Committee Meetings and Minutes

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Foreign Languages Task Force

Meeting Minutes

Current Status of Minutes: Final
Date	September 8, 2023
Time	1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Location	Virtual

Members Present
Scott gibby, Lam Lau, Delia Montesinos, Timothy Altanero, Catherine Angell, James Burleson, Rosa Davila, Diane Echevarria, Diane Echevarria, Jan Emberson, Emi schuster, Oscar Garcia-Landois, George solano, Mary Greff, Fahim Idais, Ramiro Juarez, Bernadeta Kaminska, Vanessa Lazo, Talia Loaiza, Marcel Ventura, Veronique Mazet, John McMinn-Reyna, Michael Hydak, Myung-Joo Oh, Garrett Ollen, Mariela Prato-Williams, Rose joynt, Alina Waguespack
Guests Present
No guest attendance has been recorded.

Item # 1:	Announcements and Remembrances
Presenter	Mariela -Prato- Williams
Discussion	a. After observing a moment of silence remembering Jorge Pompa, faculty shared memories of their times with him at ACC. b. Mariela Prato-Williams welcomed the following new adjunct faculty: Vanessa Fanelli (Italian), Rose Joynt (Italian), Jesús Alberto Amaya (Spanish), George Solano (Spanish), Marcel Pons Ventura (Spanish), and Ramiro Juárez (Spanish). She also welcomed Yuko Kato as our new 50% full-time faculty member for Japanese. c. Mariela Prato-Williams congratulated Todd Phillips and Vanessa Lazo for being granted sabbaticals, and she reminded everyone that they will be away this semester.

Item # 2:	Approval Minutes from January 2023
Presenter	Mariela -Prato- Williams
Discussion	The minutes from the January 27, 2023 Department Meeting were reviewed. Action taken: The minutes were approved without corrections

Item # 3:	Committee Membership Curriculum Curriculum Curriculum
Presenter	Mariela-Prato Williams
Discussion	Mariela Prato Williams asked if any faculty would like to be added to or removed from committees. Vanessa Lazo and Todd Phillips will not serve on committees this year since they are on sabbaticals. Mariela Prato Williams will not co-chair the Adjunct Evaluation Committee or the Special Events Committee. The following changes were made: • George Solano joined the Adjunct Faculty Interview Committee. • George Solano and Ramiro Juárez joined the Early College High School Committee. • Jan Emberson will replace Todd Phillips as the Chair of the New Faculty Committee (Faculty Mentoring). • George Solano and Marcel Pons Ventura were added to the Outreach Committee. • George Solano and Marcel Pons Ventura were added to the Special Events Committee. Rosa Dávila will replace Mariela Prato-Williams as co-chair. • Since Becky Jaimes retired, Raha will update the Textbook Inventory list and order textbooks. Any textbook changes should be sent to her, and also to John McMinn-Reyna so he can update the Master Syllabi. Committee Reports The Committee Reports were reviewed. They are attached to the end of these minutes. Study Abroad 2023 Emi Schuster reported on the Japanese 1412 study abroad program she led in Osaka and Kyoto Japan this past summer. This is the first program in Japan since 2007 due to the tsunami and the COVID pandemic. This year students had the opportunity to visit a high school class, museums, and Kansai Gaidai University, and to practice the traditional Japanese arts of calligraphy and flower arranging. Smart phones allowed students to find their way, and to keep in touch with Emi. Jan Emberson presented the study abroad programs planned for this summer, which include JAPN 1412 in Osaka and Kyoto Japan, led by Emi Schuster, and SPAN 2311 and SPAN 1300 in Argentina, led by Jan Emberson. . Liberal Arts Gateway (LAG) Véronique Mazet and Mary Greff presented the Liberal Arts Gateway Project, which has the goals of increasing student success, engagement and retention, making material relevant to their lives, promoting cultural exploration through cross-cultural comparisons, and fostering faculty growth and collaboration through peer dialogue and moral support by colleagues. Faculty interested in LAG should contact Véronique Mazet. Prerequisite Policy for Auditors. Currently, for auditors to continue with the next level, instructors from the prerequisite course must sign a form that they completed their course with the equivalent of a grade of B or better, as is required on Challenge Exams. It was proposed to allow auditors with the equivalent of a grade of C or better to take the next level. Fahim Idais also inquired whether it should be the same requirement for continuing education students that are mixed with college credit students in the same section. Action taken: It was approved to allow students with the equivalent of a C in an audited course or a continuing education course that is combined with a college credit course to continue with the next level. Academic Integrity Policy Faculty were reminded that all incidents of scholastic dishonesty must be reported in Maxient. Faculty also discussed the inclusion of a statement on syllabi about the use of AI. The following statement was proposed: “Use of ChatGPT or other AI to produce the bulk of thinking and writing constitutes a serious breach of academic integrity.” Action taken: It was approved to add the preceding statement to all master syllabi with a note that instructors may add additional details about how they deal with the use AI. Protocol for Travel Money Mariela Prato-Williams pointed out that approval of travel money is no longer first come first served. You must submit a proposal showing that your conference/event will benefit you professionally or the college. The Department Chair has to approve your proposal before sending it to the Dean for his review and final approval. Faculty who receive travel money must facilitate a Faculty Enrichment Activity. The maximum amount for 2023-2024 is $750. Mariela reminded faculty to apply early since funds usually run out by the end of the fall. Partnering with a Backup Instructor Mariela Prato-Williams asked faculty to find a colleague who is willing to take their class(es) in case of an emergency, and to add them to their course in Blackboard. She will send out a spreadsheet for faculty to indicate who their partners are.

