AAC Minutes 12.04.06 ~ p.1
Academic Affairs Committee
Meeting Minutes
Approved
Eastern Campus
Monday, December 4, 2006
11:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Orient 100
121 Speonk-Riverhead Road
Riverhead, NY 11901-3499
631.548.2500
Fall 2006 Members: Attendance
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Laurey Russo, Co-Chair
Louise Johnston, Co-Chair
Cynthia Villanti, Secretary
Paul Anderson
Penny Bealle
Phil Christensen
Amy Czura
Susan Fanning
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Dan Giancola
Michele Green
Ed Joyce
Ted Koukounas
Christine Kulis
Faye Lourenso
Kathleen Cash-McConnell
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Mary Ann Miller
George Monahan
Mark Moritz
Sonia Sanchez
Jane Shearer
Cisely Stewart
Leslie Wieman
1. Call to order
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11:23 a.m. by Louise Johnston
2. Co-chair’s remarks
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Louise indicates that she doesn’t have any special remarks at this time. George asks about
Laurey’s status. Louise says she’s still not sure but Laurey has remained involved. Laurey is at a
doctor’s appointment today so she couldn’t make it, but Louise will try to find out for next time.
3. Approval of minutes for regularly scheduled meeting on October 30, 2006
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No changes.
George makes motion to approve. Kathleen seconds. All in favor. October minutes approved
unanimously.
4. Curriculum and course-related matters
a.
Update on Photographic Imaging Curriculum Revision
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Faye: We met last Friday with Allen Jacobs, Allen Keener and I, for about 2 hours, and we’re
working very diligently this week. We’ve made some small compromises, e.g., Photoshop will be
pulled from Grant curriculum and will be an Eastern Campus class only. Also there have been
minor editing changes. We’re still trying to get it done for Fall 2007, so it’s slated for the February
CCC meeting. The big changes include changes to contact hours and course goals/objectives.
5. Old Business
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Jane: Bruce MacDonald and I have been going to area high schools to promote the Honors
Program, and we’re also doing some SCCC courses in the high schools as Honors. They are our
SCCC courses but taught at the high school location. Bruce and I are doing an info session with
the parents and students, since the high schools approached us for solutions for seniors who
AAC Minutes 12.04.06 ~ p.2
have completed most of their coursework for their diploma.
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George: I have a lot of concerns about this. First question: Whose course management rule is the
faculty going to be under, the FA’s or the high school’s?
Jane: The FA because they are our adjuncts.
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George: Second question: How is this going to work? Are the adjuncts going to have to have like
parent-teacher conferences?
Jane: No, they can’t. It would be a violation of FERPA.
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George: Are these already adjuncts at our college?
Jane: Yes.
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George: Now, will you be using high school teachers if they have a Masters but you can’t get
faculty here who want to do it?
Jane: Not with the Honors classes.
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George: I’m concerned about this because we already have a big enough problem of high school
culture here, so we need to be careful.
Jane: But these courses aren’t open to just anybody; the students will be recommended by
guidance counselors.
George: Even so, I’d encourage the adjuncts to maintain high college standards.
Jane: Of course, they’re our adjuncts.
George: That doesn’t mean they’ll maintain high standards.
Jane: But not all of our full-time faculty do either, George. If we feel that the academic piece is
being compromised, then we’ll revisit the program.
George: Will you be observing them at the high schools?
Jane: If it’s the first semester, yes, and/or if there are complaints.
George: But if you’re just keeping the customer happy, they’re not likely to complain….
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Kathleen: Could students currently taking courses here also take the course at the high school?
Jane: Not for the first semester. We don’t want to mix because they want to develop their own
learning community at the high school, and we don’t want to conflict with our enrollment here on
campus. Their population isn’t the same as ours.
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Mary Ann: What’s the curriculum?
Jane: Right now they’re looking at a PC11 course. Is has to be something they’re not already
offering as part of their own curriculum, and plus we’re not in competition.
Mary Ann: Sounds like it’s mostly social sciences?
Jane: Well to begin with. We’re also looking at an advanced English.
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Ed: Like George, I have a lot of reservations about offering courses in the high schools. There are
a lot of gray areas here, how they’re paid paid for, how they’re supervised, and in a sense we are
giving away our work. We are a college, and we want to draw students into our evening program.
I think it’s a dangerous precedent. There are some benefits, but also a lot of pitfalls.
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Penny: Why are they night classes?
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Jane: We can’t go in and conflict with their regular schedule. We’re trying to supplement their
curriculum.
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Ed: What’s the tuition?
Jane: They pay the same tuition just not fees.
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Sonia: If they’re going to be at night, wouldn’t it be better to have them here?
Jane: We already have a considerable number of night courses here already, but we’re running
out of rooms.
Louise: Also some of these students can’t get here at night. They don’t have licenses to drive at
night.
