face passing rate. At this time our benchmark for Distance Learning is that student
success is near the success rates for our face to face classes.
Online / Web
Passing Rate (A, B,
C)
Failure Rate (D, F,
W)
2007-2008
3891
75.6%
1250
24.3%
2008-2009
4293
75.9%
1344
23.8%
2009-2010
5034
75.6%
1622
24.4%
2010-2011
6320
75.5%
2052
24.5%
2011-2012
7281
72.1%
2820
27.9%
2012-2013
7172
76.5%
2206
23.5%
Note: Dual enrollment, hybrid, and off-campus classes have been excluded
The completion rate for fall semester online courses remained between 89% and 90%
throughout the five year period. This means the withdrawal rate for online courses
remained between 10% and 11%. In face-to-face classes the withdrawal rate during
fall semesters remained between 6% and 8% during the same time period.
In spring 2012 and spring 2013, common embedded assessments of VCCS program
level learning outcomes were conducted in a sample of Germanna classes. The data
were collected in a manner that made comparison between online and face to face
classes possible. For the most part there appeared to be little difference between online
and face-to-face instruction with a few exceptions. In a few cases the online students
scored higher than the face-to-face students and in a few other cases they scored lower
as can be seen in the table below.
Course/
Discipline
English 112
Math
Natural Sciences
Program Level
Learning
Outcomes
1.1-1.3
2.1-2.5
4.1
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
7.2
7.4
7.5
Average
Online Score
Spring 2012
Average
Overall Score
Spring 2012
83.3
73.8
67.8
17.8
92.2
90.2
74.8
66.0
10.0
90.0
89.0
80.9
71.5
78.8
67.7
75.1
Average
Online Score
Spring 2013
72.2
94.4
Average
Overall Score
Spring 2013
79.7
95.9
73.3
80.0
40.0
53.3
53.3
60.0
78.8
74.7
61.0
18.18
89.0
40.3
93.8
86.0
90.9
93.0
Summary
Since our last reaffirmation review in 2007 and substantive change review in 2008
Germanna Community College has made a commitment to data driven improvements in
student success. We have established benchmarks in the Academic Master Plan tied to
our Mission. Student success data collected for all programs is communicated in a way
that draws together data on student achievement, program enrollment, and institutional
effectiveness in a way that the Germanna community can understand and use for
continuous improvement. We have added to the administrative infrastructure by add a
full time Student Success Specialist to the Division of Academic Affairs and Student
Services. This position coordinates the many student success efforts in all parts of
Germanna and pulls together data from many sources, allowing for the most efficient
use of resources in making data driven changes.
Sources

Academic Master Plan 2009-13 v3

Accounting - 2012

ACTNationalRetentionRates

Automotive Diagnostician and Automotive Technician - 2012

Business Administration - 2012

Business Core - 2012

Dental Assisting Grad Survey 3 13 Results

DentalAssistingMarch 8 2013 Annual Program Review Minutes

Developmental Studies 2012

Engineering -2011

English as a Second Lanuage - 2011 Five-Year Review

Faculty Meeting Agenda 2-22-2013 FAC

Fire Science Technology - 2012

Grades by Discipline

Graduation Rates Results by College

National Collegiate Retention ACT

New_Faculty_Academy

Orientation Summer 2013

Other HealthTechnologiesStudentSuccess

SENSE2010Main Survey_means

Student Success Report2012-2013

Student Success WebpageScreenShot

StudentSuccessSnapshot_22_20120417

Under Represented Population Reports (VCCS) 2007-2013

VCCS Graduate and Award Data2011-2012

VCCS Graduation Rates10-11

VCCS Graduation Rates2012

VCCS Student Retention

VCCS Total Graduates

VCCS Transfer Rates2010-2012

Who We Are
FR - 4.2
Program Curriculum
The institution's curriculum is directly related and appropriate to the purpose and goals
of the institution and the diplomas, certificates, or degrees awarded. (Federal
Requirement 4.2)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Curriculum and the Mission
The mission of Germanna Community College (GCC) follows:
As a public, comprehensive community college, Germanna provides accessible, quality
educational and training opportunities that meet our communities' changing learning
needs.
The Mission is achieved through:
 Courses, programs, and services that enable students to gain access to and
succeed in higher education;

Associate degrees and courses that prepare students to advance to and succeed in
four year colleges and universities;

Training and services to develop successful employees who meet employers'
specific needs;

Training, associate degrees, and certificates for students to enter and succeed in
the workplace; and

Services and support for community and economic development
In regards to the first two bullets above: “Courses, programs, and services that enable
students to gain access to and succeed in higher education and Associate degrees and
courses that prepare students to advance to and succeed in four year colleges and
universities. Germanna currently offers nine associate degrees that will transfer to four
year colleges and universities. These degrees vary from an associates in General Studies
to degrees specifically geared towards students desiring to major in Business,
Engineering, Psychology, or Science. All have articulation agreements with four-year
schools allowing for easy transfer and minimal to no loss of credit hours when the
student’s transcript is evaluated.
In regards to the third and fourth bullets: “Training and services to develop successful
employees who meet employers' specific needs; Training, associate degrees, and
certificates for students to enter and succeed in the workplace. Germanna offers ten
Associates of Applied Sciences, eight Certificates and twenty-five Career Study
Certificates covering employers’ and the community’s needs for business management,
dental hygienists, day care managers, paramedics (pending approval), information
management specialists, network security technicians, nurses, police and fire science,
industry and manufacturing, art and graphic communications, and automotive
technicians, Many of the programs are set up to allow a student to complete the career
study certificate first then combine those credits with a few moreto earn a certificate
then combine those credits with a few more to earn an associate of applied
science. Additional opportunities for professional growth are offered through
Germanna’s workforce division which offers a vast array of noncredit workshops.
Programs are started and updated based upon community needs or as in the case of the
Emergency Medical Services degree by state mandate (The EMS degree has been
submitted SACSCOC for approval).
Advisory Boards
Germanna’s AA&S degrees and some AAS degrees have advisory boards. These boards
meet annually to discuss community needs, identify skills gaps, changes in technology
etc. Discussion is around how these changes can be addressed by changes in
curricula. Minutes for advisory board meetings are filed in the appropriate dean’s
office. We have attached here some examples of minutes of recent advisor board
meeting.Minutes_Art Advisory Committee_2012-2013;Minutes_Horticulture Advisory
Committee_2012-2013;Minutes_Protective Services ADJ Advisory Committee_June 7
2013. Additionally, Germanna has representation at all chamber of commerce
organizations within our region and the planning district’s (Science Technology,
Engineering, and Math (STEM) committee; these memberships allow representatives at
GCC to learn of new business and community needs and offerings on regular basis. For
example, in April, 2013 GCC was be part of a STEM Summit educating the community in
STEM education and types of jobs in these fields. Faculty are encouraged to stay abreast
of their particular areas of expertise by belonging to professional organizations.
Peer Groups, Workforce and Students
Most discipline areas in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) have peer group
meeting bi-annually allowing many faculty in the same discipline from all community
colleges in Virginia to compare curriculum, textbooks, teaching methods etc. These Peer
Groups Conferences can be a source of changes in curricula.
Another source for program curriculum is through our workforce division. There have
been several cases where workforce employees have met with an employer and
identified a need for a credit program instead of a series of workshops or seminars. The
division of workforce development regularly holds events at which local employers and
Germanna decision makers can discuss issues of community need. Business and
Professional Notes April 4 2012 links to the agenda of such a gathering.
Students need also plays a part in curricula development. The majority of our students
are in our programs intended to transfer to a four year institution. Staying in touch with
their needs is also a driver of curricula change. A very common change to the
curriculum is to add or delete classes to the transfer list. For a class to be added to the
transfer list it must be accepted as a transfer class by at least four of our transfer
partners, be approved by the discipline or program faculty and approved by the
Curriculum Committee. 13 04 19 Minutes Curriculum Committee is an example of this
happening. In this case we added BUSN 290, our internship class. Students were
expressing a desire and reporting a willingness on the part of the four year institutions
to accept this class as a transfer. The attached minutes show the final approval of this
change.
Review
All new associate degrees are reviewed by the Germanna’s curriculum committee,
College Council, the President's Council, Virginia Community College System, the State
Council on Higher Education in Virginia and by Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools, Commission on Colleges. Certificates, Career Study Certificates and changes to
existing programs also go through various levels of review. A checklist on this process is
provided on our secure website and is available to all Germanna faculty and staff. GCC
New Curriculum Timeline and Checklist. A comprehensive guide is available in the VCCS
policy manual section 5.2. The link to this section of the Virginia Community College
System Policy Manual is at VCCS POLICY MANUAL Sectn5 for the entire section 5. For
the specific section that relates to curriculum we provide VCCSPolicyMnl5.2. Also
provided here is the VCCS Program review and approval process checklist. VCCS
Program Review and Approval Process. The Associates of Applied Science, Emergency
Medical Services - Paramedic, currently awaiting final approval by SACSCOC, is an
example of a degree program that has recently completed this process. EMS Paramedic
AAS Approval.
Germanna provides this information through Germanna Central. A local source for
information available to all Germanna through the website with password confirmation.
Summary Table
The following table offers examples of steps taken to ensure congruence of the mission
of the college and the curriculum .
Steps to tie curricula to mission
Our programs are designed to reflect
community need. We develop transfer
agreement with four year institutions for
transfer programs, and work with area
employer for the Applied Science Degrees,
Certificates, and Career Study Certificates
Working with the local community through
advisory groups, workshops, and the
GCC Mission, Vision, Values and
Strategic Istnitiatives.
Germanna Community College is a public
institution of higher education in the
VCCS. As a comprehensive community
college, Germanna provides quality,
accessible and affordable educational
opportunities for the residents of the City of
Fredericksburg and the counties of Caroline,
Culpeper, King George, Madison, Orange,
Spotsylvania and Stafford.
As a public, comprehensive community
college, Germanna provides accessible,
quality educational and training
nearest transfer institution Germanna
attempts to stay abreast of current need.
The Mission is achieved through:
 Courses, programs and services
that enable students to gain access
to and succeed in higher education.

