Committee Meetings and Minutes

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Foreign Languages Task Force

Meeting Minutes

Current Status of Minutes: Final
Date	February 5, 2021
Time	1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Location	Virtual

Members Present
Scott gibby, Delia Montesinos, Timothy Altanero, Catherine Angell, James Burleson, Matthew Conner, Rosa Davila, Jan Emberson, Kasina Entzi, Oscar Garcia-Landois, Mary Greff, Becky Jaimes, Bernadeta Kaminska, Julie Kleinhans-Urrutia, Vanessa Lazo, Guadalupe Lopez, John McMinn-Reyna, Myung-Joo Oh, Garrett Ollen, Cecilia Pastini, Todd Phillips, Mariela Prato-Williams, Rahelina Razanadrafara, Ewa Siwak, Elsa Taylor, Alina Waguespack
Guests Present
No guest attendance has been recorded.

Item # 1:	Committee Report For February 5th, 2021, Department Meeting
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Approval of the Minutes from Fall, 2020 Vanessa Lazo presented the minutes from the August 28, 2020 meeting for approval. Action taken: The minutes were approved without changes. Committee reports John McMinn-Reyna presented committee reports for approval. Julie Kleinhans and Becky Jaimes updated information for the Assessment and Textbook Committees. Action taken: It was approved to add the updated committee reports at the end of these minutes.

Item # 2:	Announcement
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Mariela Prato-Williams thanked everyone for submitting evaluation materials and commented that Box was working well for sharing evaluation materials. She pointed out that evaluation reports will be sent out electronically for electronic signatures. Study abroad programs for summer 2021 were canceled. The college hopes to run the same programs in Summer 2022. They plan to fast track students who had been approved for this year so they do not have to go through the full application process again. Rosa Davila said she hopes to have the program in Oaxaca, but only if it is safe. Jan Emberson said she plans to lead the program in Argentina.

Item # 3:	Emeritus Status
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo presented a proposal by Joe Liro to create an Emeritus status for our department. The history department has an Emeritus status. Ewa Siwak asked about the purpose. Vanessa point out that it would just be a title with no benefits other than pointing out that a faculty member served the department. Bernadeta Kaminska said that she did not see any purpose if there are no benefits from it. Mary Greff said she thought it would be nice to honor those who have served with dedication. Several criteria for eligibility were discussed. Vanessa Lazo pointed out that we could think of other ways of honoring faculty, such as the Marc Prévost Award for Excellence in French. Rosa Davila suggested giving a plaque to recognize those who have served. Becky Jaimes reminded faculty that the college had discussed creating an Emeritus status, which was tabled because it would allow Emeritus faculty to teach part time and select classes before MSTAs, which was opposed by the Adjunct Faculty Association. Emeritus status would be requested by any FOLA faculty member upon retirement who wishes to hold said title to retain affiliation with ACC for the purpose of furthering the goals of the department and profession. It was decided to develop criteria for the Emeritus status before voting. Vanessa also suggested creating a plaque and seeking funds to allow us to award them as faculty retire. Action taken: The vote on the proposal was postponed until criteria for the Emeritus status have been developed.

Item # 4:	Creation of Awards for Languages
Presenter	Todd Phillips
Discussion	Todd Phillips suggested creating a student award for each language similar to the Marc Prévost French Award. There was discussion of whether to have one award for all of FOLA or for individual languages. The consensus was that each language would have one student award. There were concerns about how to select students for Spanish since it is such a large department. It was suggested not to do it for Spanish. Rosa Davila expressed that is was unfair not to recognize students of Spanish. Vanessa Lazo pointed out that we will have to decide whether to include heritage speakers or ECHS students for Spanish. Todd Phillips suggested letting Spanish instructors decide how to determine it. Action Taken: It was approved to allow each language to create an award for a student who took all four semesters at ACC showing excellence in the language.

