Committee Meetings and Minutes

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Foreign Languages Task Force

Meeting Minutes

Current Status of Minutes: Final
Date	March 31, 2017
Time	1:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Location	HLC1-2104

Members Present
No member attendance has been recorded.
Guests Present
No guest attendance has been recorded.

Item # 0:	Attendees:Vanessa Lazo, Tim Altanero, Rosa Davila, Jan Emberson, Scott Gibby, Becky Jaimes, Julie Klienhans-Urita, Talia Loaiza, Theresa OH, John McMinn, Todd Phillips, Mariela Prato-Williams
Presenter	In Attendance from 1:30 to 5:00 pm
Discussion	Julie Kleinhans-Urrutía, Todd Phillips, Vanessa Lazo, Mariela Prato-Williams, Becky Jaimes, Rosa Dávila, John McMinn-Reyna, , Theresa Oh, Joe Liro, Bernadeta Kaminska, Cathy Angell, Maricela Thormahlen, and Oscar Garcia-Landois.

Item # 1:	Moment of Silence in Memory of Marc Prevost
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	The attendees observed a moment of silence in memory of Marc Prévost followed by a discussion of the Marc Prévost Outstanding Students of French Award. Joe Liro suggested changing the name of the award to emphasize that the award is not intended to be based solely on grades. ACTION TAKEN: It was decided to reconsider the name.

Item # 2:	Approval of Minutes
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo presented the minutes from the October 7, 2016, meeting. ACTION TAKEN: The minutes were approved with no changes.

Item # 3:	Review of Committee Memberships
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo distributed a list of committee memberships and asked individuals whose names were in parentheses to confirm whether they wished to continue serving on committees. She announced that Tim Altanero had volunteered to chair the Adjunct Interview Committee. Cathy Angell said she and Stuart Smith would decide which one of them would replace Vanessa Lazo as chair of the eligibility committee. Becky Jaimes reported that Ewa Siwak had done a lot of work for the German textbook committee and would be compensated for it. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 4:	Announcements
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	(a) ACC Realignment Vanessa Lazo introduced Gaye Lynn Scott as the new Associate Vice President of Academic Transfer Programs. She also reported that Susan Thomason is the new Associate Vice President of Instructional Services and Gretchen Riehl is the new Associate Vice President of Workforce Education. Gaye Lynn Scott explained that there are ten areas of study in the new organization under Guided Pathways. The Liberal Arts area will have two deans, one for Social and Behavioral Sciences and one for Humanities and Communications. Foreign Languages will be under Humanities and Communications. Interviews for Dean are planned for April or May, so the Dean can begin working in the summer. Gaye Lynn Scott also reported that they would be reviewing job descriptions for Department Chairs and Assistant Department Chairs, comparing the positions across departments. ACTION TAKEN: None (b) Renovation at Rio Grande Vanessa Lazo announced that the move out of Rio Grande is expected to take place after grades are turned in at the end of the spring semester. She also reported that Rio Grande is expected to have fewer classes after the renovation is completed in the Fall 2019. ACTION TAKEN: None (c) Discipline Assessment Cycle Julie Kleinhans-Urrutia reported that the Foreign Languages Department received exemplary ratings in many areas and acceptable overall. Vanessa Lazo announced that according to Ron Johns, it is time for a fifth-year report for SACS. The Foreign Languages Department has been selected as an example for assessments. ACTION TAKEN: None (d) Program Review Report Vanessa Lazo announced that the Program Review had been submitted on March 3, 2017, and that it was under peer review, which will determine whether any edits are needed. ACTION TAKEN: None (e) New Digital Courses Vanessa Lazo announced that Yuko Kato is creating a hybrid Japanese 2311 class to be offered in the Fall of 2017. She plans to add a Japanese 2312 class in the Spring of 2018, Japanese 1411 in the Fall of 2018, and Japanese 1412 in the Spring of 2019. Tim Altanero is organizing a hybrid Spanish 1411 class at EVC for Fall 2017. ACTION TAKEN: None (f) Texas-Mexico Grant Vanessa Lazo reported that William Louden, Department Chair of International Business, had approached her about offering a Business Spanish Course. Jan Emberson and Talía Loaiza are considering possibilities of offering the course in the fall. It is still to be determined in which department the course will be offered. It will be part of the ACC International Business Certificate program. Some faculty members expressed skepticism about offering Business Spanish as a beginning level course, and there was a discussion whether 1411 and 1412 courses should be taken first. ACTION TAKEN: None (g) Student Registration Vanessa Lazo shared information about student registration. The registration process is described as Hi Tech/Hi Touch which means that new students can complete the application process online, and the college gets in touch with them as a follow-up. Students must pick an area of study but not a program. Students with more than 12 hours of credit are not required to meet with an advisor or to attend an Area of Study session. To change majors, students must meet with an advisor. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 5:	Discussion Items
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	(a) Adding Italian, Portuguese, Korean, or Vietnamese Vanessa Lazo asked whether the department should add Italian, Portuguese, Korean or Vietnamese, which are in the ACGM. Some faculty expressed concern about finding faculty to teach Korean or Vietnamese. Many faculty members felt there was interest in the community in Italian and Portuguese. ACTION TAKEN: It was decided to add Italian. (b) New Method of Presenting Committee Reports Vanessa Lazo asked whether faculty wanted to continue with the new system of sending out committee reports by email for review one week before department meetings. ACTION TAKEN: It was approved to continue to send out the reports for review prior to meetings.