Associate degrees and courses that
prepare students to advance to and
succeed in four year colleges and
universities

Provide learning experiences that
encompass the philosophy of
looking at all agencies as being part
of the community that includes as
just a few examples: day care
centers, health care providers such
as hospitals, data management
centers, and lawn and garden
services.

Communicate with our local
employers. An example of this is
the EMS-paramedic degree. As the
law on paramedics is changing the
college and local governments
worked together to develop a new
associate degree.

Through our Division of Workforce
development, meetings with local
public school superintendents, and
other venues we attempt to say
abreast of community need.
As one example, Germanna developed the
internship program in cooperation with
local employers. This program has proved
so successful we are now working with our
transfer institutions so students can
transfer the internship credits.
opportunities that meet our communities’
changing learning needs.
Meeting the changing needs of our
community
Vision: Germanna Community College is
recognized as the region’s leader and
preferred partner providing excellence in
accessible educational opportunities and
related services to our communities. Our
quality learning experiences enable students
to participate effectively in the social,
economic, political, intellectual, and cultural
life of their communities. Germanna, a
dynamic learning organization, is the
premiere gateway to personal and
community development.
Distance Learning
There is no difference between the curriculum requirements for programs taken online,
hybrid, or face to face.
Summation
We have shown through narrative and supporting documents that program curriculum is
controlled by the faculty and is appropriate to our mission
Sources

13 04 19 Minutes Curriculum Committee

Agenda_Art Advisory Committee_ 2012-2013

Business and Professional Notes April 4 2012

EMS Paramedic AAS Approval

GCC New Curriculum Timeline and Checklist

Minutes_Art Advisory Committee_2012-2013

Minutes_Horticulture Advisory Committee_2012-2013

Minutes_Protective Services ADJ Advisory Committee_June 7 2013

VCCS POLICY MANUAL Sectn5

VCCS Program Review and Approval Process

VCCSPolicyMnl5.2
FR - 4.3
Publication of Policies
The institution makes available to students and the public current academic calendars,
grading policies, and refund policies. (Federal Requirement 4.3)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Website
Germanna Community College provides easy access to current academic calendars,
grading policies, and refund policies through the website. A screenshot Germanna
Community College webpage screen shot of the Germanna Community College home
page is provided here.
Calendars
Students, faculty, staff, and the public may view academic calendars for the academic
year through the Academic Calendar link on the Germanna homepage: A screenshot
GCCCalendarScreenShot of this page is provided here.
Refund Policies
Students, faculty, staff, and the public may view Germanna’s refund polices through the
Catalog and Student Handbook link on the Germanna homepage. As screenshot
GCCRefundScreenshot to this page is provided here
Grading Policies
Students, faculty, staff and the public may view Germanna’s grading policies through the
Catalog and Student Handbook link on the Germanna homepage. A screenshot
GCCGradingScreenShot to this page is provided here.
Distribution of Publications
All students have online access to current academic calendars, grading policies, and
refund policies through the online catalog which is considered the source of record. The
college offers access on campus through the Academic Computing Centers as well as
Library/Information Commons facilities.
A limited number of print catalogs are available for students with limited
accessibility. Germanna’s Office of Marketing & Public Information distributes limited
print versions to all public libraries as well as submits annual electronic updates through
the State of Virginia Library System as mandated by the State of Virginia.
Germanna Community College provides easy access to the college mission statement on
the Germanna homepage. A screenshot to the webpage providing the mission
statement Who We Are is provided here. Further, the mission statement is printed in
the Catalog and Student Handbook. The mission is updated on the webpage and in
printed materials when an update is issued through the Office of the President of
Germanna Community College.
Distance Learning
Distance Learning students and students at any cite can access the Germanna
Community College Distance Learning Website Distance Learning -orientation to online
learning and all other Germanna polices through the Germanna webpage.
Changes to Polices
Germanna Community College is placing all master document files under the Master
Document Control Center in the Marketing and Public Information site of Germanna
Central, Germanna's sharepoint system. Each document as contained within it the
review history of that document. This applies to all forms, processes, procedures and
polices. Different policies have different change requirements. For example the
Curriculum cannot be changed without the signed forms generated by the Curriculum
Committee.
Supporting Documents
An a screenshot to the page GCCPublicationoofPoliciesScreenShot on the Germanna
webpage that provides the names of the persons to contact about the publication of a
policy is provided here.
Limited print copies are available for students with limited internet access.
Summation
Germanna Community College makes available to students and the academic calendar
and policies on grading and refunds.
Sources

