Los Angeles Mission College
Department of Life Sciences
Minutes
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Present: Steve Brown, Angela Echeverri, Par Mohammadian, Mike Reynolds, Sheila Fennoy, Arthur
Gribben, Lilit Haroyan
1) Updating Course Outlines
 Par (Biology 3; Physiology 1; Anatomy 1) completed & submitted to VP of AA by Mike
 To be completed by October 31:
o Mike: Biology 7 (to include BIO6, ENG28/ESL8 as pre-req); Biology 33
o Steve: Biology 6 (to include BIO3, ENG28/ESL8 as pre-req)
o Angela: Microbiology 20 (to include ENG28/ESL8 as pre-req)
 Biology 110: Mike to speak to the Dept. Chair at Pierce to collaborate on an alternate summer
offering (Mission/Pierce) & possible co-teaching; Recommendation: Duration at least 8 weeks
 Archive BIO40
 (Biology 185, 285, 385 – (1 unit, 2 unit, 3 unit) Mike updated course outlines in Spring 2013)
2) SLO/PLO update
 Following courses were assessed in the spring 2013 semester:
o Anthropology 101, 104, & 121, Biology 6 & 7, and four Physiology sections. In addition,
one PLO for the Health Science Associate degree was assessed.
 The following courses will be assessed in the fall 2013 semester:
o Bio33 (Mike to follow up with the instructor and request rubric)
o Microbiology 20 to be assessed by Steve and Angela
o Bio3: The final practical exam will be divided to a written individual exam and a shorter
practical exam. These exams will be created/modified by Steve and communicated to
the BIO3 faculty. To evaluate the impact of the changes to the lab practical exam in the
fall 2013 semester a report will be generated by Mike to assess the success rate of the
students before and after this semester.
o PLO for the Biology AS degree & PLO for the Health Science AS degree programs
 Mike to assess the BIO7 SLO to use for the SLO evaluation. In addition, Mike to
identify and use the evaluation of the students who have completed BIO3, 6, and
7 courses at LAMC for the PLO evaluation.
 Mike to assess the Physiology SLO to use for the SLO evaluation. In addition,
Mike to identify and use the evaluation of the students who have completed
Anatomy and Physiology courses at LAMC for the PLO evaluation.

It was agreed that the SLOs of all life science courses should be reviewed and possibly revised.
3) Finalize Prerequisite Recommendation Sheet
 With the exception of Biology 33, English 28 or ESL8 has been added / will be entered as a
prerequisite for all courses including Anthropology courses. Arthur will work with Mike to
update the Anthropology course outlines in the ECD.
 Chemistry (51 or 65 or 101) was added as a prerequisite for Physiology
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
All of these prerequisites will take effect in Fall 2014
4) Biology 3 Hybrid Course
Par finalized the course syllabus. Par to complete the DE forms for approval. Said will email her
the updated DE forms. It was agreed that two hybrid sections will be scheduled in the spring
2014 semester.
5) Outdoor Lab for Biology 3
Sheila to work with Danny V. on possible concerns, such as the bus cost, safety of the students,
and liability if fieldtrips are organized in the LACCD canyon.
6) Journal Club
Steve will take the lead to organize the journal club to start in the FA 2013/SP 2014 semester.
7) Defective Equipment
According to Steve, all issues are pending to resolve.
8) AV in Life Science Labs
 Hahn Tran et. al. transferred microphones to labs where they are in highest demand.
 Steve to purchase 4 timers for BIO3, 7, and Anatomy labs.
9) New hires
Mike to apply for three new faculty positions (one anthropology and two biology positions) by
November 1st.
10) Work study students for Fall 2013
Pong and Nadine submitted three requests for student workers for Fall 2013 with the hope of
getting a total of 60 hours and they will be notified next week if the positions were approved.
11) Chemical Hygiene Plan & List of Chemicals
Pong submitted CHO 2013 to the EHS Officer at the district in July.
Nadine provided the list of chemicals as required by the FD to Denise on 8/21/13.
12) Anthropology online
Arthur has expressed interest about offering an Anthropology 101 or 121 online and will be
completing the DE forms. Par to forward Arthur the forms.
13) Axial microscopes/cameras
Steve to organize a training session with Lee. In addition, Mike to forward the power point
presentation prepared by Pong to all faculty.
14) Life Science website
Par to provide password to Steve.
15) 16 week- offering of Anatomy and Physiology
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To increase the transfer rate it was recommended by Par to offer an 8-wk Anatomy course
followed by an 8-wk physiology course in one semester – possibly beginning spring 2014. Mike
will investigate the possibility.
16) Science Success Center
 According to Lilit, over the summer it was decided that the upper division tutoring (micro and
physio) will be in the STEM Center (previously known as the Math center) and the lower
division tutoring (Bio3 and Anatomy) will remain in the SSC.
 Lilit and her tutors will visit the science classes to encourage students to visit the SSC in the LRC.
 No more workshops can be offered at CMS for liability reasons. Future workshops will be
scheduled only in the LRC.
 Lilit to email the link to the elab to Mike/Steve to be forwarded to the faculty.
Next meeting: Friday, September 27th at 9:00 am in the physiology lab.
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New Business
SLO Assessments for Fall 13
 Biology 3, 33 and Microbiology 20
Biology 3 Hybrid Course
 Discussion on implementation
Biology 3 Final Practical Exam
 Testing students individually
 Implementation and working with Nadine
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