Committee Meetings and Minutes

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Foreign Languages Task Force

Meeting Minutes

Current Status of Minutes: Final
Date	October 6, 2017
Time	1:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Location	HLC 1-2104

Members Present
Timothy Altanero, Catherine Angell, Matthew Conner, Rosa Davila, Jan Emberson, Richard Ezell, Oscar Garcia-Landois, Mary Greff, Juan Isart, Becky Jaimes, Stephen Johnson, Bernadeta Kaminska, Julie Kleinhans-Urrutia, Vanessa Lazo, Joseph Liro, Talia Loaiza, John McMinn-Reyna, Myung-Joo Oh, Todd Phillips, Mariela Prato-Williams, Rahelina Razanadrafara, Stuart Smith, Elsa Taylor, Roberto Ybarra
Guests Present
No guest attendance has been recorded.

Item # 1:	Approval Minutes
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Discussion: Vanessa Lazo presented the minutes from the March 31, 2017 meeting. Action taken: The minutes were approved with no changes.

Item # 2:	Announcement and Review Committees
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Discussion: Vanessa Lazo asked faculty to check that their names were associated with the correct committees. She announced that Cathy Angel and Stuart Smith would co-chair the Eligibility Committee and that Cathy Angell would take over as chair of the Professional Development Committee. Tim Altanero will head the Adjunct Interview Committee, and Eva Siwak, Jan Emberson, and Rosa Davila were added to the Textbook Inventory Committee. Announcements: a. College and Career Exploration Day 2017 Vanessa Lazo thanked Jam Emberson, Patricia Fernos, Becky Jaimes, Juli Kleinhans-Urrutia, Joe Liro, Cecilia Pastini, Mariela Prato-Williams, and Alina Waguespack for representing our department at the College and Career Exploration Day 2017and talking to the 64 students who stopped by to learn about our courses. b. Introduction of New Members to the Department Vanessa Lazo welcomed Dr. Michael Conner to the department as new German instructor, and she announced the posting of an adjunct position to teach German 1411 at NRG. She also introduced Rahelina Razanadrafara as the new Administrative Assistant for the Foreign Languages Department, and she announced that Matthew Daude Laurents was now the official Dean of Liberal Arts, Humanities, and Communications. Katie Lessley will be his Senoir Adminstrative Assistant. c. Faculty Conversations: Transfer Trends Vanessa Lazo asked for a volunteer to represent the department at the Faculty Conversations: Transfer Trends meeting on November 10. Jan Emberson volunteered. d. Upcoming Events Vanessa Lazo announced that Véronique Mazet was organizing the traditional French Chorale, which will be at Northridge on December 3. The department is also planning an International Night for April 6, which will probably be at HLC.

Item # 3:	eStaffing
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Discussion: Vanessa Lazo asked adjunct instructors to check carefully for the Phase I and Phase II deadlines to accept or decline assignments, and she stressed the importance of remembering to decline sections they do not want. She also reminded faculty that Early College High School sections are not indicated as ECHS classes in e-staffing, and she requested that everyone provide comments on the Preference Page such as when they cannot teach or that they do not wish to teach ECHS sections. Action taken: None

Item # 4:	Endangered Sections and Bumping
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Discussion: Vanessa Lazo reviewed procedure for dealing with endangered/cancelled classes. Instructors should watch the enrollment for their sections two-three weeks prior to the beginning of the semester, and they should send a plan B to her, Becky Jaimes, and Raha Razanadrafara for classes with enrollments in the single digits. After cancelled classes appear on the schedule Thursday night, affected instructors will be contacted by phone or e-mail by sometime on Friday morning. Faculty should respond within two hours after being contacted so final appointments may be made by 3:00 P.M. on Friday. Action taken: None

Item # 5:	Dual Credit
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Discussion: Vanessa Lazo reported that the college is considering the creation of annual appointments for instructors of Dual Credit Courses in order to achieve consistency in the schools. The appointment process will require a letter of interest and an essay from the candidate, and student evaluations and feedback from high school administrations will be considered. Tim Altanero questioned the essay requirement, pointing out that faculty do not have to write essays to be assigned other courses. Talia Loaiza expressed concern that feedback from high school administrations will pressure instructors to give good grades in order to be appointed. Action taken: None

Item # 6:	Placement Testing
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Discussion: Vanessa Lazo suggested adding a statement about placement test options (AP, CLEP, Challenge Exams) on syllabi. She pointed out that if students register for a higher level, but do not pass the placement test, they can change levels without penalty. John McMinn-Reyna suggested adding a note with information about placement tests on the course schedule. Action taken: It was approved to add the statements about placement tests both on syllabi and online.

