Instructional Council
Monday June 9, 2014, 1Pm – 2pm, Boardroom
Notes
Present: Tracey Thomas, Dave Bazard, Sheila Hall, Julia Peterson, Joe Hash, Erin Wall, Ron Waters,
Angelina Hill, Crislyn Parker-notes
1.
Discussion: How to Strengthen the role of our Deans and Directors in:
1a. Program Review Issues:
 Template is very comprehensive, for annual reporting.
 Confusion on program review resource allocation process not done per PPR manual.
 Confusion on how to justify resource requests not directly related to planning or assessment,
such as deferred maintenance.
1b. Solutions
 Develop an annual template, which will include assessment, planning, curriculum and
resource requests based on planning and/or assessment to simplify program review.
 Deans and IC determine three or five year rotation. PRC work with faculty to schedule a new
rotation: work with programs that have outside accreditations, to tie into their outside
accreditation schedule. Detailed data will be available on request for AP 4021 or other needs.
 Clarify and/or update the PPR manual to reflect how resource allocation is being done.
Clarify role of PRC in this process.
 Revise the template to allow a mechanism to justify resource requests that are not part of
planning or assessment (i.e. carpeting in AJ needs). This requires further discussion.
 Assessment deadlines for May - will aid deans in beginning PR process?
 This year was a new experience for deans in process and coordination. Next year is expected
to be easier, now having experience with the process.
2. Assessment Process: Issues: Dave provided a list of disciplines with missing or incomplete
assessment plans as of June 5, 2014. Assessment (Dave) and IR (Angelina) have been discussing
how to simplify assessment, make tracking and completion easier.
2a. Assessment Issues:
 Not all full-time faculty are willing to take the lead in coordinating assessment dialog. Some
faculty feel assigning coordinators or leaders implies authority or “power.”
 Part-time faculty issues:
o Not all part-time faculty attend dialog sessions.
o Not all part-time faculty are able to attend fall and spring flex assessment activities
o Associate faculty with no full-time faculty leadership.
o Associate faulty teaching in spring and not returning in fall, often do not complete
assessment reporting. (Can be an issue with full-time as well.)
 Not all faculty attend assessment workshops offered during fall and spring flex days.
 Some divisions have so many courses it is difficult to pull groups together.
 Not enough communication between faculty who have taken lead, and division faculty.
 Difficulty planning for or coordinating assessments for courses not being offered.
 Faculty doing assessment but not reporting.
 Over a two-year cycle, some assessment is done in one semester. Careful analysis is
required.
 Faculty are not utilizing the planning process.
 Tracking in-complete assessments, the faculty involved and ensuring completion.
 Consistency across all divisions regarding faculty assessment coordination and requesting
assistance from Dave or Johanna
2b. Solutions:
 Have Johanna assist deans in coordinating discipline and dialog meetings.
 Identify faculty and train early. Use Johanna to assist.
 Define Johanna’s role in assessment.
 Deans identify potentially problematic courses, (over summer) and determine how to handle.
 Deans encourage faculty to attend assessment workshops (through division and department
meetings) offered during fall and spring (flex days), which allow faculty enough time to
complete the program level assessments and reduces need for coordination. The new course
and program planning page will help.
 Assessment coordinator and IR Director are developing a planning a page for both course
level and program level outcomes to simplify the planning and reporting process.
 Review assessment planning and reporting occasionally for compliance; difficult because
many are not completed until the September deadline.
 It is not unreasonable for a Dean to ask a single full-time faculty to assist associate faculty
when courses are similar; or they may contact Dave or Johanna to assist with coordination.
Faculty must to enter the actual report.
 Provide video presentations on assessment for new full and/or part-time faculty, or for faculty
review. Most faculty are already incorporating the aspects of assessment into their classes
and need only an hour or so to coordinate, compare, then submit the report.
 Establish a rubric of assistance for all faculty, which will relay the expectation that faculty
should be able to coordinate dialog if there are, for example, less than 3 faculty. Larger areas
may request assistance.
 Require assessment planning in the fall for the academic year.
 Begin tracking assessment completion in the fall.
 Set fall assessment deadline for February and spring assessment deadline due with grades.
 For many there will be a lot of assessment for next year. With CR’s two year schedule, deans
and/or faculty should look at courses, determine if any will be scheduled in the next two years
or not at all and, if not, deactivate. (Note: reactivations are not as simple; they must go
through the curriculum process.)
 Deans will choose assessment planning when faculty fail to do so. Provide Dean’s with who
completed assessments and who did not.
 When plan is not assessed because of faculty not returning, check the box for the next year.
 Use incomplete assessment reporting in evaluations. Ensure dean’s know who has not
completed per schedule.
2c. Other:
 Agreement to start discussions in fall about changing deadlines.
 This group will meet in August and are tasked with bringing in assessment schedules, video
suggestions, and any other training tools and ideas. Include Dave and Angelina. Tentatively,
August 11.
Adjourn