TRUCKEE MEADOWS COMMUNITY COLLEGE
PROGRAM/UNIT REVIEW
DEAN’S RECOMMENDATION
PROGRAM/UNIT REVIEWED: English
Self Study Committee Chair(s):
Erika Bein
School: School of Liberal Arts
Year of Review: 2012-2013
Date Submitted to PURC: January 13, 2013
Dean’s findings of strengths and weaknesses of the program/unit:
This area supports not only its own mission but is critical in supporting TMCC in terms of general education, English as a
Second Language, and the developmental needs of TMCC students. This area has been a leader in assessment practices,
providing valuable assistance to other areas in the Liberal Arts that are not as far along in their assessment practices. This
area is to be commended on its work with the Washoe County School District in attempting to ensure that their language
arts curriculum is in alignment with college ready expectations and for its work on the current pilot project where our
faculty are training their teachers to teach our ENG 098R curriculum. They are also to be commended for their work with
the Summer Bridge Program that has led to the increased success of those students. It is not only in their teaching and
work on curriculum that this department excels but in other activities as well such as publication of the award winning
The Meadow journal.
It is understood that the emphasis is relatively new, however attention must be paid to the rates of graduation of the
declared degree seekers. While the self-study expressed concern that the foreign language requirement could be a
hindrance to these students, there is no reason to believe that will be the case given that these students will likely transfer
to UNR where this is a requirement and thus will place them in line to transfer seamlessly. As indicated in the report there
have been many recent steps to improve upon the English as a Second Language (ESL) area but more is needed. The
current coordinator of this area has articulated plans to make even more improvements in terms of connection with the
community ESL area of the college, revision of Accuplacer screening questions, etc. that will likely bear positive results.
One area, which is not in the total control of the department, is the lack of stability in terms of Accuplacer cut off scores
and offerings in the developmental sequence. It will be critical to ensure that the current offerings and cut-scores are
maintained for several years so that an accurate assessment of current practices can be conducted. This concern has been
voiced and with these latest changes has been agreed to by the administration.
Summary action recommended for program/unit: Continue
Recommendations for development strategies and anticipated time lines:
I support the recommendations in the report and offer the following to provide additional clarity and timelines for
implementation.
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Assessment
o Many courses indicate that they have been assessed “internally” however there has not be a Course
Assessment Report form filed. Therefore need to ensure all assessments conducted are reported (begin
immediately).
o Revise student learning outcomes and measures for courses that are indicated in self-study (2013-2014).
o Add Read95/Eng95 to assessment cycle (By end of Spring 2013).
• Curriculum
o As indicated in the self-study there is a need to conduct a needs analysis to determine if there is a need for
reading “labs” that would accompany other disciplines.
Dean’s Recommendation
Given the connection of this discipline to all other disciplines and student success it would likely be
useful for this area to consider leading a “writing/reading across the curriculum” to address needs of
students and other areas of the college. The sabbatical project conducted several years ago can provide
valuable information for consideration (Begin initial discussion and feasibility study Spring 2014).
o Establish processes to ensure seamless transfer from English Skills Center to English department (Begin
initial discussions summer 2013).
o The issue of class size caps is one that can be potentially polarizing. The self-study argues that the TMCC
caps (currently 28) for ENG 101 and 102 classes should be lowered to bring parity with UNR (24 as cap).
However, in reviewing the other NSHE institutions the range is 24-30. Furthermore, the argument was
made that smaller class sizes will help with retention. However, the data presented do not support this
conclusion given that across each area of English, including college level English course, lower studentfaculty ratios were not associated with higher retention. In fact, many times a higher SFR was associated
with higher retention. The issue of burn out among all community college faculty is very real and should
be addressed and so the college needs to take these concerns seriously. It is recommended that the English
Department Chair work with the Dean to discuss how to work on these important issues (begin
discussions summer 2013, develop action plan by end of Fall 2013).
o As indicated above it will be important to continue to work on the ESL curriculum and make changes to
ensure that this program is meeting student needs (ongoing).
