Present: AuYeung, Arvizu, Beede, Bumgarner, Dwyer, Flippen, Howell, Jennings, Loeser, Lozano, Maringer, Moeller, Parker, Peacock, Regalado-Rodriquez, Robinson, Uram, Venable
1. Minutes were approved with no changes.
2. Updates
Title V: Overview of TV Grant and Allocation Process
Margery gave an explanation of the Title 5 grant and the role technology plays in that grant. Primarily, it is a retention grant based on the premise that students who complete courses that incorporate technology in the curriculum will be retained at a higher rate and this will ultimately "bridge the digital divide" for underrepresented students. She distributed a handout that the core committee used for year 2 distribution (some specifically required by the grant, others in the spirit of the grant). They are currently writing the interim report on the following five objectives and the approximately 19 activities under them.
1. student success and persistence (passing a class & going to the next level). Terrence is working with them on how to evaluate and interpret the retention numbers, how to realistically measure them and what other factors such as teaching styles or other variables that make a difference outside of the software. We need to demonstrate student improvement.
2. student satisfaction (feel more comfortable using technology). A student survey will be developed.
3. support technology and infrastructure: The core committee has supported numbers 1 and 2 priorities of the tech committee (cabling and router replacement) and can support the router activity over years 1 and 2. Margery will check on whether they can speed up the completion of this project. Air conditioning for the whole library complex has moved to the front of the line in the larger scheme of things ($80,000) and the bids are being sought for the study of all the colleges infrastructure needs (water, phone lines, electricity, air and heat, etc.) which is a prerequisite. The air conditioning has been a priority of the core committee and their lobbying has been successful.
4. support faculty (in their comfort with and usage of technology): Smart classrooms fall into this objective. Leah is currently surveying a random sample of faculty members to assess their comfort and training needs. She is finding very interesting results.
5. provide a way to support the labs: (this includes people) The other activities under Activity 1 that are underway this spring include: ESL lab (almost finished); Information Competency, VESL, digital media, smart classrooms, learning communities, and college email.
Committee Chairship: Chairperson-The chairperson will require from 5-10 hours per week. An option that was discussed is that Tim can share the position with one or two faculty/staff members. A concern was raised about why the administration has discontinued the current 20% release time that was previously given to the chair. By discontinuing the time, it appears that administration is not supporting this committee. Some questions that were raised include: What if we can't find someone to replace the chair? Are they going to do it for flex or co-curricular? Some people that may be interested to share the job include: Venable, Beede, Parker, MaringerMultimedia Classrooms Task Force Report: Another meeting on May 3, at 1pm in the Nursing Building. See Fran for details.
Laptops, Students, and the Network: Shuk had a student request to access her ISP through our phone line; she said that other libraries provide space for laptop use; also some provide it in classrooms. Ellen distributed a copy of Cabrillo's Acceptable Use Policy for Electronic Resources & West Valley's policy to review. She stated that it is very easy for students to steal software or cause problems with the network security. Mimi stated that we currently do have several wireless links in the new Mesa lab and in TRIO lab. We could have wireless links outside our network; however, we need to have a policy; in place. We need to keep in mind that putting a few links outside the firewall is really expensive.
Training:
Needs: The SRC coordinator is getting emails from a number of people asking about what the trainings are all about, questions like: what is PowerPoint?, what is web development? They have requested a training that shows an overview of how you can use technology in the classroom. JoAnne said she would provide this training next week. A discussion followed regarding how we could get these faculty/staff members into some of the courses that the SRC offers. Questions that were raised include: could we have trainings on Staff Development Day; could we have it required or written into our co-curriculur form (such as: a faculty member has to do so many technical hours per year?; could we provide trainings during the summer such as: half day sessions or workshops; should we continue the mentoring program and the up and running in an hour workshops?
If you are interested, @one is providing 4 online courses on technology tools for teaching; go to http://one.fhda.edu/services/si/Track.html for information.
Minimum Standards: JoAnne said she would put together a small subcommittee to discuss training issues/offerings. JoAnne already has several online workshops developed through the SRC and they have already been approved through the Staff Development Committee so participants can receive co-curricular or flex hours if they complete them. Another idea that was suggested is that we could offer courses for the faculty and staff and collect WSCH hours.
Staff Development Training: The committee made a recommendation to move that we add at least 4 hours of technical training as a part of the co-curricular or flex hour requirements.It was also suggested that every department should have a website and maybe the green sheet should include the faculty member's web page.Fran asked Jane to discuss accessibility issues as they relate to web design and students with disabilities. Jane mentioned that making websites accessible is the law for colleges. Jane briefly explained the following five areas of disabilities that may be affected by inaccessible sites: vision, hearing, motor, cognitive, and miscellaneous, which may include: students with slow modems; or those of us that have become less-abled as we get older. Some accessibility tips mentioned include: providing alt-tags for graphics since screen readers read only text, watch how you design your tables, and be careful how you use colors since color-blindness is common. She is currently designing the access tips website for the college and she will demonstrate it at the next meeting.
Demonstration of Techcomm Website:
Fran demonstrated the new Multimedia Classroom link on our TechComm website and Travis demonstrated his new Mac Users link page. Check out the online tutorials, they are very informative. A question was raised about getting a link from the Intranet Faculty Meetings, Times & Agendas page. Fran said she would take care of it.
3. Adjournment--Next
Meeting: May 13, 2002 -2:00pm
Spring Snack Schedule
May 13 Maringer/Bumgarner
May 27 Bob Beede