Item # 7:	Textbook Options
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Discussion: Todd Phillips recommended that the department look into ways to reduce the cost of the Vistas textbook, including creating a Worktext including the textbook and SAM for each semester so that students do not have to purchase materials for all four semesters. Becky Jaimes will check the costs for different options and a decision will be made when more information is available. Action Taken: None

Item # 8:	Assignment Report
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	There was a discussion of how to assign Online Courses fairly. Some faculty felt that there should be a clear guidelines on how many online classes instructors may teach so it is equitable for everyone. Action taken: It was decided that one out of four classes may be online. Instructors may also take another online course as an overload.

Item # 9:	Committee Reports
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	a. Adjunct Faculty Evaluation The list of faculty who need to turn in a portfolio this year has been sent to everyone. Instructors do not need to complete an input form for each semester they teach. From now on, only ONE form for the year is required. All instructors need to send the signed original to the department office. Instructors who need to turn in a portfolio will also have to upload it to their site in addition to sending the signed original to the office. Faculty may submit a separate form for a particular semester if they feel that they need to give further explanation. b. Adjunct Faculty Interview The committee reviewed applications for German, Chinese, Arabic, and Korean. Dr. Michael Connor was hired for German. One candidate was interviewed for Chinese. The search for Chinese has temporarily been closed since the intermediate class did not make. There were no qualified applicants for Arabic, and the search will reopen in the fall semester. In the summer, Stuart Smith and Theresa Oh conducted a search for Korean, but nobody was found. The search is still open. Italian will not be offered until fall 2018. c. Assessment This year will be very busy for assessments. This semester we will be assessing: 1411 Writing Skills (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish), 1411 Civic and Cultural Awareness (Spanish only), 1412 Oral Interview (Speaking – Spanish only – 2 sections), SPAN 1412 Personal Responsibility, SPAN 1412 Cultural Awareness, 2311 Reading Comprehension (Arabic, French, German, Russian, Spanish), SPAN 2311 Listening Comprehension d. Curriculum At the June College-Wide Curriculum Committee meeting, the addition of Italian 1411, 1412, 2311, and 2312 courses was approved along with an Associate’s Degree in Italian. Italian 1411 will be offered starting in the fall semester 2018. Korean 1411 and 1412 courses were also approved for fall 2017. Korean 2311 and 2312 courses and an Associate’s Degree in Korean will be submitted for approval when a qualified instructor is found and 1411 courses are offered. e. Early College High School Vanessa Lazo continues to work on clear communication with the ECHS and Dual Credit Offices as they have reorganized their divisions. Mison Zuniga and Eva Ruiz are in charge of Enrollment & Outreach and Dr. Melissa Biegert and Maria Perez are in charge of Advising & Completion. Dr. Shasta Buchanan remains the Executive Director of College and High School Relations. Our continued challenges are assuring that: 1) course notes appear in a timely fashion, 2) there is clear and consistent communication between ACC Faculty, ACC based ECHS/DC Coordinators, and the schools, 3) students have textbooks. Talía Loaiza and Alina Waguespack developed a Native Speakers test in the spring and it was administered to future students in schools that wished to participate to more accurately ensure placement and section numbers. Unfortunately not all schools wished to participate. Italian is being considered as a course option for Spanish-speaking ECHS students due to its similarity to Spanish. The new Dual Credit Annual Appointment (DCAA) was put in place for """"""""""""""""trial"""""""""""""""" implementation with spring 2018 assignments at Hays, Dripping Springs, and Wimberley High Schools. Dr. Cook's imperative calls for consistency. Vanessa Lazo attempted to keep this in mind for spring 2018 appointments. A more robust search will take place with clear criteria in spring 2018 for the official 2018-2019 annual appointments. Stuart Smith asked whether instructors may report to high schools that co-enrolled students are failing. Early College High School students sign waivers to allow this, but it is not clear whether instructors may report co-enrolled students. f. Eligibility List The evaluation materials and results were carefully studied in the spring to ensure proper appointments during the Eligibility List cycle. German and Japanese each have one MSTA slot and Spanish continues to have 20 slots for the MSTA position. Eighteen of the 20 MSTA spots were assigned in the spring. Some evaluations needed to be revisited in the summer. Stuart Smith and Cathy Angell will replace Vanessa Lazo as