Los Angeles Mission College
Department of Life Sciences
Minutes
Friday, April 4 9:00 AM
Present: Steve Brown, Angela Echeverri, Par Mohammadian, Mike Reynolds
Old Business
1. Mike met with Danny and provided him the list of the “black hole”. Timeline?
Mike to follow up with Danny and request for an update.
2. TAACCCT Grant – Allied Health – Per last discussion, Mike R emailed to Michael Allen and
Cathy Brinkman to follow up. No response as of today.
Mike to follow up with Cathy and copy Dr. Perez and VP Allen.
3. Biology 40 and Biology 110: Mike and Steve to meet with UCLA Life Science Coordinator
to discuss the required courses and review the course outlines of BIO110 and BIO 6.
Steve to identify the contact person at UCLA; Mike and Steve to make an appointment to
meet him/her to confirm the equivalency of LAMC BIO 6, 7, 110 courses with courses
offered at UCLA (1, 2, 3, 4).
4. Biology 6 and & Lab Manual: Mike to share his syllabus and teaching philosophy with
Steve. Mike and Steve review the lab manual and Steve to decide by May.
Mike to review a new lab manual and decide with Steve within the next two weeks (4/18) –
Steve to work with Angela on more lab experiments on plant and animal behavioral studies;
Implementation date: Fall semester 2014
5. Mike to discuss with Said P and Mike F the possibility of offering a CHEM 51 by the STEM
program to accommodate the Anatomy students who require CHEM 51 by the fall 2014
semester to be eligible to enroll in physiology course.
In progress
6. Angela to request IT to install the printer (currently located in CMS 221) in the BIO3 lab.
In progress
New Business
1. Department Goals and New Courses or Programs
a. Discuss the Biology TMC
According to Mike, our BIO degree is in compliance; the district is awaiting
the state approval. No action is required at this time.
1
b. Additional transferrable GE course offerings
14 sections of BIO3 are currently offered. If no additional funds are provided, the
funds for the current sections can be re-distributed to offer additional GE courses.
Discussed courses:
-BIO3 course (not CSU/UC transferable; satisfies plan A or B requirements for AA/AS
degrees)
-BIO3 w/Lab (no changes)
-Human Biology with lab --- Par to identify the campuses within (Harbor, Trade,
West) and outside (PCC, GCC) the district that offer the course, review the course
outlines, explore the transferability & present at the next meeting.
Implementation date: Fall semester 2015
2. Timeline on the revisions of the Biology 3 final lab exam
Steve to finalize it by April 14th and email to BIO 3 faculty to review.
3. Agenda for the department meeting with adjuncts – Friday, May 30, 9-11 AM
9:00-9:15 am: Breakfast & introduction & invitation to future department meetings (Mike)
9:15-9:30 am: SLO/PLOs (Mike & Par)
9:30-10:00 am: Introduction to Mastering BIO and A&P (Susan Nassy)
10:00-10:30 am: Introduction to Etudes (Angela, Steve, Par)
10:30 am - 12:00 pm: Breakout sessions:
Anthropology: Discussion on best practices, challenges, feedback (Arthur)
A&P: Discussion on BioPac; ideas on Anatomy SLO assessment (Mike)
BIO3: Discussion on the new textbook, best practices, challenges, lab manual, final
lab exam
Mike to inform Susan about the time and breakfast; identify a room
4. Review the SLO/PLO schedule
Previously developed assessment calendar was approved. No further action is required.
5. Angela to report on the outreach Program in Allied Health per Cathy’s request.
To develop a career pathway in Allied Health (High School to College) and to prepare a grant
proposal Cathy B requested Angela to meet with science faculty at Cesar Chavez High
School. Angela participated but asks that future meetings be coordinated in advance and
well planned. Further, the faculty are to be compensated for any additional time requested
for such activities.
6. Review and possible change of BIO3 Text book
2
“The Core” was discussed not to be a good fit; “Essential Biology with Physiology” (by Simon
et al.) is to be reviewed by BIO3 faculty; Par to leave the book in the BIO3 lab for their
review; Steve to email the faculty to request for feedback by April 18th.
7. Summer schedule
Angela to report if she will teach both sections of BIO3 or co-teach with Steve & Gary Covit
is on the seniority list to teach the anatomy courses.
Additional discussion items
1. Angela reported on the Biology workshop offered by Pearson. She will email the case
studies distributed at the meeting. She also shared Erik Simon’s experience with “Study
Abroad” courses. Angela will share more on the best practices at the meeting with adjunct
faculty scheduled for May 30th.
2. Steve will email Leslie to introduce Angela as his proxy for the senate due to his current
schedule.
3. Steve to contact the IT to express concern about the energy saving modes of the LCD
projectors in the CMS building.
4. Par reported that her BIO3 hybrid course received approval by the distance education
committee and will be presented to the curriculum committee in April for the final
approval. She also mentioned that an Anatomy hybrid course may be an option to explore
in the future.
5. Par suggested a one-unit semester course of anatomy with cadaver, which could be offered
only once per academic year. Mike will consider the idea.
6. Par introduced the idea of problem-based lab experiments using case studies and real-life
applications; new experiments may be introduced and validated before revisions of the
BIO3 lab manual.
7. Mike requested that the Life Science faculty contribute to make a basket for the Spring Fest.
Next Meeting:
May 9th, 2014 at 9:00 am
3