ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
PROGRAM PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
SPRING 2014
I.
Service Area Name: Languages and Fine Arts
II.
Date of Review
III.
Area Mission Statement (optional)
IV.
Area’s key duties, responsibilities, functions, activities, and tasks
May 2014
The Languages and Fine Arts area provides instruction and resources to insure access to the
basis of knowledge, skill development, and critical thought necessary to enable students to
communicate effectively; to analyze information and evaluate ideas; to apply their creativity
successfully to the arts and their lives beyond the arts. This area supports student transfer,
degree and certificate acquisition, workforce training, as well as enrichment and professional
growth.
V.
Greatest strengths and most significant accomplishments during the past three years
The most significant accomplishment for the Languages & Fine Arts area is the development
and approval of four degrees for transfer:
• Associate in Arts in Communication Studies Degree for Transfer (AA-T)
• Associate in Arts in English Degree for Transfer (AA-T)
• Associate in Arts in Studio Arts Degree for Transfer (AA-T)
• Associate in Arts in Theatre Arts Degree for Transfer (AA-T)
These first two degrees were offered for the first time in Fall 2012, and some Hartnell
students will completed their degrees in 2013-14. The third and fourth degrees were
approved in 2013-2014.
The greatest strength of the Languages & Fine Arts area is the dedicated faculty, who
continue to assess course-level outcomes and to develop and apply interventions to
improve student retention and success. The faculty regularly participate in cross-discipline
Faculty Inquiry Groups (FIGs) to develop strategies to improve student success in all
disciplines. Some of this research is reported by discipline below.
Art — There are three main emphases in the Art discipline: Digital Art, Photography and Visual
Art. Enrollment, retention and student success in Visual Art classes have remained above
the college average.
The Digital Arts program has close ties with an advisory committee of industry professionals
for advice on curriculum and equipment needs. Digital Arts faculty have been working to
fully articulate a lower division pathway from Hartnell College digital arts classes to
CSUMB’s baccalaureate program in Communication Design, Interactivity emphasis. The New
Media Center grant helped to fund partnerships with K-12 schools to offer a summer
academy in digital illustration, animation and video, as well as place students in 35
internships. Based on brain research done during course assessments, instructional
materials were revised to balance right- and left-brain skills, and individual progress
reports were implemented for all students in all digital arts classes.
All Photography courses were assessed in 2011-12. The Photography instructor has
developed a new rubric to assess the Photography 1 course. Based on assessment, an
intervention is being developed to include new instructional methods in Photography
courses, including additional use of internet resources, classroom use of the text, and group
projects. An off-campus web site, photo1salinas.org, was added as a course supplement and
teaching tool.
Communication Studies — COM-20, a new course in Argumentation and Debate, was developed
to support the AA-T in Communication Studies for Transfer. Enrollment in the new course
was successful in its first semester and continues to grow. The Speech Team was formed and
competed in 2012-13 and 2013-14. The number of students who self-identify as majors in
Communication Studies has risen dramatically over the last two years.
English —The English faculty are engaged in several research activities on the positive impact of
English advisories on student success in non-English disciplines, such as Chemistry. Faculty
teaching English 253, Fundamentals of Composition and Reading, collaborated to develop a
low-cost intervention to encourage students to read more, and to have more positive
attitudes about reading. They have incorporated a new, full-length book into the course
requirements.
Full-time English faculty have developed a robust process for course-level outcomes
assessment, including techniques to collectively gather for a norming session of essays
Academic Affairs Program Planning and Assessment- Executive Summary
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under review. Part-time faculty are expected to participate in course-level outcomes
assessment.
English as a Second Language (ESL) —The ESL faculty share a commitment to preparing nonnative and Generation 1.5 English speakers to be productive and integrated members of this
community, and to broad their opportunities to pursue more education. They continue to
focus on achieving assessment and placement using multiple measures. Among their
accomplishments, ESL faculty have evaluated, re-evaluated and revised their course offerings
for eight years.
Retention in all ESL courses has been at or above 74%; student success (grade of C or better)
in ESL 101 (one level below transfer) reached 90% in 2011-2012. The ESL computer lab was
renovated two years ago, and since 2012-13, ESL lab courses have been taught in the
computer lab where tutoring services are also offered.
Music — Performance opportunities are available for all students in a wide range of vocal and
instrumental ensembles. Over the last year, the Music faculty have worked to refurbish the
digital recording equipment and upgrade the curriculum in order to integrate digital
recording into the music program. This technology is attracting many new students to
consider music as a major and career choice.
Spanish —Retention in Spanish 1 and 1X classes is higher than the college average, and
extremely high (82-94%) in Spanish 1S, for native Spanish speakers. Student success is also
highest for Spanish 1S, ranging up to 77-86% in spring semesters.
Spanish discipline faculty engaged in continuous communication in regards to assessment
results for SPA 1, 1S, 1X, 2, 2S, 2X, 3 and 4S, and discovered that the SLO and the assessment
tool for Spanish 1S needs to be revised. Other courses have shown consistent satisfactory
results. Full-time faculty met with part-time faculty to discuss SLOs, and all faculty now
include SLOs in their syllabi.