Graduation and transfer
o While this emphasis is new and had 9 completers in its first two years, attention must be paid to how to
ensure that students will continue (begin Fall 2013, strategy development and implementation Spring
2014).
o It will be valuable for this area to track its students upon transfer to UNR. Explore means of doing alumni
assessment and develop a yearly cycle by which this can be reported (by Fall 2014).
 Develop or improve lines of communication with UNR to ensure emphasis provides the
education and skills necessary to be successful in transfer.
Retention
o As indicated in the self-study the retention levels in the developmental courses tend to be lower than the
division and college average. Developing strategies to improve retention rates in this area is critical
(Conduct assessment/evaluation of current strategies, refine/develop new strategies for implementation by
Fall 2014 and then ongoing).
o It would be useful to look at retention by course and teaching modality (given the amount of
online/hybrid offerings) to have a fuller picture of retention in this area (complete analysis by Fall 2014).
 Based on this analysis retention strategies should be developed and implemented (Fall 2015).
Placement efforts
o It was noted that in terms of developmental education non-white students have a higher representation
when compared to the College. This is the pattern across the nation and it would be good to attempt to
develop placements using multiple measures given that many tests show a bias toward non-white
students. Nationwide community colleges are exploring this issue in an attempt to ensure the most
effective placement for students. (Begin research and discussion 2013-2014; recommendations by Fall
2015).
Scheduling of courses
o This report indicates that there have been difficulties in finding rooms and that space may be an issue.
However institutional data indicate that this is only true during some key times (9:30-12:30). Other
scheduling should be considered and given the demand it would be appropriate for this area to offer
courses on Fridays and Saturdays (Spring 2014, and then ongoing).
o This important General Education area should continue to grow course offerings at the Edison center to
better meet its goal of supporting occupational areas (Fall 2013 and then ongoing).
Staffing levels
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In a few of the courses (primarily 200 level courses) it is indicated that “only qualified full time faculty
members should teach these courses” however no criteria is given (beyond the minimum for English
faculty) to establish “qualified”. Therefore there is a need to establish criteria for teaching courses beyond
those already established for teaching the developmental and composition writing sequence. (Establish by
May 2014)
The self-study points out that if pre-requisites are implemented for all general education courses then
demand in this area will grow tremendously. Based on that need there will be a need to evaluate the
number of faculty and perhaps increase the number of FT faculty in this area. However, it is important to
determine out of the current FT faculty how many are available to teach in these high demand courses
(ENG 098R, 101, 102) in comparison to their teaching load to ascertain if there is a way to ensure that the
FT faculty are currently being utilized in the most effective manner to meet the demands that will
continue to be placed on this area, particularly in light of the current budget situation which is not likely
to yield new tenure track lines. It should be noted that there is a current search to replace a composition
instructor position that was left vacant by a recent resignation.
Identify resources necessary for implementation of recommended development strategies:
The above recommendations need faculty time and commitment. It would likely be useful for this area to pursue possible
grant funds to support the time intensive work that must be done with the school district in its implementation of common
core and the work that must be done to keep up with the demands of providing sound developmental education.
Describe impact of recommended development strategies on Division planning:
The English department has always followed the curriculum process to ensure that changes to its curriculum that has the
potential to impact the rest of the College is well vetted and communicated and it will continue to do so. The above
recommendations will become part of the overall yearly planning, by department, within the Liberal Arts.
Describe impact of recommended development strategies on program/unit faculty:
The faculty have demonstrated that they are well qualified to carry out the above recommendations. The time needed for
the above recommendations can be allotted in the faculty annual plan and there is a potential to obtain grant funding to
support other efforts.
Dean of Liberal Arts:
Name
Signature
Date
Armida Fruzzetti, Ph.D.
Electronically submitted
3/1/13
Dean’s Recommendation