For College Procedure
2.01.01.14: Committees
DISTANCE LEARNING SUPPORT SERVICES
COMMITTEE
MINUTES FOR 2015-2016
(Note: The chair must email the approved minutes to the IE Office for placement on the College web page.)
September 15, 2015
ASC Room A400
I.
Call to order at 3:00 p.m.
II.
Attendees
IV.
Brockoff, Jeffrey, FT lnst,- Arts, Com, CTE, Soc.
Sci.RG
Bruce, Allison, FT lnst.- Architecture
Corral-Nava, Nita, Director, Office of Recruitment
& School Relations
Gamez, Cynthia, FT lnst., - ESL, Reading, Soc. Sci.
VV
Garcia, Adriana, FT lnst.- Edu. & Career & Tech.
Edu VV
Gonzalez, Laura, FT lnst.- Nursing RG
Jones, Bob, Director Distance Education VV
Miller, Lisa, FT lnst.- Arts, Basic Skills, Com,, Soc.
Sci.TM
Penley, Dr. Julie, Dean Administrative Liaison MDP
Salas, Alfredo, FT lnst. -Math, Career & Tech, Edu.,
Sci.
Tena, Dr. Lydia, Academic Dean NW
Cassandra Chavez
Luz Cadena
Old Business
Update - Banner SIS integration with Blackboard
Learn© Project - Bob Jones gave an update on the
Blackboard Learn Project. Launch is scheduled
within a few days.
V.
New Business
A.
EPCC Course Quality Self-Certification
Project – Luz Cadena updated the committee
on the Self Certification Project. The
project’s focus is developing a consistent
Blackboard delivery platform across all
disciplines to eliminate student confusion
about the use of Blackboard. Ms. Cadena
will reach out to the Faculty Senate and
others to solicit input on the certification and
will report at October meeting.
B.
Universal Design & ADA Compliance – It
was noted that Blackboard is ADA
compliant, while publisher’s resources may
or may not be compliant.
Cassandra Chavez is replacing Linda Gonzalez.
Arturo Valdespino will replace Ruben Gutierrez at
the representative from Communication and
Performing Arts – VV.
III.
The next meeting is scheduled for October 6, 2015 at 3:30 in
ASC A400.
Meeting adjourned at approximately 5:00 p.m.
Election of Chair, Chair Elect and Secretary
A.
B.
C.
Chair – Allison Bruce
Chair Elect – Cynthia Gamez
Secretary – Pending
We need a volunteer for Secretary.
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November 3, 2015
ASC Room A400
Members in Attendance:
Aguirre, Edith, FT Inst. Instruct. Programs MdP
Brockoff, Jeffrey, FT lnst. - Arts, Com, CTE, Soc. Sci. RG
Bruce, Allison, FT lnst. - Architecture VV
Esmacher, Melissa, FT Inst. - Instructional Programs NW
Gamez, Cynthia, FT lnst. - ESL, Reading, Soc. Sci. VV
Garcia, Adriana, FT lnst. - Edu. & Career & Tech. Edu VV
Jones, Bob, Director Distance Learning Support Services VV
Macedo, Alexandra, FT Inst. - Health, Career & Tech. Edu,
Math, Sci. RG
Miller, Lisa, FT Inst. - Arts, basic Skills, Com., Soc. Sci. TM
Penley, Dr. Julie, Dean/Administrative Liaison
Salas, Alfredo, FT lnst. - Math, Career & Tech, Edu. Sci. TM
I.
Call to order at 3:40 p.m.
II.
Approval of minutes: A motion to approve the
October 2015 minutes was made by E. Aguirre and
seconded by C. Gamez with none opposed.
III.
IV.
B. Jones advised that L. Cadena gave workshops at
the dual-credit conference and the participants,
especially the new faculty liked the rubric. The
conference attendees were pleased with the BB
Course Content Area/Folder Structure. L. Cadena
also created a Planning Your Blackboard Tools
Worksheet, Planning Your Blackboard Course
Menu: navigation pane and Blackboard Course Plan
Worksheet. B. Jones passed out copies to the
committee members.
V.
B. Jones spoke about the OER workshops. Lumen
Learning recently presented workshops to faculty
about reducing educational costs by using Open
Ended Resources. Representatives may be visiting
campuses in the near future giving faculty
presentations about OER.
VI.
B. Jones spoke about excessive online course size.
He advised there are faculty members who are being
asked to reduce the size of their online courses as
they are taking up too much space which negatively
impacts Blackboard. Much of the excessive space
is due to course copy and duplication. There will be
trainings to assist faculty address the issue.
VII.
B. Jones spoke to the committee about Banner
information-on campus requirements. A process
and procedure is needed so that it may be listed in
Banner. This will be discussed at a future meeting.
VIII.
B. Jones advised there are currently five degree
plans that students may complete entirely online.
Disciplines are being asked to look at which
programs they could also bring online.
IX.
The next meeting is scheduled for February 2, 2016
at 3:30 p.m. in ASC A400.
X.
Meeting adjourned at 4:44 p.m. A motion was made
by E. Aguirre and seconded by M. Esmacher.
B. Jones advised the Self-Verification Rubric
Supporting materials would be discussed with the
committee at the February 2016 meeting.
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February 2, 2016
ASC Room A400
Members in Attendance:
C.
Aguirre, Edith, FT Inst. Instruct. Programs MdP
Brockoff, Jeffrey, FT lnst.- Arts, Com, CTE, Soc. Sci. RG
Bruce, Allison, FT lnst.- Architecture VV
Esmacher, Melissa, FT Inst.-Instructional Programs NW
Gamez, Cynthia, FT lnst. - ESL, Reading, Soc. Sci. VV
Gonzalez, Laura, FT Inst.-Nursing RG
Jones, Bob, Director Distance Learning Support Services VV
Macedo, Alexandra, FT Inst.-Health, Career & Tech. Edu,
Math, Sci. RG
Miller, Lisa, FT Inst.-Arts, Basic Skills, Com., Soc. Sci. TM
Salas, Alfredo, FT lnst. -Math, Career & Tech, Edu., Sci. TM
Tena, Dr. Lydia, Academic Dean NW
Valdespino, Arturo, FT Inst.-Comm & Perform Arts
Williams, Dianna, Dual Credit Counselor VV
D.
E.
IV.
B. Jones suggested the rubric could be used to
support evaluations for faculty who teach online
courses.
V.
L. Cadena advised she will place a tentative
schedule on the back of the rubric showing the dates
of the rubric integration. She will also develop a
video guide to assist faculty. The rubric will also be
placed on Ebug
VI.
A motion was made by M. Esmacher to send the
rubric forward to the Vice President of Instruction
and Workforce Education and to the Instructional
Leadership Team for approval. The motion was
approved.
VII.
L. Cadena advised My Messages and a Respondus
quick start guide have been placed on the My
Blackboard page to assist users.
VIII.
“Virtual Presence,” B. Jones related to the
committee that two students have graduated from
EPCC by taking all courses online. Currently, there
are five degrees available fully online as well as the
medical transcription certificate. He advised there is
the potential to place 20 more degree plans and six
certificates online.
IX.
A. Salas asked about the possibility of having
concurrent, faceto face and online classes, for
advanced courses. Dr. Tena advised the courses
may be piggybacked to achieve the desired outcome.
X.
C. Gamez told the cmte about ads she saw on
Craigslist offering to take exams and write papers
for students.
XI.
B. Jones advised Blackboard now reads cross listed
courses from Banner.
XII.
B. Jones advised they are working with IT to
develop one Blackboard single sign-in and
password, college wide.
XIII.
B. Jones related that he is working alongside Robin
Russell on a project that would allow the tutoring of
students through Blackboard Instant Messenger. A
pilot project is being developed to work with the
economics program.
Guests in Attendance: Cadena, Luz, Program Manager
DLSS
I.
Call to order at 3:34 p.m.
II.
Approval of minutes: A motion to approve the
November 2015 minutes was made by D. Williams
and seconded by E. Aguirre with none opposed.
III.
L. Cadena provided an update by way of a
PowerPoint presentation on the Blackboard Course
Design Self-verification project. She advised of the
importance of good course design as students who
do not understand the course layout may drop the
course or ask numerous questions throughout. She
related the objective of the project is to create
consistency in Blackboard course design. Section 8
was added to the rubric to address the use of external
materials and to assist faculty with copyright
permissions. The rubric was presented to the
Curriculum office, who advised they would use the
rubric as their current template is 7-8 years old. She
also presented the rubric to the faculty association
and enrollment services task force. She advised the
next step is to meet with IT and develop a selfverification database and submission process for
MyEPCC. She provided the committee with a plan
to begin implementing the rubric, pending approval,
in the Summer, Fall 2016. Training will be provided
year round to assist faculty. She will begin
presenting the rubric to all faculty after spring break.
L. Cadena provided the committee with the
following supplemental materials that are designed
to assist faculty with the course design.
A.
B.
Blackboard Course Plan Worksheet
Planning Your Blackboard Course Tools
Worksheet
Planning Your Blackboard Course menu:
Navigation Pane
Blackboard Course Content Area/Folder
Structure
DLSS, Seven Principles of Universal Design
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XIV.
L. Cadena will be placing a schedule online to show
upcoming DLSS trainings that are being offered
from February through April.
XV.
L. Cadena spoke of the Ebug and the EPCC
Blackboard users group. She advised once enrolled
faculty may view or post announcements, blogs,
access reference guides, view academic calendars
and access information repositories.
XVI.
The next meeting is scheduled for March 1, 2016 at
3:30 p.m. in ASC A400.
XVII.
Meeting adjourned at 4:57 p.m. A motion was made
by A. Salas and seconded by E. Aguirre.
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February 16, 2016
ASC Room A400
that the forum will have a slightly different
format, with brief presentations on requested
topics for the second hour.
Attendees: Ms. Kathleen Bombach, Dr. Melissa Esmacher,
Ms. Mary Beth Haan (Resource), Ms. Jan Lockhart, Mr.
Oscar Macedo, Mr. Claude Mathis, Ms. Margie Nelson
Rodriguez, Mr. Sotero Ramirez, and Ms. Sue Selk
I.
Welcome & Introductions -- Ms. Selk welcomed the
committee.
B.
Issues for committee review: Tabled for next
meeting
C.
Discuss changing next time and time: Since
EPCC Leadership has scheduled their
meetings at the same time as ours and there
have been other scheduling conflicts, Ms.
Selk asked the committee if future meetings
should be rescheduled. The consensus is that
there will always be scheduling conflicts, but
perhaps other dates could be considered (?).
II.
Minutes Approval -- The meeting minutes from the
March 17, 2016 were unanimously approved.
III.
Unfinished Business -- The committee conducted its
final review and revision of the “High School Dual
Credit Program Requirements” EPCC Procedure
6.00.01.30. Ms. Haan recorded changes to the
procedure. Ms. Selk will send the final draft to the
committee. This draft will still need to go to
Leadership, Cabinet, and to the entire College for
review and comment before its approved and
implemented.
V.
Next meeting scheduled: Tuesday, March 15,
2016, at 3:00 p.m., Room TBA
VI.
Adjournment: The meeting will be adjourned at
4:35 p.m.
New Business
Minutes taken by Ms. Nelson Rodriguez
IV.
A.
Spring Forum—Monday, April 18, 2016,
from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the ASC Boardroom.
Ms. Selk invited the committee and explained
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DISTANCE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
For College Procedure
2.01.01.14: Committees
MINUTES FOR 2014-2015
(Note: The chair must email the approved minutes to the IE Office for placement on the College web page.)
Minutes for the 2014-2015 academic year were not provided by the committee.
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DISTANCE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
2013-2014 MINUTES
September 16, 2013
ASC Room A400
After a bit of editing, the committee agreed to the
following wording: “All EPCC credit courses may
be enhanced with online instructional activities and
materials requiring internet access and/or access
codes to online content. Please contact the
instructor for specific course requirements,
especially if you plan to purchase the textbook prior
to the start of classes.”
Members present: Adriana D. Garcia, Laura Gonzalez,
Aimee Harris, Gabriel Mendoza, Sandra Perez, Blayne
Primozich, Alfredo Salas, Lydia Tena, Dianna Williams
Guests: Luz Cadena, Clarissa Maldonado
I.
II.
CALL TO ORDER: Bob Jones, Distance
Education Office Director, called the meeting to
order at 3:30 p.m.
Bob Jones explained that the statement would have
to get approval from the Leadership Team, the VicePresident of Instruction, and possibly the
Curriculum Office before moving on for Cabinet
approval. Bob offered to send out the statement to
the whole committee, and if everyone agreed, to take
the statement to the Leadership Team.
WELCOME AND INTRODCTIONS:
Bob Jones gave a warm welcome to all new and
returning committee members. Members each were
asked to introduce themselves to the committee.
III.
Bob Jones suggested that the first order of business
should be to elect a committee chair and secretary
and opened the floor to volunteers or nominations.
After discussion, a motion was made and seconded
to approve Aimee Harris as committee chair and to
approve Blayne Primozich as committee secretary.
The motion carried.
IV.
Bob also asked when most faculty return to work,
since we might need to add a reminder to students
that faculty are available in their offices one week
prior to the start of a semester. This would be an
item for discussion at the Leadership Team meeting.
ELECTION OF CHAIR AND SECRETARY:
OLD BUSINESS: DRAFT STATEMENT FOR
INCLUSION IN THE CATALOG, SCHEDULE,
AND BANNER
Last spring the committee worked on a statement,
which would be posted on Banner and in the catalog
and schedule, notifying students that face-to-face
courses maybe enhanced with online content or
assignments. This statement would encourage
students who wished to avoid classes with online
content to contact the course instructor for specific
requirements before finalizing their registration.
The proposed statement read “All EPCC (credit)
courses may be enhanced with online instructional
activities and materials requiring internet access
and/or access codes to online content. It is
recommended you contact (please contact) the
instructor for specific course requirements,
especially if you plan to purchase the textbook prior
to the start of classes”
V.
NEW BUSINESS:
A.
Information Updates:
1
Bob Jones announced that Clarissa
Maldonado would sit in on the
committee meetings this year as part
of her graduate internship from New
Mexico State University, where she
is conducting research on best
practices for online education,
focusing on retention and grade
improvement.
2
Bob also announced that Luz
Cadena is the new Distance
Education Office Manager, who
would be working over the coming
months to bring in new ideas and
outreach projects.
3
Bob stated that that the new
BlackBoard training schedule would
be published soon. A new series of
workshops will be offered, allowing
faculty members to make limited
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including a change in help desk and
server vendors from Ellucian
(formerly Sunguard) to
BlackBoard. To avoid any lapse in
services, there may be a period of
time that we use both vendors
currently.
use of BlackBoard to enhance their
face-to-face classes without going
through the full BlackBoard
certification process. Alfredo Salas
noted that BlackBoard has a quick
start set-up function that makes it
easy for a new faculty member to
create a BlackBoard course.