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George: How is this different from having an extension site, just because we don’t have a
curriculum established there? If this is built on the idea of colegio, doesn’t this just deny the
benefits of having the colegio by breaking up the venue? So I think it’d be better actually if you did
open it up as an extension site with adult learners so they can benefit from the others’
experience?
Jane: But we’re trying to just offer one of our courses for them, to help them go beyond just what
they’re experiencing in high school, to supplement their current HS classes, not to water down
our curriculum or do something “mickey mouse” for them. If this doesn’t play out in the
appropriate academic way, then we revisit it. We are maxed out for space here. I have turned
away Continuing Education due to lack of space, so that’ why we’re going there.
I’m not going to say that if we don’t do it, somebody else will, but it’s an opportunity to show them
what we do at this college. And again it’s for Honors students.
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George: How will you know if it doesn’t work?
Jane: I have to rely on the faculty member.
George: Again, I don’t mean to impugn the reputation of my colleagues, but aren’t we just getting
high school teachers who are also adjuncts to go back into the high school? This just perpetuates
the idea of us as glorified high school.
Jane: Right now, the adjuncts aren’t high school teachers. And I take offense to your comments
because I was an adjunct for many years here.
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Penny: On the positive side, let me say that my son was taking Honors classes in high school,
and I think the audience may surprise you, high school students who are highly motivated. Jane,
what are the objectives for SCCC to do this?
Jane: The high schools reached out to us to help them offer alternatives.
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Kathleen: If there are no fees charged, do they get a student ID? can they use our library?
Jane: These are some of the logistics we have to work out because if they don’t have IDs, then
they can’t get access to our college level library materials.
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Ed: While I do have some reservations, another benefit is that this can help our enrollment to
solidify. There are some benefits that accrue to us to stabilize our enrollment. But I’m not so sure
we should be involved in addressing their needs; we have to focus on our needs first. We are
hard pressed for space but if so then we should push for larger physical plant. There is a distinct
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difference between high school and higher education, and I have to agree with George because
as someone who supervises these faculty, you really don’t see them all that much.
7. New Business
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none at this time
8. Report from College Curriculum Committee (K. McConnell, C. Villanti)
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Kathleen: As Faye mentioned, the Photo Imaging curriculum is on hold. In addition to what Faye
said, there were also concerns about their revision of the OS15 part of the proposal. Jian Zhang
is trying to create conformity across college so they were concerned about consistency across
the disciplines. But the CCC wasn’t sure about approving the entire curriculum when they knew
that so many changes were going to be made. And it was noted that perhaps it wouldn’t have
gone forward to the state before Feb anyway so perhaps the delay isn’t that terrible.
Also, with MA28H: there were a few concerns but it was passed and it will occur.
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Jane: Who’s working on the Photo Imaging changes so it’ll be in place in time?
Faye: We are.
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Jane: Mark, what’s the enrollment like in that class? Mark: The VA course? Right now it’s usually
full.
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Faye: Allen J already has a letter of intent out about that.
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KCM: Also the issue of a class size subcommittee to CCC was raised, with 3 faculty from Selden,
3 from Grant, and 3 from East so Tina was looking for volunteers from CCC to serve on it.
Cynthia and I will serve as reps because we’re already on CCC but we need one more.
9. Report from College Academic Standards Committee (C. Kulis, A. Czura, S. Fanning)
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Susan: We met last Thursday but there’s nothing substantive to report. We’re meeting with
administration to see about the change of language in the college catalog.
George: Did we figure out who made the change?
Susan: We asked Art Lundahl, and he says he knows but won’t say it. We’re planning to go back
to the original language because it shouldn’t have been there at all.
10. Report from OS15 Committee
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Louise: There is going to be a required computer orientation component to OS15, and the big
issue is how do we train the faculty?
Jane: It’s always been there, but in the past they were paying two faculty members to teach the
course, in Continuing E).
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Louise: There’s also going to be some kind of online training component for the faculty?
Penny: I heard a different account.
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Faye: They’re looking for some PAs to handle that part of the course.
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Louise: The faculty will introduce the lesson, but the PA would do the computer lesson.
Faye: The PA would review like 10 slides.
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Jane: So what are we going to do in the Spring? in January?
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Louise: We also discussed the Photographic Imaging version of OS15, and they were concerned
that it was more “intro to the career” rather than more like all the other OS15 courses. It could be
taught more like a photo imaging course than an OS15 course.
Jane: This has been going on for years and years, and we still don’t have a resolution.
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Faye: We reviewed our OS course with Jian, and she signed off on it, so we’re okay but Visual
Arts is still proposing something similar. We’ll have to see what happens there.
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Louise: The OS43: College Success course is a special topics course and it’s going to be
proposed as a regular course.
10. Other business as necessary and appropriate
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none at this time
11. Motion to adjourn
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12:02 p.m. George moves. Mark M seconds. All in favor.