Committee Meetings and Minutes

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Foreign Languages Task Force

Meeting Minutes

Current Status of Minutes: Final
Date	April 15, 2011
Time	1:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Location	HBC, Rm # 222

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

Item # 0:	Attendees
Presenter
Discussion	Scott Gibby, Christa Montoya, John Golden, Joe Boone, Julie Kleinhans-Urrutia, Vanessa Lazo-Wilson, John McMinn, Yuko Kato, Marco Hanson, Chiseko Cotton, Gladys Anderson, Becky Jaimes, Todd Phillips, Mariela Prato-Williams, Joe Liro, Anna Pyeatt, Marc Pr�vost, Theresa Oh, Patricia Fernos, Elsa Taylor, Jan Emberson, Tim Altanero, Margaret Dunaway, Talia Loaiza, Terry Gormley, Stuart Smith, Rosa D�vila, Cathy Angell

Item # 1:	Approval of minutes
Presenter	Cathy Angell
Discussion	Cathy Angell presented the minutes from the preceding meeting.

Item # 2:	Announcements. a) New FOLA Administrative Assistant
Presenter	Cathy Angell
Discussion	Cathy Angell announced that Grisel Castrejón would begin working as the new Administrative Assistant for the Foreign Languages Department on April 18.

Item # 2:	Announcements. b) New A&H Administrative Assistant
Presenter	Cathy Angell
Discussion	Cathy Angell announced that Polly Monear is the new Administrative Assistant in the Dean's Office.

Item # 2:	Announcements. c) Time changes for classes in the fall
Presenter	Cathy Angell
Discussion	Cathy Angell reported that times have changed for some classes in the fall. These schedule changes are due to the need to add five minutes to certain sections. Due to tight scheduling at NRG, Japanese III has been moved to RGC.

Item # 2:	Announcements. d) Information from the Department Head
Presenter	Cathy Angell
Discussion	Cathy Angell summarized information from the Department Head meeting concerning budget reductions and funding of courses. Due to state budget cuts, new classes that are added are funded only through tuition. To break even, these classes will need twenty-five students, so the college will be trying to increase the average class size. Each department is asked to work towards a 95% fill rate for each of its courses each semester. The college is looking at the ways to deal with the budget cuts: 1) Increase the number of students required for a class to make to 18 or 70%, starting this summer. 2) Perhaps increase class limits. Faculty expressed concerns about the possibility of losing intermediate courses of the lesser-taught languages, which would not allow students to fulfill degree requirements in those languages. Faculty also pointed out that higher limits will be problematic in classrooms that are already overcrowded, and they reported that some crowded classrooms are encumbered with unnecessary equipment stored in them.

Item # 3:	Faculty Coach Report
Presenter	Julie-Kleinhans-Urrutia
Discussion	Julie-Kleinhans-Urrutia announced that the data used in studies by the Faculty Coach must come from the Office of Instructional Effectiveness, however they have not been able to provide any of the eleven types of data requested. As her new project, she will follow six students through the semester. Julie also reported on the sample placement test given to new Spanish 1511 students. Only 4% of the students passed it. Scott Gibby mentioned that another department was looking at software to create a placement test, but it was too expensive for just one department. He suggested that the Foreign Languages Department might be able to partner with them. Julie also summarized the information sheets completed by the students. Students are of diverse ages and backgrounds. Students finishing Spanish 1511 saud they wished they had known how much time the course took and how fast the pace was before they started. They also wished they previewed the vocabulary before beginning. Finally, Julie reported that the Learning Labs had 1213 visits for Spanish 1511 and 1166 visits for Spanish 1512.

Item # 4:	Spanish Textbooks
Presenter
Discussion	This discussion was postponed until the Spanish Faculty's meeting after the Departmental Meeting.

Item # 5:	Overview of International Programs
Presenter	Stephanie Amundson
Discussion	Stephanie Amundson reported on ACC's study abroad programs, which are offered across various disciplines each year. In the future, they plan to create programs that will be offered over periods of three years, so that students can plan ahead. Faculty have until the end of July to submit proposals for the 2012-2014 cycle. She expects up to fourteen programs to be approved. The Department of International Programs has contacts to help find schools or organizations abroad that can work with you. The minimum number of students for a program to make is ten. She pointed out that it is helpful if students can receive six hours of credit, since that makes them eligible to obtain financial aid for the program.