2
B.
4
Bob said that a lack of responses to
a spring BlackBoard user survey is
prompting his office to send out
another survey in October to see
what tools people use and what
training is needed.
5
Bob informed the committee that his
office has an online readiness
measure in place, as well as online
training and assessments, to assist
students who are new to online
courses.
VI.
NEXT MEETING:
A.
DOE State Authorization Update:
The committee will discuss opportunities
that may exist for offering courses in other
states.
Projects:
B.
1
2
C.
While there are no definite plans to
date, there has been some discussion
of EPCC jumping into the world of
MOOCs, possibly for continuing
education, vocational, adult basic
education, or developmental
courses.
There had been a problem with the
online listings for hybrid courses, in
which the word “online” appeared
first, and the campus appeared on
the second line, causing many
students to assume they were taking
an online course and not show up
for the face-to-face class meetings.
The Distance Education Office
worked with the Registrar’s Office
to switch the order within the listing
so that the campus appears first.
The Distance Education Office is
working to streamline or even
automate the request process to use
BlackBoard for face-to-face classes,
which account for the majority of
BlackBoard users each semester.
Currently, use of BlackBoard to
enhance a face-to-face class requires
a Schedule Revision Form
processed through each dean’s
office. One option would be to
automatically turn on BlackBoard
for all EPCC instructors; however,
there would be a cost increase
associated with this, and an increase
in users would create a greater stain
on the college’s bandwidth.
Software:
1
EPCC is in its last year of the
contract with BlackBoard learn and
will seek to renew this contract,
BlackBoard Learn Retention Center
Analytics:
Training workshops are planned for fall and
spring. The system does have some prebuilt and customizable rubrics.
C.
Student Success and Retention:
Bob Jones asked members to forward any
agenda items to the chair. It was noted that
online courses traditionally have very low
retention and pass rates.
D.
BlackBoard Student Survey:
The committee will work on questions for
the upcoming survey and members need to
consider “what do we want to know” and
“who is our student population.”
VII.
2013-2014 MEETING SCHEDULE:
The next meeting was scheduled for Thursday,
October 17, at 3:00 p.m.
VIII.
OTHER:
A.
Proctoring Online Exams:
The committee discussed issues involving
the proctoring online exams. A question
was raised about whether or not students
could bring their own laptops into the
testing center to take an online exam. For
those trying to require their online classes
to take their exams in the testing center, it
was noted that Testing Center policy
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questions about labs and other things that
are not relevant to online courses.
Recommendations would be forwarded to
the Evaluations Committee.
prohibits the testing of entire classes. It
was mentioned that there is a third-party
company that will proctor exams online via
webcam. The Distance Education Office
already is working on a new statement
about on-site requirements for online
courses.
B.
D.
Dr. Tena informed the committee that the
role of the administrative liaisons on the
standing committees was being reevaluated
and asked for feedback from the committee
about whether or not a liaison was needed.
The consensus on the committee was that
the administrative liaisons are needed.
Distance Education Office Facebook
Page:
Luz Cadena will email the committee the
link to the new Facebook page, which will
include tutorials and other information for
students and faculty.
IX.
C.
Administrative Liaisons:
ADJOURNMENT:
Online Student Evaluation:
Alfredo Salas recommended that the
committee review the online course student
evaluation, since it currently contains
With no other business pending, the meeting was
adjourned at 5:05 p.m.
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October 17, 2013
ASC Room A400
This turned out to be a logistical nightmare.
Members present: Muhammad Akhtar, Allison Bruce, Lisa
Elliott, Adriana Garcia, Aimee Harris-Johnson, Bob, Jones,
Gabriel Mendoza, Alfredo Salas
Now this issue is back on the table at the
DOE.
Members Absent: Nita Corral-Nava, Laura Gonzalez, Daryle
Hendry, Claude Mathis (called), Hector Padilla, Dr. Sandra
Perez, Blayne Primozich (called), Dr. Lydia Tena (called),
Dianna Williams (called)
Most of our out of state students are from
New Mexico.
For now, EPCC will take a “wait and see
attitude.”
I.
Call to Order
Military students are exempted from this.
Aimee Harris-Johnson called the meeting to order at
3:10 p.m.
II.
C.
Approval of Minutes
Aimee Harris-Johnson gives a brief overview
of Bb’s Retention Center and what it can do.
The September minutes were not available for
approval.
D.
III.
Online Instructor Performance Review
Old Business
Muhammad Akhtar brings up questions about
student evaluations of instructors. He says
students have access to the evaluation after
grades are received and this may result in
poor evaluations.
Draft statement for inclusion in the Catalog,
Schedule and Banner
A quorum was not present to vote on final draft.
IV.
Blackboard Learn Retention Center and
Analytics
Lisa Elliott says she gives incentives for
students doing the online evaluation.
New Business
A.
Distance Ed Facebook Page
IV.
Luz Cadena presented on the Distance Ed
Facebook page.
Many were unaware that this existed.
B.
DOE Statement Authorization Update
Next Meeting
Next meeting will be on Monday, November 18th at
11:30 am in ASC A400. It will be a brown bag
session.
Meeting adjourned at 3:59 p.m.
Bob Jones presents
In 2008 a requirement from the DOE
(Department of Education) said to the
effect: “State A” must have in writing from
“State B” that they can offer online classes
to students in said state.
Respectfully submitted,
Aimee Harris-Johnson
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November 18, 2013
ASC Room A400
Members present: Lisa Elliott, Adriana Garcia, Aimee
Harris-Johnson, Bob, Jones, Gabriel Mendoza, Alfredo Salas,
Dianna Williams
IV.
New Business
A.
Impact of Full to Part-Time Faculty
Ratio on Online Class Offerings
Guests: Clarissa Maldonado, Luz Cadena
Bob Jones: Dr. Tena says this may impact
our growth, but there is not much we can
do about it at the moment.
Members Absent: Muhammad Akhtar, Allison Bruce
(called), Nita Corral-Nava, Laura Gonzalez, Daryle Hendry,
Claude Mathis Hector Padilla, Dr. Sandra Perez, Blayne
Primozich (called), Dr. Lydia Tena
I.
B.
Bob Jones: At some of the smaller
campuses, demand requires face-to face
classes, and some instructors are
complaining that they are not allowed
online classes.
Call to Order
Aimee Harris-Johnson called the meeting to order at
11:38 a.m.
II.
Lisa Elliott: Do we have data? We need
some.
Approval of Minutes
Tentative approval of minutes for both September
and October, with the following revisions:
1.
2.
III.
Cap for Hybrid and Online Classes
Alfredo Salas: Is there a policy about
creating online classes?
Sep.—Luz Cadena’s title is “Manager of
Distance Education Programs”
AS: We need a control in place.
Gabriel Mendoza: Online classes are often
killed, and reasons are unclear.
Oct.—IV.B.—“turned,” not “tuned”
Old Business
A.
Review of Student/Faculty Evaluation
for Online Classes
Bob Jones: Suggests an administrator
come in and let faculty know how the
decision is made.
Alfredo Salas: Section Q16--Tech
evaluation needs to be separate.
Luz Cadena: Wants early awareness for
online classes
AS: Section Q7—omit “email messages”
and replace with “communications”
C.
Bob Jones gives an overview of the
proctored online testing survey.
AS: Section Q10—omit “to meet” and
replace with “communicate”
Follow up needed for those that stopped at
question 2
AS: Section Q17—“real time” is not a best
practice and needs to be omitted.
V.
AS: Section Q15—does not need to be
included in a faculty evaluation.
Lisa Elliott: Section Q18—Section is not
needed because it is already answered and
is not included on the face-to-face
evaluations.
Proctored Online Testing Survey
Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 12:53 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Aimee Harris-Johnson
Alfredo Salas: Some instructors do not
have course up in a timely fashion. This
needs to be addressed in section Q6
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February 10, 2014
ASC Room A400
C.
Members present: Muhammad Akhtar, Lisa Elliott,
Adriana Garcia, Bob, Jones (resource), Claude Mathis, Dr.
Sandra Perez,
Members Absent: Nita Corral-Nava (resource), Laura
Gonzalez, Aimee Harris-Johnson (called), Daryle Hendry
(resource), Gabriel Mendoza (called), Hector Padilla, Blayne
Primozich (called), Alfredo Salas, Dr. Lydia Tena (called),
Dianna Williams (resource)
IV.
Transition to Blackboard Hosting and Help
Desk Services 2014 is in the planning
process for implementation. An update will
be provided at each committee meeting
until the transition is completed.
Next Meeting
Committee members will be polled by email to set a
date for the March and April meetings.
Guests: Luz Cadena, Clarissa Maldonado
Proposed Agenda Items:
I.
Call to Order
Aimee Harris-Johnson, the Chair of the committee
sent notification she would be absent. Bob Jones
was asked to moderate the meeting. The meeting
was called to order at 3:38 pm by Bob Jones.
II.
Meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm
New Business
A.
B.
Discuss requesting students be required to update
contact information at each enrollment registration.
Review the number of weeks utilized at EPCC for
online course delivery. This review is intended to
generate recommendations to optimize student
access and success.
Old Business
None
IV.
Discuss ways to identify the current student success
baseline in online courses.
Discuss options to ensure students complete faculty
course evaluations.
Approval of Minutes
The November minutes were reviewed. One
correction: Blayne Primozich attended. There was
no quorum, the minutes will be emailed for
approval.
III.
Discuss and identify outreach activities for student
early awareness to improve success in online
courses.
Best Practices presentation by Clarissa
Maldonado. The PowerPoint presentation
will be emailed to the committee members.
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Jones for Aimee Harris-Johnson
Proctored online testing survey results. The
Distance Education department received 60
responses to the survey. The majority of
the responders would use online proctored
testing, 47 yes to 13 no.
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DISTANCE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
2012-2013 MINUTES
January 31, 2013
Valle Verde, Room C428
Members present: Muhammad Akhtar, Andrew Auckland,
Lee Cannell, Angie Ruiz (for Nita Corral-Nava), Lisa Elliott,
Aimee Harris-Johnson, Bob, Jones, Claude Mathis, Dr.
Sandra Perez, Blayne Primozich, Alfredo Salas, Dr. Lydia
Tena, Michelle Watkins.
students who were submitting at the exact
time of the glitch.
Members Absent: Daryle Hendry, Gabriel Mendoza,
Mariano Olmos, Dianna Williams (called).
*No Bb updates are going to be done this
semester. Next updates will probably be done
between the Spring and Summer terms.
I.
Call to Order
*Updates are running fine on the test server.
*Bob Jones Called the meeting to order at 4:07 pm
*Lisa Elliott expressed concern that the
college does not have enough Distance Ed
staff to handle problems like this.
II.
Welcome
*Welcome and introductions
III.
B.
*New class starts February 11th.
*Andrew Auckland is elected chair
*Class is completely online.
Approval of Minutes
*Minutes are approved unanimously without
modification
V.
Old Business
Hybrid Course Caps
*Hybrid courses are capped at 25 regardless of
whether or not they are more face-to-face, or more
online.
VI.
Spring 2013 Training
Election of Chair and Secretary
*Aimee Harris-Johnson is elected secretary
IV.
*BJ said a better idea would be to turn off the
server and restore from the previous day.
C.
Hybrid vs. Enhanced Courses
*Bob Jones stated that there is a Coordinating
Board definition of a Hybrid Course, but we
may need to define that definition further.
*Dr. Tena discussed how the Northwest
Campus sets up hybrids and said that there
are many different models that the campuses
are using. Therefore, students may be
confused about the exact definition of a
hybrid course.
*Clarification should be given to students
when registering for the class.
New Business
A.
Blackboard Updates
*Dr. Tena stated that we are getting software
(Ad Astra) to maximize room usage.
*Bob Jones addressed the Bb glitch that
happened in the fall semester.
*Lisa Elliott asked if the new LIVE will take
over Blackboard for enhanced courses.
*No one is sure what happened
*Discussion over course enhancements.
Blackboard is more useful because it has quiz
capabilities, discussions, publisher content,
etc.
*A workaround was developed to re-enter
students that had been purged. The only data
that would have been lost would be that of
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*Lisa Elliott expressed the concern that
because course enhancement is the trend,
does the college have the manpower to deal
with the increased load?
D.
*Bob Jones called for faculty to help review
software. Lisa Elliott, Andrew Auckland,
Aimee Harris-Johnson, and Muhammad
Akhtar responded that they would help.
*Bob Jones said the new technology fee will
help.
VII.
*Blayne Primozich suggested that we put an
emblem that alerts students that course is
enhanced. Some students do not have
internet at home and do not want an enhanced
course.
*Discussion over using a disclaimer in
Banner. Perhaps a blanket statement could be
used?
Software Reviews and Recommendations
Future Initiatives
*Claude Mathis wants the committee to address the
question, “How do we increase success in the online
environment?”
*Dr. Perez said she has some data from her classes
on this.
VIII.
Next Meeting
*Dr. Perez revisits online models. She counts
at least 5 hybrid models.
*Next meeting will be on Monday, February 25th at
3:00 pm in ASC A400.
*Claude Mathis spoke about some speech
hybrids coded as TBA. Dr. Perez asked if
this was a good model for room
maximization.
*Bob Jones will be in charge of securing the room.
Meeting adjourned at 5:13 pm
*Dr. Perez also noted that the sciences are
having the most problem with adequate lab
space.
Respectfully submitted,
Aimee Harris-Johnson
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February 25, 2013
ASC, Room A400
Members present: Andrew Auckland, Lee Cannell, Aimee
Harris-Johnson, Bob, Jones, Claude Mathis, Blayne
Primozich, Alfredo Salas, Dr. Lydia Tena, Michelle Watkins,
Dianna Williams
*Claude Mathis suggested that the committee
needed an IT person as a resource on this
committee.
*Dr. Tena suggested bringing this issue
before the Faculty Association.
Members Absent: Muhammad Akhtar, Nita Corral-Nava,
Lisa Elliott, Daryle Hendry, Gabriel Mendoza, Mariano
Olmos, Dr. Sandra Perez (called).
I.
*(Claude Mathis suggested that this request
should go through the Vice President, who
then routes it to Dr. Stroud. It was also
suggested that the committee requests a
specific person, such as the Executive
Director of Network Services and Support
Services.)
Call to Order
*Andrew Aukland called the meeting to order at
3:07 pm
II.
Welcome
V.
*Welcome
III.
New Business
A.
Approval of Minutes
*Blayne Primozich put forth a blanket
statement. Committee made minor changes.
*Lee Cannell motioned to approve
*Minutes approved unanimously without
modification
IV.
* “All EPCC courses may be enhanced with
online instructional activities and materials
requiring internet access and/or access codes
to online content. Please contact the
instructor for specific course requirements.”
Old Business
A.