Item # 4:	Committee Report
Presenter	Mariela -Prato Williams
Discussion	Assessment Committee: This semester (Fall 2023) we will be a conducting 4 assessments in 1411 courses: 1) Visual Communication (creating a power point or Google Slide presentation over an assigned topic), 2) Social Responsibility (Cultural Awareness) 3) Personal Responsibility (doing homework on time) 4) Teamwork (working with another student) The assessments will be due in mid-December. In Spring 2024, we will be assessing 1412 Reading Comprehension. Results from Spring 2023 Assessments: 1412 Reading Comprehension: These are the percentages of students that received an 80% or higher on the Reading Comprehension assessment: 69% of students in Arabic 1412; 81.25% of students in Chinese 1412; 71.4% of students in French 1412; 100% of students in German 1412; 66.7% of students in Italian 1412; 100% of students in Japanese 1412; and 88.5% of students in Spanish 1412. Curriculum All master syllabi were updated at the beginning of the fall to include statements for HyFlex courses. Italian Master Syllabi were updated for the new edition of the textbook. Please let John McMinn-Reyna know if there have been any curriculum changes that would affect master syllabi. Distance Learning With the release of the 7th edition of the QM standards, synchronous and Hyflex courses can now be certified. That means it’s only a matter of time before the college asks faculty to certify all courses with a Distance Learning component to them. Rather than require everyone to take intensive training and complete this on their own, the Distance Learning Committee has received approval for a gradual assisted effort. Over the course of 2 semesters, Scott Gibby will work through the 8 standards with instructors and help them with finding privacy policies, captioning multi-language videos, splitting long videos, checking links, and anything else that will make it easier for them to certify their course. He will be available for one-on-one consultations to answer questions, demonstrate how to do things, and help faculty align their course with the QM rubric. Early College High School • Fahim is teaching Dual Credit Arabic 1 at the Austin Peace Academy this fall. • We have added a couple more ECHS requests in Spanish for Fall 2023. • We have a new partnership in Dual Credit with Harmony School Endeavor. Our new Adjunct in Spanish, Professor Pons Ventura is teaching this section. • The enrollment is healthy in all of the ECHS and Dual Credit sections. • We hear that St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School might be interested in French for next year. This is based on an inquiry and request to review a résumé that Jason Sanchez passed along. Eligibility List Nothing new to report.

