Introduction

Minutes

Members

Assessment Committee Minutes
Date: March 23, 1999

2:30 pm PC Conference Center

Committee members who were present: Georgia Gudykunst, Marian Tadano, Billie Hughes, Bill Roe, Brent Jameson, Bill Coppola, Marian Gibney, David Gorman, Yi Qin

Dr. Hughes called the meeting to order. Several handouts were given to committee members which included: the agenda, minutes from the March 10 meeting, an assessment calendar listing all the assessment activities through May. The agenda included eight items which appear as headings within the body of these minutes.
1. March 10 minutes
The minutes from the March 10 meeting were accepted with no corrections.
2. Update on NCA letter (Dean Tadano)
Dean Tadano reported that the NCA letter has now been drafted and has been sent to President Pepicello for her review and for the addition of the institutional section. A question was asked during this portion of the meeting concerning the establishment of a protocol. Is the letter, in fact, a first step in estabalishing a protocol for assessment? Dean Tadano answered that the letter would be an initial, although vague, step in moving toward a protocol for assessing student learner outcomes. However, a working model of how the college will assess student learner outcomes is still to be identified. One of the problems with establishing a template/protocol is that it may work well for one area and not well for another. This discussion was on-going during the meeting. The letter to NCA updating them on our assessment effort will go out sometime during the week of March 29th (approximately) with a copy sent to each committee member.

3. Update on Lodestar proposal
Dean Tadano authored and submitted a Lodestar proposal. This proposal requests assistance in either bringing facilitators here to Phoenix College who could help implement assessment tasks or enable PC to send ten faculty members for training to an outside institution. Dean Tadano will notify the committee when the Lodestar results are available.
4. Update on March 30 presentation by MCC faculty. (Assessment Committee members need to be there and encourage others to attend.)
Two faculty members from MCC will be here on this date to present their assessment efforts from inception to the present. This presentation will be taped. Dean Coppola has been placed in charge of taping.

5. Charge for the General Education Committee--What is this and who can help create it?
This item was tabled until a later meeting.
6. Update on ESL and Developmental Education Assessment Committee
The ESL Assessment subcommittee has been meeting regularly and is working toward writing a mission and goals statement. From there, student learner outcomes will be established.

Dean Tadano is continuing to work on the membership of the Developmental Educational Assessment subcommittee.
7. April 14th meeting--Planning processes and activities. (We need to reach consensus on these, design processes for getting to the outcomes, identify facilitators.)

There was lengthy discussion at this point in the meeting. Essentially, the discussion centered around the primary business of the college: how is the important business of the college identified and defined so that faculty can accept the assessment process while also satisfying the requirements of NCA accreditation and the Governing Board? This discussion will be continuing through the assessment process.

At the meeting on April 14th, President Pepicello will be in attendance, as well as a number of other individuals (found on the agenda for 3/23). Dean Godin and Dean Johnson were added to the list of people who are asked to attend. The purpose of this meeting is to:
1) identify roles (titles/areas included on the agenda for 3/23)
2) identify structure and resources for assessment (list on 3/23 agenda)
3) brainstorm methods that will encourage faculty involvement.

The results of the April 14th meeting will help establish the agenda and direct the work that needs to be accomplished for the retreat scheduled on Tuesday, April 27th.
8. April 27th retreat update
The April 27th retreat will be a three hour, off-campus event. The outcomes and proposed participants are listed on the 3/23 agenda. More about the content of the April 27th retreat will be known after the presentation from the MCC faculty and the assessment meeting on April 14th.

In the meantime, Dr. Hughes has been asked to create a model (template), similar to the model designed by Ms. Anderson. Dr. Hughes will begin working on this model and bring it to the committee as soon as possible.

The next assessment committee meeting will be on Wednesday, April 14 at 2:30 pm in the Bear's Den. (There is a notation that this meeting may be held at 1:30 pm. Members will be notified of the time prior to the meeting.)

Respectfully submitted,

Betsy Frank