Software Review Taskforce
*Bob Jones provided an overview of what the
taskforce did at their last meeting.
*Lee Cannell moves to put this to Leadership
for inclusion in the catalog, schedules, and
Part II of the syllabus.
*Taskforce will make recommendations to
the committee. Committee will then decide
on actions to take to Leadership.
B.
Disclaimer for Banner
*Motion unanimously approved.
B.
Other
*One specific point: Blackboard Collaborate
expires in August, 2013 and EPCC already
has a similar product. Do we still want to
keep Bb Collaborate?
*Bob Jones provided copies of the
Administrative Code definitions for Distance
Ed, which were revised in summer, 2009 and
became effective mid-to late fall, 2009.
Increasing Success in Online Classes
* Lee Cannell questioned the orientation
procedure for students who were not in town.
Bob Jones made several suggestions.
*Bob Jones went over the blog entry, “Seven
Principals for Good Practice in the Online
Classroom”
*(Because we are reviewing several articles,
etc., Bob suggested an electronic drop box so
we don’t have as much paper.)
*Clause Mathis questioned the definition of
hybrid and if we should refine it.
VI.
Next Meeting
*Next meeting will be on Thursday, April 4th at
3:00 pm in ASC A400.
*Alfredo Salas mentioned that we have
trouble with communicating with email in
Blackboard because the new Live system is
not up and running properly.
Meeting adjourned at 4:10 pm
*Lee Cannell noted that the messaging tool in
Blackboard is cumbersome.
Respectfully submitted,
*Lee also states that our IT system is not
effective enough to communicate with the
students properly.
Aimee Harris-Johnson
*Bob Jones will be in charge of securing the room.
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April 4, 2013
ASC, Room A400
Members present: Andrew E. Auckland (Chair), Lisa
Elliott, Daryle Hendry, Bob Jones, Dr. Sandra Perez, Blayne
Primozich, Alfredo Salas, Michelle Watkins, Diana Williams
C.
The Committee agreed to table until next
meeting. It will read along the line of: “All
EPCC courses may be enhanced with
online instructional activities and materials
requiring internet access and/or access
codes to online content. Please contact the
instructor for specific course requirements.”
Members Absent: Nita Corral-Nava, Claude Mathis
Members Excused: Aimee Harris, Mariano Olmos, Dr.
Lydia Tena, Gabriel Mendoza, Muhammad Akhtar, Lee
Cannell
D.
I.
II.
CALL TO ORDER
IT STAFF MEMBERSHIP ON DE
COMMITTEE
Chairman Andrew Auckland called the meeting to
order at 15:07 p.m.
The Committee agreed to table until item
next meeting.
V.
WELCOME
Welcome
III.
NEW BUSINESS
A.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ANNUAL
REPORT
Approval of Minutes
15:45 Motioned to approve -- Minutes approved
unanimously without modification (minutes
approved later in meeting when quorum was
attained).
IV.
BANNER DISCLAIMER
It was recommended and agreed that all
other software contracts except Blackboard
Collaborate will be renewed.
B.
RECOMMENDATIONS BY DE
COMMITTEE
DE Committee should have representation
from IT Department.
C.
RECOMMENDATIONS BY
SOFTWARE REVIEW TASKFORCE
OLD BUSINESS
A.
SOFTWARE REVIEW TASKFORCE
RECOMMENDATION
Taskforce was set up by the DE to develop
a sense of options in software products and
contracts, to review availabilities of
software products.
B.
The Taskforce recommends renewing the
other software contracts as they come up.
(See Table in Taskforce report). The
Taskforce noted that Digital Proctor was a
“savvy” plagiarism detection product and
the “least expensive one that works”.
UPDATE ON BLACKBOARD
Report from Bob Jones on Software
Taskforce findings. The Taskforce
recommends that the Blackboard®
Collaborate contract be allowed to expire at
the end of this academic year.
1.
Relatively expensive and these
funds can be applied to funds
covering costs of other software.
2.
It is underutilized.
3.
It is duplicative.
D.
Pre-Online Course Evaluation
Should there be an evaluation of students
prior to registration for online courses?
This matter was discussed and tabled for
placement on the Agenda of the next DE
meeting. The Agenda item will be “Should
there be a prerequisite to assess online
readiness?”
This discussion was part of the thread
“How to improve student success in online
learning” which is an ongoing concern of
the DE Committee.
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E.
Assessment Tool Link
G.
Bob Jones will send out an assessment tool
link concerning this matter, which can be
used as a diagnostic tool to assess “online
readiness”.
F.
Blaine Primozich elucidated the problem of
students who purchase a second hand
textbook not having a valid online access
code. The Committee agreed this needs
addressing, perhaps in the form of a
disclaimer.
ONLINE SUCCESS
Daryle Hendry stated that there is a student
misconception that online course are
“easier” and take less time than face-to-face
courses. He informed the committee that
the Catalog presentation of courses is being
changed to more easily identify the online
content of hybrid courses. The Banner
classroom versus online component is to be
better identified.
TEXTBOOKS AND ONLINE ACCESS
CODES
H.
OTHER
VI.
NEXT MEETING
VII.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 16:17.
Blaine Primozich added that visual cues to
identify the various campus locations of
courses would be useful.
Respectfully submitted by,
Andrew Auckland suggested these cues
might use distinctive architectural features
of each campus, as had been previously
used in College logos.
Andrew E. Auckland
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DISTANCE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
2011-2012 MINUTES
March 5, 2012
Members present: Auckland, Andrew; Corral-Nava, Nita
(represented by Nancy Muniz); Elliott, Lisa M.; Jones,
Robert P. (Bob); Sharp, Christina; Tena, Lydia; Watkins,
Michelle C.; Williams, Dianna; Yancy-Tooks, Barbara
1.
Anecdotally, committee members
brought up some student testing and
log on issues. Bob made suggestions
to resolve them.
Absent: Baquera, Richard; Cannell, Lee O; Hendry, Daryle
E.; John, Sarah E.;Mathis, Claude M.; Mendoza, Gabriel;
Moses, Jason; Olmos, Mariano
2.
Andrew Auckland requested that
courses be put in semester order so it
was easier to locate the current
course. That is not possible with
Blackboard at this time and there is
no timeline for a fix on it.
I.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by
Dr. Lydia Tena at 3:10pm.
II.
Old Business (from April 2011 Agenda):
C.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
III.
Distance Education has been trying to use
the announcements more to communicate
with faculty and students and it seems to be
working. Bob Jones asked input from the
committee in order to improve
communication.
Classroom Shortage: Additional Hybrid
Courses Needed – CM (RESOLVED)
Instructional Continuity Update: General
Session Time Slot – CM (RESOLVED)
Literature Review – Improving Student
Retention though the use of Instructional
Standards for Online Courses – BJ
(MOVED INTO NEW BUSINESS)
Intellectual Properties – CM (TABLED
UNTIL FURTHER UPDATES FROM
CM)
Student Academic Integrity – Software for
Online Courses (RESOLVED)
CMS Task Force Update – BJ
(COMPLETED IN LAST MEETING)
ONLINE DUAL CREDIT STUDENTFACULTY EVALUATIONS (TABLED
AS PART OF ONGOING DISCUSSION)
New Business
A.
Select Committee Chair Person
Lisa Elliott was nominated by Barbara
Yancy-Tooks and accepted by the
committee as the new chair person.
B.
Blackboard Updates (BJ)
Blackboard is performing significantly
better than last semester, including no
testing bugs.
Communicating with Faculty and Students
(BJ)
D.
1.
Barbara Yancy-Tooks commented
that the announcement list is getting
very long and suggested that it get
rotated more frequently.
2.
Lisa Elliott recommended creating
an email list of Blackboard
Instructors and sending them emails
telling them about new
announcements
3.
The committee recommended that a
separate email be sent to all faculty
and students announcing that
Blackboard would be offline during
Spring Break.
Faculty Senate Intellectual Property Task
Force (BJ)
Bob Jones informed the committee that he
was serving as a resource person for the
Faculty Senate Intellectual Property Task
Force. The aim of this task force is to
rewrite the intellectual property college
procedures for the digital age since it was
created for a pre-digital environment.
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E.
F.
Virtual College of Texas and funding for
Distance Education Software (BJ)
1.
People are content that it’s
functional
Under the Community College presidents
of Texas, this provides funding for
SoftChalk repository and smarter student
readiness text at the cost of $150,000160,000. Bob Jones will keep the
committee up to date on this, but it’s
something of which to be aware and keep
track.
2.
There are fewer complaints because
less people are using it
Communication from Dolores Inniss –
Online Proctored Exams
3.
Andrew Auckland suggested that the
problems gave the late adopters the
excuse they needed to slow down in
their adoption of Blackboard
4.
Lisa Elliott suggested an agenda
item for next meeting – How can the
Distance Education committee
change the PR image of Blackboard
on the EPCC campus?
1.
2.
IV.
In an August 2011 email to the DE
committee, Ms. Inniss expressed
concerns about academic dishonesty
in online courses and recommended
moving to proctored exams. The DE
committee considered that this might
be an infringement of professor’s
rights to run class in manner that
they see fit as well as students’ rights
in taking an online class. Bob Jones
will research this topic and present at
the next DE committee meeting.
Michelle Watkins recommended that
the DE committee draft a policy
based on Mr. Jones’ findings.
Other
A.
When asked if this is the case, Bob
Jones countered that there are more
online and web-enhanced classes
than in the Fall and the same number
of students enrolled
B.
V.
Bob Jones presented information at the
Board Meeting that the software and
service issues from the Fall semester have
been resolved.
Adjournment
Andrew Auckland moved to adjourn the meeting.
Michelle Watkins seconded. Meeting was
adjourned at 4:13pm.
Lydia Tena asked what committee
members are hearing people say about
Blackboard
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April 9, 2012
not this was within the purview of the DE
committee or should instead be determined by
the discipline and whether or not the
committee had enough information to make a
recommendation, the committee voted and
the motion passed. Reasons given for this
recommendation included that if a class were
more than 50% online, then it should be
considered an online class since it is more
online than face-to-face. Also, this limit
allows faculty to give the proper attention and
support necessary for students to successfully
complete a class that has more online
elements than face-to-face. Finally, it
impacts only a few sections of hybrid classes
and at the discipline level, deans can
determine whether or not they are able to
approve additional hybrid classes if this
recommendation is adopted by the
instructional leadership team.
Members present: Auckland, Andrew; Corral-Nava, Nita
(represented by Nancy Muniz); Elliott, Lisa M.; John, Sarah
E.; Jones, Robert P. (Bob); Mathis, Claude M.; Watkins,
Michelle C.; Williams, Dianna
Absent: Baquera, Richard; Cannell, Lee O; Hendry, Daryle
E.; Mendoza, Gabriel; Moses, Jason; Olmos, Mariano; Sharp,
Christina; Tena, Lydia; Yancy-Tooks, Barbara
I.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by
Barbara Williams at 3:10 p.m.
II.
Welcome (Lisa Elliott)
Lisa Elliott reviewed the agenda for the day’s
meeting with present committee members.
III.
Approval of Previous Minutes:
Dianna Williams motioned to approve previous
minutes. Andrew Auckland seconded.
IV.
V.
A.
New Business: Mr. Steve Smith asked the Distance
Education Committee to make a recommendation
regarding enrollment caps on hybrid courses.
A.
Old Business:
Bob Jones preliminary research indicated that
most schools do not require proctoring of
online exams. He will continue his research
by sending out a survey to TX state
community colleges over the summer and
solicit additional feedback and this issue will
be re-examined in the Fall. Additionally, BJ
& LE will draft a survey to send to EPCC
faculty to determine if this is a wider concern
and will send it out for review by the rest of
the DE committee with the plan to send it in
the fall.
Hybrid Course Caps Presentation (Dale A.
Hougham, Enrollment Management
Department)
Dale Hougham gave a presentation outlining
current enrollment practices in capping hybrid
courses. There is not a consistent policy at
this time. Some are capped at the face-to-face
number while others are capped at a lower
number.
B.
Faculty Senate Proposal (Carina Ramirez,
President, Faculty Association/Senate)
B.
Dr. Ramirez presented information regarding
how these differences in caps are impacting
classes at the college and asked that the DE
committee recommend that all hybrid courses
that are more than 50% online be viewed as
an online class and capped at 25 students.
C.
Distance Education Committee
Recommendation
Andrew Auckland motioned that hybrid
courses which are more than 50% online be
viewed as online courses and given a cap of
25 students. After a lengthy and thoughtful
discussion where concerns such as whether or
Research of Proctoring of Exams for Online
Courses (Bob Jones)
Improving the PR image of Blackboard oncampus (Lisa Elliott)
Lisa Elliott brought up the possibility of
having the Intro to Public Relations class
determine how to change the image of
Blackboard at EPCC. This was addressed
briefly – Michelle Watkins recommended
asking advice from our marketing department
in regards to this issue. This issue was tabled
and will be re-visited in the Fall.
VI.
Other
VII.
Adjournment: Andrew Auckland motioned to
adjourn at 4:23 p.m. Claude Mathis seconded the
motion.
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DISTANCE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
2010-2011 MINUTES
September 13, 2010
be in charge of books; however, he recommends
caution when considering a change in rules. The
College’s textbook practices serve to help students and
schools with expenses; we need to maintain our
partnership with participating districts and make it
manageable for both parties.
Members present: Arriaga, Martina; Auckland, Andrew;
Baquera, Richard; Cannell, Lee; Hendry, Daryle; John,
Sarah; Jones, Bob; Mathis, Claude; Moses, Jason; Pena,
Ruth; Sharp, Cristina; Watkins, Michelle; Williams, Barbara;
Williams, Dianna; Yancy-Tooks, Barbara
Absent: Corral-Nava, Nita; Mendoza, Gabriel; Olmos,
Mariano; Rodarte, Susana
I.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by
Barbara Williams at 3:10 p.m.
II.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes from April 8, 2010
were approved.
III.
Opening Statement: Welcome statement by Barbara
Williams.
IV.
Old Business:
Cap for Hybrid Courses: Bob Jones explained that the
State needs to make a definite classification
concerning hybrid and extended courses. At present, a
class is only considered a hybrid course if the time
spent online is greater than the time spent in the
classroom. Claude Mathis suggested a District-wide
decision concerning caps for hybrid courses; these
courses should be capped the same as online courses.
Committee members support this motion. Richard
Baquera offered to ask George Torok about the hybrid
courses he is teaching. Mr. Torok’s class meets in the
classroom once a week and then online twice a week.
V.
Online Faculty Hours: Online instructors are to
conduct their office hours online via email.
Recruitment of Adjunct Online Instructors: Claude
Mathis suggested the committee make a motion to
recruit part-time online faculty and classroom
instructors for DE classes via advertising in local and
area newspapers.