Item # 5:	Spanish For Spanish Speakers, Events, Study Abroad
Presenter	Mariela -Prato Williams
Discussion	Spanish For Spanish Speakers Nothing new to report. Special Events Faculty met at the Rio Grande Campus on August 18th to thank all of the faculty who has retired recently. Study Abroad This past summer (2023) Professor Emi Schuster led fourteen students in a study abroad program in Japan for the Japanese II course. The program took place from June 12, 2023 to June 30, 2023. Pictures from the program can found at https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qM-wo-Ytzz6aAgIjV8hlpFCM6XLpJuxUsN0y51b-0as/edit#slide=id.p. Below are some students’ statements about their experience: • I personally benefited a lot from the friends I made, the experiences I had, the exposure to culture and the practice speaking I got in Japan. • It gave me a great look at everyday life in Japan and made me confident in my future plans to study in Japan full time. For the upcoming summer of 2024, there are two WOLA offerings. Students will take JAPN 1412 in Osaka and Kyoto Japan and SPAN 2311 and SPAN 1300 in Argentina. Buenos Aires, Iguazú Falls, and Uruguay are destinations in this program. You can see brochures for the programs through the following links. Japan: https://simplebooklet.com/japaneseii Argentina: https://simplebooklet.com/spanishiii - page=1

Item # 6:	Textbook Inventory
Presenter	John McMinn
Discussion	Italian moved to the new edition of Sentieri, 4th ed., Cozzarelli, Vistas Higher Learning (ISBN 9781543394856) Students are required to have both the loose-leaf print book the Supersite Plus + WebSAM code. Please let Raha and John McMinn-Reyna know of any textbook changes.

Item # 7:	Distance Learning, Early College High School, Evaluation
Presenter	Mariela -Prato Williams
Discussion	Distance Learning With the release of the 7th edition of the QM standards, synchronous and Hyflex courses can now be certified. That means it’s only a matter of time before the college asks faculty to certify all courses with a Distance Learning component to them. Rather than require everyone to take intensive training and complete this on their own, the Distance Learning Committee has received approval for a gradual assisted effort. Over the course of 2 semesters, Scott Gibby will work through the 8 standards with instructors and help them with finding privacy policies, captioning multi-language videos, splitting long videos, checking links, and anything else that will make it easier for them to certify their course. He will be available for one-on-one consultations to answer questions, demonstrate how to do things, and help faculty align their course with the QM rubric. Early College High School • Fahim is teaching Dual Credit Arabic 1 at the Austin Peace Academy this fall. • We have added a couple more ECHS requests in Spanish for Fall 2023. • We have a new partnership in Dual Credit with Harmony School Endeavor. Our new Adjunct in Spanish, Professor Pons Ventura is teaching this section. • The enrollment is healthy in all of the ECHS and Dual Credit sections. • We hear that St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School might be interested in French for next year. This is based on an inquiry and request to review a résumé that Jason Sanchez passed along. Eligibility List Nothing new to report. Faculty Evaluation The current evaluation system will be discontinued and a new system is set to be launched in the Fall of 2024. In preparation, for the new system, the WOLA Department will be forming a dedicated committee of full-time and adjunct faculty. The primary objective of the committee will be to develop rubrics that align with the standards set by the college, and to create any other vital evaluation documents. The participation of both full-time and adjunct faculty is essential if we aim to create a more equitable and fair evaluation system. We will follow the current evaluation process using BOX this year, and the new evaluation process with go into effect for 2024-2025. g. Faculty Interview Several new instructors were interviewed and hired. Please see the report for the New Faculty Committee. We anticipate posting a FT Spanish position this Fall 2023 with a strong preference for applicants who also hold 18 additional graduate hours in one of the languages we offer. The FT position anticipated start date would be August of 2024. . Faculty Problems Nothing to report to the faculty at large. Foreign Language Honor Society Last semester, we added 2 new full members, and 1 new associate member. Applications will be due October 16 this semester. Interested students can contact Julie Kleinhans Hooks at jkleinha@austincc.edu. New Faculty Committee We would like to welcome the following six new Adjunct Faculty members that have joined us since Spring 2023, and one new (50%) Full-Time Faculty member. Italian Rose Joynt Vanessa Fanelli Spanish Jesús Alberto Amaya George Solano Marcel Pons Ventura Ramiro Juárez Full-Time Japanese Yuko Kato Outreach Nothing new to report. Professional Development Summer Software Days were held this year on July 27th and 28th, and a number of workshops of general interest to all faculty were included. Please remember that we are all required to complete four mandatory trainings. One of them, Cybersecurity Awareness Training, must be completed every year. The other three, Groundswell (Discrimination & Harassment), Meridians (Title IX & Sexual Misconduct Training), and Tapestry (ADA Awareness), must be completed every two years. Unfortunately, Workday does not show us when we are due to complete those three trainings. They say that we need to keep track of it ourselves. According to the Professional Development Office, though, if you are not due to complete a specific training, clicking on the link to open it will not work. It will only open if it's your time to do that training. In Workday, the Department Chair has a link to a special page that shows the training completion information for each faculty member, including the date, so it will be easy for the Evaluation Committee to access this information. If you have ideas or suggestions for additional workshops, please let the Professional Development Committee know.