VI.
Major challenges during the past three years—that is, the aspects that are most in need of
improvement
The major challenge for the Languages & Fine Arts area is the need for full-time faculty. All
classes in some disciplines are taught entirely by part-time faculty—American Sign
Language, Visual Art and Theatre Arts. The consistent assessment of course- and programlevel outcomes without coordination of full-time faculty has been difficult in these
disciplines. As a result, courses in these disciplines have not been adequately assessed. One
Academic Affairs Program Planning and Assessment- Executive Summary
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full-time faculty in Spanish was hired in 2013; and recruiting is in progress for a Theatre
Arts/Communication Studies full-time instructor in 2014.
The second challenge for this area has been a lack of funding and resources to keep
equipment, hardware and software up to date. This has been particularly difficult in Art and
Music. Faculty in English and ESL continue to collaborate with mathematics faculty and
administrators to restore an academic learning center that was shut down due to budget
cuts. Hartnell College has a critical need for a reading and writing center, mathematics lab
and other supplemental instruction resources to expand tutoring and learning resources
services at all three campuses.
Distance Education — The English discipline is the only discipline currently offering online and
hybrid classes. They noted that enrollment and success rates are lower in distance education
classes than in face-to-face classes. A variety of issues were identified, such as the lack of
support for online students, and it was noted that further analysis of the trend is necessary.
Curriculum — Plans to revise courses and to develop new courses in 2014-2015 indicate that 24
courses will be taken to the curriculum committee. The Associate in Arts in Music for Transfer
(AA-T) degree will be developed and the AA degree in Digital Arts will be revised.
Assessment — Plans for assessment in 2014-2015 include the assessment (or re-assessment) of
10 PLOs and 32 courses. The annual review template did not require disciplines to report how
many SLOs for the 32 courses will be assessed.
Other challenges were identified in Annual Plans for the following disciplines:
Art — Visual art and general education art courses are all taught by part-time faculty.
Assessment activities have not been completed in this discipline since the retirement of the
Studio Art instructor. The Digital Arts and Photography full-time instructors have expressed
concern that equipment, such as the ceramics kiln, has not been properly maintained.
Both Digital Arts and Photography programs need to update their equipment and technology
resources in order to train students in the latest professional techniques and applications.
Digital Arts has been identified as a growing profession in the Bay area, and the new
articulation with university programs in Digital Arts will attract more students to Hartnell.
Communication Studies — There is a critical need for additional full-time faculty in
Communication Studies. The full-time faculty member has taken on additional teaching
responsibilities. Only two weeks before the Fall 2013 semester, a part-time faculty member
became unavailable and it was necessary to increase the teaching load of another part-time
faculty to a temporary, full load plus one additional class because the classes were all filled
to capacity with wait lists. This temporary assignment was extended into Spring 2014. Current
Academic Affairs Program Planning and Assessment- Executive Summary
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recruitment for a shared full-time faculty position with Theatre Arts will not adequately satisfy
student demand for additional classes.
English — The number of students completing an associate degree in English has been low for
years. Only one or two degrees have been awarded each year since 2005. The lack of English
majors has made it difficult to assess program-level outcomes. The new AA-T degree in
English should improve this situation because it guarantees admission to the CSU system,
which has become impacted in recent years, and because students won’t be required to
complete more than 60 units to earn the AA-T degree. Student demand exceeds the number
of class sections offered.
Due to the extended leave of one full-time faculty member, Hartnell College has employed
temporary, full-time English faculty for four semesters. Enrollments in developmental and
composition courses continue to be very high. The discipline also offers a variety of
literature courses from Steinbeck to British Literature that teach literary criticism, the
application of literary terms, and explore both the specific and general questions related to
what it is to be human. Both a linguistics course and creative writing offerings provide a
foundation for students to obtain deeper understanding of language. Enrollments in
literature, linguistics and creative writing classes are expected to grow as students pursue
the AA-T degree in English. Additional full-time English faculty are needed to prepare the
growing number of English majors.
English as a Second Language (ESL) —English language learners have been placed incorrectly in
ESL courses when Accuplacer was the only assessment instrument. Hartnell College needs to
provide resources and support in enrollment, assessment, outreach and academic services
to support these students. An ESL coordinator is needed to improve the assessment process
and to develop a bridge to college from Salinas Adult School and the High School
Equivalency Program (HEP), as well as from similar services in South County.
Music — There are only seven working stations for the digital recording classes. Students work in
groups of 3-4 in order to share these resources. Additional resources are needed to increase
the capacity of music ensembles so more students can participate. Resources need to be
identified to support providing stipends for part-time faculty to attend regular department
meetings.