Distance Learning -orientation to online learning

GCCCalendarScreenShot

GCCGradingScreenShot

GCCPublicationoofPoliciesScreenShot

GCCRefundScreenshot

Germanna Community College webpage screen shot

Who We Are
FR - 4.4
Program Length
Program length is appropriate for each of the institution's educational programs.
(Federal Requirement 4.4)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
The following are programs offered at Germanna Community College and the total credit
hours required to complete the degree, certificate or career studies certificate.
Common acronyms used in the tables below:
CSC - Career Studies Certificate
AAS - Associate of Applied Science
AA& S - Associate of Arts and Science
AS - Associate of Science
Name of Program
AA&S Business Administration
AA&S Education
AA&S Education K-8
AA&S General Studies
AA&S General Studies – Psychology
Specialization
AA&S General Studies – Radiologic
Technology Specialization
AA&S Liberal Arts
AA &S Science
AS Engineering
AAS Business Management
AAS Early Childhood Development
AAS Emergency Medical Services –
Paramedic
AAS Information System Technology
- Information Management or Network
Security
AAS Information System Technology Networking
AAS Nursing
AAS Licensed Practical Nursing for Advanced
Placement
AAS Police Science
AAS Technical Studies – Industrial
Maintenance
Certificate in Early Childhood Education
Required Credit Hours
62
62
62
62
62
62
62
61
70
66
67
69
66
68
69
69
66
65
30
Certificate in Fine Arts
Certificate in Fire Science Technology
Certificate in General Education
Certificate in Graphic Communications
Certificate in Police Science
Certificate in Practical Nursing
Career Study Certificate (CSC) in Accounting
CSC Allied Health Preparation
CSC American Sign Language
CSC Automotive Technology – Automotive
Diagnostician
CSC Automotive Technology – Automotive
Technician
CSC Banking
CSC Business Core
CSC Dental Assisting
CSC E-Commerce
CSC Early Childhood Development
CSC EMT Intermediate
CSC Engineering Technology
CSC Horticulture
CSC Industrial Maintenance
CSC Legal Assistant
CSC Microcomputer Applications for Business
CSC Networking
CSC Advanced Networking
CSC Nurse Aide
CSC Paraprofessional Counseling
CSC Pharmacy Technician
CSC Police Science
CSC Small Business Management
CSC Supervision
CSC Surgical Scrub Nursing
CSC Vocational Health Care
32
35
33
36
36
42
18
25
16
26
24
24
25
36
18
16
27
17
16-18
24
16
18
16-17
18
18
21
17
18
18
18
12
29
The Associate of Applied Science in Dental Hygiene at 72 credits is a degree offered by
Northern Virginia Community College. The Associate of Applied Science in Veterinary
Technology is offered by Blue Ridge Community College. We only offer coordinating
support and do not include these programs on any of our program lists.
Programs lengths are somewhat regulated by the Virginia Community College System
(VCCS). VCCS Program Length Policy Mnl sec. 5 Starting in August 2011, the VCCS
initiated an audit of all programs within the community college
system. CreditAuditOfAcademicPrograms-08312011. Programs should be of an
adequate length to insure students have mastered necessary skills but should not
exceed VCCS established limits without special permission. Currently AA, AS and AA&S
degrees should have 60-63 credits, AAA and AAS degrees should have 65-69
credits. Certificates should be a minimum of "30 credits and a maximum of 59
semester credit hours" and Career Study Certificates should be “not less than 9 nor
more than 20 semester credit hours."
Early Childhood, Emergency Medical Services,
and Fire Science Programs have state wide mandated curriculums and program lengths.
Programs such as nursing, health technologies, and engineering are permitted to exceed
established thresholds due to the number of skills necessary in these degrees.
Nursing
The nursing AAS program is 69 credits in length. This credit allotment is consistent with
other nursing programs within the VCCS. Although there was a recent move to bring
AAS programs to 67 credits in length, nursing programs were allowed to continue with
69 credits due to the requirements of the State Board of Nursing. In particular, there are
regulations requiring nursing programs to address specific curricular areas and to
provide given mandated hours of direct client care in hospital and clinical settings. With
these considerations in mind, the nursing curriculum has remained at 69 credits.
The Certificate in Practical Nursing follows the credit guidelines established by the VCCS
for length and content. The program is consistent with the requirements for didactic and
clinical experiences as mandated by the State Board of Nursing of Virginia.
The Career Studies Certificate: Nurse Aide also follows the credit guidelines established
by the VCCS for length and content of Career Studies Certificates. In addition, the
program is modeled after the suggested Virginia State Board of Nursing curriculum.
The Surgical Scrub Curriculum is consistent with the credit guidelines established by the
VCCS for length and content.
Dental Assisting
Accreditation by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation
requires the program to be a minimum of one academic year. The Dental Assisting
Program is 3 semesters and/or one academic year.
Further the program is in compliance with certificate requirements as stated by the
Virginia Community College System.
Distance Education
Regardless of the mode of instructional deliver, (on-line, hybrid, or face to face) the
program length and program requirements do not change. Graduation requirements for
the Associate of Arts degree, the Associate of Applied Science degree, certificates, and
career studies certificates, as approved by the Curriculum Committee, apply to all
degrees and do not vary by mode of instruction.
Summation
The length of all educational programs have been recently reviewed and are in
accordance with the policies of the Virginia Community College System and are
appropriate for each discipline.
Sources