co-chairs of the Eligibility List Committee. g. Faculty Problems Nothing new to report. h. Foreign Language Honor Society Applications will be due October 20, 2017. i. New Faculty Michael Connor was hired in German this summer and was mentored by Vanessa Lazo. He needs to be officially observed this fall. j. Outreach At the Career Day on September 29th, several foreign language faculty members informed students and potential students about our different languages and courses. Rosa Dávila did an interview with Educa Austin promoting the Spanish for Spanish Speakers courses. The interview took place at the beginning of September and it aired on September 13th. k. Professional Development Effective this fall, all ACC employees are required to take mandatory Security Training every year. This training is done online. Mariela Prato-Williams and Talia Loaiza will do a training session on how to save your course documents in Google Drive and on how to create your own sites for your digital portfolio. It will be Friday, Oct 6, from 10-12 at HLC 2407. l. Scheduling Vanessa Lazo continues to work on the scope and sequence of programming all languages, making sure (with faculty input) that we are offering courses on the right days, at the right times and campuses to ensure student retention and seamless program offerings. The renovation of RGC with the move of our faculty to HLC presented some complications. Being given a cap of 34 classrooms for the spring of 2018 for all languages at HLC was a challenge, but they were able to schedule the classes. Joe Liro pointed out that with the move to HLC, it is difficult to find open computers in the office or parking for the disabled. m. Spanish for Spanish Speakers SPAN 2313, Spanish III for Spanish Speakers, made this semester with 17 students thanks to Spanish professors who encouraged them to go to a class that was more appropriate for them. Vanessa Lazo and Matthew Daude Laurents were very helpful marketing and finding space for the class. They are looking for space at HLC or RGC to offer SPAN 2315, Spanish IV for Spanish Speakers, next semester. Rosa Dávila did an interview for Educa Austin to promote these courses. She will share it when she gets the link. n. Special Events Véronique Mazet will be directing the traditional French Chorale de Noël. It will take place on December 3 at Northridge Campus. International Night is scheduled for April 6. o. Study Abroad Todd Phillips took his tenth group of students to Costa Rica, accompanied by Talía Loaiza, who will lead the program in 2018. Mariela Prato-Williams will accompany Talía and plans to take the lead in 2019. Jan Emberson will lead the Study Abroad Program in Granada, Spain, with trips to Málaga and Nerja; June 9 - June 30, 2018. In addition to the numerous excursions and class time, the Global Language Exchange will be part of the curriculum. In this exchange, students converse with college students in Granada. p. Technology Nothing new to report. q. Textbook Inventory • Textbook orders have been placed for spring 2018. Raha and Amy Hankey submitted the orders on September 19, 2017, using the new system Enlight. Thank you Textbook Inventory Committee Members for your help in keeping the Textbook Inventory updated every semester. • During the summer, Stuart Smith and Theresa Oh worked on the adoption of materials for Korean 1411 and 1412. The following books were adopted: Integrated Korean Beginning 1, by Young-Mee Cho (Published by KLEAR Textbooks, ISBN: 978082483440) and Integrated Korean Beginning 1 Workbook by Mee-Jeon Parker ET (Published by KLEAR Textbooks, ISBN: 978082483450) for Korean 1411, and Integrated Korean Beginning 2, by Young-Mee Cho (Published by KLEAR Textbooks, ISBN: 9780824835156) and Integrated Korean Beginning 2 Workbook by Mee-Jeon Parker ET (Published by KLEAR Textbooks, ISBN: 9780824835163) for Korean 1412. • Lynn Lau has made changes to the number of lessons covered in the current Chinese textbooks: 1411 will now cover Lessons 1-8 from Integrated Chinese Level 1 Part 1, 1412 will cover Lessons 9-10 from Integrated Chinese Level 1 Part I and Lessons 11-15 from Integrated Chinese Level 2 Part II, and 2311 will cover Lessons 16-20 from Integrated Chinese Level 2 Part II. Lynn is searching for a new textbook for 2312, which will not be offered in spring 2018. • ECHS and Dual Credit courses in Spanish use Vistas, 5th edition, while the ECHS sections for Native Speakers use Punto y Aparte. The 2313 and 2315 courses for Spanish Speakers use the text, Conozcámonos. • In addition to using Vistas, 5th edition, Honors Spanish 1411 and 1412 for Healthcare Professions will also use Introduction to Spanish for Healthcare Workers, Communication and Culture, 4th edition, by Robert O. Chase and Clarisa B. Medina de Chase (Publisher: Yale University Press, 2013. ISBN for e-text: 9780300182323, ISBN for optional hardcopy text: 9780300212976. • Changes in textbook orders for summer 2018 are due in mid-February. The deadline for orders is March 1st. Changes in textbook orders for fall 2018 are due in mid-March, and the deadline for orders is April 1st.

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