Distance Education Dual Credit Textbooks: Richard
Baquera related to the committee that there had been a
problem with dual-credit textbook purchases; one of
the participating schools refused to purchase the
textbook currently in use. Mr. Baquera feels that
instructors need to maintain control over teaching
materials such as textbooks since it is instructors who
set the standards for the classes they are teaching.
Therefore, the statement concerning textbooks needs to
specify what expectations we have concerning
textbook use. The committee is asked to make a
recommendation to Dr. Ron Stroud concerning the
procedure.
Claude Mathis explained that books are a major
expense for school districts. Any district new to dual
credit education is purchasing the current edition of
textbooks. However, all others are not bound to do so
at this time. Mr. Mathis agrees that instructors are to
New Business:
Official Documentation: Twenty-five Student Limit for
Online Courses: Please check EPCC’s website for
Course Optimum Handbook, which includes a “list of
Dual Credit courses available and student capacity for
each class.” This handbook can be found at
http://www.epcc.edu/dualcredit/Pages/HandbooksFor
ms.aspx
Course Management System Update: Bob Jones
informed us that Blackboard Learn 9 is already
available, and Blackboard 8 will be outdated by 2013.
He suggests we start planning for a new CMS. There
are several other programs on the market, and Mr.
Jones created a small task force to help with the
selection process.
Bob Jones also let committee members know that
cross-sectioning courses for turning in grades is
available and training will be offered to those who
wish to take advantage of this feature. Ruth Pena
expressed her concerns about cross-sectioning classes:
it may seem overwhelming to combine classes,
especially for courses which require a lot of manual
grading.
Bob Jones mentioned available video clips for online
faculty training from the Lone Star College System.
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He will provide committee members with more
information.
V.
Action Issues and Items to be Followed Up:
1.
Dual Credit Textbooks
2.
Hybrid Courses
3.
Course Management Systems for Online Courses
The meeting was adjourned at 4:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Williams
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October 11, 2010
members about reviewing the Norwegian It’s Learning
course management system. It’s Learning has shown a
very high success rate, and committee member feel it’s
worth examining this program.
Members present: Arriaga, Martina; Auckland, Andrew;
Baquera, Richard; Fernandez, Mike; John, Sarah; Jones, Bob;
Sharp, Cristina; Williams, Barbara; Yancy-Tooks, Barbara
Absent: Cannell, Lee; Corral-Nava, Nita; Hendry, Daryle;
Mathis, Claude; Mendoza, Gabriel; Moses, Jason; Olmos,
Mariano; Rodarte, Susana; Watkins, Michelle; Williams,
Dianna
I.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by
Barbara Williams at 3:10 p.m.
II.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes from September 13,
2010 were approved.
III.
Opening Statement: Welcome statement by Barbara
Williams.
IV.
Old Business:
Online Faculty Training -- Lone Star College System:
Bob Jones enrolled all members of the DE Standing
committee in the Lone Star College class, which is
accessible through Blackboard. We may want to
encourage faculty interested in teaching online to take
this class.
Best Practices: Bob Jones went to Atlanta and would
like to share information from the conference once the
material is available.
VI.
Other:
Plagiarism: Cristina Sharp referred to ‘SafeAssign’, a
plagiarism prevention program. Bob Jones promised
to look into training faculty.
Recruitment of Adjunct Online Instructors:
Committee stands on decision made September 13,
2010.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Distance Education Dual Credit Textbooks: Martina
Arriaga informed committee members that the current
textbook procedure is still in the draft stage and that
the textbook procedure and agreement are not the
same. While the procedure can be changed, the
agreement concerning textbooks may or may not be
changed. Richard Baquera made a motion to take the
dual credit textbook issue to the District-wide
Textbook committee. The motion was unanimously
approved.
V.
Barbara Williams
Action Issues and Items to be Followed Up:
1.
Dual Credit Textbooks
Cap for Hybrid Courses: Members of the Dual Credit
Standing Committee wish to review the decision made
for hybrid courses with Claude Mathis.
2.
Hybrid Courses
3.
Course Management Systems for Online Courses
New Business:
4.
Plagiarism
Task Force: Selecting New Course Management
System: Bob Jones promised to email Task Force
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November 8, 2010
According to Ms. Hutchens this program does not
change file formats should students be using MACs.
Members present: Baquera, Richard; Cannell; Lee; Jones,
Bob; Corral-Nava, Nita; Mathis, Claude; Moses, Jason; Ruiz,
Angie; Watkins, Michelle; Williams, Barbara; Yancy-Tooks,
Barbara
EPCC may consider moving to a new CMS within the
next six-eight months. Several task force members are
currently testing this It’s Learning. Please visit It's
Learning for more information.
Absent: Arriaga, Martina; Auckland, Andrew; Fernandez,
Mike; Hendry, Daryle; John, Sarah; Mendoza, Gabriel;
Olmos, Mariano; Rodarte, Susana; Sharp, Cristina; Williams,
Dianna
I.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by
Barbara Williams at 3:15 p.m.
II.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes from October 11, 2010
were approved.
III.
IV.
While It’s Learning presents a good alternative, task
force members and members of the DE Standing
Committee will review three or four other Course
Management Systems before making a decision. The
Task Force also suggested we invite online faculty to
review software before making a final decision.
These items on the agenda were tabled until further
notice of decisions:
Opening Statement: Welcome statement by Barbara
Williams.

Cap for Hybrid Courses: A District-Wide
Decision

Instructional Television Course: Faculty
Evaluation

Plagiarism: Barbara Williams, Cristina Sharp
Old Business:
Task Force: Selecting New Course Management
System: Bob Jones promised to email Task Force
members about reviewing the Norwegian It’s Learning
course management system. It’s Learning has shown a
very high success rate, and committee member feel it’s
worth examining this program.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Presenter of It’s Learning: Heather Hutchens, ELearning consultant for North America
Barbara Williams
Here is a brief outline:
Training for this CMS would require four-twenty
hours for administrators; roughly eight hours for
Instructors. It’s Learning features a number of tools
such as a course planner, multimedia tools for videos
and pictures and integrated web 2.0 applications; text
and video conferencing enable faculty to easily
connect students with a diverse range of experts
around the world bringing new perspectives into the
classroom. Online discussion tools and blogs provide
opportunities to develop a stronger classroom
community and enable students to find their own
voice.
Action Issues and Items to be Followed Up:
1.
Hybrid Courses
2.
Plagiarism
3.
Instructional Television Course: Faculty Evaluation
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February 14, 2011
History, Economics, and Government courses, and we
will need to place an ad and correspond via email to
recruit said faculty. Bob Jones, Claude Mathis, and
Martina Arriaga will discuss this matter. The issue
will need to go to Dr. Dennis Brown.
Members present: Auckland, Andrew; John, Sarah; Jones,
Bob; Mathis, Claude; Rodarte, Susana; Ruiz, Angie; Watkins,
Michelle; Williams, Barbara; Yancy-Tooks, Barbara
Absent: Arriaga, Martina; Fernandez, Mike; Hendry,
Daryle; Mendoza, Gabriel; Olmos, Mariano; Sharp, Cristina;
Williams, Dianna; Baquera, Richard; Cannell; Lee; CorralNava, Nita; Moses, Jason
I.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by
Barbara Williams at 3:06 p.m.
II.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes from November 8, 2011
were approved.
III.
Opening Statement: Welcome statement by Barbara
Williams
IV.
Old Business:
V.
Instructional Continuity Update: Bob Jones
mentioned that Paula Mitchell spoke about an
emergency lesson plan for classes in case of
emergencies such as severe weather conditions.
Claude Mathis offered to explore the possibilities of
using web enhancements and address this issue during
the beginning of Faculty Development week; Mr.
Mathis will ask Dr. Dennis Brown and Dr. Richard
Rhodes for time during the General Session meeting.
Literature Review – Improving Student Retention
through the use of Instructional Standards for Online
Courses: Some schools reported improved
performance when setting standards for online courses.
Bob Jones offered to take a closer look at iNACOL’s
suggested approaches to online teaching and learning.
We will be looking at our own degree programs and
offered certifications, collect data from schools and
iNACOL, pilot the program, and then make a
recommendation if we feel it is powerful enough to
increase student success. Faculty is encouraged to
participate.
Online Plagiarism: Bob Jones promised to offer
additional training workshops for SafeAssign; since
this software comes with Blackboard, it is costefficient and worth the effort exploring its
effectiveness. Mr. Jones also invited faculty to register
at bit.ly/wiredwebinar, a webinar hosted by Digital
Proctor. This workshop offers expert insight into the
current implications of cheating in academia and
introduces tools to prevent or track plagiarism.
Cap for Hybrid Courses: Bob Jones offered to check
List Serve to find out how other institutions are
treating their hybrid courses. Via Banner and
discipline-wide faculty teaching hybrid courses, we
will assess the percentages of online/in-class courses
and create a focus group. This issue will eventually be
brought before the Leadership committee, Dr. Dennis
Brown and Dr. Richard Rhodes.
Selecting New Course Management System for Online
Courses: We are currently in the process of selecting
a new CMS for Online courses. Blackboard 9.1 now
partners with McGraw/Hill, making this program costeffective to students. SACS requires the College to
look at technology for secure passwords and login;
Blackboard and its partnership with McGraw/Hill
seems to meet these requirements. Bob Jones will
send an invitation to faculty to participate in a fiftyminute workshop featuring software-based measures
via WIMBA.
Instructional Television Courses: Faculty and
disciplines discussed closing televised courses; EPCC
will sunset its TV courses by the end of the semester.
We, therefore, do not need the evaluations. We do,
however, need more online instructors, particularly for
New Business:
VI.
Other:
Intellectual Properties: With the information and data
we currently have, Claude Mathis suggested we make
a recommendation as a committee.
Classroom Shortage: Because EPCC is already facing
limited classroom space, and an increase in classroom
shortage is predicted, we need to think about offering
more hybrid courses and find ways to promote these
courses.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Williams
Action Issues and Items to be Followed Up: Hybrid
Courses; plagiarism; CMS; recruitment of online faculty;
instructional continuity; instructional standards for online
courses; intellectual properties; classroom shortage and
hybrid courses
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March 21, 2011
Members present: Arriola, Hector; Auckland, Andrew;
Baquera, Richard; Cannell; Lee; Jones, Bob; Mathis, Claude;
Moses, Jason; Sharp, Cristina; Williams, Barbara; Williams,
Dianna; Yancy-Tooks, Barbara
V.
Intellectual Properties: Claude Mathis promised to
take up issue with lawyers and pointed out that we
need a DE paragraph about intellectual properties
procedures. Item was tabled until further information.
Absent: Corral-Nava, Nita; Hendry, Daryle; John, Sarah;
Mendoza, Gabriel; Olmos, Mariano; Rodarte, Susana;
Watkins, Michelle
I.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by
Barbara Williams at 3:04 p.m.
II
Approval of Minutes: Minutes from February 14, 2011
required the following addition to section Instructional
Television Courses: “We will not need student-faculty
evaluations after Spring 2011.” Minutes were
approved.
III.
Opening Statement: Welcome statement by Barbara
Williams
IV.
Old Business:
Student Academic Integrity - Software for Online
Courses: SACS requires colleges to take active
measures to determine if the student taking a course is
indeed the student enrolled in this course. Bob Jones
related that we are currently in compliance with
SACS’ requirements. To increase academic integrity,
however, he suggested we pilot software by Digital
Proctor to monitor student activities, and targeting a
student’s typing style, for example, is but one way to
monitor online activity with selected software from
this company.
CMS Task Force Update: Bob Jones handed out
copies of his “Distance Education Committee Report”
to inform members of this Standing committee about
the Task Force’s suggestions regarding Blackboard 9.2
and suggested timelines. The overall consensus is to
go Live in the Fall 2011 semester. A motion was
made to take this suggestion to the Leadership Team.
Cap for Hybrid Courses: Bob Jones reported on
hybrid courses and his findings: Since other colleges
are not making changes in their hybrid classes, we may
keep the current system and opt not to make changes
or to look at caps for particular classes and appropriate
class sizes at a later time. The item is closed until
further need for discussion.
Online Plagiarism: Bob Jones promised to offer
additional training workshops for SafeAssign; since
this software comes with Blackboard, it is costefficient and worth the effort exploring its
effectiveness. Mr. Jones informed members of the
committee about an upcoming webinar-style training
session for SafeAssign.
Classroom Shortage: Because EPCC is already facing
limited classroom space, and an increase in classroom
shortage is predicted, Claude Mathis and Bob Jones
promised to further look into the issue of hiring
additional online faculty.
Literature Review – Improving Student Retention
through the use of Instructional Standards for Online
Courses: Since some schools reported improved
performance when setting standards for online courses,
Bob Jones offered to take a closer look at iNACOL’s
suggested approaches to online teaching and learning.
We are interested in ways of reducing student drops
and wish to investigate iNACOL’s and UTEP’s way of
approaching this issue. Bob Jones promised to further
research this matter and will be looking at the
accreditation list of iNACOL; he considers inviting
presenter, Sunay Palsole. The item was tabled until
further information and discussion.
New Business:
McGraw-Hill Connect Demonstration: Bob Jones
encouraged everyone to attend this demonstration,
April 7 at the ASC Auditorium!
VI.
Other:
Online Dual Credit Student-Faculty Evaluations: In an
effort to find ways to increase student participation
when filling out online dual-credit student-faculty
evaluations, Claude Mathis suggested we distribute
these evaluations and consider taking them to the
school districts who will then take them to the schools.
Richard Baquera pointed out that we need to consider
this issue more carefully since many courses include
non-dual credit students and/or courses may include
students from several schools, including private
schools. To help faculty achieve a greater student
response, Barbara Williams suggested we write a short
paragraph in which we encourage students to
participate in online evaluations and add this paragraph
to the evaluation notification faculty receives via
email. Online instructors can then copy/paste this
paragraph and include it when emailing students.
Committee members agreed that Barbara Williams
write this paragraph and submit it via email to the
committee for review. Mr. Mathis pointed out the
bottom line: “The higher the response, the more valid
the feedback.”
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The meeting was adjourned at 5:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Action Issues and Items to be Followed Up: Online
Plagiarism; Classroom Shortage; Improving Student
Retention; Intellectual Properties; Student Academic
Integrity; CMS Task Force Update; Online Dual Credit
Student-Faculty Evaluations
Barbara Williams
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April 18, 2011
Members present: Arriola, Hector; Auckland, Andrew;
John, Sarah; Jones, Bob; Sharp, Cristina; Watkins, Michelle
Williams, Barbara; Williams, Dianna
To the instructor:
Please include the paragraph below when you ask
your students to fill out the evaluation survey.
Unfortunately, few of our online students take the
time to fill these surveys out, so online instructors
quite often miss out on valuable comments and
positive feedback.