CreditAuditOfAcademicPrograms-08312011

VCCS POLICY MANUAL Sectn5

VCCS Program Length Policy Mnl sec. 5
FR - 4.5
Student Complaints
The institution has adequate procedures for addressing written student complaints and is
responsible for demonstrating that it follows those procedures when resolving student
complaints. (Federal Requirement 4.5)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
FR 4.5 Student Complaints
Academic Complaints
Germanna Community College has established a procedure for addressing written
student complaints. The process is posted on the colleges’ website. From the web page,
a student may access the printed forms. Students may also access the printed
documents from the student catalog which is published yearly. The college follows the
guidelines printed in the catalog when attempting to resolve a written student complaint.
The following is taken from Germanna's webpage:
Level One Grievance
The formal Academic Grievance process must be initiated within thirty college business
days following the event giving rise to the grievance, or within thirty college business
days of the time when the student reasonably should have gained knowledge of its
occurrence, whichever comes first. Students must attempt to have issues resolved with
their classroom instructor prior to pursuing a Level 1 grievance. The meeting with the
instructor shall be documented and presented prior to the formal grievance beginning.
The appropriate Dean or designee shall determine the date upon which the grievance
occurred. Once a grievance is initiated, the time limitations for either party may be
extended by written mutual agreement. If there is no mutual agreement to extend the
time limits set herein, and if a decision at one level is not appealed to the next level
within the time limit specified, the decision rendered at the previous level shall be final.
The Dean or designee may choose at this point to issue a written decision delivered by
certified mail to both the student and the Faculty member, and said decision must be
rendered within ten college business days of receipt of the grievance. Alternatively, the
Dean or designee may choose to arrange a meeting with the principals. The date for this
meeting must be chosen within ten college business days following the receipt of the
grievance. The meeting may occur as much as seventeen college business days after the
receipt of the grievance. A written decision delivered by certified mail will be rendered to
the principals within twenty college business days following the meeting. Student’s may:
__ Conclude a grievance or
__ Advance my grievance to the second level.
Level Two Grievance
If the student is not satisfied with the disposition of the grievance at Level 1, a copy of
the written grievance submitted at Level 1 along with the Dean ’s written response may
be submitted within seven college business days of receipt of the Level 1 response to
the office of the Dean to request an Academic Grievance Review panel. The panel will be
convened by a Dean or designee not involved with the Level 1 grievance procedure. The
panel will consist of a Dean or designee, two faculty members, and two students
nominated by the Dean of Student Services.
Student may:
__ Conclude my grievance and am returning it to the Office of the Dean or
__ Advance my grievance to the third level.
Level Three Grievance
If either party to the grievance is not satisfied with the disposition of the grievance at
Level 2, the written grievance submitted at Level 1 along with the Dean’s written
response and response from the Academic Grievance Review panel may be submitted to
the Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Student Services within seven college
business days of receipt of the level 2 response.
The Vice-President at this point may schedule a meeting with the principals within ten
college business days following the receipt of the grievance. The meeting itself may
occur within seventeen days of the receipt of the grievance. Within twenty college
business days following the receipt of the Level 3 grievance, the decision of the VicePresident for Academic Affairs and Student Services shall be provided in writing,
delivered by certified mail, to the principals, and the decision shall be final. The VicePresident will provide the response.
Log of Student Complaints
An electronic log of written complaints is maintained in the Office of the Dean of
Instruction. Log_Student_Complaint and the Nursing Complaints and
GrievancesLog The original copies of the complaints and supporting documentation
within a two year time frame are also maintained in the Office of Dean of Instruction at
the Fredericksburg Campus.
Example of a Student Complaint
We have attached an example of a student complaint as an illustration of the system
working. Germanna selected this case as an example because in this case the student
took the complaint through the level three grievance so it illustrates the entire
process. Grievance Current Student Advising form dtd 5 7 12;Grievance Level 1 doc dtd
06 05 2012 docx;Grievance Memo from Student dtd 06 05 2012;Grievance
PolicyGrievance Current Student Advising form dtd 5 7 12;Grievance Timeline;
GrievanceMemo re Panel decision dtd 06 28 2012. In this case the student started
the grievance with the level one grievance form with is attached here. She then notified
the original dean (in this case the Dean of Nursing) that she wished to take the case to
a level two. The second dean called a panel in accordance with the policy. In the
attached title GrievanceMemo re Panel decision, the second dean has prepared a
memorandum summarizing the decision of this panel. When the student made an
appointment to speak with the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Student services,
she initiated a level three grievance. The Vice President upheld the decision of the
panel.
Non-Academic Complaints
A non-academic complaint is any difference of opinion or dispute between a student and
an instructor, administrator, staff member or another GCC student pertaining to the
interpretation and/or application of the policies and procedures of the College and the
Virginia Community College System excluding issues of instruction and classroom
management. Non-academic grievances shall also include those pertaining to student
governance issues, student activities, arbitrary and capricious management decisions,
advising, and other concerns that the students might present for redress.
A student who is experiencing dissatisfaction in a nonacademic matter at the College
must first discuss the matter with the College official involved before filing a formal
complaint. Every reasonable effort must be made by both parties to resolve the matter
through informal discussion. After this informal discussion, students who continue to feel
they have a valid non-academic complaint must report this complaint to the Dean of
Student Development.
The Dean will work with all parties involved to mediate the complaint in a timely
manner. In order to mediate the complaint, the Dean may engage faculty or staff
members relevant to the complaint in an informal discussion. The decision of the Dean
regarding non-academic complaints is final
Distance Learning
GCC’s Office of Distance Education maintains a web page describing distance education
students’ rights to file a complaint against the institution. The policy presents the
grievance procedures for each of three levels. Distance Learning WebPage
ScreenShot. The complaint procedure is the same as for on-campus students but can be
conducted on-line. The website also provides the student complaint information by state
(50 states) and agency.
Summation
Germanna Community College has clear and adequate policies and procedures in place
to fairly and quickly respond to student grievances.
Sources

Distance Learning WebPage ScreenShot

Grievance Current Student Advising form dtd 5 7 12

Grievance Level 1 doc dtd 06 05 2012 docx

Grievance Memo from Student dtd 06 05 2012

Grievance Policy

Grievance Timeline

GrievanceMemo re Panel decision dtd 06 28 2012

Log_Student_Complaint

Non-Academic Grievance

Nursing Complaints and GrievancesLog
FR - 4.6
Recruitment Materials
Recruitment materials and presentations accurately represent the institution's practices
and policies. (Federal Requirement 4.6)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Recruitment materials and presentations accurately represent the institution's
practices and policies.
Germanna Community College is committed to presenting an honest representation of
our institution in all of our public information. Printed recruitment materials include: a
view book, information contact card and call to action post card(s) to encourage student
registration. Recruitment Brochure Recruitment documents2
The current viewbook is designed as an informational folder and is used during
recruitment programs and informational fairs with inserts that vary according to the
audience. The folder itself is produced by the College’s Department of Marketing and
Public Information and is vetted by the appropriate offices to verify accuracy. The
primary source for information related to academic programs of study is the current
academic catalog. The catalog is updated annually to reflect actions taken by the
College’s Curriculum Committee and approved by the Vice President of Academic Affairs
and Student Services. The Academic Deans are critical in the process of communicating
changes to the list of academic programs of study and are invited to review this
document before publication. In addition, the Dean of Enrollment Services, who has
oversight for recruitment, is a member of the Curriculum Committee. Any documents
included in the viewbook folder are regularly reviewed by the College Recruiter and
verified by the responsible party, such as the Registrar, the Coordinator of Financial Aid
or Coordinator of Counseling. Any tuition information is verified by the Germanna
Business Office.
The information contact card is revised annually and approved by the Dean of
Enrollment Services for content. The call to action post card(s) typically has limited text
and a reference to the College web site for additional information. These documents are
approved by the Director of Marketing for accuracy before printing.
The Director of Marketing and Public Information communicates regularly with the Dean
of Enrollment Services and is a member of the College Enrollment Management
Committee which reviews recruitment materials prior to publication.
The College does not currently offer regular PowerPoint presentations for prospective
students. Germanna has focused on personal small group gatherings where the
recruiter utilizes the Germanna web site to direct prospective students to apply online
and explore potential academic programs and student services.
Summation
The recruitment materials used by Germanna Community College accurately reflect the
College.
Sources

Recruitment Brochure

Recruitment documents2
FR - 4.7 and CS - 3.10.2
Title IV Program Responsibilities and Financial Aid Program Audits
The institution is in compliance with its program responsibilities under Title IV of the
most recent Higher Education Act as amended. (Federal Requirement 4.7) The
institution audits financial aid programs as required by federal and state regulations.
(Comprehensive Standard 3.10.2)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Introduction:
Institutional Summary Statement
Many institutions are dependent upon the availability of Title IV financial aid to assist
students with their educational expenses and maintain adequate levels of enrollment.
Germanna Community College is no exception, as there has been, since its last
accreditation, an aggressive attempt to both attract and retain a greater number of
financial aid applicants and recipients. The rationale for this progressivism respects the
overall mission of the college; ensuring access to quality education for students of
diverse backgrounds demonstrating Title IV aid eligibility. In order to secure these
funds, Germanna Community College complies with the program responsibilities under
Title IV of the most recent Higher Education Act as amended. Germanna Community
College is committed to maintaining program integrity and ensuring proper stewardship
of TitleIV funds as compelled by the Secretary of Education.
Germanna Community College acknowledges and respects that, as the primary
gatekeeper for many of its member and candidate institutions seeking Title IV funds, the
Commission is obligated to review any information submitted by the institution or
provided by the U.S. Department of Education that could affect an institution’s continued
compliance with Commission standards. Under this standard, institutions are required to
submit to the Commission any communication from the U.S. Department of Education
related to continued compliance with Title IV provisions. The following is a
comprehensive summary for formal review of how Germanna Community College has
conducted financial aid operations since its last accreditation in 2008.
AS a member of the Virginia Community College System, Germanna Community College
is required to have an A-133 Federal Program Audit every three years. Our last audit
was conducted in 2012 and is attached.
CommonwealthOfVirginiaStatewideSingleAudit2012. Any institutional finding is clearly
delimited within this report by distinct institution. Germanna Community College is
mentioned in several places by names. Section 12-043 p. 54 is one example.
Federal Requirement 4.7: The institution is in compliance with its program
responsibilities under Title IV of the most recent Higher Education Act as amended.