Item # 6:	Committee Reports a) Textbooks
Presenter	Becky Jaimes
Discussion	Becky Jaimes reported that French 1511 and 2311 will be using the new edition of Horizons and Imaginez in the fall. These books will be used in French 1512 and 2312 in the spring. Arabic will use the 3rd edition of Alif Baa and Al-Kitaab in the fall.

Item # 6:	b) Technology
Presenter	Scott Gibby
Discussion	Scott Gibby said he would like to add Distance Learning courses for Spanish 2311 and 2312. He also reported that they had created an evaluation tool for Distance Learning courses based on the template approved by the department.

Item # 6:	c) Student Success
Presenter	Cathy Angell
Discussion	Cathy Angell pointed out that the Foreign Languages Department is already doing the things suggested by the Student Sucess Initiative Office. She suggested that the department implement some of the ideas included in the course redesign proposal from several years ago.

Item # 6:	d) Special Events
Presenter	Theresa Oh
Discussion	Theresa Oh described the Foreign Language Variety Show at Carnival Ah! The show included fifteen acts in a variety of languages. She also reported that eight restaurants helped with the International Finger Foods fundraiser for relief from the earthquake in Japan, which raised $1114.35.

Item # 6:	k) Faculty Evaluation
Presenter	Mariela Prato-Williams
Discussion	Mariela Prato-Williams reported that evaluation summaries had been distributed to Adjunct Faculty.

Item # 6:	l) Eligibility List
Presenter
Discussion	Nothing was reported.

Item # 6:	m) Curriculum
Presenter	John McMinn
Discussion	John McMinn informed the department that the College-Wide Curriculum Committee had approved our request to give students the option of substituting ENGL 2311 Technical and Business Writing for ENGL 1302 Composition II in the Foreign Languages Degree plan, with the addition of a footnote that students transferring to four-year universities should take ENGL 1302.

Item # 6:	n) Assessment
Presenter	Julie-Kleinhans-Urrutia
Discussion	Julie-Kleinhans-Urrutia reported the results of the assessment of listening comprehension for 1512 level courses in the fall. The following percentages of students passed with 80% or better: Spanish (83.3%), German (73.3%), French (94.4%), Japanese (83.3%).

Item # 6:	j) Adjunct Faculty Interview
Presenter	Marc Prevost
Discussion	Marc Prevost reported that there were two interviews for adjunct faculty in German.

Item # 6:	e) Spanish for Native Speakers
Presenter	Rosa Davila
Discussion	Rosa Davila shared the course descriptions of intermediate level Spanish courses for native speakers from around the state. She gave a proposed course description for ACC's courses, and said she would be asking for input by e-mail. She suggested that the department create a challenge exam for native speakers to give credit for Spanish1511 and 1512. Students in the first intermediate level course for native speakers would take this exam at the beginning of the semester. It was questioned whether one exam could give credit for both Spanish 1511 and 1512, or whether two separate exams would be required.

Item # 6:	f) Scheduling
Presenter
Discussion	See the information about scheduling above under the announcements.

Item # 6:	g) Professional Development
Presenter	Stuart Smith
Discussion	Stuart Smith reported that John Golden gave a workshop called ''Ferocious Alphabets''. She also reminded faculty that Sharon Forester would be giving a workshop on the new edition of Punto y aparte on April 29. Patricia Fernos shared that Mary Gilmer had given an excellent workshop on supplemental instruction.

Item # 6:	h) New Faculty
Presenter
Discussion	Nothing new was reported.

Item # 6:	i) Foreign Languages Honor Society
Presenter	Julie-Kleinhans-Urrutia
Discussion	Julie-Kleinhans-Urrutia announced that there are six new full members in French and one in German, as well as twenty-two new associate members in Spanish, two in Latin and one in French.

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