OATF Minutes
October 6th
President’s Conference Room
1. Welcome and review/approval of Minutes - Dana welcomed the committee
members who were present. Members included Dana Wassmer, Cori Burns,
Dan DuBray, Marybeth Buechner, Travis Parker, Jeanne Edman, Norv
Wellsfry, Teresa Aldredge, and Kathy McLain
2. Discussion of outcomes dialogue summaries – all

Did you note anything with respect to the effectiveness of the dialogues as
a whole as evidenced by the submissions?
A review of the submissions for the fall dialogue indicated the following:
 dialogue was problematic for single person departments
 some departments were thinking globally and focused on issues that
impacted learning but were not appropriate to this context (such as
equipment)
 most departments too it seriously and engaged in discussions of real
issues
 there was a good diversity of approaches and responses
 it was a good first start
 the issues and outcomes did not always seem to be clearly linked
 we will have further and better evaluation of the process after the
spring dialogue forms are received and reviewed

Did you note anything about how the college (and work of our committee)
can better support this process (including implementation!)?
 some of the outcomes were not directly about student learning
 some of the defined outcomes did not seem to be measureable
 more training is needed about the outcomes process – perhaps at a
department level
 it is possible that the spring forms will indicate that the assessment
project was not implemented as imagined during the fall – we will
have to write directions and forms with this in mind
 we should give individual feedback to departments after we receive the
spring forms
 we need to remember that this process will be instructive in two ways
– it will provide information to strengthen programs as well as provide
information to enhance the understanding of the outcomes assessment
process. Both are appropriate areas of learning at this point!
3. Discussion of the Themes document
 themes
a. many issues were in the area of critical thinking
b. quantitative reasoning appeared in both SME and CTE
c. themes were spread across the units
d. themes were easy to recognize and included critical thinking;
reading, writing and communication skills; the importance of the
profession/discipline in the larger society; specific professional
and/or technical skills; study skills, academic wellness, and skills
for classroom learning.
e. themes were aligned with the college-wide outcomes
f. the themes still need to be validated from a review of the original
forms – Marybeth will do that prior to sharing the themes with the
campus

dissemination plan - it was decided that after Marybeth validated the
themes document, there would be a brief email to the campus outlining the
themes and linking to the full document. The committee indicated that we
would have to be careful with language and establishing a context for this
and suggested a message line and title “summary of the OATF dialogues”.
It was also recommended that the email be sent from the OATF mailbox.
In addition, a summary of the themes will be included in the upcoming
CASSL Reflections document. The themes document will also be
disseminated to the Planning Committee (through Norv) to inform their
development of the Strategic Plan, to the Curriculum Committee (via Dan)
and to the Academic Senate (via Dana). Kathy will also make the
document available to the managers and the relevant accreditation selfstudy teams.
4. Update and discussion about the follow-up to the Fall dialogues – Kathy
reminded folks that the follow up involved the return of copies of the fall
forms that were not submitted electronically (which has been done), the
dissemination of our response memo (which has been done), and the
individual contacts of OATF members with departments in their areas (which
is ongoing and supposed to be done during the month of October).
5. Clarifying what needs to be addressed in our recommendations:

Needs:
i. coordinator to provide ongoing leadership and support
ii. clerical support to create and maintain a data base
iii. development of a web-based form and integrated web structure for
assessment, planning and resource allocations
iv. resources to automate and reduce workload
v. a long term OATF cycle that clarifies expectations with regard to
full implementation (and the ability to monitor and support this
cycle!)
vi. resources and processes to facilitate the storage of material
vii. a recommendation to make the structure of FLEX/convocation
permanent with respect to supporting the outcomes dialogues
viii. a way to better support outcomes dialogues in non- instructional
programs – is the current structure working?
ix. structures and/or personnel to resolve future issues; to continue to
adapt and enhance the process; to ensure that college wide
outcomes are reviewed on a periodic basis
x. an ongoing committee structure needed to support outcomes
development and assessment. Ideas included:
1. joint issues committee
2. new committee?
3. new responsibilities for Planning/Curriculum?