Current Issues with Title IV Programs at Germanna Community College
No issues exist with Title IV Programs at this time.

Has the institution been placed on the reimbursement method?
Germanna Community College has not been placed on the
reimbursement method.

Has the institution been required to obtain a letter of credit in favor of
the Department of Education?
Germanna Community College has not been required to obtain a letter of
credit in favor of the Department of Education since its last accreditation.

Have complaints related to financial aid been filed with the
Department of Education since Germanna Community College's last
accreditation?
No known complaints have been filed with the Department of Education
since Germanna Community College's last accreditation.

Do independent audits of the institution's financial aid programs
evidence significant non-compliance?
No. Through two Federal A-133 Audits conducted in July 2009 and
August of 2012, Germanna Community College has not been found in significant noncompliance in any of its practices. We have provided the 2012 Commonwealth of
Virginia Statewide Single Audit. Although this was a statewide audit comments and
responses for single institutions are clearly
defined. CommonwealthOfVirginiaStatewideSingleAudit2012.
We are also attaching here the Financial Aid status reports prepared each
year for the Department of Education. We include them for the past four
years. GCCFISAP10-11GCCFISAP11-12GCCFISAP12-13GCCFISAP13-14. These
descriptive reports also indicate no issues.

Are there significant impending litigation issue with respect to financial
aid activities?
No. There are no pending litigation issues with respect to financial aid
activities at Germanna Community College.

Are there significant unpaid dollar amounts due back to the Department
of Education?
No. There are no significant unpaid dollar amounts due back to the
Department of Education at this time.

Has adverse communication been received from the Department of
Education?
No known adverse communication has been received from the Department of
Education to Germanna Community College at this time.

What is the institution's student loan default rate?
The student loan default rate at Germanna Community College is currently
0% as it has just recently reentered the Federal Direct Student Loan
Program. Acknowledgement and Approval to Reenter the Federal Direct Loan Program
Information We have attached here a screen shot of the Department of Education
webpage describing Germanna's program. GCC financial default rate with US DOE

Is the institution aware of infractions to regulations which would
jeopardize the Title IV funding?
No. Germanna Community College is not aware of any infractions that would
jeopardize its Title IV funding.

Has the institution been obligated to post a letter of credit on behalf of
the Department of Education or other financial regulatory agencies?
Germanna Community College has not been required to obtain a letter of credit
in favor of the Department of Education or other regulatory agency since its last
accreditation.
Comprehensive Standard 3.10.2: The institution audits financial aid programs as
required by federal and state regulations.

For public institutions: Did the institution receive an unqualified opinion in
the Auditor’s Report on Compliance and on Internal Control over Financial
Reporting based on an Audit of Financial Statements performed in
accordance with Governmental Auditing Standards?
No. Through two Federal A-133 Audits conducted in July 2009 and August of
2012, Germanna Community College has not been found in significant non-compliance
in any of its practices. CommonwealthOfVirginiaStatewideSingleAudit2012

Have there been findings? If so, have they been resolved? Are findings
repeated and not cleared.
No. Through two Federal A-133 Audits conducted in July of 2009 and August
of 2012, Germanna Community College has not been found in significant noncompliance in any of its practices. See Appendix B: Audit Reports Note: Any published
comment on Germanna Community College Compliance in COV single state audit report
addressed and corrective action taken to resolve comment by auditor. Management
responses to audit comments are included in 2009 and 2012 VCCS audit reports.

For private institutions: Did the institution receive an unqualified opinion
in the Independent Auditor’s Report on Compliance with Requirements
Applicable to Each Major Program and Internal Control Over Compliance
with OMB Circular A-133? Have there been findings? If so, have they been
resolved? Are findings repeated and not cleared?
Not Applicable at Germanna Community College

For for-profit institutions: Does the institution have an FSA compliance
audit conducted under the Inspector General’s Audit Guide (for FSA
school audits) which is available on the IFAP web site?
Not Applicable at Germanna Community College

How often are financial aid audits required by the state and by the federal
government?
As a member of the Virginia Community College System, Germanna
Community College is required to have an A133 Federal Program Audit every 3 years.

If not annually, explain. (Public institutions may not have these reviews
annually and should explain their process and the approval of that
process.)
As a member of the Virginia Community College System, Germanna
Community College is required to have an A133 Federal Program Audit every 3 years.

For public institutions, if the institution is included in a group of
institutions for federal awards compliance review (such as a state or
system audit), is it clearly indicated by memo that your institution has
been reviewed? Are findings clearly delineated by institution?
As a member of the Virginia Community College System, Germanna
Community College is required to have an A133 Federal Program Audit every 3
years. Any institutional finding is clearly delimitated within this report by distinct
institution.
Summation
Germanna is in compliance with federal financial aid polices and has an A133 Federal
Program Audit every 3 years.
Sources

Acknowledgement and Approval to Reenter the Federal Direct Loan Program
Information

CommonwealthOfVirginiaStatewideSingleAudit2012

GCC financial default rate with US DOE

GCCFISAP10-11

GCCFISAP11-12

GCCFISAP12-13

GCCFISAP13-14

GCCPPAUpdate Approval Notice
FR - 4.8.1
Verification of Student Identity for Distance or Correspondence Education
An institution that offers distance or correspondence education demonstrates that the
student who registers in a distance or correspondence education course or program is
the same student who participates in and completes the course or program and receives
the credit by verifying the identity of a student who participates in class or coursework
by using, at the option of the institution, methods such as (a) a secure login and pass
code, (b) proctored examinations, or (c) new or other technologies and practices that
are effective in verifying student identification. (Federal Requirement 4.8.1)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
FR - 4.8.1 Education
Verification of Student Identity for Distance or Correspondence
All online students are able to communicate with their instructors and among
themselves. When a student enrolls into an online course in Germanna Community
College, one will be automatically registered into an associated Blackboard course shell.
The student is able to participate in discussion board activities, virtual cafe, emailing
between faculty and students and among students.
Germanna Community College protects the privacy of all students, including distance
learning students, through the strict adherence to the rules of the Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). The official FERPA statement is available for
student and public view through the web site of the Distance Learning at Germanna
Community College. Distance Learning WebPage ScreenShot
In accordance with FERPA, GCC policy is intended to protect student records.
Procedures are in place for the annual notification of student records, student access to
education records, amendment of education records, disclosure of personally identifiable
information, disclosure of directory information, disclosure of records with personally
identifiable information removed, and recording requests for disclosure. Additionally,
user responsibilities specific to privacy are also addressed in VCCS Policy (Computer and
Software Acceptable Use Policy).
a) All distance courses are offered through Blackboard. Each student has a unique
password to log into his/her online course(s).
b) The college strongly encourages all faculty to provide two proctored activities,
including testing, orientation, and other related activities.
c) The student accepts responsibility for the security of their passwords.VCCS
Acceptable Use Agreement
d) The student information system requires students to create a new password every
90 days.
Summation and Continuous Improvement
The technology available in the area of verification of identities for on-line learners is
continuously changing. As new technologies, such as biometrics, become available and
affordable Germanna will plan to make use of them. In the Division of Academic
Technology and Learning Support and the Distance Learning Committee, Germanna has
the organizational commitment to stay abreast of and use these new technologies.
Sources

