Design Team Meeting Minutes
2/12/14 from 2:30-4PM in SC136
Prepared by Kat McGee and Emily Abbey
Attendance (in alphabetical order):
Emily Abbey Design Team Co-Chair, Faculty, SSHS
Anisha Banerjee
Abbe Benowitz
Student
OSS Disability Counselor
Zack Brower
Megan Chan
Joseph Connell
Student
Student
Director, CAAFYE
Eric Daffron
Julie Fitzgerald
Kevin Hurtado
Katie Maricic
Kat McGee
Tracey Pastori
Lysandra Perez-Strumolo
Nicole Pulliam
Mark Skowronski
Sarah Stackhouse
Vice Provost for Curriculum and Assessment
Assistant Professor of Nursing (TAS)
Student
Interlibrary Loan, Reference & Instruction Librarian
Design Team Co-Chair, Asst. Dir. CSI
CAAFYE Student Success Specialist
Associate Professor/Dev. Psychology (SSHS, FRC)
Asst. Director/Career Advisor (CAHILL)
Faculty, ASB
Assistant Professor of Communication Arts (CA)
1.
Co-Chair Welcome & Introductions

Emily and Kat opened the meeting by thanking the membership for returning to or joining the Design Team for the spring semester.
2.
General introductions- Team members introduced themselves and past members identified contributions that came out of their projects in working groups.
3.
Brief review of Design Team history and spring 2014 update: a.
History: i.
Curriculum Enhancement Plan (CEP) was implemented in the fall semester of
2006. One of the most significant changes was that most courses became 4 credit courses with 3.6 credits of in-class time and 0.4. credits (5 hours per semester) of outside-class activities. ii.
This led to the establishment of CEC or the Course Enrichment Component

iii.
Design Team established by Provost Barnett in August of 2010 with co-chairs
Melissa VanDerWall and Maya Poran. The current co-chairs are grateful for the outstanding progress Maya and Mel made and acknowledge their leadership for building a strong foundation for CEC at Ramapo. iv.
Goal of CEC: purposeful, active learning in real-world contexts v.
Success: transition from campus asking “What is CEC?” to “Come to this event for CEC credit!” b.
Spring 2014 update: i.
Need for continuity and build a new identity as a group together. Transition in co-chairs, membership, etc. There has been much change over the past semester. ii.
Kat expressed a hope for returning members to reach out to new members to support their integration iii.
Role of the Design Team as supporting body:
1.
Resources, data gathering, etc
2.
Not here to evaluate the institution or individual members of institution
3.
Support CEC as a distinct component of the Ramapo curriculum. iv.
Goal to further integrate CEC throughout the life of the campus. Partnership between Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, and student interest. v.
The Team reviewed the February 2011 Design Team Report to the Community section that included recommendations and proposals for review (see http://www.ramapo.edu/provost/files/2013/04/219-2.pdf)
4.
Working Groups a.
Co-chairs discussed the purpose and spring 2014 goals of working groups b.
Overall group membership goal for this spring is consistency with so much other change taking place. Retain working groups membership for returning members. c.
Returning members from the 4 Working Groups provided some insight on previous working group operations and ways to support the charge of the Design Team: i.
Support and Resources:
1.
CEC Guide for faculty must continue to be disseminated for new employees and updated with new examples.
2.
The ARC template should be reviewed periodically.
3.
Adjuncts should have a “webpage” orientation that introduces resources such as the CEC Calendar. ii.
Integration:
1.
There have been questions from students and faculty about what
“counts” for CEC.
2.
Successes include integrating CEC 101 for First Year Seminar Peers and at new student orientations.
3.
Deans have been provided with language to discuss CEC at open houses and admitted student days: “160 hours outside the classroom of hands on learning”, later introduced as CEC
4.
Identified need for updated CEC examples: videos, bundle examples, a
CEC panel, examine the role of convening groups for CEC bundles iii.
Evaluation:

1.
Fall 2013 proved to be challenging interns of evaluation initiatives and working group progress.
2.
Quick turnaround anticipated for launching Spring 2014 survey. iv.
Progress Report
1.
An overview of previous progress reports was provided for information and context.
2.
2015 progress report will be submitted to Middlestates at the conclusion of the Spring 2015 semester.
3.
Increased importance for records keeping as we approach 2015 so provide accurate report information. d.
Spring 2014 Working Group assignments were distributed by- Co Chairs (see below).
Goals are listed in order of priority. e.
New members in attendance were assigned to working groups. f.
Break-out sessions for each working groups were held: i.
Groups discussed assignments and brainstormed next steps for a general course of action given goals for Spring ’14 ii.
Each group selected a chair and secretary iii.
Meeting times outside of pre-scheduled Design Team Meetings were discussed.
5.
Closing thoughts and remaining meeting dates: a.
Members were thanked for their commitment to the Design Team for the spring semester. b.
Spring meeting schedule: Wednesday 3/12 from 1:15-2:30PM in Pavilion Room 1 and
Wednesday 4/30 from 1:15-2:30PM in the York Room.
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Working Group Assignments Spring 2014
1) Support and Resources a.
Web-site maintenance: evaluate website as a platform for sharing information, experiences, and best practices working with the CEC. Tasks needed: refreshing website content, creation of talking points “What is CEC?” page. b.
Research systems of communicating CEC policies to Adjunct Faculty at the beginning of each semester. Systems will be implemented in Fall 2014. c.
Discuss strategies for populating the CEC Calendar more fully and for increasing faculty, staff, and student utilization of the calendar.
Membership: Elizabeth Siecke, Neriko Doerr (ad hoc member, adjunct faculty), Julie Fitzgerald
(faculty), Ashley Howell (ad hoc member, adjunct faculty), Megan Chan (student) Katie Maricic
(Reference & Instruction Librarian), Kat McGee (Co-Chair)
2) Integration a.
Train Peer Facilitators annually in August. These are students who will inform and support first-year students in completing the CEC requirements in First-Year Seminar and beyond. Assess 2013 training curriculum and materials, outreach to fall 2013 peer facilitators to determine what was most effective for them. b.
Identify best practices for early integration of CEC into the fabric of academic life at
Ramapo, i.e. at open houses with Enrollment Management, Dean’s welcomes, etc.

c.
Review Transfer Student orientation to CEC requirements and engagement as a part of the student culture at Ramapo College.
Membership: Sarah Stackhouse (chairperson), Nicole Pulliam (staff), Joe Connell (staff), Karen Booth
(staff), Abbe Benowitz (staff), Anisha Banerjee (student), Tracey Pastori (staff)
3) Evaluation a.
Evaluate student learning and satisfaction via short surveys. b.
Research CEC bundling: assess students and faculty experience working on CEC bundle for Spring 2014. c.
Survey faculty with an emphasis on support needed to effectively implement CEC in their classes. d.
Groundwork for FY15 focus groups- review Middlestates recommendations, prepare to conduct focus groups overall effectiveness of the CEC. Target date for focus group completion: Fall 2014.
Membership: Lysandra Perez-Strumolo (chairperson), Graciela Morilla (student), Alfred Prettyman
(ad hoc member, adjunct faculty), Emily Abbey (Co-Chair)
4) Progress Report a.
Collect and document the progress the Design Team working groups have made at the end of each semester via a report to the Design Team Co-Chairs which may be shared on the Design Team website. b.
2015 Middle states report preparation. c.
Maintain ARC syllabus information on CEC: evaluate for updates needed.
Membership: Eric Daffron (staff), Zac Brower (student), Mark Skowronski (Faculty, ASB)