February BTF Meeting, February 1, 2002
Meeting Began at 9: A.M.
Discussion and Debate
A) There were several points of discussion about curriculum.
1) It was brought to the attention of the BTF that our degree plan was
not in compliance with ACC Core Curriculum. To bring it into
compliance, a 3 credit hour requirement for social or behavioral
science will be added to the plan. Passed unanimously.
2) To bring BTF course numbering in line with the THECB common
course numbering system:
A) The current Bio 1704 Intro to Microbiology will be renumbered
Biol 2420 with a note of explanation listing the former course
number. The current Biol 2420 Microbiology will be
renumbered to Biol 2421. Passed Unanimously.
B) Bio 1623 Native Plants will be renumbered Biol 1424. The
current Biol 1424 General Botany will become Biol 1411.
Passed Unanimously.
C) There was discussion about possibly changing Biol 2206
Environmental Biology to Biol 2306. No action taken.
D) The Coordinating board will be approached to ask for designations
for a Human Anatomy for majors course and a Human Physiology
for majors course. The board will be approached to argue for a
unique need for Bio 1673 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
B) There was more discussion of renaming 1408 and 1409.
1) The designations “Unity of Life” and “Diversity of Life” were not
accepted for presentation to the Curriculum and Programs
Committee. The new possible designations are “General Biology:
Unity of Life” and “General Biology: Diversity of Life” or the pair
“Introductory Biology: Unity of Life” and Introductory Biology: Diversity
of Life.” The BTF selected “Introductory Biology… “ The vote was
17 in favor, 3 abstentions.
C) A proposal was made by the Harper School District near Fredericksburg to
have their advanced placement course count as Biol 1408 and Biol 1409.
This would replace their advanced placement course. The teacher would be
a teacher in the high school, but would have to meet all ACC criteria. The
grading policy would be ACC’s and general oversight would be by ACC
faculty. There were serious questions of the course’s transferability to other
colleges. Also, would the ACC faculty with oversight responsibility get
release time for this duty? Would there be a detailed memorandum of
understanding between the BTF and Harper and would the entire Task
Force have to vote on the memorandum? More discussion is needed.
D) This led to a general discussion of not just this proposal, but of our role in
dual credit courses and affiliations with high schools. How many districts
would want us? Is it in the students’ best interest? Would it help to keep
the brightest students interested and engaged? Would it attract students to
careers in science? What would the administrative load be like? A
committee composed of Les Albin, Suzy Mathis, Terry Shaw, Steve Bostic,
Trish Phelps and Ed Meyertholen will look into the various problems and
report back. A subcommittee composed of Linnea Fletcher, Peggy Maher
and Pat Mokry will look into possible grants for the program.
Announcements, addenda, etc.
1. David Fonken was present and discussed the current budget situation. There
will be a hiring freeze and cuts in the number of sections offered. The fall
schedule should be normal.
2. The preliminary version of the biology program review was presented to the
BTF. Copies will be sent to absent full-time faculty.
3. The 1704 group is still debating which textbook to use, but have decided to
use Beishir’s lab manual and the Leboffe photo atlas as the subsidiary book for
the course.
4. The schedule at NRG has been modified to eliminate 3-hour block courses.
Steve Bostic opposed these changes.
5. The full-time faculty must select their summer courses by February 15th.
6. The Common Course Objectives are due by April 5th.
7. Bernice Speer announced her candidacy for a new term as BTF Chair.
8. The outline of the new Science and Biology Safety Committee was presented
to the BTF. The will be a safety officer in each of the science task forces who will
interpret and enforce safety policies. Along with this, Becky Cole, the Risk
Manager, has mandated safety training for all full-time faculty, adjunct faculty and
lab techs. Anyone who does not undergo the training or violates safety policies
can be blocked from teaching or working in the labs.
9. Yvonne Estes has offered to assist faculty in developing marketing methods to
“sell” their courses to students. She has had great success in getting classes to
make and is willing to aid other faculty members who have trouble getting
classes to fill.
Meeting ended at 11:30 a.m.