Distance Learning WebPage ScreenShot

VCCS Acceptable Use Agreement
FR - 4.8.2
Written Procedure for Distance and Correspondance Education Student's
Privacy
An institution that offers distance or correspondence education has a written procedure
for protecting the privacy of students enrolled in distance and correspondence education
courses or programs. (Federal Requirement 4.8.2)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Written Procedure for Distance and Correspondance Education Student's Privacy
Germanna Community College protects the privacy of all students, including distance learning students,
through the strict adherence to the rules of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
(FERPA). The official FERPA statement is available for student and public view through the web site of
the Distance Learning at Germanna Community College. A screen shot of this webpage is available at
Distance Learning WebPage ScreenShot
Germanna Community College issues each student a student identification number at time of initial
registration and each college employee upon date of employment. These student and employee IDs
become the unique identifier for all individuals throughout their academic and professional career at the
College. The user ID is required for both students and faculty to access SIS system which is the Student
Information System (SIS), containing all face-to-face and distance learning courses. SIS is integrated
with the Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS). The Blackboard LMS is a secure environment
for faculty members to post assignments and exams while ensuring privacy of individual students’
assessments and grades.
When a faculty member is assigned a distance learning course at Germanna Community College, his/her
employee ID is assigned to the corresponding course shell in SIS. Each student registered in that class
will be tied to the course roster within that instructor’s course and identified uniquely to both the
instructor and the LMS by their individual student ID.
Secure Login and Password: Each distance learning faculty and student enters his/her user ID into the
SIS and creates an eight-digit, alphanumeric password that uniquely identifies him/her to the SIS
learning environment. This combination of user ID and password identifies faculty and students to the
system on each subsequent course visit.



All parties accept responsibility for the security of their personal passwords.
The SIS requires all passwords to be updated every ninety (90) days and Student information is
protected from outside intruders.
Faculty information is protected from student views within the LMS and from outside intruders.
Summation
Germanna has procedures protecting the privacy of students taking online courses
Sources

Distance Learning WebPage ScreenShot
FR - 4.8.3
Written Procedure for Projected Additional Student Charges
An institution that offers distance or correspondence education has a written procedure
distributed at the time of registration or enrollment that notifies students of any
projected additional student charges associated with verification of student identity.
(Federal Requirement 4.8.3)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Written Procedure for Projected Additional Student Charges
Germanna Community College has no additional charges associated with registration or
with verifying student identity. There are no college-wide additional charges for Distance
Learning students.
If an online course requires any special devices that may cost the student additional
money, the faculty member is required to clearly write all requirements in their
syllabus. These special requirements may include special software, webcams,
headsets. The attached syllabi Thomson BIO 141-W01 Spring 2013 and Thomson BIO
142-W01 W02 Spring 2013 illustrate how a faculty member might communicate the
requirement for these additional resources.
Summation
Germanna does not have additional charges for students taking on-line classes. If a
specific class requires additional resources for that class the instructor must notify the
students in the syllabus
Sources

Thomson BIO 141-W01 Spring 2013

Thomson BIO 142-W01 W02 Spring 2013
FR - 4.9
Definition of Credit Hours
The institution has policies and procedures for determining the credit hours awarded for
courses and programs that conform to commonly accepted practices in higher education
and to Commission policy. (Federal Requirement 4.9)
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Germanna Community College has adopted a standard measure of academic credit
called the Collegiate Credit Hour. This unit is the primary academic measure by which
progress towards a degree or certificate is determined. This definition for credit hour is
based on the federal requirements for credit hour, guidelines published by the State
Council for Higher Education (SCHEV) SCHEVdefinitionCreditHour; the Virginia
Community College System VCCS Policy Manual-credit hours;
The purpose of GCCs Definition of a Credit Hour is to ensure accurate academic
measurement compatibility between courses.
The Germanna definition of a credit hour is 50 minutes of contact, formalized instruction
time time per week for 15 weeks for every hour of course credit and is indicated in the
course description. The definition of a credit hour and the course descriptions are
communicated to the students and the public in the catalog. The appropriate page of
the catalog linked to this narrative. GCCCatalogCourseDescription Each course
description n the catalog states the credit hours for each course. English Course
Descriptions 2013 catalog In addition to the formal face to face contact time, most
classes will require about two hours per week on average of work outside of the
classroom per credit hour. This is also communicated to the students in the catalog in
the same section that we provide the definition of a credit hour.
The advantages of a standard definition of a credit hour are numerous. Students have a
rational basis for planning their time. As a student should assume that a three credit
class will involve approximately nine hours of class time plus homework per week on
average the student can assess their workload and make plans accordingly. By adopting
the standard credit hour used by the Virginia Community College System, the four year
programs in Virginia to which most of our students transfer, and which most colleges in
the United States have adopted, students and other college administrators outside of
Germanna can make rational transfer decisions.
This definition of credit hour is also accepted by the Federal Government in determining
Satisfactory Academic Progress for financial aid purposes.
For classes that vary from the standard 15 week semester, the standard credit hour
allows deans scheduling classes to determine how often and for how long a class must
meet to achieve the appropriate contact time. Thus, if a standard three credit class, in a
standard 15 week semester meets three hours (at the 50 minute hour) per week it
therefore meets 45 hours a semester. If a class only meets for 10 weeks it must still
meet this same 45 hour standard - and still have the standard two hours of additional
work outside of class. Therefore, this class must meet 4.5 hours per week and require
an additional 9 hours of work outside of class. Using this standard Germanna is able to
insure that all classes meet the same curricula guidelines regardless of scheduling.
Distance Learning
Classes taught online must meet the same standards as classes taught face to face. In
regards to credit hour, a three credit class, taught online, must still meet the same
contact hours. An instructor teaching a class online must offer about three hours of
online instruction and about 6 hours of additional work. Instructors of online classes
have the same credentials and preparations as face to face instructors. Frequently,
instructors teaching a course online also teach the same course face to face. Syllabi are
reviewed to insure the same credit hour standards are met.
Summation
Germanna uses the Collegiate credit hour of 50 minutes per week per credit in
accordance with policies of the Virginia Community College System and the State
Council on Higher Education in Virginia. We clearly communicate the credit hours and
the amount of work outside the course required for each credit hour.
Sources