Item # 6:	Committee Reports
Presenter	John McMinn-Reyna
Discussion	The following Committee Reports were presented. ACTION TAKEN: It was approved to add the committee reports to the minutes. (a) Adjunct Faculty Evaluation Committee Talía Loaiza reported that the evaluation summary forms had been completed after reviewing portfolios, results of student surveys, input forms, and any other pertinent information. The forms are at the Dean's office and should be mailed to adjunct faculty very soon. The first attempt at an all-digital evaluation process went smoothly. Starting in 2019, the department will only accept portfolio material in digital format. Talía also reported that 95% of FOLA faculty scored excellent in the student surveys. She thanked everyone for the amazing job they do daily with students. ACTION TAKEN: None (b) Adjunct Faculty Interview Committee Two positions are posted for the summer: one in Arabic and one in German. Tim Altanero, Todd Phillips, and Vanessa Lazo are setting up interviews for these positions. ACTION TAKEN: None (c) Assessment Committee In the fall 2016, reading comprehension was assessed for 2311 courses. In Arabic 2311, 63.6% of students received scores of 80% or higher (and another 18.2% received scores of 70% or 75%). In French 2311, 87% of students received scores of 80% or higher. In Japanese, 54.5% of students received scores of 80% or higher (and 33.3% of students received a score of 70%). In Russian 2311, 100% of students received scores of 85% or higher. In Spanish 2311, 90% of students received scores of 80% or higher. This semester we will be assessing Personal Responsibility in Spanish 1412, and Cultural Awareness in Spanish 1412. Also, as a pilot study, we will be assessing Speaking Ability in Spanish 1412 (oral interview) on a -voluntary basis. ACTION TAKEN: None (d) Curriculum Committee John McMinn-Reyna is asking one or two German instructors to volunteer to update the master and sample syllabi for the new textbooks in German 1411 and 2311 for next fall. Adjunct faculty will be paid for preparing the master and sample syllabi. Jan Emberson reported that Ron Johns had shared a letter that the University of Texas sent to the Texas Coordinating Board contesting the decision to eliminate foreign languages from the Core Curriculum. She also reported that John McMinn-Reyna, Julie Kleinhans-Urrutia, Vanessa Lazo, and she attended a DAC (Discipline Assessment Cycle) meeting with Ron Johns in January, in which they discussed the Program Student Learning Outcomes that are assessed each year (listening comprehension, reading comprehension, writing ability, cultural information, speaking ability). ACTION TAKEN: None (e) Early College High School (ECHS) Vanessa Lazo reported that she was approached by the Director of ECHS, Dr. Melissa Biegert, about implementing diagnostic testing for Native Speakers in ECHS Spanish classes in order to ensure proper placement of students and to determine how many traditional versus Native Speaker sections they need. Vanessa contacted all who teach ECHS to meet with Dr. Biegert, and Talía Loaiza, Alina Waguespack, Sue Pardue, and Vanessa Lazo met with her. Talía Loaiza and Alina Waguespack developed a diagnostic test. Prospective students were tested in Elgin on Friday, March 10. More testing for Travis and LBJ High Schools will take place on Friday, March 31 and Friday, April 7. There may also be testing for Dual Credit classes at Hayes and Lehman High Schools. ACTION TAKEN: None (f) Eligibility List Letters with information about the Eligibility List and MSTA positions were sent to campus mailboxes on Friday, March 10. The department has 1 MSTA in German, 1 in Japanese and 18 in Spanish. Either Cathy Angell or Stuart Smith will be chairing this committee in the future. ACTION TAKEN: None (g) Foreign Language Honor Society The Foreign Language Honor Society, Alpha Mu Gamma, is currently accepting applications, which should be sent to Julie Kleinhans-Urrutia at the South Austin Campus by March 29. ACTION TAKEN: None (h) New Faculty Committee Nothing new to report. ACTION TAKEN: None (i) Outreach Committee Rosa Davila, Yuko Kato, Jan Emberson, and Joe Liro participated in the Fall Career Exploration Day on November 5, where they interacted with students and parents interested in Foreign Languages. To promote the Honors Spanish for Healthcare Professions 1411 and 1412, posters and fliers were distributed to all campuses, and bookmarks and fliers were sent to all campus advisors in the Health Science areas. To promote the study abroad program to Costa Rica and Spain, posters were sent to all campuses. Brochures with details about the programs were distributed to students whose classrooms were visited. The exhibition Soviet Propaganda: Art and Ideology attracted many visitors and students, particularly the gallery event in March. Additionally, the Russian faculty visited Concordia University and Texas State University, delivering course schedules and promotional materials to appropriate departments and schools. Rosa Davila suggested having an expo day for our department similar to the International Festivals the department used to host, but not as extravagant. Bernadeta Kaminska suggested those events be held during registration. Cathy Angell pointed out that the department used to have speakers talk