Item # 5:	Update on Class Formats for Fall 2021
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo announced that for the fall there will be a gradual return to classes on campuses at ACC. The college plans to have a mix of f2f, DLS and ONL classes. Students may be required to have been vaccinated for on-campus classes. Vanessa pointed out that scheduling across semesters needs to offer sequencing with appropriate corresponding times and campuses. Most classes in our division are expected to continue to be online. Vanessa also pointed out that the college is encouraging offering online degrees. We have one for Spanish. She asked whether we could have them for French and German too. Jim Burleson asked about creating one for Latin, pointing out that classes using teleconferencing had worked well for the Latin program. Vanessa pointed out that by online degrees, the college means those providing all asynchronous online classes. Action taken: None

Item # 6:	Welcome to Bradley Barr
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo announced that Bradley Barr was teaching German for the first time at ACC. Bernadeta Kaminska is mentoring him

Item # 7:	Spanish Section Meeting
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	The Spanish faculty discussed the packaging options for the new 6th edition of Vistas. There was also a discussion of the bookstore markup. Tim Altanero asked to express concerns about this with the administration. Vanessa Lazo said she would bring it up at the next Department Head meeting. It was decided to take out the printed SAM from the Vistas package. Students who want it will have to purchase it on their own. A copy will be kept in the department office. Desk copies of the textbook and SAM will be sent to instructor’s homes. Students will be required to purchase the Supersite Code. The publisher has promised that students who still have valid access to the 5th edition will be upgraded to the 6th edition free of charge. They will provide instructions of how to do it. Action taken: It was approved to offer the following options at the ACC bookstore and at the VHL store. Loose leaf printed book + Code for Supersite + WebSam at ACC Bookstore and VHL store Hardcover printed book + Code for Supersite + WebSam at VHL store Code for Supersite + WebSam only at VHL

Item # 8:	Committee Reports
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Adjunct Faculty Evaluation There is no new information at the moment. The committee will be reviewing the 2020 cycle of evaluations in February and plans to have completed by the middle of March. Adjunct Faculty Interview Nothing to report.

Item # 9:	Assessment
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	The Assessment Committee greatly appreciates the help and participation of our instructors. We could not continue to get excellent ratings without you and your support. The results from last semester’s assessments were: For 1411 Reading Comprehension: Arabic – 86.36% of students received a score of 80% or higher on the assessment. Chinese – 91.3% of students received a score of 80% or higher on the assessment. French – 75% of students received a score of 80% or higher on the assessment. German — 85% of students received a score of 80% on the assessment. Italian – 86.36% of students received a score of 80% or higher on the assessment. Japanese – 22.22% of students received a score of 80% or higher on the assessment. Latin – 100% of students received a score of 80% or higher on the assessment. Russian – 87.5% of students received a score of 80% or higher on the assessment. Spanish – 89.28% of students received a score of 80% or higher on the assessment. 1411 Visual Communication Chinese – 100% Japanese – 100% 1411 Teamwork Chinese 100% Japanese – 100% This semester, we will be assessing Visual Communication in our Spanish 1412 classes. Students will be asked to research a Spanish Speaking country and create a power point with the information they have learned about that country. (Participation will be voluntary.) More information will be distributed to instructors soon.

Item # 10:	Early college High School/Eligibility/ Distance Learning
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Due to the pandemic, the college is changing the requirements on syllabi each semester. John McMinn-Reyna sent out the only change for this spring in December, which was a revised statement about incompletes. The addition of Korean 2311 and 2312 to the course inventory and the creation of an Associates Award in Korean were approved by the college Curriculum and Programs Committee. Distance Learning Nothing new to report. Early College High School • ECHS/Dual Credit have cancelled both Native Speaker sections. • Five total Dual Credit sections were cancelled by ECHS for spring 2021 on the Endangered Sections Review day. • The Arabic program at Austin Peace Academy (APA), although on hold for 2020-2021, has requested testing for their students in anticipation of fall 2021 Dual Credit varying level section requests. Eligibility List Due to the difficulty some faculty and students had converting to all online courses during the pandemic, decisions about MSTA and HPH positions and the Eligibility List will be put on hold for this year. Faculty Mentoring Committee This spring we welcomed a new German instructor, Bradley Barr, who will be mentored by Bernadeta Kaminska. Faculty Problems Nothing to report to the faculty at large. Foreign Language Honor Society Last semester, Alpha Mu Gamma, the Foreign Language Honor Society, added 8 new Full members, and 7 new Associate Members. Applications will be due March 25 this semester. Any student interested should contact Julie Kleinhans at jkleinha@austincc.edu

Item # 11:	Faculty Mentoring/Faculty Problem
Presenter	Vabessa Lazo
Discussion	This spring we welcomed a new German instructor, Bradley Barr, who will be mentored by Bernadeta Kaminska. Faculty Problems Nothing to report to the faculty at large.