Absent: Baquera, Richard; Cannell; Lee; Mathis, Claude;
Moses, Jason; Yancy-Tooks, Barbara; Corral-Nava, Nita;
Hendry, Daryle; Mendoza, Gabriel; Olmos, Mariano;
Rodarte, Susana
“The higher the response, the more valid the
feedback.” -- Claude Mathis
I.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by
Barbara Williams at 3:03 p.m.
II.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes were approved.
III.
Opening Statement: Overview by Barbara Williams
IV.
Old Business:
To the Students:
Please take a few moments and fill out the survey
to let me know how you are feeling about your
online course. Since it is very important for me to
serve you well as an instructor and since we learn
from each other, I really appreciate your feedback!
It only takes a few minutes.
Classroom Shortage: The committee is currently
working on local advertisement. Human Resources is
tracking the process and development.
Thank you!
The item has been tabled and committee members will
continue to work on getting greater student responses
from surveys.
Instructional Continuity Update: General Session
Time Slot: Claude Mathis is currently working on this
issue. The item has been tabled.
V.
Literature Review – Improving Student Retention
through the use of Instructional Standards for Online
Courses: Bob Jones is currently collecting data. The
item has been tabled until further updates.
Intellectual Properties: Claude Mathis is working on
this issue. The item has been tabled until further
updates.
Student Academic Integrity - Software for Online
Courses: Bob Jones has been communicating with
Digital Proctor and proposed a six-month pilot of this
product once approved and online instructors are
converting to Blackboard 9.2.
New Business:
Preparatory Success Courses for Online Students: Bob
Jones looked into preparing students for online courses
and saw that some colleges are offering a zero credit
course in an effort to prepare students for online
learning. The item has been tabled since we need to
consider various student populations and dual-credit
students. Bob Jones and Distance Education is looking
into ways to get students prepared for online course
work.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:44 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
CMS Task Force Update: We can expect to be
working with Blackboard Mobile and Blackboard
Central by August, 2011. The transition to Blackboard
9 is promising and publishers are competing, so we
can expect a good number of publishers to be offering
their services.
Online Dual Credit Student-Faculty Evaluations:
Barbara Williams drafted a possible dialogue to be
included in online student-faculty evaluation emails
sent to faculty:
Barbara Williams
Action Issues and Items to be Followed Up: Online
Plagiarism; Classroom Shortage; Improving Student
Retention; Intellectual Properties; Student Academic
Integrity; CMS Task Force Update; Online Dual Credit
Student-Faculty Evaluations; Preparatory Success Courses
for Online Students.
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DISTANCE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
2009-2010 MINUTES
September 21, 2009
Members present: Baquera, Richard; Corral-Nava, Nita;
Hendry, Daryle; John, Sarah; Jones, Bob; Mathis, Claude;
Moses, Jason; Sharp, Cristina; Shipley, Gail; Williams,
Barbara; Yancy-Tooks, Barbara.
campus is not necessary. The current response
time for online courses is forty-eight hours; the
committee will look into possibly shortening
this response time.
Absent: Chuca, Ivette; Hancock, Becky; Khattab, Ibrahim;
Mendoza, Gabriel; Norbeck, Mark; Rodarte, Susana;
Williams, Dianna.
Bob Jones offered to look at SAC accreditation
guidelines, and Richard Baquera will write a
recommendation for online faculty office
hours. Gail Shipley offered to assist with the
wording of this recommendation and will look
into present policy.
Guest: Arriola, Hector
I.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by
Sarah John at 3:06 p.m.
II.
Approval of Minutes: The review of minutes from
April 27, 2009 called for correction: Sarah John, not
Claude Mathis, called the meeting to order. A motion
was made and seconded to approve the minutes. The
motion passed.
III.
Opening Statement: Claude Mathis opened the
discussion by addressing the function of the Distance
Education Standing Committee. Faculty input and
recommendations made by faculty is important.
.
IV.
V.
B.
Mixed Dual Credit Classes: Bob Jones
volunteered to send out surveys to community
colleges to find out what their policy about
mixed online courses is. To avoid potential
problems when dual credit students are placed
into regular online courses, Barbara YancyTooks suggested we look at syllabus Part II
and add an already established policy to
syllabus Part I. Claude Mathis thought of
proposing Ms. Yancy-Tooks’ idea to
coordinators during one of their meetings.
C.
TxVSN (Texas Virtual School Network)
Update: Claude Mathis informed the
committee members about stateu.com and
expressed his concern about having to be more
competitive. Bob Jones mentioned that EPCC
now offers a five-week training course through
Blackboard to help online faculty become more
effective teachers.
D.
Intellectual and Copyright Task Force Update:
Bob Jones mentioned that he needs more
information and input about policies about this
issue. Recommendations made will need to be
addressed by Dr. Brown.
New Business: Several committee members were
absent; therefore, members present agreed to select a
new chairperson for the Distance Education Standing
Committee next time.
Online and Dual Credit:
A.
Office Hours for Online Faculty: Bob Jones
opened the discussion and brought up the issue
of required office hours for online faculty.
Daryl Hendry mentioned that “unavailability of
instructor” is one of the causes students drop
courses; however, this is the same for online
and face-to-face classes. Claude Mathis related
that full-time faculty is required to hold eight
hours of office hours plus additional hours
when teaching overloads. Being accessible to
students is part of our job, and faculty members
teaching online cater to students via email in
the way they would during office hours when
teaching face-to-face classes. Mr. Mathis
recommended that faculty offer office hours by
appointment, so being physically present on
VI.
Distance Education Dual Credit Textbooks: Sarah
John suggested that this discussion be moved to the
next meeting.
VII.
Other: Claude Mathis had two items for this part of
the meeting:
A.
Add issues to be followed up and
recommendations made during a meeting to the
bottom of minutes.
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B.
Anyone interested in receiving a 20% discount
from Times Warner Cable can do so by visiting
their site and registering by using a college
email address.
VIII. The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Williams
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October 19, 2009
Members present: Arriola, Hector (for Bob Jones);
Baquera, Richard; Chuca, Ivette; Hancock, Becky; Hendry,
Daryle; John Sarah; Khattab, Ibrahim; Mathis, Claude;
Mendoza, Gabriel; Moses, Jason; Norbeck, Mark; Ruiz
Angie, (for Nita Corral-Nava); Williams, Barbara
classes. Hector Arriola distributed this survey, and the
committee went over the statistics of this survey. It
seems that the majority of colleges who took this
survey mix their classes, but we will be looking at this
matter more closely.
Absent: Rodarte, Susana; Sharp, Cristina; Shipley, Gail;
Williams, Dianna; Yancy-Tooks, Barbara
Intellectual and Copyright Taskforce Update:
Committee tabled this item on the agenda. A Task
Force was created, but this issue needs to be followed
up.
I.
II.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by
Sarah John at 3:05 p.m.
VI.
Distance Education Dual Credit Textbooks: Item was
tabled.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes from September 21,
2009 were approved.
VII.
Adoption of eBooks: Khattab Ibrahim brought up the
issue about eBooks to make it easier for students to
access learning materials. Claude Mathis suggested
that a discipline could petition an online eBook.
III.
Opening Statement: No opening statement at this
time.
IV.
Selecting a new Chairperson: Sarah John officially
resigned. Ivette Chuca is considering this position.
V.
Online Faculty Hours: Bob Jones and Richard
Baquera submitted their recommendations. Claude
Mathis and committee members proposed the
following wording for this statement:
The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
The Distance Education Standing Committee
recognizes that instructors with online teaching
assignments meet the requirements of face-to-face
office hours via telephone or other forms of electronic
communication. Therefore, students should expect a
response within 48 hours during the week. The
instructor's response to the students' needs may
include a face-to-face appointment.
The committee will vote on this matter in another
meeting. Becky Hancock offered to look into the
policy for instructor workload. Hector Arriola read the
statement on SACS policies for Bob Jones.
Mixed Online Courses: Bob Jones looked into the
policies other colleges practice when mixing dualcredit, early high school, and traditional students in
Barbara Williams
Action Issues and Items to be Followed Up:
1.
Selecting a new Chair
2.
Online Faculty Office Hours: Becky Hancock offered
to look into the policy for instructor workload.
Committee will review the statement about online
instructor’s office hours, and members will further
look into SACS policies.
3.
Mixed Online Courses
4.
Intellectual and Copyright Task Force Update
5.
Distance Education Dual Credit Textbooks
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February 15, 2010
proposed to mix dual credit and regular college
students in online courses for the Fall 2010
semester. It is the consensus to add approximately
50% of dual credit students to regular online
courses. The committee will then examine the
results. Hector Arriola volunteered his help.
Members present: Arriola, Hector; Hendry, Daryle; John
Sarah; Jones, Bob; Khattab, Ibrahim; Mathis, Claude;
Norbeck, Mark; Rodarte, Susana; Ruiz Angie, (for Nita
Corral-Nava); Sharp, Cristina; Shipley, Gail; Williams,
Barbara; Yancy-Tooks, Barbara
Absent: Baquera, Richard; Chuca, Ivette; Hancock, Becky;
Mendoza, Gabriel; Moses, Jason; Williams, Dianna
I.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by
Sarah John at 3:45 p.m.
II.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes from October 19,
2009 were approved.
III.
Opening Statement: Welcome statement by Claude
Mathis.
IV.
Selecting a new Chairperson: Barbara Williams was
elected chair for the Distance Education Committee.
V.
Online Faculty Hours: Bob Jones and Richard
Baquera submitted their recommendations. Claude
Mathis and committee members voted on the
following wording and added “as a minimum
standard” to the original text:
The Distance Education
Standing Committee recognizes
that instructors with online
teaching assignments meet the
requirements of face-to-face
office hours via telephone or
other forms of electronic
communication. Therefore,
students should expect a
response within 48 hours during
the week as a minimum
standard. The instructor's
response to the students' needs
may include a face-to-face
appointment.
Darryl Henry explained while mixing dual credit
and regular online students would resolve some of
our problems stemming from the current way of
enrolling dual credit students via rosters, it would
create others. For example, there is no way to assure
a 50% – 50 % percent class. Additionally, many
dual credit students if allowed to register themselves
online would simply wind up in the incorrect
section. Then, of course, the added benefit for high
school students of having an onsite facilitator would
be lost if they no longer were in the same section at
their high school. Additionally, creating sections
and reserving seats would not promote sections
making. In order to attain a goal of mixing, we’d
have to do some major brainstorming and problem
solving.
Intellectual and Copyright Taskforce Update:
Committee tabled this item on the agenda. A Task
Force was created, but this issue needs to be
followed up. Bob Jones mentioned that existing
documentation will need to be addressed after legal
consultation; committee members asked to be
informed about legal advice and policies.
VI.
Gail Shipley suggested that instructors add a clear
statement about their policies regarding office hours.
Bob Jones offered to consult List Serve (Virtual
College of Texas) to find out about their policies
concerning office hours.
The English and History Departments are currently
using default textbooks for dual-credit online
courses.
Barbara Yancy-Tooks made a motion that the Dual
Credit program adopt the default textbook as
prescribed by full-time faculty. This motion passed
with four in favor, two against, and one abstention.
The committee will make a recommendation.
Claude Mathis promised to check with Personnel
about guidelines for instructors who are teaching
face-to-face and online courses and those who are
strictly teaching online. The committee agreed that
faculty members decide on policies.
Mixed Online Courses: Claude Mathis related that
Ruth Pena, Online English Faculty Coordinator,
Distance Education Dual Credit Textbooks: Susana
Rodarte sought the committee’s opinion about using
default textbooks for dual credit online courses.
Sarah John asked committee members to consider
that quite a few instructors may refuse to teach
online if this policy is implemented because there is
the issue of academic freedom as part of the
argument to allow instructors to use their own
books. Furthermore, some high schools still do not
have textbooks at the beginning of the semester even
when they know what the textbook is and when they
have had the same textbook for two years.
VII.
Adoption of eBooks: Khattab Ibrahim brought up
the issue about eBooks to make it easier for students
to access learning materials. He followed up by
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VIII.
informing the committee that he may be able to use
eBooks next year.
Respectfully submitted,
Computer Conferencing Rooms: Bob Jones’ agenda
item was to seek a recommendation from the
committee regarding the scheduling of the video
conferencing classrooms. The committee
recommended that he continue to schedule on a
semester to semester basis and not make long-term
commitments that would restrict more general usage
of the rooms.
Barbara Williams
The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m.
Action Issues and Items to be Followed Up:
1.
Online Faculty Office Hours
2.
Mixed Online Courses
3.
Intellectual and Copyright Task Force Update
4.
Distance Education Dual Credit Textbooks
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March 8, 2010
Mark Norbeck made a motion to revise Barbara
Yancy-Took’s motion to clarify content before we
make a recommendation.
Members present: Arriaga, Martina; Baquera, Richard;
Jones, Bob; Mathis, Claude; Moses, Jason; Norbeck, Mark;
Ruiz, Angie (for Nita Corral-Nava); Williams, Barbara;
Williams, Dianna
The revised motion reads: Upon further discussion of
the dual credit online textbook designation, each
discipline will identify a single textbook that will be
the designated dual credit online textbook.
Absent: Arriola, Hector; Chuca, Ivette; Hancock, Becky;
Hendry, Daryle; John, Sarah; Khattab, Ibrahim; Mendoza,
Gabriel; Rodarte, Susana; Sharp, Cristina; Shipley, Gail;
Yancy-Tooks, Barbara
I.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by
Barbara Williams at 3:35 pm.
II.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes from February 15,
2010 were approved.
III.
Opening Statement: Welcome statement by Claude
Mathis.
IV.
Cap for Hybrid Courses: Jason Moses related to the
committee that current hybrid courses for Psychology
classes cap at 40. Claude Mathis considered policies
for Learning Communities; he explained that the
number of students for these classes is determined by
the course with the lowest cap. Therefore, we should
consider looking into class sizes for hybrid courses
and think about using the cap for online courses,
which is lower than that for face-to-face classes.
Jason Moses objected to this motion because he fears
that he will one day be assigned a textbook for his
online courses.
This motion passed with four in favor, one against, and
one abstention.
VI.
Recruitment of Online Faculty: Bob Jones offered to
ask for recommendations for online faculty
compensation. Dianna Williams wanted to know if
the college is currently working on increasing the
number of instructors to teach online courses. Claude
Mathis suggested placing ads on EPCC’s website and
in the newspaper to attract new adjunct faculty. All
instructors, however, need to be credentialed,
interviewed, and they will need to follow general
hiring procedures.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:02 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Jones offered to check into this matter and
promised to give committee members an update.
V.
Online Faculty Hours: Bob Jones presented the
committee with “Virtual Office Hours: Texas
Community College Instructional Administrators;
Listserv Survey, December 2009” and pointed out that
there is no consensus among colleges. Committee
members read the report and decided to establish
policies for online instruction. Claude Mathis offered
to look into this matter.
Distance Education Dual Credit Textbooks: Richard
Baquera related that History instructors use the same
textbook for online courses, but this does not have to
be the default book.
