Committee Meetings and Minutes

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Foreign Languages Task Force

Meeting Minutes

Current Status of Minutes: Final
Date	October 25, 2013
Time	1:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Location	HBC 214

Members Present
No member attendance has been recorded.
Guests Present
Matthew Daude Laurents, Interim Dean, Arts & Humanities

Item # 0:	Attendees
Presenter	In Attendance from 1:30 to 5:00 pm
Discussion	John Golden, Theresa Oh, Mariela Prato-Williams, Vanessa Lazo-Wilson, Bernadeta Kaminska, Rosa D�vila, Joe Liro, Marc Pr�vost, John McMinn, Stuart Smith, Becky Jaimes, Julie Kleinhans-Urrutia, Richard Ezell, Jan Emberson, Jeff Evatt, Scott Gibby, Tim Altanero, Cathy Angell, Karolina Aznar-Lantermann, Anna Pyeatt. Guest: Matthew Daude Laurents, Acting Dean, Arts and Humanities.

Item # 1:	Approval of Minutes
Presenter	Cathy Angell
Discussion	Cathy Angell presented the minutes from the March 22, 2013, meeting for approval. ACTION TAKEN: The minutes were approved with the corrections that the course title ''Spanish for Native Speakers'' should be ''Spanish for Spanish Speakers''. Also that Stuart Smith and Marc Pr�vost should be added to the list of attendees.

Item # 2:	Announcements: (a) Highland Mall Update
Presenter	Cathy Angell
Discussion	Cathy Angell announced that the bond election for the renovation of Highland Mall had been postponed, but 200-250 sections for freshmen level courses, including 30-40 from Arts and Humanities, would be moved there for next fall. They will mainly be moved from NRG and RGC. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 2:	(b) Student Use of the Learning Labs
Presenter	Cathy Angell
Discussion	Cathy Angell reported on behalf of Patricia Fernós, that fewer students from our department are using the learning labs. John McMinn pointed out that at NRG, the French tutor is mainly available while the majority of the French students are attending their French class instead of before or after it. John Golden and Theresa Oh pointed out that more students attend before their classes than after them. The German instructors said they needed more tutors for German at RGC. Marc Pr�vost said he had recommended a tutor for French at RGC, but she was never contacted. Cathy Angell pointed out that different campuses have different budgets for the Learning Labs. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 2:	(c) Learning Outcomes on the ACGM (Academic Course Guide Manual)
Presenter	Cathy Angell
Discussion	Cathy Angell reported on behalf of Sue Pardue that the Learning Outcomes on the ACGM could affect the transferability between schools with different curriculum breakdowns. Ms. Angell read some of the ACGM guidelines, which generally refer to ''level-appropriate'' skills and are open to different interpretations. Since they are being revised, our courses may have to be adapted to match new guidelines in the future. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 3:	A Proposal to create and maintain a departmental newsletter
Presenter	Tim Altanero
Discussion	Tim Altanero proposed creating a departmental newsletter in order to know what colleagues are doing. Matthew Daude said that the division Facebook page is receiving numerous hits per day. He also said the division office would provide technological support if the department provided the content for a newsletter. ACTION TAKEN: Cathy Angell asked Tim Altanero to be in charge of organizing the newsletter.

Item # 4:	A Request that all faculty attending professional meetings alert the faculty via the listserv
Presenter	Tim Altanero
Discussion	Tim Altanero said it would be good to know when colleagues are attending conferences, pointing out that faculty may be at the same conference without knowing it. He requested that everyone share their plans via the listserv, and he pointed out that a departmental newsletter would be another way to communicate such information. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 5:	Vistas Textbook Package Decision
Presenter	Jan Emberson
Discussion	Jan Emberson reported that there had been a request to add the Vtext to the Vistas ancillary package for spanish classes, and that she had calculated that it would increase the cost by about $36. For distance learning courses it would be cheaper to just get the ancillary package with the Vtext. Tim Altanero added that the Vtext offers students diagnostic testing not available otherwise. Richard Ezell pointed out that some students already cannot afford the package. Jett Evatt suggested adding a note to the course schedule that students should not buy books before contacting instructors. Mariela Prato-Williams suggested waiting to survey all faculty before making a decision. ACTION TAKEN: It was approved to add the Vtext to the Vistas ancillary package starting in the summer.

