MINUTES
Learning Resources Supervisors’ Meeting
November 6, 2007
The Learning Resources supervisors met on Tuesday, November 6, 2007, at 3:00 p.m. in Library
203. Those in attendance: Linda Bigelow, Tommie Collins, Betty Linneman, Dena McCaffrey,
Sue Morgan, Loretta Ponzar, Dan Smith, Allan Wamsley, and Amy McKenna-Jones (secretary).
Updates
Linda Bigelow updated supervisors on the following items:
Donations/Solicitations
Linda said if anyone receives a significant donation from the community, Carol Kline would like
to be informed so the Foundation can send them a thank you note. Loretta Ponzar asked for
clarification on what was considered “significant,” and Linda responded that it might be best in
most cases to call Carol and let her decide.
Send All Calls
Linda said Dr. Watts has asked all of the administrators to remind their staff, as a courtesy to
callers, to either forward their phone calls to another person in the office or use the “Send All
Calls” feature when they are not available to answer calls.
Library Building First Floor Renovation Project
Linda went over some of the preliminary plans for the renovation of the entire first floor of the
Library building. This renovation project will take place over the summer. Some of the
highlights include expanding the testing room in the Assessment Center by moving the glass wall
out 5 feet, extending the office area where Myra Miller sits by removing the smaller office by the
entrance, and purchasing new furniture for the Assessment Center area. In the Library, the
circular area in the middle of the first floor will be removed, and a glass wall will be installed in
the corner where periodicals are currently housed to create additional classroom space. One of
the study rooms will be converted to an office area with a door leading to the hallway. Disability
Support Services will have their space expanded, and the Learning Center math and English
classrooms will swap space to give the math area more room. Rebekah Lewis will be moved to
an office next to the Learning Center math classroom.
Current plans indicate that during this renovation, all of the functions housed on the Library’s
first floor will be relocated. The Learning Center, Assessment Center, and Disability Support
Services will be temporarily relocated to the lower level of the ATS building. Allan Wamsley
suggested that rather than load all of the required testing and Learning Center software onto the
computers in the ATS building, they simply move the machines from the Assessment Center to
the ATS classrooms and switch the network over. The Library staff and circulation services will
be moved to the second floor of the Library.
There will be a meeting with the architects on November 14.
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MCCA
Linda reminded everyone that the MCCA conference in Branson will be held this Wednesday –
Friday. Linda will be attending, and Allan said Vickie Morgan and Karen Hester will also be
attending.
Meeting Date/Time Change
Linda changed the date of the December Learning Resources Supervisors’ meeting to
December 4 at 11:30 a.m.
Departmental Reports
Learning Center
Betty Linneman said she attended the GED conference on October 11 and 12. Betty said the
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has a program in place so that
when a student drops out of high school, the high school immediately notifies the State through a
hotline. The State contacts the student by mail to tell them about the GED and other options
available to them. They are now looking at replacing the letter with a CD or DVD hoping that in
doing so, they will reach more students. Betty said she nominated Myra Miller to appear in one
of the DVD’s since she is a graduate of the GED program. Bill Poteet, Missouri’s Lead Chief
Examiner, said they are looking to pilot a new GED online testing program. This is a nationwide
effort, and Betty expressed to Bill that Jefferson College would be interested in participating.
Betty said the theme of the GED conference this year was a drive to test more students. The
percentage of students who complete the GED test after dropping out are very low. Betty said
this translates to a much lower earning power for those who do not complete the GED. Another
concern for the State is that whenever a new test comes out, the percentage of test-takers drops.
A new test will be released in 2011, and they are hoping to reverse this trend before the next test
release date.
In other Assessment Services news, Betty said they tested 20 GED candidates on October 13.
On October 27 they administered the ACT test to 49 students. At the COMPASS User’s Forum
that Betty attended on October 23, they were told that the COMPASS is not certified to run with
Windows Vista. It will likely be late spring before they are compatible. November is exit exam
month. Betty said they have been doing Pathways testing in collaboration with a program Bryan
Herrick is working with. The WorkKeys test is going to internet delivery perhaps as early as
spring 2008. Betty said the advantage of online testing is that it will allow them to test students
anytime rather than during scheduled group sessions, and it will provide instant score reports.
The Assessment Center has also administered 8 online PSB tests. Betty said they have been very
happy with the privacy screens that have been put in place, and they plan to order 11 more.
In personnel matters, Linda Highley has turned in her resignation. She will be retiring at the end
of November. Christine Platter, a Jefferson College graduate, has been hired as a testing
supervisor and began working on October 29. Mary Linderer is another new testing supervisor
who began working on November 6. Betty said Mark Horne has been working out great as a
professional tutor. He’s very proactive and works well with the students.
Betty reported that the Learning Express program has been very popular with students. In the
past, the average usage was a little over 300 per year. This year, just since October, the usage
report shows 187.
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Last, Betty said they have had a problem with interoffice mail delivery. It has been taking three
days for tests to arrive through campus mail from JCNW as well as on the main campus. This
does not seem to be a problem with delivery to and from JCA. After some discussion, it was
recommended that JCNW have a separate bucket or basket dedicated for mail to be delivered to
the JCH Assessment Center. It would be placed next to the existing mail tub in the office area.
When the tub of mail arrives at the JCH Library, it will be sorted and Library staff will deliver
the mail to the Assessment Center. Sue Morgan said this would not be a problem for her staff,
and it would likely speed up the delivery time. Tommie Collins suggested that we start thinking
about what we will do for mail delivery in the summer while the renovations in the Library are
taking place.