English Course Descriptions 2013 catalog

GCCCatalogCourseDescription

SCHEVdefinitionCreditHour

VCCS Definition Credit Hour PolicyMnl Sec 5

VCCS POLICY MANUAL Sectn5

VCCS Policy Manual-credit hours
CS - 3.13.a
Policy Compliance: Accrediting Decisions of Other Agencies
Applicable Policy Statement. Any institution seeking or holding accreditation from
more than one U.S. Department of Education recognized accrediting body must describe
itself in identical terms to each recognized accrediting body with regard to purpose,
governance, programs, degrees, diplomas, certificates, personnel, finances, and
constituencies, and must keep each institutional accrediting body apprised of any change
in its status with one or another accrediting body.
Documentation: The institution should (1) list federally recognized agencies that
currently accredit the institution, (2) provide the date of the most recent review by each
agency and indicate if negative action was taken by the agency and the reason for such
action, (3) provide copies of statements used to describe itself for each of the
accrediting bodies, (4) indicate any agency that has terminated accreditation, the date,
and the reason for termination, and (5) indicate the date and reason for the institution
voluntarily withdrawing accreditation with any of the agencies.
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Programs and Courses offered by Germanna Community College are approved by the
Virginia Community College System and the State Council for Education in
Virginia. Germanna Community College is accredited by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools, Council on Colleges to award Associate of Arts Degrees,
Associates of Science Degrees, Associate of Arts and Science Degrees, and Associate of
Applied Science Degrees.
The Dental Assisting Program is accredited by the American Dental
Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation. It was last reviewed via a self-study
and site visit on November 1-2, 2012. The August 12, 2013 letter affirming
accreditation without reporting requirements until 2019 is attached. CODATrans Letter DA - 8 13. More information describing accreditation of the program is at SVR - DA - 8
13. The description of Germanna included in the self study for initial accreditation of the
Dental Assisting program is included here. DentalGCC description.
The Associate of Applied Science in Nursing is accredited by the National League of
Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) . The Nursing degree at Germanna was last
accredited in Spring 2007 for an effective period of 2008 - 2014. A formal notification
letter was received on. RN accreditation. The executive summary of the self-study
describing the program can be found at NursingAccredRpt. By choosing to be
accreditation by NLNAC, the Germanna nursing program demonstrates that is has a
continued interest in having the program measured against the highest national
standards of quality in nursing education.
The Automotive Technology Program is certified by the National Automotive Technicians
Education Foundation, Inc. A copy of the certificate documenting this certification is
attached. NATEF Accred Certificate expires 05 2016
Summation
Germanna Community College has no accreditation that has been terminated and no
accreditation that has voluntarily withdrawn.
Sources

CODATrans Letter - DA - 8 13

DentalGCC description

NATEF

NATEF Accred Certificate expires 05 2016

NATEF letter 2011

NursingAccredRpt

RN accreditation

SVR - DA - 8 13
CS - 3.13.b
Policy Compliance: Complaint Procedures Against the Commission or its
Accredited Institutions
Applicable Policy Statement. In addition to FR 4.5 regarding complaints, the
Commission also requires, in accord with federal regulations, that each institution
maintains a record of complaints received by the institution. This record is made
available to the Commission upon request.
Documentation: Normally, this record will be reviewed and evaluated by the
Commission as part of the institution’s decennial evaluation; however, during the fifthyear interim review, when addressing this policy statement, the institution should
provide information to the Commission describing how the institution maintains its
record and (1) individuals/offices responsible for the maintenance of the record(s), (2)
elements of a complaint review that are included in the record, and (3) where the
record(s) is located (centralized or decentralized).
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Germanna Community College maintains records of student complaints in different
locations at the College depending on the complaint. The college catalog links to
different student complaints such as for students with disabilities, sexual harassment,
and other non-academic complaints. GrievanceStudents with Disabilities. Student
Academic Complaints are referred to the Dean of Instruction who oversees the program
for the class the student complaint concerns.
Non-academic Complaints
A non-academic complaint is any difference of opinion or dispute between a student and
an instructor, administrator, staff member or another Germanna Community College
student pertaining to the interpretation and / or application of the policies and
procedures of the College and the Virginia Community College System excluding issues
of instruction and classroom management. These issues are handled in academic
student complaints. Non-academic grievances shall also include those pertaining to
student governance issues, student activities, arbitrary and capricious management
decisions, advising, and other concerns that the student might present for redress. This
category includes concerns or disagreements student might have about Financial Aid,
billing, or other financial issues.
A Student who is experiencing dissatisfaction in a nonacademic matter at the College
must first discuss the matter with the College official involved before filing a formal
complaint. Every reasonable effort must be made by both parties to resolve the matter
through informal discussion. After this informal discussion, students who continue to feel
they have a valid non-academic compliant must report this complaint to the Dean of
Student Development or the Dean of Enrollment Services if the complaint involves
financial aid or an issue concerning registration.
The Dean will work with all parties involved to mediate the complaint in a timely
manner. In order to mediate the complaint, the Dean may engage faculty or staff
members relevant to the complaint in an informal discussion. The decision of the Dean
regarding non-academic complaints is final. Records of these complaints are kept in the
office of the Dean of Student Development or the Dean of Enrollment Services if the
complaint is related to financial aid. These records contain the final correspondence
communicating the decision and a recording of the grievance hearing if that is
applicable.
Academic Student Complaints
Academic student complaints is also addressed on the Colleges webpage. Grievance
Policy. Germanna has three grievance levels of academic complaints.
Level One Grievance
The formal Academic Grievance process must be initiated within thirty college business
days following the event giving rise to the grievance, or within thirty college business
days of the time when the student reasonably should have gained knowledge of its
occurrence, whichever comes first. Students must attempt to have issues resolved with
their classroom instructor prior to pursuing a Level 1 grievance. The meeting with the
instructor shall be documented and presented prior to the formal grievance beginning.
The appropriate Dean or designee shall determine the date upon which the grievance
occurred. Once a grievance is initiated, the time limitations for either party may be
extended by written mutual agreement. If there is no mutual agreement to extend the
time limits set herein, and if a decision at one level is not appealed to the next level
within the time limit specified, the decision rendered at the previous level shall be final.
The Dean or designee may choose at this point to issue a written decision delivered by
certified mail to both the student and the Faculty member, and said decision must be
rendered within ten college business days of receipt of the grievance. Alternatively, the
Dean or designee may choose to arrange a meeting with the principals. The date for this
meeting must be chosen within ten college business days following the receipt of the
grievance. The meeting may occur as much as seventeen college business days after the
receipt of the grievance. A written decision delivered by certified mail will be rendered to
the principals within twenty college business days following the meeting. Student’s may:
__ Conclude a grievance or
__ Advance my grievance to the second level.
Level Two Grievance
If the student is not satisfied with the disposition of the grievance at Level 1, a copy of
the written grievance submitted at Level 1 along with the Dean ’s written response may
be submitted within seven college business days of receipt of the Level 1 response to
the office of the Dean to request an Academic Grievance Review panel. The panel will be
convened by a Dean or designee not involved with the Level 1 grievance procedure. The
panel will consist of a Dean or designee, two faculty members, and two students
nominated by the Dean of Student Services.
Student may:
__ Conclude my grievance and am returning it to the Office of the Dean or
__ Advance my grievance to the third level.
Level Three Grievance
If either party to the grievance is not satisfied with the disposition of the grievance at
Level 2, the written grievance submitted at Level 1 along with the Dean’s written
response and response from the Academic Grievance Review panel may be submitted to
the Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Student Services within seven college
business days of receipt of the level 2 response.
The Vice-President at this point may schedule a meeting with the principals within ten
college business days following the receipt of the grievance. The meeting itself may
occur within seventeen days of the receipt of the grievance. Within twenty college
business days following the receipt of the Level 3 grievance, the decision of the VicePresident for Academic Affairs and Student Services shall be provided in writing,
delivered by certified mail, to the principals, and the decision shall be final. The VicePresident will provide the response.
Log of Student Complaints
An electronic log of written complaints is maintained in the Office of the Dean of
Instruction. Log_Student_Complaint and the Nursing Complaints and
GrievancesLog The original copies of the complaints and supporting documentation
within a two year time frame are also maintained in the Office of Dean of Instruction at
the Fredericksburg Campus. These files contain the final letter documenting the decision
of the Dean or Vice President, documentation from the grievance, and meeting minutes
if applicable.
Example of a Student Complaint
We have attached and example of a student complaint as an illustration of the system
working. Germanna selected this case as an example because in this case the student
took the complaint through the level three grievance so it illustrates the entire
process. Grievance Current Student Advising form dtd 5 7 12;Grievance Level 1 doc dtd
06 05 2012 docx;Grievance Memo from Student dtd 06 05 2012;Grievance
PolicyGrievance Current Student Advising form dtd 5 7 12;Grievance Timeline;
GrievanceMemo re Panel decision dtd 06 28 2012. In this case the student started
the grievance with the level one grievance form which is attached here. She then
notified the original dean (in this case the Dean of Nursing) that she wished to take the
case to a level two. The second dean called a panel in accordance with the policy. In
the attached title GrievanceMemo re Panel decision, the second dean has prepared a
memorandum summarizing the decision of this panel. When the student made an
appointment to speak with the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Student services,
she initiated a level three grievance. The Vice President upheld the decision of the
panel.
Distance Learning
GCC’s Office of Distance Education maintains a web page describing distance education
students’ rights to file a complaint against the institution. The policy presents the
grievance procedures for each of three levels. Distance Learning WebPage
ScreenShot. The complaint procedure is the same as for on-campus students but can be
conducted on-line. The website also provides the student complaint information by state
(50 states) and agency.
Summation
Germanna Community College has clear, published policies on handling complaints. We
maintain record of those complaints.
Sources