Spanish —The recent increased enrollment in Spanish 1 may be due to students not being
properly placed. Spanish instructors discovered an imbalance of native Spanish speakers in
Spanish 1, which makes it difficult to serve students who have no prior experience in
Spanish. One action that will be taken to address this issue is to insert a message in the
comment column in PAWS defining the differences between the three language strands.
Meeting with counselors to discuss placement issues is also a necessary action.
Academic Affairs Program Planning and Assessment- Executive Summary
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According to the efficiency data of Spring 2011, the Spanish discipline is working at the
equivalent of 5.28 full-time faculty members, but the college employs only two full-time.
One new Spanish instructor was hired for Fall 2013; the second Spanish instructor is
approaching retirement and will need to be replaced.
Theatre Arts —There is a critical need for full-time faculty in Theatre Arts. The part-time faculty
who teach Theatre Arts also work to support The Western Stage. For the last two years, the
Communication Studies full-time instructor has coordinated a much-needed review of
Theatre Arts curriculum and developed an AA-T degree in Theatre Arts for transfer in order
to comply with the mandate from the Chancellor’s Office to offer an AA-T or AS-T degree in
every major discipline currently offered by Hartnell. The assessment of course- and
program-level outcomes in Theatre Arts must be coordinated by full-time faculty in the
discipline. Current recruitment for a shared full-time faculty position with Communication
Studies will not adequately satisfy the need for consistent assessment requirements and
promoting the new AA-T degree.
VII.
Brief summary of continuous quality improvement actions to be taken that will help to build
upon strengths and address challenges.
All disciplines are now working effectively with part-time faculty to complete and analyze
assessments at the course level. Music faculty meet together each semester to discuss
resources and schedules, and have asked to compensate part-time faculty for these
meetings. In order to fully engage all faculty in the broad-based discussion of assessment,
at both course- and program-levels, Hartnell College needs to provide adequate resources
for discussions to take place, including compensation either within the faculty contract or as
stipends.
Faculty in all disciplines have identified and implemented interventions to improve student
success, based on the assessment of course student learning outcomes. These interventions
need to be highlighted in public forums so that faculty in other disciplines may emulate their
behavior. Training for faculty and staff is needed on the assessment of program-level
outcomes and core competencies and on making data-driven decisions.
Academic Affairs Program Planning and Assessment- Executive Summary
Page 6
Languages & Fine Arts
Resource Requests 2015-2016
Discipline
Activity
No.
Strategic
Plan
Goal(s)
ART-dig
1
1A, 2A,
2B
ART-dig
1
1A, 2A,
2B
ART-dig
2
1A, 2A,
2B
ART-vis
1
ART-vis
1
ART-vis
2
COM
COM
COM
ENG
ENG
ENG
ENG
ENG
ENG
1
1
3
1
2
3
4
5
6
ESL
3
MUS
MUS
MUS
MUS
MUS
1
2
3
4
5
PHO
1
1A, 2A,
2B, 4A
1A, 2A,
2B, 4A
1A, 2A,
2B, 4A
2A, 2B
2A, 2B
2A, 2B
3B
2A
1A
Personnel
(C/F/M)
Supplies/
Equipment
(S/E)
Technology
(H/S)
Contract
Training
Travel
S
Remote
Desktop
Science
Labs
Projected
Costs
Ongoing?
$
160.00
No
$
2,700.00
Yes
E
keyboard trays
$
3,456.00
No
S
$
5,000.00
Yes
E
$
5,000.00
No
$ 130,284.00
Yes
F (p/t)
1.4 F
E
Yes
1.0 F
C, F
1.0 F
Yes
S/E
15000
7000
S
Burlington
English
2A, 4A,
4C
2A, 2B
2A, 2B
2A, 2B
5A
2A
1A, 2A,
2B, 4A
Library
$
$500/sem
E
E
E
H
S/E
3000
2500
$
300.00
Yes
$ 5,000.00
Yes
$ 93,060.00
$ 160,000.00
Yes
$ 93,060.00 each Yes
$ 5,000.00
Yes
$ 2,500.00
Yes
$ 18,000.00
Yes
$ 9,500.00
Yes
7,000.00
Yes
$ 1,000.00
$ 6,000.00
$ 10,000.00
$ 1,000.00
$ 10,000.00
Yes
No
No
No
No
$
Yes
200.00
Page 1 of 2
Languages & Fine Arts
Resource Requests 2015-2016
Discipline
Activity
No.
PHO
2
SPA
1
THA
1
THA
2
THA
3
Strategic
Plan
Goal(s)
2A, 2B,
4A
2A, 2B
1A, 2A,
2B, 3A,
3B
4B, 4C,
4D
4B, 4C,
4D
Personnel
(C/F/M)
Supplies/
Equipment
(S/E)
Technology
(H/S)
S/E
H/S
Projected
Costs
Ongoing?
$ 20,000.00
Yes
$ 93,060.00
Yes
$
500.00
Yes
S/E
$ 175,000.00
No
S/E
$ 11,500.00
No
Contract
1.0 F
Yes
Training
Travel
Library
Science
Labs
Page 2 of 2