Item # 6:	Early College High School (ECHS)
Presenter	Cathy Angell, Matthew Daude Laurents, and Rosa D�vila
Discussion	Cathy Angell described Early College High Schools and faculty discussed problems with foreign language courses at those schools. At such schools, students may start taking classes with college-level curriculum in the ninth grade allowing them to receive a distinguished diploma. In foreign language courses, they receive three years of high school credit for three semesters of ECHS courses. Reagan and LBJ high schools have been designated as ECHS in the Austin area. Jeff Evatt discussed concerns about the ECHS courses he has been teaching. He reported that it was initially difficult since 19 of 29 students were native speakers who were bored because they already knew the material. He stressed that this was especially problematic with the maturity level of 15 year old students. In his class, the problem with native speakers was resolved by giving them credit using the CLEP exam. Faculty expressed doubts about the ability of ninth and tenth grade students to do college-level work at the required pace. Matthew Daude described experiences with such courses in the Philosophy Department and suggested that the department do a longitudinal study comparing ECHS students to those in traditional ACC classes. He said the division office could help with data collection and reporting of results of a standardized exit exam. Jeff Evatt pointed out that with only 10 ECHS students, the sample size will be very small. Matthew Daude affirmed that the college will continue to schedule ECHS courses, but the department should determine which ones are best to offer. For example, it might focus on Spanish for Spanish Speakers courses. There was also a discussion of the problem staffing these courses. Tim Altanero mentioned that there may be a conflict of interest to hire instructors from those schools since they may be reluctant to fail students who cannot do college-level work. Jeff Evatt also noted that there should be different evaluation mechanism for those instructors since questions on the ACC faculty evaluation about matters such as maintaining office hours are not appropriate. Rosa D�vila reported that the same concerns arose at the TCCTA conference meeting on ECHS, and that there is a blog about them. She suggested that the department look for information and models from other schools. ACTION TAKEN: It was decided to form a committee to make recommendations about ECHS.

Item # 7:	Committee Members Updates and Assignments
Presenter	Cathy Angell
Discussion	Cathy Angell asked committee chairs to see if they would continue to serve and she requested that they contact members from last year's committees to see if they are still willing to serve. ACTION TAKEN: All committee chairs remained the same. The French Tutor Qualification Committee was removed and a new Early College High School Committee was added. Cathy Angell will chair it.

Item # 8:	Committee Reports (a) Study Abroad
Presenter	Jan Emberson and Todd Phillips
Discussion	Jan Emberson shared information about the study abroad programs for this summer and described the foreign movie week that was organized to promote them. For this summer, study abroad programs are planned for Japan (led by Yuko Kato), Spain (led by Anna Pyeatt), Argentina (led by Jan Emberson), Costa Rica (led by Todd Phillips), and Jordan (led by Fahim Idais). There will also be a study abroad program in M�xico through the Anthropology Department. There are $5000 in scholarships available for these programs. Cathy Angell said she would like to develop a scholarship from the Foreign Languages Department. Anna Pyeatt suggested selling t-shirts to raise money. Jan Emberson also reported that the International Programs Department hosts an international scholar. This year it is hosting a woman from Iran. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 8:	(b) Special Events
Presenter	Theresa Oh and Mariela Prato-Williams
Discussion	Nothing new was reported. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 8:	(o) Scheduling
Presenter	Cathy Angell
Discussion	Cathy Angell reminded faculty that some sections of Foreign Languages will be moved from RGC and NRG to Highland Mall.