Barbara Williams
Action Issues and Items to be Followed Up:
1.
Online Faculty Office Hours
2.
Distance Education Dual Credit Textbooks
3.
Recruitment of Adjunct Online Instructors
4.
Cap for Hybrid Courses
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April 19, 2010
B.
Members present: Baquera, Richard; Chuca, Ivette; John,
Sarah; Jones, Bob; Moses, Jason; Sharp, Cristina; Williams,
Barbara; Williams, Dianna
Absent: Arriaga, Martina; Hancock, Becky; Hendry, Daryle;
Khattab, Ibrahim; Mathis, Claude; Mendoza, Gabriel; Nita
Corral-Nava; Norbeck, Mark; Rodarte, Susana; Shipley,
Gail; Yancy-Tooks, Barbara
I.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by
Barbara Williams at 3:00 p.m.
II.
Approval of Minutes: Jason Moses requested to add
information to his statement regarding dual credit
online textbooks: “Jason Moses objected to this
motion because he fears that he and other faculty
members will one day be assigned a textbook for
online courses.”
Programs for Online Courses: Barbara
Williams asked about possibly replacing the
current version of Blackboard. Bob Jones let us
know that Blackboard 9 is available, but
Blackboard is still working on it. We are
currently looking into other options such as
Epsilon, E-College and other possible
programs and may be replacing Blackboard.
Bob Jones wishes to invite faculty to review
other possibilities. We are expecting to look
into this issue within the next year and a half.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Williams
Minutes from March 8, 2010 were approved.
Action Issues and Items to be Followed Up:
III.
Opening Statement: Welcome statement by Barbara
Williams.
1.
Online Faculty Office Hours
IV.
Old Business: All items on the agenda were tabled
until further notice of decisions.
2.
Distance Education Dual Credit Textbooks
Other:
3.
Recruitment of Adjunct Online Instructors
4.
Cap for Hybrid Courses
5.
Stipend for Online Instructors
6.
Programs for Online Courses
V.
A.
Jason Moses asked about stipends for online
faculty members. Bob Jones said that three
separate recommendations have been made to
Dr. Brown, the last one in spring 2009 for
$300. We tabled this item for further
discussion.
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DISTANCE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
2008-2009 MINUTES
September 16, 2008
Members present: Kathleen Devaney, Sarah John, Bob Jones, Blaine Nelson, Tony Procell, Susana Rodarte, and Gail
Shipley.
The meeting was called to order at 3:25. We did not have a quorum, so the attending committee members were not able to
choose a chairperson or discuss new business. Ms. John will set up a meeting for October.
The meeting adjourned at 3:50.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah John
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October 23, 2008
Members present: Becky Hancock, Daryle Hendry, Sarah
John, Bob Jones, Claude Mathis, Blaine Nelson, Tony
Procell, Angie Ruiz (for Nita Corral-Nava), Susana Rodarte,
and Dianna Williams
The meeting was called to order at 3:20. We did not have a
quorum, so the attending committee members were not able
to choose a chairperson. Some members were attending the
Southwest Seminar for Great Teaching. Those present
discussed ways to encourage more members to attend, and
will discuss what the committee wants to designate as a
quorum at our next meeting.
Ms. Rodarte asked for committee members to assist her with
a clarification of part of the Online Instructor Performance
Evaluation. Discussion ensued concerning how some deans
complete the evaluation, and some voiced concern that online
faculty might be “penalized” by being evaluated twice in an
evaluation period. After the discussion, the following
statement was added to the procedure:
In lieu of formal training, the evaluator will collaborate with
a trained faculty member, to be identified by the instructor, to
review the course. Following this initial review, the
evaluator will conference with the faculty member so that
s/he may speak in behalf of the qualities of the course.
Mr. Mathis introduced some dual credit issues, which the
committee will continue to discuss at the next meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 4:10.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah John
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February 18, 2009
Members Present: Sarah John, Blain W. Nelson, Tony
Procell, Bob Jones, Susana Rodarte, Kathleen Devaney,
Gloria Miller (for Diana Williams), Barbara Williams,
Claude Mathis, Gail Shipley, Daryle Hendry, Mark Norbeck,
Angie Ruiz, Nita Corral-Nava.
Sara John was elected Chair of the Committee
Claude Mathis was elected Secretary
The Committee decided to meet on the second Monday of
each Month. There will be no meetings in December or May.
Blain Nelson put forward the following motion:
If a voting Member misses three meeting, that person may be
recommended for removal from the Committee and
replacement.
Kathleen Devaney seconded the motion:
In discussion, the motion was amended to clarify that it
should be no more than three absences per year. If a Member
knows that he or she will not be able to attend meetings
because of a conflict, that Member’s dean should appoint a
substitute.
The motion passed unanimously as amended.
Bob Jones shared data on student retention and success in
online courses. He mentioned that EPCCs aggregate is on
par with the national average but that it was not good. He
suspects that the extensive use of online instruction in the
Dual Credit Program is probably inflating our success rates.
Bob will bring revised summary reports to the March
meeting. Sara asked that the report be emailed to the
Committee Members before the meeting. In April Bob will
give an update on the meeting of the Texas Distance
Education Association.
Bob Jones brought information on Wimba, a multimedia
online support application. Bob said that he would make the
recorded EPCC workshop sessions on this product available
to the members of the Committee. He asked that the
Committee make a recommendation on this product by email
by the end of the next week.
Responding to faculty concerns, Bob Jones also brought
information regarding Respondus Lockdown Browser, a
custom browser that locks down the testing environment
within Blackboard to provide security.
Kathleen Devaney moved that EPCC buy this product. Gail
Shipley seconded this motion, which passed.
Barbara Williams asked for a way to track down plagiarized
writing online. Bob recommended a tool already available in
Blackboard. Bob will resend information about this to all
faculty.
Evaluation instruments and processes were deliberated.
The Committee considered that the response rate to the online
student evaluation was inadequate and needed to improve.
Bob Jones indicated that important strides were being made
in this area and that he would bring further information to the
Committee.
Susana Rodarte reported that the Faculty Evaluations
Standing Committee had voted to leave the original language
on the Online Faculty Evaluation Instrument regarding
evaluator requirements as originally recommended by the
Distance Education Standing Committee, which requires that
the evaluator have had the EPCC Online Faculty Training or
“orientation by trained faculty who has at least 1 yr. online
teaching experience.”
Blaine Nelson communicated his Dean’s concern about low
participation in online student evaluation of faculty.
Claude Mathis suggested that the Virtual College of Texas
could be used more frequently when EPCC seats are not
available.
Claude asked Mark Norbeck if there were any issues
regarding EPCC TV course offerings. He indicated that
retention was their largest concern as well.
Bob Jones reported that the Government faculty were looking
at a new TV Government course.
The meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.
Kathleen Devaney moved to accept the instrument and the
procedure. There was no discussion and the motion passed.
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March 23, 2009
Members Present: Barbara Williams, English, VV; Mark
D. Norbeck, History, VV; Dianna Williams, Dual Credit
Program Counseling; Kathleen Devaney, Geology/Science,
TM; Blaine Nelson Government, TM; Bob Jones, Director of
Distance Education; Angie Ruiz, Office of Recruitment and
School Relations; Sarah John, History, MDP and Committee
Chair; Susana Rodarte, Dean VV; Daryle Hendry,
Admissions and Registrar; Claude Mathis, Dean,
Administrative Liaison, and Temporary Secretary, VV
Members Not Present: Gail Shipley, Director of Dual
Credit and Early College High School Programs; Ivette
Chuca, Math, VV; Becky Hancock, Accounting, VV; Ibrahim
Khattab, Nursing, RG; Tony Procell, English, TM; Elaine
Olsakowvsky, Health Services, RG
At 3:15 p.m., the meeting was called to order.
The Review of minutes from February 18 meeting was
postponed until copies arrived, but they were eventually
approved as amended.
Bob Jones provided updates on several areas:
1.
He has new numbers on distance education course
enrollment and student success. He will bring these
data to the next meeting after the Vice President of
Instruction and Instructional Deans have seen them.
The numbers on dual credit online and ITV will be
reported separately.
2.
The WIMBA software pilot has been approved
through the summer. Dianna Williams wanted to
know if would be limited to mainstream online
courses or if it could be used with the Dual Credit
Program as well. Bob said that it certainly could, at
no cost to the high schools. Dianna also saw potential
for the delivering new student orientations to larger
groups at multiple sites using WIMBA. Susana
Rodarte asked about how it would be funded. Bob
answered that if justified by extensive, institutionwide use, there is money to fund it, at no extra cost to
students.
Committee as voting members. He felt that the perspective
from part-time faculty might be different in some respects
from full-time faculty and that they might provide an
important point of view. Susana Rodarte agreed to take the
proposal to the Vice President of Instruction and the
Instructional Deans and to report back to the committee.
It was agreed that the minutes from the Distance Education
Standing Committee would be distributed to the V.P. and
Deans of Instruction.
Barbara Williams agreed to take over as Secretary starting
with the next meeting. Cheers!
Next, the question of sharing online course material and
ownership was discussed. Bob Jones began the discussion by
explaining why, from his perspective, we need to share. He
said that new faculty often need to get up to speed for the
delivery of online instruction quickly. He said that we have
always done this. The College’s rules on intellectual property
require that if College resources are used to develop
materials, the College can use them. He also reported that
there is a claim that what was paid for has been updated many
times and is no longer what was paid for. Bob said that the
policy as written could be interpreted to mean that the
materials always belong to the College. Blaine Nelson said
that he had no problem with sharing his work if he was the
one sharing it but did not want anyone else sharing his
material without his knowledge and consent. Kathleen
Devany said that she was had been told that all of her
materials belonged to the College.
The committee recommended that Bob Jones gather a task
force with membership from multiple committees to review
the rules. The task force would work on this problem next
Fall semester and develop a proposal.
The committee revisited the question of criteria for approval
and payment for new online course development. A detailed
recommendation was resurrected from the minutes of the
September 19, 2007 committee meeting. This
recommendation will be taken to the Instructional Leadership
Team for discussion.
3.
A secure browser lockdown has been procured for
online test security.
Claude Mathis’ agenda item, a report from the Conference on
College Composition and Communication, was postponed to
the next meeting.
4.
The Government Discipline is still looking at a new
adoption for Government ITV.
The next meeting was set for April 27, 3:00-5:00 p.m. at
MV12.
Blaine Nelson asked why there was no adjunct faculty
representation on the Distance Education Standing
The meeting adjourned at 4:38 p.m.
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April 27, 2009
Members Present: Ivette Chuca; Kathleen Devaney; Daryle
Hendry; Sarah John; Bob Jones; Ibrahim Khattab; Claude
Mathis; Mark D. Norbeck; Elaine Olsakovsky; Tony Procell;
Angie Ruiz; Gail Shipley; Barbara Williams; Dianna
Williams.
Absent: Becky Hancock; Blaine Nelson; Susana Rodarte.
The meeting was called to order by Sarah John at 3:10 p.m.
The review of minutes from March 23, 2009 called for some
corrections: Gail Shipley had been present at this meeting;
committee members’ information is now correct. Minutes
were approved.
Adjunct Faculty Representation on the Committee: Claude
Mathis opened the discussion with the issue of part-time
faculty representation on the Distance Education Standing
Committee. Committee members expressed interest in
having part-time faculty represent their view and be able to
serve as voting members for a certain period of time. The
committee is looking for an optimum of fourteen voting
members, including three adjunct faculty members. The
argument supporting adjunct faculty participation is based on
a possibly different view a part-time faculty member can
bring to the committee.
Selection of Adjunct Faculty: Committee members agreed to
include three faculty members who are teaching Distance
Education and who are interested in serving on this
committee for the coming year. They should represent three
different divisions and campuses. Motion to add three
adjunct faculty members to the Distance Education Standing
Committee was unanimously approved.
response to Ivette Chuca’s question about ownership of
material created privately and used for online teaching,
Daryle Henry read and reviewed EPCC’s policy about
intellectual property and copyright of online instructors from
“Procedures on Intellectual Property”. Members of the
Distance Education Standing Committee still need to discuss
and develop rules and guidelines, and legal aspects will be
our main discussion for the next year.
Policy Statement and EPCC Tracking and Management of
Online Best Practices: Claude Mathis attended the
Conference on College Composition and Communication
(CCCC), a professional organization for researching and
teaching composition. EPCC faculty is currently
participating in these surveys, which were created to address
hybrid courses and all aspects of teaching online.
Claude also mentioned NCTE (National Council of Teachers
of English) and suggested we use their example and that of
the CCCC to create a policy statement. Further discussion is
open to talk about the process to derive at this statement.
Kathleen Devaney expressed concern that such surveys may
be comparable to online evaluations. Several members of
this committee expressed concern that the use of such surveys
may dictate teaching style. Kathleen asked that committee
members see these surveys before we vote. She suggested,
once viewed and approved, to post them online and to use
them as a resource. She mentioned that it would be nice to let
faculty volunteer example lessons and teaching suggestions
to be posted on Blackboard. Claude reassured us that
anything we learn from these surveys we might want to add
to our evaluation form, and that this is all about feelings and
perception, not law. Subject is up for further discussion.
Online Course Approval Process: Claude opened the
discussion and invited committee members to review this
section of the minutes from September 19, 2007: “The next
matter discussed was the request from the Curriculum Office
for a peer review committee for online course development.
The DE Committee recommended that a peer review
committee consist of a minimum of two people from the
relevant discipline, and at least one person with online
technical experience from the discipline. This should ensure
that people with both content and technical expertise will
review the course. In the event that persons from the relevant
discipline are not available, the dean or coordinator from the
relevant area can contact the DE Committee to ask for a
member to serve as a peer reviewer.” Minutes were
approved. No changes are needed.
Member Selection for 2009-2010: Claude Mathis is
consulting Dr. Ron Stroud about rotating committee
members. Claude will be making recommendations so this
committee will not have all new members.
Online Course Materials and Intellectual Property: Claude
Mathis and Susana Rodarte took this proposal to Dr. Dennis
Brown who recommended we proceed. Bob Jones has been
researching publications and expert opinions on intellectual
property and copyright concerning Distance Education
committees and expressed concern about legal aspects. In
Bob presented his updates and opened discussion on the
following points: Intellectual Property task force, Respondus
Secure Lockdown Browser, Government ITV video series,
revision of facilitators’ job description, WIMBA, and the End
of the Year Distance Education Faculty Celebration.
Distance Education Conferences: Bob Jones attended a
three-day conference in Corpus Christi and offered to share
information about a workshop dealing with creating faculty
presence in online courses. He also referred to the Texas
Distance Learning Association (part of US DLA.)
Congratulations! Bob has been elected coordinator of the Far
West Texas group. He plans to reenergize this group and will
invite online faculty and committee members of the Distance
Education Standing Committee.