about careers related to languages. ACTION TAKEN: None. (j) Professional Development Cathy Angell reported that two workshops on using Google Sites were held to help faculty transition to the new process of submitting portfolios digitally. The first workshop, Google Applications, was presented by the ACC Instructional Development Services staff in November 2016. The second workshop, How to Upload Your Portfolio Using Sites, was presented on January 27th by Talía Loaiza and Mariela Prato-Williams. Cathy Angell also reported that the TCCTA Conference was held in Austin this semester, which allowed the department to team with McGraw-Hill to offer the workshop Unlocking the Potential of Each Learner in the FOLA Classroom on February 24th. On March 24th, Cengage will present an all-day event, Take on the World in Your Language Class, in downtown Austin. Several FOLA instructors plan to attend. On April 18, Dr. Kim Potowski, from the University of Illinois at Chicago will give a talk on Language and Identity in a Dual Immersion School at 4:00 p.m. in Parlin Hall 401 at the University of Texas. Fuerza Latinx is presenting a student panel to help instructors learn more about how to serve our diverse student body on April 20, 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. at the Eastview Campus in room 8500. ACTION TAKEN: None (k) Scheduling Committee Vanessa Lazo has been reviewing and making additions to the schedule as needed. Arabic 1411 and 1412 classes have been added for this summer. She is polling German 1412 students to assess the need of a German 2311 class. The Spring 2018 schedule has not rolled over yet for changes from RGC to HLC. Rosa Davila suggested offering a conversation class as a 12-week class, when students enroll in other classes they start to realize that they would like more conversation practice. ACTION TAKEN: None. (l) Spanish for Spanish Speakers/Native Speakers Committee At the Fall Career Exploration Day (2016), Rosa Davila promoted our new courses for Spanish Speakers through flyers and a language trivia game. She was also invited by Richard Armenta to be part of the Puente Committee meeting. Since Puente’s student population is mainly Hispanic, she requested that the Spanish for Spanish Speakers courses be part of the Puente Program Curriculum. These courses have been added as a choice for their second year. She also reached out to former students through Blackboard to encourage them to register for SPAN 2313 and 2315. In the Fall semester 2016, SPAN 2313 made with 10 students. In the Spring, SPAN 2315 was cancelled because only 5 students registered. In the future, Rosa plans to teach SPAN 2313 only if the class has 13-15 students in order for SPAN 2315 to make the next semester. She asks other instructors to tell students about the classes. Talía Loaiza reported that starting in the Fall 2017, we will offer Spanish 1411 and 1412 for Native Speakers at the HLC, EGN and RVS campuses. Those courses will be mainly for ECHS students, but they will also be open to any other ACC student who wants to enroll in them. Currently, a test is being administered to ECHS students from various schools to separate true beginners from heritage speakers. ACTION TAKEN: None. (m) Special Events Committee Theresa Oh and Mariela Prato-Williams announced that there will be an Adjunct Appreciation Event on April 21, 1-3 p.m. in RGC 3348. ACTION TAKEN: None (n) Study Abroad Committee The program in Spain did not make this year. The Costa Rica program will make for the tenth time this summer with 13 students led by Todd Phillips. Talía Loaiza will be shadowing the program this year to be able to lead the program in 2018. The plan is for Mariela Prato-Williams to accompany Talia next year so there will be three professors who can do the program on a rotating basis. ACTION TAKEN: None. (o) Technology Committee Scott Gibby is asking faculty to think about what technology hardware and software access the department needs and what technology training should be provided. ACTION TAKEN: None. (p) Textbook Inventory Committee Becky Jaimes reported that in Summer 2017, Online Spanish 1300 (Focus: Healthcare Professions) will use An Introduction to Spanish for Health Care Workers, Communication and Culture, 4th ed., Robert O. Chase and Clarisa B. Medina de Chase, Yale University Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780300212976 (hard copy text), ISBN: 9780300182323 (e-text). For all other courses listed on the Summer 2017 schedule, textbook materials were ordered per the current Inventory list by the March 1st deadline. For Fall 2017, German 1411 will use Netzwerk A1 (text/2 CDS/DVD) (ISBN 97893126061292) and Netzwerk A1 Interactive wb online (ISBN NP01160613001). German 2311 will use Netzwerk A 2 (text/2CDs) (ISBN 9783126069984) and Netzwerk A 2 Interactive wb online (ISBN NP01160699901). The publisher for these German materials is Klett. Not all desk copies for instructors will be complimentary. The department will need to purchase some desk copies, and may need to purchase two site licenses. The request for desk copies is $350.80. The two site licenses will cost $800. Also in the fall, Spanish 1411 ECHS for Native Speakers will use Punto y Aparte, 5th edition (McGraw-Hill). ACTION TAKEN: None.

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