Academic Council Minutes

November 14, 2002

Present: Magdaleno Manzanarez, Mary Baumhover, Steve Reed, Julie Miller, Junius Logan, Donna Rees, Lloyd Cowling, Gail Gruber, Kathie Gilbert, Ben Tucker, Linda Baldwin, Barbara Taylor, Cynthia Bettison, Roland Shook, Gwen Cassel..

1. A Guided Discussion on Assessment: A Tool to Encourage Quality Efforts at WNMU--Dr. Kathie Gilbert. Dr. Gilbert works with quality initiatives at WNMU. Dr. Gilbert, along with the President and all 3 VPs, felt that a quality initiative needs to be take on this year with results visible by May 2003. Mary Baumhover, Magdaleno Manzanares, Linda Baldwin, Barbara Taylor, and Faye Vowell reported on what they had learned at a recent assessment conference. Kathie Gilbert made the connection between accreditation, quality processes and AQIP. Then she took the Council through a brainstorming activity followed by a discussion of important values or principles that Academic Council seeks to reinforce or see become a part of the WNMU culture. The following values/principles were shared by Academic Council members: value people; convey focus; greater sense of reality; we're all about learning; system for connecting and recording the dots; customer service; respect for each individual; teamwork; good citizenship; treat students as clients; establishment of clear channels of communication; accountability; walk our talk; high learning expectations; select and communicate the large issues; innovation; program excellence; Harvard on the Gila; time for staff development; quick turn around time on services; a truly shared vision; trust; let the students know that we value them; timeliness of responses; no roadblocks; better collaborative efforts; more follow-through; integrity in relationships and business practices; respect; improved student learning; knowledgeable staff; high ethical standards; performance standards; more writing; foster a sense that we are public servants; a culture of gathering evidence before making decisions or voicing opinions; a culture of kindness; removing barriers to service that are created for students; encourage a love of reading; an entrepreneural spirit; a student-centered institution; assessment. Discussion followed. Academic Council members were asked to vote on the most important values/principles. The outstanding areas were as follows: Value people; respect; high learning expectations; student-centered; no roadblocks; integrity in actions; students as clients.

We then discussed how we tie these values into assessment. We have an employee survey, a Noel Levitz survey and a NSSE survey which are inputs into the assessment process. Departments are doing good student outcomes assessment including senior testing, senior seminars, skills testing, writing across the curriculum, and many more. How do we move from where we are now to permeating assessments concepts across campus: We need a campus wide focus on assessment. One suggestion is to have our own workshop on assessment and learn from each other how to do assessment better--include the entire campus; each department or area work together to share and get feedback (cancel classes for the day); use existing tools to support assessment efforts; analyze the data we have and act on it; we need one place where we can get information and information can be communicated to everyone at every level. Academic Council was in agreement that a Convocation on Assessment for everyone on campus as the way to begin.

A Force Field Analysis yielded the following --What are going to be the inhibiting forces to the idea of a Convocation on Assessment? The cave dwellers or termites; those who say "I do all that. I know how to do that;" people think this is a dead end going nowhere--they will do a lot of work and it will go in the garbage; I don't want to sit around for three hours and hear the same old stuff--I've got better things to do; I'm busy; I'm going to take this opportunity to grade; What's in it for me? They won't miss me?: I've got another meeting; lack of community; the fact that the idea came out of Academic Council.

What are the supporting forces: We have to do it anyway, we might as well get help accomplishing it; Academic Council focus; faculty and staff integrity; food--bringing people together for fellowship; entire university--faculty and staff; Academic Council approach Staff Senate to ask for the support--go to the directors of the various staff departments.

Reflection and Evaluation--Are we all committed to this or are we all just talking? A Plus/Delta exercise yielded the following comments: Plus: Enjoyed the process--do it with staff; everyone buys into the assessment process and we do it together; structure of discussion was good; time restraint was good; sharing shared values is good.

Delta: Same old stuff--here's our "newest" focus.

2. Off-campus scheduling of classes-- Lloyd Cowling: Received off-campus class schedule after the classes had already been scheduled. An effort is being made in the Extended University office to avoid this in the future. Donna Rees stated that all information about off-campus classes will be entered into the shared drive which will list all adjuncts teaching off-campus, their credentials, and what they've been approved to teach in the past. Extended University will work with all chairs to bring all of the instructors who are teaching through the departments their syllabi, credentials, and evaluations and re-evaluate what is being done. The point that was brought up that any class may be taught at an Extended University campus. Donna Rees stated that the new funding formula would fully fund off-campus courses. RUS partners want general education classes delivered to local high schools. With new funding formula instead of having three-year rolling average, we will have our budget impacted the next year. We must have plans to maintain our enrollment. Academic Affairs is trying to get off-campus schedules finalized by tomorrow. We are trying to get to the point where off-campus schedules are available at the same time main campus schedules are available.

3. Textbook orders & WIA--Junius Logan: In order for WIA participants to receive their aid, the Business Office must submit an itemized list of costs student will incur during the semester--this includes the cost of textbooks. If information is not received on time, the student may not get aid or will be charged a penalty. Please make sure that textbook orders are in on time. Deadlines are as follows: Summer orders are due middle of March; Fall the last of March; Spring the first of October. Bookstore will give departments until tomorrow to get Spring book orders in.

Items we didn't get to today, we will move to future agenda. If possible to do something as an information item, send it around as an e-mail and we will drop from agenda. We need to have a more discussion oriented agenda.

Problems with Purchasing--Cynthia Bettison: Commit problems to writing and submit to Provost to document problems and work toward a solution.

Announcements and Handouts: NMHEAR Conference information passed out by Barbara Taylor. Gail Gruber passed out information on Learning Communities. Special thanks to April Matthews for saving $12,723.46 for bulk purchase of computers. Any last minute item s may be submitted to Junius Logan. Copy of Campus Emergency Procedures. Discussed at Faculty Senate. Share with faculty and staff. Steve Reed handed out a Privacy Initiative. Get in software requests by November 22. Lloyd Cowling announced "Information Warfare." Cynthia Bettison announced a faculty/staff discount day the first part of December. Julie Miller stated that the library bond passed. Special thanks to Magdaleno Manzanarez' students for getting out information to the community. Jeremy Rutherford is a stude nt representative going to Santa Fe who will lobby for faculty grants, etc. Get him information.