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Time Warner: Elaine Olsakovsky reminded us to contact
Time Warner Cable if we are interested in the discount
offered to EPCC employees. She stressed the fact that Time
Warner does not have a list of employees, so this discount
will not be automatically granted.
Claude thanked everyone for the good work done this
semester.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:40 p.m.
Barbara Williams
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DISTANCE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
2007-2008 MINUTES
September 19, 2007
Those attending: Dr. Jenny Girón, Daryle Hendry, Sarah
John, Bob Jones, Ibrahim Khattab, Claude Mathis, Mark
Norbeck, Elaine Olsakovsky, Tony Procell, and Gail Shipley.
Guest: Olga Thurman
The meeting of the Distance Education Committee was called
to order by Gail Shipley at 2:35 pm. The minutes of July 16,
2007 were accepted with the modification of removing the
bolding from one phrase.
Discussion began with the issue of facilitator access to
dual credit distance education courses. At this time
facilitators are allowed access to courses on a case-by-case
basis. The question was asked concerning what their role
was and how that role fits into FERPA regulations. Mr.
Mathis stated that he is looking into the matter and will
set up a meeting with Liz Ryan, Ruth Peña, Daryle
Hendry, Bob Jones, Jenny Girón, and Gail Shipley to
make sure that their role is legitimized and follows the
FERPA law.
A meeting with dual credit facilitators has been scheduled for
Saturday, Sept. 29 from 9-11 am at the ASC Board Room, at
which their function, role, and responsibilities will be
emphasized. Ms. Shipley reminded the group that the role of
the facilitator is to act as liaisons that can help students stay
on track, but they are not supposed to be teachers. It was
suggested that schools be allowed to participate in the dual
credit program only when their facilitators are trained and if
they submit their rosters on time.
Next, Mr. Mathis gave an update concerning the transfer of
distance education to Instruction. At this point the matter is
still in vice president’s hands. Besides obtaining Mr. Jones’s
input on how a Distance Education Office might be set up,
Mr. Mathis will see that a questionnaire is sent to DE faculty
concerning what their technical and instructional support
needs are. It is important for faculty to know who to contact
in case of problems in either of those areas. He emphasized
that distance education is still a team effort between the
Instruction and Technology areas.
Mr. Mathis recently has been named the dean in charge of the
dual credit and will work hard to correct some of the
problems which have arisen in this fast-growing program.
His plan is to have dual credit courses start on the first day
that the high schools start their classes. It was suggested that
Recruitment contact the high schools at the end of their
academic year and have the students tested and pre-registered
well before the beginning of classes. In addition, more staff
could be assigned to the inputting and clearing of students for
dual credit courses so that their registration can be
accomplished in a timely manner. If possible, the new plan
will be tested in the spring.
Dr. Girón, Mr. Jones, and Ms. Shipley were congratulated for
the exceptional job they have been doing in relation to dual
credit concerns.
As for the reporting of technical problems that online faculty
and students might encounter, they are encouraged to contact
the WebCT Help Desk, since the College is paying for that
service. If the problem is not fixed, they can also contact Mr.
Jones’s office, but they should try the help desk first. As
stated before, this is an area that needs clarification as to who
should be contacted for what types of problems. For
example, instructor assignments should come from the
instructional side, not the technical side.
The Committee also revisited the issue of a stipend for DE
instructors. This proposal will be resubmitted to the
Leadership Committee.
Concerning pay for course development, it was the
unanimous recommendation of the committee members
present that faculty should receive equivalent pay for
regular and online course development, including
development of courses already in existence but which
have not yet been offered online.
In response to Dr. Ramirez’s question about hybrid and
blended courses, she will be notified that they are the same.
The matter of denying online faculty courses if their
performance has not been adequate should be addressed by
the Deans, says Mr. Mathis. As with any instructor who
teaches regular courses, he/she should given the opportunity
to improve; but if problems are not corrected, then the Dean
can move to deny that person any more online courses.
The next matter discussed was the request from the
Curriculum Office for a peer review committee for online
course development. The DE Committee recommended that
a peer review committee consist of a minimum of two people
from the relevant discipline, and at least one person with
online technical experience from the discipline. This should
ensure that people with both content and technical expertise
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will review the course. In the event that persons from the
relevant discipline are not available, then those from a related
discipline can serve. If no one from a related discipline is
available, the dean or coordinator from the relevant area can
contact the DE Committee to ask for a member to serve as a
peer reviewer.
The committee was reminded that starting this fall, deans will
evaluate online instructors with the online evaluation tool.
Instructional leaders will discuss whether the regular or
online evaluation tool will be used for blended courses.
As for other business not included on the agenda, it was
brought to the Committee’s attention that testing services will
not monitor an online test for any student who may need to
make up an exam. This situation is not for a whole class, but
for just one student on an occasional basis, as would take
place in a regular class. Mr. Mathis will look into the matter
and report on it at the next meeting.
Lastly, Mr. Mathis told the Committee that he would like to
survey DE faculty concerning the training they have received,
to include what was useful, what faculty would like more
training in, and the like. He does not want this survey to be
construed as a criticism of any kind; he would like to see
where we are and grow from there. He will bring a draft of
the proposed survey to the next meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 3:50.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah John
In addition, the College needs to address the situation
concerning the differing high school calendars (traditional vs.
year-round schedules) and intersession breaks.
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October 15, 2007
Those attending: Nita Corral-Nava, Kathleen Devaney,
Jenny Girón, Becky Hancock, Daryle Hendry, Sarah John,
Bob Jones, Blaine Nelson, Mark Norbeck, Elaine
Olsakovsky, Ruth Peña, Tony Procell, and Dianna Williams
2008 semester, and also start the CE 6 training as soon as
possible since it will be implemented in the Summer 2008
semester. Bob Jones said that he could set up a “shell” so
that instructors can begin working in the new format on their
own.
Guest: Cheryl Bowman
The meeting of the Distance Education Committee was called
to order by Ruth Peña at 2:30 pm. The minutes of September
19, 2007 were accepted as presented.
Ms. Peña told the committee that Claude Mathis was looking
into the matter of allowing facilitators access to online
courses and that the meeting with facilitators was cancelled
due to the low number of people able to attend.
Dr. Brown had asked that the committee make an official
recommendation concerning training for distance education
instructors, including determining the eligibility for training
and what should be included in such training. Cheryl
Bowman of the Technology Learning Center (TLC) made a
presentation concerning what training materials are available.
Blackboard has provided a training course for CE 6 which
has been bought by EPCC and which must be taught by a CE
certified instructor. (Ms. Bowman is the only person who is
certified at this point.)
Discussion followed concerning who should be
trained/retrained, who might want to become certified, how
soon the training will be offered, and if it would be possible
for instructors to begin self-directed instruction as soon as
possible. The TLC proposed immediate training for those
instructors who will still be using WebCT 4.1 in the Spring
It was moved and seconded that EPCC implement training
for CE 6 as soon as is practicable for those faculty who are
presently teaching online, and that we use the package
purchased by EPCC from Blackboard. The motion carried.
Comments were made by committee members concerning the
need for standards in online training and teaching. According
to the new evaluation tool, coordinators should have access to
online courses being taught. Bob Jones said that he could
help with obtaining temporary access for coordinators for this
purpose.
The committee also discussed the kinds of skills needed by
instructors who want to teach online, and how these should
continue to be included in the training.
Daryle Hendry has proposed a form which will allow
instructors to verify the census information for courses
online. This form will not be used to drop students, but
strictly for census data.
The meeting adjourned at 3:55.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah John
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November 19, 2007
Those attending: Yvette Chuca, Kathleen Devaney, Jenny
Girón, Becky Hancock, Sarah John, Bob Jones, Mark
Norbeck, Elaine Olsakovsky, Ruth Peña, and Gail Shipley
The meeting of the Distance Education Committee was called
to order by Ruth Peña at 3:02 pm.
Ms. Peña gave information to the committee concerning her
presentation at the Leadership Team Meeting on November
14. The Leadership Team had questions as to the proposed
30-hour training for CE6, who was going to present the
training, and so on. They also wanted to know why and how
we came to upgrade to CE6 and if the DE Committee had
input on this, which we did. Also, the Leadership Team is
still discussing the proposed move of Distance Education to
Instruction.
The committee then discussed how Deans evaluate ITV,
hybrid, and online instructors/courses. Some members of the
committee want to be sure that Deans evaluate online
courses, but others think it is up to the Dean and/or instructor.
There is a possibility that the procedure needs to be changed.
The committee will continue this discussion at a future
meeting.
The issue was raised concerning some of the problems that
have developed with dual credit facilitators.
Some of them want to teach the course themselves, some
never log in at all, and some are athletic coaches and do not
give the courses the attention they require. The DE
Committee would like to know if the facilitator can be
evaluated, and if there is a way to replacing those who do not
do a good job. A motion was made and seconded that there
be a clarification of the facilitators’ role and responsibilities
and that DE instructors and dual credit students evaluate the
facilitators. Bob Jones told the committee that there is a
checklist that the English Discipline compiled that all DE
instructors might want to use.
The topic of course development was discussed, especially if
all course development has to go through the Curriculum
Office for approval. Dr. Kelley had asked that all course
development go through her office, whether it is paid for or
not, but this is not a policy. She must initiate a formal
procedure to include this stipulation.
Bob Jones then made a presentation about the Online
Learning Readiness Assessment, which the College is
considering purchasing. It takes about 25-30 minutes to
complete and assesses a student’s level of computer
literacy/readiness to take an online course. It could be used
as a course or part of a course. If the College decides to
purchase this assessment, the Virtual College of Texas will
help absorb some of the cost. Mr. Jones has volunteered to
demonstrate this assessment at our next meeting, at which
time we will discuss a possible recommendation concerning
this assessment.
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, February 7th at
3:00, place TBA.
The meeting adjourned at 4:02.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah John
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February 7, 2008
Those attending: Yvette Chuca, Kathleen Devaney, Jenny
Girón, Daryle Hendry, Sarah John, Bob Jones, Mark
Norbeck, Elaine Olsakovsky, Tony Procell, Gail Shipley, and
Dianna Williams
The meeting of the Distance Education Committee was called
to order by Yvette Chuca at 3:05 pm. The minutes of the last
meeting were approved.
The Committee first discussed the evaluation of ITV, hybrid
and online instructors. Mr. Mathis said that the current
evaluation form seems to work well for online instructors, but
he is not sure how well it works for those who teach hybrid
and ITV courses. Deans will probably have to visit the faceto-face part of a hybrid course in order to do a complete
evaluation. Mr. Mathis asked how other colleges handle
evaluations of ITV instructors, so Mr. Jones will send out a
query concerning ITV instructor evaluation at other colleges
in Texas. (The Committee would like to have a copy of our
evaluation form in front of them to refer to when we discuss
this matter in the future.)
On a related note, few online students complete instructor
evaluations, and most of them are often skewed toward
negative responses. Mr. Jones said that he would assist in
obtaining a more user-friendly link to the student evaluations.
The question was then raised if students in hybrid courses
should have to complete two evaluations for each course, one
for the online portion and one for the classroom portion,
which seems awkward and time-consuming. At the request
of Mr. Mathis, Dr. Devaney and Ms. Olsakovsky volunteered
to be on a subcommittee to look at the current student
evaluation tool and assess its applicability to hybrid courses.
The Committee then discussed some dual credit course
issues, including schools mixing dual credit students with
regular students in high school classes. Mr. Mathis will talk
to the high schools to make sure this doesn’t happen. The
Committee would also like to know the Coordinating Board
guidelines concerning dual credit students/classes. In
addition, Mr. Mathis will look allowing all facilitators to have
access to courses unless instructors ask that specific ones not
be given access. It was also announced that a dual credit
management team is now in operation, with Gail Shipley
serving as coordinator.
Concerning the question of online course development, the
Committee again discussed compensation and Curriculum
Office oversight. Some believe that Curriculum Office
regulations concerning course development are not always
appropriate for certain disciplines/methods of delivery, and
would like to know if in fact developers are required to go
through that office. It was brought up that the Peer Review
Checklist is a good tool for making sure that any online
courses developed meet the standards agreed upon by
instructors and deans, and this committee could formulate a
flowchart which would not stipulate a rigid course framework
such as is the case with the Curriculum Office. At a previous
meeting, the Committee had suggested that a panel review
any online course development.
After Committee discussions, Mr. Jones presented the
READI assessment, which has been accepted by the Assoc.
of Virtual Colleges of Texas for determining a student’s
readiness to take online courses. He will send out
information about piloting this software in the near future.
Our next meeting will be on Thursday, March 13 at 3:00 pm.
The meeting adjourned at 4:45.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah John
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March 13, 2008
Members present: Kathleen Devaney, Jenny Girón, Becky
Hancock, Daryle Hendry, Sarah John, Bob Jones, Claude
Mathis, Blaine Nelson, Mark Norbeck, Ruth Peña, Susana
Rodarte, Gail Shipley
2.
Regarding the recommendation that all online instructors
be evaluated, Dr. Brown also commented that our
questions concerning evaluation of online faculty should
be brought up to the Faculty Evaluation Committee so
that both committees can put forward a recommendation.
The DE Committee can also make recommendations
concerning compensation for online course development
which can be taken to the Leadership Team.
3.
Regarding the recommendation that online instructors be
allowed to teach online courses at least six hours of their
base load, as long as all on-site courses can be covered
by either part-timers or full-timers, Dr. Brown reiterated
that he had approved such workload and informed the
deans of such last year in April, 2007.
Ruth Peña called the meeting to order at 3:05 pm. The
minutes were read and accepted.
The Committee first recommended that we have input into
Curriculum Office policy review and revision concerning
online course development. We will set aside time at our
next meeting for compiling important points and composing a
process which we can forward to the Curriculum Office.
Daryle Hendry distributed Coordinating Board regulations for
the Committee’s information and review.
The Committee then discussed the online course evaluation
tool. Blaine Nelson and Kathleen Devaney made several
observations and suggestions about wording, grammar, and
online etiquette, which committee members noted on their
copies of the current tool. Thank you for your valuable
comments. Ruth Peña (and one other committee
representative) will meet with the Evaluation Committee
April 11, 3:00, VV, C-428 to present the revised online
evaluation tool for approval, and to request that the
Evaluation Committee make an official recommendation that
the online evaluation tool be implemented uniformly by all
disciplines.
Dr. Dennis Brown joined the meeting and responded to
questions about the status of various recommendations the
DE Committee has brought forth over the past year:
1.
Regarding the recommendation that the Distance
Education be moved, Dr. Brown informed us about the
transition of the Distance Education office to Instruction.
Although it was not possible to have a separate
department directly under Dr. Brown, Dr. Rhodes has
approved the move as of May 2008 with Bob Jones
remaining as Director but reporting to Dr. Lydia Tena.
