Los Angeles City College
INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH ADVISORY COUNCIL
Minutes
Location: President’s Conference Room
Date: Monday, March 22, 2004
Time: 10:00 am - 12 noon
Present: Rebecca Tillberg, Janice Love, Merrill Eastcott, Lawrence Bradford, Arnel Pascua,
MaryAnn DesVignes, Dana Cohen, Celena Alcala, Daryl Kinney
The agenda for the meeting was discussed, and the following items were added to the agenda:
Crystal Reports; Catalog issues: program descriptions; student learning outcomes, IR priority
setting.
I.
Spring 2004 Headcount: Preliminary Census – Rebecca Tillberg distributed a
table of preliminary headcount comparisons for colleges Districtwide. LACC
preliminary headcount is down 2.9%, which is similar to the Districtwide decline of
2.6%. Lawrence Bradford reported that the deadline for submission of Exclusion
Rosters will be enforced, which means that future exclusions should not affect census
counts very much.
II.
Academic Program Review – Rebecca Tillberg reported on the academic program
review process. Departments are entering their program review data in electronic
format. Rebecca attended a conference where an alternative method of data entry for
program review forms was demonstrated: data is entered in forms and then stored in
a data base to make analysis and completion of the next year’s forms simpler.
Already, course outlines are entered using such a system.
III.
Crystal Reports – Janice Love reported that a new software package, Crystal
Reports, is being introduced to provide enhanced reporting capability for Protocol,
the schedule preparation system. She went to a training session and found Crystal
Reports to be very useful in not only formatting reports effectively, but also in
publishing reports on the web to make them more readily available to users.
IV.
Diversity Scorecard – Janice Love gave an update on the Diversity Scorecard
project, part of a grant-supported effort with the USC Center on Urban Education.
V.
Catalog Issues: Program descriptions – Lawrence Bradford raised concerns about
the accuracy of program descriptions in the Catalog. An inaccurate Catalog has
negative effects on course selection, persistence, understanding of co- and prerequisites. Currently there is a disconnect between the graduation unit, counseling
and the academic departments. The group noted that although this issue affects the
data the research uses and reviews, other groups such as the Curriculum Committee
will have to address the issue.
Page 1 of 2
6/30/2016
VI.
College Profile Review - The 2002-03 College Profile was reviewed in preparation
for the 2004-05 College Profile. The group decided to keep the history page. The
“Student Services” pages will be updated annually even thought eh program reviews
are bi-annual. The “Service Area” pages will be removed to save paper. New topics
to consider for inclusion in the next Profile are: Student Right To Know crime
statistics, SARS-related data such as counseling SEP’s, and labor market information.
VII.
Student Learning Outcomes – The group discussed the need for research support of
the assessment of student learning outcomes. The type of support will become clearer
as the college-wide effort develops, and will probably involve working with
individual departments.
VIII. Vital Signs for the Strategic Plan – Rebecca Tillberg lead the group in a systematic
review of the vital signs. Several new vital signs need to be developed for each of the
eight Priorities. The new vital signs need to be quantifiable, behavioral measures
rather than the primarily survey-generated measures currently in use. Behavioral
measures have the advantage of identifying important areas to focus attention, and are
more likely to result in actual change in behaviors if they are measured, thus more
effectively helping the college address its Priorities.
Revised vital signs were identified for the first four priorities. The remaining
priorities will be addressed at the next meeting. The proposed priorities will be
forwarded to the Planning Committee for consultation with the groups or individuals
who are primarily responsible for each measure.
IX.
Page 2 of 2
Adjournment – Next meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 19, 2004 at 10:00 in
the President’s Conference Room.
6/30/2016