Item # 8:	(p) New Faculty
Presenter	Todd Phillips
Discussion	Nothing new reported. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 8:	(i) Spanish for Spanish Speakers
Presenter	Rosa D�vila
Discussion	Rosa D�vila reported that the Assessment Committee had approved the Challenge Exams for 1511 and 1512 Spanish for Spanish Speakers courses. The self- assessment is also ready. The Spanish for Spanish Speakers courses will be marketed starting in the spring. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 8:	(j) Professional Development
Presenter	Stuart Smith
Discussion	Stuart Smith reminded everyone that Ewa Siwak would conduct the workshop ''Developing Proficiency from Level I'' 2-4 p.m. on November 15 at RGC. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 8:	(k) Adjunct Faculty Interview
Presenter	Marc Pr�vost
Discussion	Nothing new reported. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 8:	(l) Textbook Inventory
Presenter	Becky Jaimes
Discussion	Becky Jaimes listed textbook changes. French III & IV will have a new bundle of the current textbook. Arabic IV will use the 3rd edition of the current textbook, and Spanish will add the Vtext of Vistas to the ancillary bundle. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 8:	(m) Textbook Audio
Presenter	Stuart Smith
Discussion	Nothing new reported. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 8:	(n) Student Success
Presenter	Cathy Angell
Discussion	Nothing new reported other than the formation of a committee to study Early College High School classes as reported in section VI of these minutes. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 8:	(c) Foreign Language Honor Society
Presenter	Julie Kleinhans-Urrutia
Discussion	Julie Keinhans-Urrutia announced that the Honor Society would accept applications until November 1st, and she reminded faculty that students may become members for one semester after receiving an A in their first course and lifetime members after receiving an A in two courses. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 8:	(d) Faculty Evaluation
Presenter	Tal�a Loaiza and Mariela Prato-Williams
Discussion	Mariela Prato-Williams reminded everyone that students will do faculty evaluations every semester, and that they should submit Faculty Input forms each time. She said that the Evaluation Committee would continue to meet each spring to do the faculty evaluation summaries for the previous year. Bernadeta Kaminska asked how multiple student evaluations will affect the MSTA appointments. That will be determined by the Evaluation Committee when they meet in the spring. Mariela Prato-Williams also told Spanish instructors submitting 3-year portfolios that they must include syllabi for both Vistas and Ap�ntate. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 8:	(e) Eligibility List
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo-Wilson and Karolina Aznar-Lantermann
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo-Wilson reported that 18 of 20 MSTA positions in Spanish, 2 of 2 MSTA positions in German, and 1 of 1 in Japanese had been filled. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 8:	(f) Curriculum
Presenter	John McMinn and Jan Emberson
Discussion	John McMinn reported that many departments had dropped the requirement of a computer science course from their degree requirements since students can prove their computer literacy through English Composition courses. There was a discussion of what might replace COSC 1301 in the Foreign Languages degree plan if the department dropped it from the requirements. ACTION TAKEN: It was decided that students with proven computer literacy may substitute a Western Civilization course (HIST 2311 or 2312) or a World Literature course (ENGL 2332 or 2333) for COSC 1301.

Item # 8:	(g) Technology
Presenter	Scott Gibby
Discussion	There was a discussion of how to determine when to offer more distance learning classes. Faculty discussed whether student preference should determine course format and how increasing offerings of distance learning classes could affect languages and campuses with small enrollments. Mariela Prato-Williams said this would be a way to offer courses such as SPAN 2311 to students at campuses with insufficient enrollment to support a face-to-face class. The need to increase enrollment in hybrid courses was also mentioned. ACTION TAKEN: The discussion was postponed until Scott Gibby could be present to provide more input.

Item # 8:	(h) Assessment
Presenter	Julie Kleinhans-Urrutia and Tim Altanero
Discussion	Julie Kleinhans-Urrutia informed the department that this fall the 1511 courses would test culture awareness, and 1512 courses would test interpersonal skills through classmate interviews as well as technology skills by retrieving and processing information. These are supporting the General Education Learning Outcomes. ACTION TAKEN: None

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