Item # 8:	Faculty: Evaluation, Interview, Problem
Presenter	Mariela-Prato Williams
Discussion	Interview Several new instructors were interviewed and hired. Please see the report for the New Faculty Committee. We anticipate posting a FT Spanish position this Fall 2023 with a strong preference for applicants who also hold 18 additional graduate hours in one of the languages we offer. The FT position anticipated start date would be August of 2024. Faculty Problems Nothing to report to the faculty at large. Foreign Language Honor Society Last semester, we added 2 new full members, and 1 new associate member. Applications will be due October 16 this semester. Interested students can contact Julie Kleinhans Hooks at jkleinha@austincc.edu. New Faculty Committee We would like to welcome the following six new Adjunct Faculty members that have joined us since Spring 2023, and one new (50%) Full-Time Faculty member. Italian Rose Joynt Vanessa Fanelli Spanish Jesús Alberto Amaya George Solano Marcel Pons Ventura Ramiro Juárez Full-Time Japanese Yuko Kato Outreach Nothing new to report. Professional Development Summer Software Days were held this year on July 27th and 28th, and a number of workshops of general interest to all faculty were included. Please remember that we are all required to complete four mandatory trainings. One of them, Cybersecurity Awareness Training, must be completed every year. The other three, Groundswell (Discrimination & Harassment), Meridians (Title IX & Sexual Misconduct Training), and Tapestry (ADA Awareness), must be completed every two years. Unfortunately, Workday does not show us when we are due to complete those three trainings. They say that we need to keep track of it ourselves. According to the Professional Development Office, though, if you are not due to complete a specific training, clicking on the link to open it will not work. It will only open if it's your time to do that training. In Workday, the Department Chair has a link to a special page that shows the training completion information for each faculty member, including the date, so it will be easy for the Evaluation Committee to access this information. If you have ideas or suggestions for additional workshops, please let the Professional Development Committee know.

Item # 9:	Scheduling
Presenter	Mariela -Prato Williams
Discussion	Scheduling Below is a summary of Fall 2023 Sections Summary by Language 1) We added an additional section of Korean I based on the need seen on the two waiting lists. 2) Every single section of Arabic, Chinese, German, Latin, and Russian made! No cancellations. Yay! 3) One section was cancelled in Italian and Japanese (mostly because Theresa graciously agreed to teach an additional Korean section). 4) Three sections were cancelled in French, with a total of nine sections being offered. 5) Spanish offered approximately 80 sections. Fifteen were cancelled over the summer, approximately 18 % of total offerings. This number will vary since we have already added one SPAN 1411 at HLC in the 12-week, and we anticipate adding a few ONL sections bringing the overall percentage down. Three of the sections were due to Dual Credit/ECHS last minute decisions, five sections were DLS, four sections were LEC, and three sections were ONL. The preceding breakdown for Spanish suggests that the most popular option for the majority of our traditional students continues to be ONL followed by some type of campus mix (HYC/HYD/FLX). The bulk of Spanish campus sections (LEC) for Fall 2023 continues to be our Dual Credit/ECHS sections, not considered traditional students. DLS seems to be waning in popularity with Spanish students. The numbers also seem to indicate that we have many students who enroll after the semester starts, thus we need to add more 12 week and 8B sections. We need to continue to make strategic use of the Waiting Lists for Spanish. We are waiting for updates on the Spring 2024 rollover schedule to ensure that the sequence is being maintained from the fall to spring terms. Our department will continue to offer the following class formats: DLS, HYC/HYD, FLX, LEC, and ONL. DLS - Distance Learning Synchronous HYC/HYD - Hybrid Classroom and Hybrid Distance FLX - Hyflex Classroom LEC - Lecture classes that typically meet twice a week ONL - Online sections without any required virtual meetings

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