Los Angeles Mission College
Department of Life Sciences
Minutes
Friday, May 23rd, 2014, 11:00 AM
Location: CMS 205
Present: Mike Reynolds, Steve Brown, Angela Echeverri, Par Mohammadian, Cathy Brinkman
1. Cathy Brinkman to report on the progress of TAACCT grant.
Cathy reported on her meeting with LATTC. The management and coordination of the grant was
discussed and concluded that it should be a faculty-driven grant under supervision of Cathy. Angela
and Par will be contributing; however, it was stated that the grant management requires an
administrator. Carlos Gonzalez, the current director of Title V, was recommended. The next step is
to discuss this offer with Carlos.
BioTech High School in Sylmar (Angela, Cathy): Mission/STEM is collaborating with BioTech HS and
to discuss the collaboration in detail a meeting is scheduled on June 3 rd, from 1-2:30 pm.
Cathy to attend and report on Medical Lab Technician Regional meeting (was previously emailed)
Medical Lab Technician & Clinical Lab Specialist
Cross-Regional Industry & Educational
ADVISORY MEETING
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Agenda
9:30 AM
Registration and Refreshments
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Topics of Discussion:
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Education
Regionalization of programs
Clinical priorities
Applicable curriculum development to meet the needs of industry
Discuss faculty internships needs
Industry will be asked to bring forward the ideals of:
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emerging and evolving industries
how to better prepare students for workforce readiness
priority trends
skills gaps and knowledge sets required of the future employees
clinical opportunities for student and program growth.
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The California Endowment
1000 N. Alameda Street, Los Angeles CA 90012
Meeting Room: Mojave – LA
Center for Healthy Communities
1.866.833.3533
2. Use of Ethidium Bromide in the BIO3 labs (Steve)
Mike stated that the use of Ethidium Bromide should be at the instructor’s discretion; however,
training is required. It was recommended to discuss this issue next week at the annual department
meeting with the BIO3 adjunct faculty.
3. Microbiology research (Par, Steve)
The idea of mini-research projects on our campus was welcomed. Par stated that Mike
Fenton/STEM is ready to support the project. Steve stated that a sequencer would be very valuable
for this purpose and also educational for students. A used sequencer has been seen for $12,000,
the cost of a new unit is not known and will be determined by Steve. It was decided to inquire
about the use of this instrumentation and possible collaboration with other universities. Par has
contact wit the Natural Science dept. at CSU LA. Steve stated that a researcher at Children’s
hospital may also be interested. Mike will also be contacting his collaborators at CSUN. More
discussion on this project is needed.
4. Mike to report on his communication with Danny V and the progress made on the list of
issues related to the labs. – Additional item: Use of storage carts in the labs
Mike reviewed the list that was emailed from Danny V.
Following items require a follow up email:
Refrigerators and book shelves should be bolted to the wall – Steve to provide Mike pictures of
refrigerators that are currently bolted to the wall.
Clocks in the classroom behind the screens: Check!
Storage cabinets on wheels (similar to Culinary Arts Dept.) required for students use in the labs.
Mike included the cost in the program review. Angela to ask Danny V for possible financing.
5. 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).
Steve will follow up after the spring semester ends.
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6. Biology 6 and & Lab Manual: 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 (we did not discuss this at the meeting and Angela
and I have not discussed this since the previous meeting but will do so over the summer);
Implementation date: Fall semester 2014
Completed!
7. 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 – (Par)
Email communication between Mike and Par: It was decided to table the offering of a chemistry
boot camp as students were able to register under the “Catalog Rights”.
8. 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. Update?
No discussion!
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 without lab (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
It was decided to move forward with implementation of a new Human Biology course. After the
annual meeting next week, a meeting is scheduled to prepare the course outline by Mike, Steve,
Angela, and Par.
9. Department meeting with adjuncts – Friday, May 30, 9-11 AM
Agenda finalized and emailed to the faculty; Par to inform Susan about the time and
breakfast
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In progress!
10. Angela to report on the outreach Program in Allied Health (Sylmar BioTech Academy)
See discussion above under 1)
11. Steve to contact the IT to express concern about the energy saving modes of the LCD
projectors in the CMS building.
Steve to place an IT request.
12. Next meeting?
Nest meeting will be on May 30th, after the annual dept. meeting. Added to the agenda is to
prepare the Human Biology course outline.
Additional items to be discussed: (there was no discussion on the items below)
Anatomy hybrid
one-unit semester course of anatomy with cadaver
problem-based lab experiments
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