Library
Sue Morgan said the Library Use Instruction sessions have been very popular this semester. In
six weeks’ time, beginning with the first of October, they have had 62 sessions at JCH and 16 at
JCA. That is close to the same number of sessions given during the entire academic year last
year. Sue also said they are working with Blake Carroll to possibly house some of the student
artwork in the new Library classroom after renovations are complete. They may do the same at
the JCA Library. Their hope is to provide space to host changing student art exhibits.
Loretta Ponzar said she and Sue attended the Brick and Click conference at Northwest Missouri
State University in Maryville. She said she considers the Brick and Click conference to be
among the best that she and Sue have attended. They gear their information toward academic
libraries and are usually the first to announce things that will be coming their way in the future.
Sue reported that Lisa Wolfe has created a Faculty Services and Partnerships page on the Library
web page. Sue distributed copies of what the site looks like. Also, the theme of the library page
is currently “National Chemistry Week.” The next theme will be food. Linda suggested that the
Library put out a flyer or announcement of some kind to make people aware of the changing
themes.
Dena McCaffery said the 10-minute sessions that the JCA Library is hosting on a variety of
topics seem to be going over well with students.
Northwest Facility
Tommie Collins reported that during the month of October, her staff participated in a variety of
training sessions. Student ID’s are now available at JCNW whenever a class isn’t scheduled in
the computer lab. Tommie is now an advisor and already has students assigned to her. She is
excited about the opportunity to work in advising. Tommie asked how (or if) she should
advertise the change in hours for spring 2008. Dena suggested posting the hours at JCNW but
waiting until we return in January. She said they will be posting so many signs over the next
several weeks with all of the upcoming holidays that students would likely overlook a sign
posted for spring.
Arnold
Dena McCaffrey reported that Brenda Flemming Studt is doing a great job. Brenda is their
newest part-time temporary staff member. Advising at JCA is picking up, and Kathy Johnston
has added additional advisors at Arnold on Monday-Thursday from 3-7 p.m. Stephanie Kitchell
hosted BINGO at JCA. The fall workshops for students have wrapped up for the semester.
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Sundaye Harrison did the last workshop on test anxiety, and Dena said it was well-attended.
Dena also reported that cable is supposed to be installed this week.
Online Courses
Amy McKenna-Jones reported that she has been researching video streaming rights with the
vendors who provide materials for our online courses. Many of our providers allow for this in
our current licenses with no additional charge. Amy has also been researching licensing options
for a couple of new courses which will be offered next spring and fall. And last, Amy reported
that she has been working with Karen Hester and Jim Kuchar to make some changes to the
Online/Distance Learning web page. Each semester we send out a mailing to all online students
with information about orientations, Library, Assessment Center, and bookstore hours, STARS
How-to’s, etc. Beginning this spring, we are going to be posting links to all of that information
on our web site and only send students a postcard or short letter telling them how to access the
information.
IS/Academic Computing
Allan Wamsley said the computer purchase is on the November Board agenda. They are hoping
the shipment arrives prior to Christmas break and plan on installing machines at the beginning of
the spring semester. The SMART classroom purchase will be on the January Board agenda.
Jim Bianco has been working on an emergency text messaging system. This will allow the
College to send out an emergency message which will lay over the top of whatever is on the
computer screen at the time. Office 2007 training is beginning this week. Tracy James’ group
will be providing the overview, Word 2007, and Power Point 2007 training. Excel and Access
training will be provided at a later date. The faculty and staff computers will have both Office
2003 and 2007 on them, so employees will be able to transition between the two. Allan said
Microsoft Office has training videos available on their web site free of charge. The media will
be available in the bookstore in mid-November for faculty and staff. Brian Bolle has the
videostreaming server up. Jim Bianco is working on getting the Jazz Appreciation class
videostreamed. Allan’s team is working on the keyboard install at JCA this week. They plan to
inventory computers when finals have ended. The architectural CAD lab will be updated soon.
This is a very big project for Allan’s team.
Discussion Topic – Computer Lab Policies and Procedures
Linda distributed copies of the UMSL Agreement regarding computer lab access for UMSL
students. This agreement also outlines the fees that UMSL provides to Jeffco to cover some of
the lab costs. There was discussion regarding how to monitor student printing. Dena said the
policy seems vague and wondered if that was intentional. She had concerns about
inconsistencies in enforcement practices and asked how everyone is supposed to enforce the
policy currently in place. Allan responded that some of it is a judgment call. He said by far, the
majority of the printing is done in the library. Everyone agreed that if it is not academic-related
printing (ie. printing flyers for a business), then the printing should not be allowed. But then the
question arose, what is “academic use”? Some students come in and print off twenty copies of a
document because their instructor told them to provide a copy for everyone in the class.
Students are also printing off lab manuals and documents that used to be printed, bound, and sold
in the bookstore. Now more of the printing seems to be faculty driven. Allan suggested that in
cases where printing seems excessive, staff may want to ask who the instructor is and address it
with the instructor.
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There was also a question about requiring an ID or having a sign-in sheet to log computers users.
Dan Smith said they require ID’s in the Tech Center labs because of the specialized software and
licensing agreements. At the beginning of each new semester, Dan typically gives students a
week or two grace period in which to obtain an ID. The Library said in the past they did require
ID, but these days it would be next to impossible. Allan said, generally, we should not be
concerned about ID’s. There are cameras at JCA to monitor most of the activity there, although
our other locations are not monitored by cameras. At the close of discussions, it was agreed that
ID would not be required.
Miscellaneous
There were no other items brought forth for discussion.
Meeting adjourned at 4:25 p.m.
Next Meeting Date
The next meeting will be held at 11:30 a.m. on December 4.
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