Item # 12:	Foreing Languages Honor Program/Outreach
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Last semester, Alpha Mu Gamma, the Foreign Language Honor Society, added 8 new Full members, and 7 new Associate Members. Applications will be due March 25 this semester. Any student interested should contact Julie Kleinhans at jkleinha@austincc.edu. k. Outreach • Rosa Davila has volunteered to be the Information Steward (IS) for FOLA. Information Stewards work closely with the MOP team our Humanities Division has recently put together to enhance our Division's marketing and outreach efforts. Rosa attended the first Information Stewards Meeting on May 13, 2020. For now, departments should focus on their website redesign, social media presence, informational/faculty videos, and blogs. Rosa discussed these points with Vanessa Lazo, who will be contacting key ACC staff who can assist us with these items. • Jan Emberson sent Pat Ecek, head of the Nursing Program at ACC, marketing materials for the following courses: Honors Span 1411 for Healthcare Professions, Honors Span 1412 for Healthcare Professions, and Span 1300 for Healthcare Professions. Pat distributed these materials to current nursing students.

Item # 13:	Professional Development
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Spring Development Day was held on January 16th this year, and a number of workshops of general interest to all faculty were included. During the Fall semester, many opportunities for distance learning training were available, both through ACC and outside online workshops and videos. This will continue during the spring semester. • John Golden has volunteered to repeat his interesting workshop, """"""""""""""""Death to Masculine and Feminine Terminology for Spanish Nouns."""""""""""""""" He is planning a video version of his presentation from the fall, 2019 semester. Another interesting workshop is planned for late summer. Michael Mignanelli, adjunct instructor of Latin, is spending this year in Rome on a fellowship. When he returns, he will share information with us about his experiences being in Rome during the pandemic and about differences in the approaches of online teaching for ancient languages. If you have suggestions for additional workshops, please contact Cathy Angell to let the Professional Development Committee know.

Item # 14:	Scheduling/Spanish for Spanish Speaker
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo continues to monitor the spring 2021 enrollment for 14, 12, and 8B spring 2021 sessions. Summer 2021 scheduling is in progress. The removal of the majority of the waiting lists as urged by upper administration has presented a challenge in monitoring enrollment in some sections. Spring courses continued to be offered through distance remote learning with two designations: DLS and ONL. All summer study abroad programs for 2021 have been cancelled due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. The study abroad to Japan had 15 students enrolled with many on the waiting list. Argentina and Mexico wish to offer study abroad in summer 2022 if travel restrictions are lifted. • Enrollment is healthy in all languages with a slight exception of Dual Credit Spanish and some 2311 sections. • The first year of Korean is a success with an extensive waiting list for 1411 and a healthy enrollment in the first 1412 section. Spanish for Spanish Speakers Nothing to report.

Item # 15:	Special events/Study abroad
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo continues to monitor the spring 2021 enrollment for 14, 12, and 8B spring 2021 sessions. Summer 2021 scheduling is in progress. The removal of the majority of the waiting lists as urged by upper administration has presented a challenge in monitoring enrollment in some sections. Spring courses continued to be offered through distance remote learning with two designations: DLS and ONL. All summer study abroad programs for 2021 have been cancelled due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. The study abroad to Japan had 15 students enrolled with many on the waiting list. Argentina and Mexico wish to offer study abroad in summer 2022 if travel restrictions are lifted. Enrollment is healthy in all languages with a slight exception of Dual Credit Spanish and some 2311 sections. The first year of Korean is a success with an extensive waiting list for 1411 and a healthy enrollment in the first 1412 section. Spanish for Spanish Speakers Nothing to report.

Item # 16:	Textbook Inventory
Presenter	Becky James
Discussion	First Day Access textbook orders for French 1411/1412 for summer 2021 were submitted by due date (January 22) Spanish will continue to use Vistas, 5th edition through summer 2021. Per Survey Results circulated to FT Faculty & Adjunct Representatives, Spanish 1411/1412/2311/2312 will transition to Vistas, 6th edition beginning fall 2021 VHL will honor any purchases of the 5th edition code and will transition students to the 6th edition at no additional cost to students, provided the student has access to their account within the 36-month access period from initial purchase. Package details pending. The decision on the package to submit to ACC Bookstore is due before spring break. Textbook orders for summer 2021 have been completed. Traditional textbook orders for fall 2021 are due before April 1st.

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