We will ask Dr. Tena to become a member and attend
our meetings at her earliest convenience.
Bob Jones told the Committee that training on WebCT 6 will
start soon.
Claude Mathis then commented that he is impressed with the
work that the Committee has done. The subject of a stipend
for online faculty came up again, and he suggested a
recommendation that he can take to the Leadership
Committee. He wanted to know if the Committee could
recommend any other ways of compensating online
instructors, such as instituting a lower class optimum. We
will discuss this at a future meeting.
Mr. Mathis also shared with us that we will have a Director
for the Office of Dual Credit and that he is visiting La
Guardia Community College to review its E-portfolios,
mentoring programs and transfer policies.
Our next meeting will be on Thursday, April 10 at 3:00 pm in
room C-428.
The meeting adjourned at 4:50 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah John
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April 10, 2008
Members present: Kathleen Devaney, Sarah John, Bob
Jones, Claude Mathis, Blaine Nelson, Mark Norbeck, Ruth,
Tony Procell, Gail Shipley
Education instructors, procedures and payment for online
course development, student evaluation of online instructor
performance, and a committee attendance policy.
Ruth Peña called the meeting to order at 3:05 pm. The
minutes of the March meeting were accepted as submitted.
We will welcome our new committee members at our first
meeting of the new school year on Tuesday, September 16,
2008 at 3:00 pm in room C-428.
Committee members used the time at this meeting to work on
revisions to the evaluation tool. After extensive effort by
those present and special technical assistance from Ruth
Peña, appropriate changes were made to the document.
The meeting adjourned at 4:35 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah John
The Committee then set a tentative agenda for next year,
including revisiting the request for a stipend for Distance
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DISTANCE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
2006-2007 MINUTES
April 10, 2007
Those attending: Dr. Dennis Brown, Ivette Chuca, Dr.
Kathleen Devaney, Dr. Jenny Giron, Daryle Hendry, Bob
Jones, Sarah John, Ibrahim Khattab, Claude Mathis, Blaine
Nelson, Mark Norbeck, Elaine Olsakovsky, Ruth Peña,
Susana Rodarte, Gail Shipley, and Dianna Williams.
Becky Hancock called that she would not be able to make the
meeting.
The first meeting of the Distance Education Committee was
called to order by Susana Rodarte, Administrative Liaison, at
3:15 pm. After welcoming all in attendance, she said that
there is a need for a committee to review and oversee
Distance Education (DE) instruction since these classes
continue to grow. The charge of the committee, as stated on
the Standing Committee Roster, is:
Dr. Brown also informed the committee that one of its
important tasks is to determine in which area DE should be
housed. Fabiola Rubio and Jenny Giron have proposed the
possibility of transferring DE from the Instructional
Resources and Technology area to Instruction. Issues such as
effectiveness, student outcomes, hiring of staff, course
evaluations and the like should be under Instruction, while IT
would continue to provide the technology functions.
Resources now allocated to IT would be transferred to
Instruction. Since a move of this type is significant, Dr.
Brown wants the committee to take its time in thinking about
this issue in order to make recommendations and perhaps
work out a plan for the move, if the committee deems it
appropriate. He would hope for a recommendation on this
issue by the end of the Fall 2007 semester.
Ms. Rodarte then asked that the group elect a chairperson and
secretary. Chosen as co-chairs were Ruth Peña and Ivette
Chuca, with Sarah John selected as secretary.
Dr. Brown asked what some of the other issues concerning
DE might be. Besides the need for more DE faculty,
committee members voiced opinions concerning dual credit
classes, allowing people outside of El Paso to teach on-line
courses, some deans finding it difficult to allow their faculty
to teach DE courses when they need their staff to teach
regular classes, stipends for DE instructors, the future of TV
and video conferencing courses, the possibility of “going
paperless” as it concerns submission of census data and
grades, and do on. The committee will indeed be very busy
with these and other DE topics as it continues to meet.
General discussion ensued concerning the future of the DE
office, compliance with SACS and Coordinating Board
guidelines, the types of courses being offered, and so on.
Along with the Committee members, Mr. Mathis and Ms.
Rodarte thanked Dr. Brown for attending and guiding us in
our important charge.
Mr. Mathis inquired as to how often the committee should
meet. It was decided that the committee meet on the first
Tuesday of every month beginning on May 1, 2007, at 3:00
p.m., VV Campus Room B-240. The frequency of the
meeting may change in the future.
Ms. Peña reminded the committee that we will next meet on
May 1, 2007 at 3:00 in room B-240. The meeting adjourned
at 5:15 pm.
To oversee distance education instruction, providing
recommendations on such issues as workload,
compensation, training, evaluation, offerings,
instructional outcomes, degree completion, and
platform.
The Committee welcomed Dr. Brown, who thanked everyone
for serving on this committee. He recommended the
development of the committee due to DE’s rapid growth and
the need for recommendations for its future. He reminded us
that instructors to teach on-line courses are in great demand.
Respectfully submitted,
Liz Powers and Sarah John
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May 1, 2007
Those attending: Pat Alderton, Dr. Kathleen Devaney, Dr.
Jenny Giron, Daryle Hendry, Becky Hancock, Bob Jones,
Sarah John, Claude Mathis, Blaine Nelson, Ruth Peña, Tony
Procell, Susana Rodarte, Gail Shipley.
Guest: Richard Baquera.
Absent: Mr. Khattab and Mr. Norbeck called to say they
would not be able to attend; also Ms. Chuca, Ms. Corral
Nava, Ms. Olsakovsky, Ms. Williams.
The meeting of the Distance Education Committee was called
to order by Ruth Peña, Chairperson, at 3:10 pm.
The first topic discussed concerned the hiring of out-of-town
instructors to teach online courses. At this time we have
teachers in Iowa, New Mexico, and other parts of Texas
teaching regular non-dual credit courses. It was noted that
these instructors must meet our credentialing process, go
through EPCC’s online training course, and come to the
Human Resources Department to sign the I-99 form. Up to
this point we have hired people who had already been
teaching for EPCC “whom we already know,” but it was
suggested that we keep an open mind to hiring people who
have not taught for us before. One suggestion was made that
the College department in question could complete a
videoconferencing interview with the applicant if requested.
Mr. Procell moved to open distance education classes to outof-town instructors who will meet our credentialing process,
go through our training, and follow all College procedures.
Ms. Hancock seconded the motion. The motion carried.
During the discussion, members voiced their desire to review
current state requirements for teaching in high school,
especially as it concerns the requirement for instructors to
have a Texas government course on their transcript.
Clarification is needed concerning requirements not only for
dual credit instructors housed at the high schools, but for any
EPCC instructors who teach dual credit courses for the high
schools.
The next question dealt with full-time instructors’ online
workload. Some instructors teach full-time online while
others have a mixture of regular and online courses. Should
the committee recommend that when a full-time instructor is
trained for and/or has experience in teaching online courses
(or any DE course type) that that person be allowed to teach
such courses as part of their regular course loads? The issue
was brought up because some deans have been reluctant to
allow their instructors to teach online courses, even as
overloads. Discussion ensued regarding the subject and
staffing issues concerning on-site courses, especially at the
smaller campuses.
This issue coincides with the pressures that have been put on
coordinators to staff online courses, especially dual credit.
EPCC Recruiters also are in a difficult position because after
they work with the high schools and set up the classes, EPCC
sometimes does not have the personnel to staff them. Also,
SACS is asking for the ratio of full-timers to part-timers who
teach DE.
The committee will consider a recommendation to allow
instructors to teach at least two online courses per semester as
part of their regular load, as well as making sure that deans
not have the power to prevent instructors from teaching
online courses as overloads.
This matter is currently being discussed by the Leadership
Committee in order to find a solution to this important issue,
and the suggestion was made to leave the matter in the hands
of Dr. Brown and the Leadership Committee for now. If
necessary, the DE Committee will also continue the
discussion at a later time.
In relation to the transfer of the DE courses to Instruction,
Mr. Jones and others discussed the various instructional
structures of DE departments throughout the state. If the
transfer takes place, Instruction area will be in charge of
staffing and scheduling (as it mostly does now), while the
Technology Resource Center will still be in charge of
training. Since the positions of Program Coordinator and
Technical Coordinator would also be moved to Instruction, it
is important to know what they have been doing for IT up to
this point.
The committee requested information concerning what the
DE office and the deans’ offices do in order to better
understand what new responsibilities would be handled by
Instruction (through the deans) if the move was to take place,
along with SACS and Coordinating Board requirements.
The committee thanked Dr. Giron and Mr. Jones for a job
well done the past nine years.
The meeting adjourned at 5:05.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah John
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June 27, 2007
Those attending: Ivette Chuca, Nita Corral-Nava, Dr.
Kathleen Devaney, Dr. Jenny Giron, Daryle Hendry, Bob
Jones, Sarah John, Mark Norbeck, Ruth Peña, Tony Procell,
Gail Shipley, and Dianna Williams.
Guest: Maria Gomez
Absent: Claude Mathis and Susana Rodarte notified the
chairperson that they could not be able to attend; also Ms.
Hancock, Mr. Khattab, Mr. Nelson, and Ms. Olsakovsky.
The meeting of the Distance Education Committee was called
to order by Ruth Peña, Chairperson, at 3:35 pm. The minutes
of May 1, 2007 were read and accepted with one correction
(change I-99 to I-9).
The question concerning the possibility that EPCC instructors
who teach dual credit courses need to have Texas
Government on their transcripts was clarified. Our
instructors do not have to meet high school credentialing; Ms.
Gomez stated that this is true according to SACS.
Regarding the question of sending EPCC instructors to high
schools to conduct the on-site component of hybrid online
classes, the inter-local agreement signed by EPCC and all
school districts and charter schools specify that at times
EPCC instructors may have occasion to teach on-site at the
high school. However, if EPCC wants to change this part of
the agreement, it will have to be revisited, agreed to and
signed by all parties. In addition, the inter-local agreement
may not be in agreement with the latest procedure concerning
dual credit courses. Ms. Peña will present this information to
Dr. Brown.
to Instruction. Dr. Devaney seconded the motion. The
motion carried.
The committee then exchanged views concerning various
possible organizational models for a DE Department under
Instruction, including the number of staff, their category and
responsibilities; and the distribution of financial resources.
An important resource that the committee reviewed was the
budget distributed by Mr. Jones at the last meeting. After
considerable discussion and ultimate consensus by the
committee members present, Dr. Devaney moved to form
an independent Distance Education Office with one
administrator (to be a faculty member with online course
management system experience) who will report to the
Vice President of Instruction, two managers and two
clerks, and an adequate corresponding budget (similar to
the one presented by Mr. Jones). Mr. Procell seconded
the motion. The motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 5:05.
Next meeting: June 17, 2007, 2:00-4:00 p.m., VV, B-240
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah John
Concerning the transfer of Distance Education from IT to
Instruction, Mr. Jones distributed a list of duties currently
performed by his office, as well as budgetary information.
Dr. Giron explained that one of the reasons the suggestion for
the move came about was because deans and faculty have
expressed an interest in having more involvement in the
organization and management of Distance Education. Mr.
Jones proposed a transitional period of at least 90 days so that
he and his staff may assist those on the instructional side with
any questions that could arise, if in fact the transfer is
recommended.
Ms. Gomez reminded the committee that not only is SACS
requiring Learning Outcomes for DE courses by 2013, but
also that any improvements and/or changes have to be tied in
with other SACS requirements. These issues are the
responsibility of the faculty as well as administrators, but not
necessarily the IT Department.
After some discussion, Ms. Shipley moved to have the
responsibilities that heretofore have been handled by Mr.
Jones’ department (as described in the lists) transferred
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July 16, 2007
Those attending: Dr. Jenny Girón, Daryle Hendry, Sarah
John, Bob Jones, Claude Mathis, Mark Norbeck, Elaine
Olsakovsky, Tony Procell, and Gail Shipley.
The meeting of the Distance Education Committee was
called to order by Gail Shipley at 2:35 pm. The minutes of
June 27, 2007 were accepted with one correction (change
“Ms. Peña will present this information to Dr. Brown” to
“Ms. Peña will see that Dr. Brown is apprised of this
information.”).
Concerning the inter-local agreement with the school
districts that had been discussed at the last meeting, Mr.
Mathis commented that the language in the agreement
should be enough to satisfy what the College wants the high
schools to provide for dual-credit students, especially in the
way of computer labs for students’ use.
Dr. Katherine Kelley voiced some concerns she had in
relation to the compliance of online courses with College
policies and procedures, and suggested that there be
standardization of courses. Mr. Mathis said that Deans value
diversity and would want to make sure that each instructor
teaches and/or develops courses in his or her own way. Dr.
Kelley clarified her statement, saying that she was proposing
standardization not in the way courses are developed and
taught, but in the way they should adhere to official policies.
She distributed a checklist for all curriculum development
that was created by the Distance Education office after the
last SACS visit. She also said that since a syllabus is the
“contract” between instructor and student, she hoped that the
new Distance Education office would ensure that course
syllabi are consistent with those of face-to-face courses. Dr.
Kelley also said it would be helpful to have a list of content
specialists as well as distance educators for the purpose of
assessing online course content to ensure the rigor of online
course content be the same as for on-site courses.
Mr. Mathis stated that since the disciplines approve the
official course syllabi, they should be the same for online
and regular courses. Deans review them to make sure
developers and instructors follow the official model; deans
also have access to the courses themselves for evaluation
purposes. The English discipline’s evaluation tool was
distributed. The committee will review and comment on this
and the DE checklist at the next meeting.
Related concerns raised by various committee members
included access to courses by discipline coordinators and
training of DE faculty.
Mr. Mathis moved to recommend that the same
procedures for supervising regular courses be used for
online courses, to include course evaluation, syllabus
evaluation, and student evaluation; and that the deans
not allow a person to develop online courses unless they
have had online training. Ms. Chuca seconded the
motion and the motion carried unanimously.
Ms. Olsakovsky moved to propose that since online
courses must meet the same requirements as regular
courses, developers of online courses should be
compensated equivalently to developers of regular
courses. The motion was seconded by Ms. Peña and the
motion carried.
Cheryl Bowman answered questions concerning WebCT
training. After discussion concerning the readiness of some
faculty to take the training, the committee asked Ms.
Bowman if it would be feasible to create a “prerequisite”
training program for Luminis or a similar product to make
sure that faculty who want to teach online courses have the
necessary skills before they take WebCT training. This
issue was tabled until the next meeting.
Concerning the movement of DE to instruction, Ms. Rodarte
and Mr. Mathis will take the committee’s recommendation
to Dr. Brown. Dr. Giron and Mr. Jones hoped that the move
would take place before registration for the Spring 2008
semester.
The meeting adjourned at 3:50.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah John
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DISTANCE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
MINUTES FOR 2005-2006
Minutes for the 2005-2006 academic year were not provided by the committee.
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