Distance Learning WebPage ScreenShot

Grievance Current Student Advising form dtd 5 7 12

Grievance Level 1 doc dtd 06 05 2012 docx

Grievance Memo from Student dtd 06 05 2012

Grievance Policy

Grievance Timeline

GrievanceMemo re Panel decision dtd 06 28 2012

GrievanceStudents with Disabilities

Log_Student_Complaint

Nursing Complaints and GrievancesLog
CS - 3.13.c
Policy Compliance: Reaffirmation of Accreditation and Subsequent Reports
Applicable Policy Statement. An institution includes a review of its distance learning
programs in the Compliance Certification and in its Fifth-Year Compliance Certification.
Documentation: In order to be in compliance with this policy, the institution must
have incorporated an assessment of its compliance with standards that apply to its
distance and correspondence education programs and courses.
Judgment
Compliant
Non-Compliant
Not Applicable
Narrative
Distance Learning at Germanna Community College (GCC) offers opportunities for
students to complete post secondary courses and/or certificate courses when
employment, family responsibilities or other scheduling problems prevent regular, faceto-face attendance at one of the College's campuses. A class is considered a distance
education class if students receive more than one-half of the instruction at a different
location than the instructor. If a class meets half the contact hours required under
Germanna's course credit requirements, (described in principle 4.9) at the same location
as the instructor, but the other half at another location offered on-line, Germanna terms
the class a "Hybrid."
All instructors who teach an class that is distant or hybrid must meet Germanna's
instructor certification requirements for teaching an on-line class. All instructors, either
full or part time, that teach an on-line class must have completed with a grade of at
least a B the TOPS class.
Currently 95.8% of full time faculty are certified to teach
online. A total of 225 faculty had been certified by June 2013. All full time instructors
must be certified to teach on-line within THREE years of the start of their employment.
From Spring 2009 to Spring 2013 Germanna increased its distance learning offerings
from 138 sections to 518 sections. Currently, GCC offers three types of distance
courses.
Definitions for Distance Education
1. Online (VIRTUAL) course - these courses are identified in the Germanna Schedule as
VIRTUAL with a section code of W. Course materials are presented and student
performance is assessed entirely online with limited expectations for the student to
travel to campus. The expectations for an online student to travel to campus are limited
to taking exams in a proctored setting at one of our Germanna testing centers. If the
student cannot come to Germanna to take a test otherwise required to be taken at a
Germanna site, the site and proctor must be approved in advance. On line course
materials are typically provided via the GCC Blackboard system.
2. Hybrid (HYBRID) - Hybrid classes provide the best elements of traditional face-to face instruction with online instruction. Most courses meet once a week for one half the
required contact hours in a face-to-face format with the remaining instruction occurring
on-line. When teaching a hybrid course, both the face-to-face and online component
must be integrated.
3. Interactive Video -- IV instruction meets during regular scheduled class times at
more than one site. This technology allows for instruction to be offered simultaneously
at more than one site - usually two at a time. If a class is to be offered in IV format
that is decided before the class is scheduled. Instructors cannot make a change to the
class format without prior approval of the appropriate dean of instruction. If an
instructor is teaching an IV class the instructor is expected to teach face to face at all
the sites on a rotating basis.
The Principles of Accreditation guides all distance learning offerings at Germanna. The
evidence of compliance in each of the principles can be found throughout this report.
Principle of
Compliance
Summary of Relationship to Distance Education as provided in
the narrative for each principle
2.8 Adequate FT
faculty
All faculty full and part time are required to be certified to teach on-line
2.10 Student
Services
Support Services including application, registration, tutoring,& library
are available on-line
3.2.8 Qualified
Admin
Distance education professional develop offered to administrators and
faculty. Administrators in Div. of Academic Tech & Student Support
Provided
Embedded Assessments developed to allow comparison between student
learning in on-line classes compared to face to face classes.
Students can apply on-line. All new students can enroll. Current
students must have a gpa of 2.0 to enroll in on-line classes
3.3.1.1 Inst.
Effect
3.4.3 Admissions
3.4.11 Program
Coordination
Faculty coordination for distance education provided by full time faculty
who also coordinate face to face. There is not a separation.
3.11.3 Physical
Resources
Technical services needed for successful on-line classes. Germanna uses
the Blackboard Learning Management System for most courses
4.1 Student
Achievement
4.2 Curriculum
Students in on-line classes are tracked using the same student success
criteria
No difference between the curriculum requirements for on-line, hybrid,
or face to face offerings
4.3 Publication of
Policies
4.4 Program
Length
Distance Learning students can access the Germanna Community
College Distance Learning Website. A link to a screen shot of this
website is provided.
Regardless of the mode of instruction, the program length does not
change.
4.5 Student
Complaints
The steps for filing a student complaint are on the Germanna webpage.
The distance learning webpage links to this policy.
4.7/3.10.2
4.8.1
4.8.2
Student Identity is verified through a secure log-in on Blackboard
Learning Management System. Proctored activities encouraged
The written procedures to ensure privacy are provided
4.8.3
There are no college wide additional charges for distance education. If a
specific class requires additional resources (e.g. software,
webcams,headsets) this must be clearly stated in the syllabus.