April BTF Meeting, April 5, 2002
Meeting Began at 9: A.M.
Discussion and Debate
1 Safety Issues
A) Bernice discussed the rationale and the three main goals of participating in the Science
Safety Committee:
1) To have input in the process of making college wide safety decisions
2) To have the same standards for all Biology labs college wide
3) To establish similar safety for all science labs
B) The Committee has a preliminary deadline of April 29th to complete the following:
1) A lab safety plan, which includes procedures for hazardous chemical
labeling, handling and disposal
2) A lab hygiene plan
3) A safety training schedule for faculty, lab assistants and students
4) Field trip policies and procedures
5) Draft an administrative safety rule
6) Identify necessary improvements to science lab facilities
Some components of the safety plan (those required by regulatory agencies such as the
Texas Department of Health, the US Department of Transportation and the Texas Natural
Resource Conservation Commission) will be implemented immediately; the remaining
components will be implemented in fall 2002.
1) By the end fall 2002 semester, all science faculty and staff will have
completed required safety training for hazardous waste (labeling, use of
personal protective equipment, using Material Safety Data Sheets,
emergency procedures, spills, disposal), blood-borne pathogens, and
classroom procedures (how to train students in safety procedures, record
keeping). Faculty and staff involved in field activities will also complete
field activity training. Training will be valid for a period of one calendar
year and then must be repeated annually.
2) There will be 3 possible dates for faculty to attend phase 1 of required
training:
a) There will be discipline specific safety training as part of Faculty
Development Day, August 23. The Biology training will be at Riverside
from 1-5 pm.
b) The adjuncts will receive safety training at adjunct orientation,
August 24, from 9-1 am at HBC
c) The will be another safety training opportunity on Friday, August 30th
starting at 6pm at HBC
C) ACC will be screening RVSA 2242and 2257 for formaldehyde and will expand the testing
to other labs.
2 PCM & ITV issues
A) There is a possibility that the class limits on PCM courses cannot be 50, but may be
capped at 24. Bernice brought PCM 1308 and 2306 back to the BTF for further
consideration. After discussion, the BTF approved lower class limits for 1308 and 2306 if
required. The BTF will allow individual instructors to choose PCM or ITV for their Open
Campus classes, but will try to ensure that there is a combination of PCM and ITV
sections offered every session rather than having one session with only PCM or ITV
classes.
3 Degree requirements change
A) The BTF discussed adding the following statement as an addition to the AS degree “To
receive an Associate of Science degree in Biology, the student must a) make a minimum
of grade C in all required math and science courses and b) have an overall GPA of 2.0 or
greater.”
1) There was some discussion and debate about both the relevance of the grade D
under such a plan and how this requirement would or would not affect
transferability.
2) An alternate statement was proposed requiring a minimum C only in required
Biology courses. The original proposal won 11 to 7. Adopted
4 Summer Opportunities
A) Linnea Fletcher presented some information about summer study and research
opportunities for faculty and students.
5 Arena Registration
A) The BTF voted to support its Lab Coordinators and labtechs in approaching the
administration to exempt the labtechs from working on the arena registration.
6 Textbook Approvals for Fall 2002
A) For Biol 1406 and 1407, the BTF approved:
Biology, 6th ed. by Campbell & Reece
Biology, 6th ed. by Solomon, Berg & Martin (and a cut-down
special ACC edition)
Biology, 6th ed. by Raven & Johnson (and a cut-down special
ACC edition)
The default selection will be the Campbell, Reece & Mitchell book
B) For Biol 1408 and 1409, the BTF approved:
Biology Today An Issues Approach 2nd ed. by Minkoff & Baker
Biology A Guide to the Natural World by Krough
Biology Concepts and Applications 5th ed. by Starr
Basic Concepts in Biology 5th ed by Starr
Biology: Concepts and Connections, 4th ed. by Campbell, Reece
& Mitchell
The default selection will be Basic Concepts by Starr
C) For Biol 2420 (formerly Bio 1704), the BTF approved:
Microbiology: An Introduction 7th ed, media update version by
Tortora, Funke & Case
Microbiology Laboratory Theory and Application by Leboffe &
Pierce
7 Common Course Objectives
A) Common Course Objectives for Bio 1724, Biol 1322, Biol 1673, Biol 2106, Biol 2206, Biol
2401, and Biol 2420 are on the BTF web page. These will be discussed and adopted at
the May meeting. Common Course Objectives for Biol 1407, Biol 1409 and Biol 1424 will
be deferred until the September meeting.
8 Course Challenge Exams
A) The BTF declined to offer challenge exams for 1408, 1704 (2420 in the fall) and
1724 at this time.
9 Media Cart Issues
A) D’Maris Allen has composed a letter to the administration outlining the difficulties
faculty has been having using media in their classes because of the limited time
available to transport and set up the equipment before, between and after class.
Included will be a list of faculty who will not use or have stopped using this
equipment because of the difficulty. The BTF supported this letter.
10 MSTA Appointments
A) Since MSTA with Fall/Spring/Summer appointments apparently will be paid for summer
even if there are not enough classes for them, there will be fewer summer appointments
made.
B) The number of Biology MSTA I and II positions has been increased.
11 Scheduling Issues
A) There was an energetic debate about full-time faculty scheduling conflicts. The
Task Force Chair has the responsibility of approving full-time schedules and
making recommendations to the Dean.
Meeting ended at 12:50