Committee Meetings and Minutes

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Foreign Languages Task Force

Meeting Minutes

Current Status of Minutes: Final
Date	October 7, 2016
Time	12:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Location	HLC1-2102

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

Item # 1:	Approval of Minutes
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo presented the minutes from the April 8, 2016, meeting. ACTION TAKEN: The minutes were approved with no changes.

Item # 2:	Review Members of Committees
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo presented the list of committees from the previous year. Names of members who had not confirmed that they wish to continue participating on committees were listed in parentheses. John Golden volunteered to contact them to inquire if they wish to remain on the committees. ACTION TAKEN: The Spanish for Spanish Speakers Committee was combined with the Native Speakers Committee with Rosa Dávila and Talía Loaiza serving as co-chairs. Todd Philipps asked to join that committee. As Department Head, Vanessa Lazo will replace Cathy Angell as the chair of the ECHS, Faculty Problems and the Scheduling Committees. It was decided that Vanessa Lazo and Cathy Angell would serve as co-chairs of the Eligibility List/MTSA/HPH Committee. Cathy Angell offered to chair the Professional Development Committee this year while Stuart Smith is on sabbatical. Mariela Prato-Williams volunteered to make sure new textbook audio is copied at Cypress Campus for distribution to appropriate campuses while Stuart is out. Joe Liro joined the Outreach Committee. Garrett Oleen joined the Technology Committee. Tim Altanero and Rosa Dávila were added to the Textbook Committee. Bernadeta Kaminska asked to be removed from the Assessment and Textbook Inventory Committees. Anna Pyeatt was removed from the Curriculum, Scheduling, and Study Abroad Committees since she is no longer employed at ACC.

Item # 3:	Announcements: (a) Renovations at Rio Grande Campus
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo announced that when Rio Grande closes for renovation at the end of spring 2017, most foreign language classes from Rio Grande will move to Highland Campus but some may move to South Austin Campus. Bernadeta Kaminska asked whether faculty will have access to the portable with faculty filing cabinets during the renovation. Vanessa Lazo said she would have to find out. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 3:	(b) Ten Areas of Study
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo reported that the Foreign Language Department will probably move to Communications with ESOL and Speech. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 3:	(c) Open Educational Resources (OER)
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo shared information from a meeting about using Open Educational Resources that she attended. OER are free materials available online for instruction. Some of the foreign language departments at the University of Texas are using these resources for instruction. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 3:	(d) Program Review Report
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo reported that the Foreign Language Department had received an extension to complete the Program Review. It is now due on March 3, 2017. Marc Prévost said that much of the research had been done. ACTION TAKEN: It was decided to assign each full-time faculty member different sections to complete.

Item # 3:	(e) Going Digital Workshop
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo announced that the RGC Instructional Design Specialist Kathleen Serra had offered to give a workshop on using Google Applications on either November 11 or November 18. ACTION TAKEN: It was decided to have the workshop on November 11.

Item # 3:	(f) Campus Carry
Presenter	Joe Liro
Discussion	Joe Liro inquired whether faculty will receive guidelines on dealing with campus carry and whether instructors may ask students if they are carrying weapons. He also asked if there will be statements about the guidelines that faculty can put on syllabi. Garrett Oleen volunteered to find out more information about guidelines. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 4:	Endangered Sections and Bumping
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	In order to insure smooth staffing changes due to canceled classes, Vanessa Lazo requested that faculty follow new guidelines. Faculty who can bump other instructors should inform her, Becky Jaimes, or Maricela Thormahlen what their plan B is if they have sections with enrollments of less than ten students two weeks before the semester begins. Also, Faculty should make sure their contact information is up to date. On the Friday after the canceled class session, affected faculty will be contacted by phone and/or email, and they should respond within two hours. The department office will try to have all classes reassigned by 3 p.m. on the Friday before classes begin. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 5:	E-Staffing
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo reminded Adjunct Faculty to watch for deadlines to accept or decline class assignments. Since Early College High School and Honors classes are not labeled as such in e-staffing, Spanish Faculty should also check the online schedule for those sections when making their selections. She also pointed out that Honors sections are always numbered in the 700s. Faculty should indicate “No Early College High School Sections” if they do not want those courses. They should also indicate several alternative preference choices. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 6:	Committee Reports (a) Submission of Committee Reports
Presenter	John McMinn-Reyna
Discussion	John McMinn-Reyna proposed that for future departmental meetings, Committee Chairs send him their reports by email two weeks before meetings. He will put them together and send them to all Foreign Language Faculty for review one week before meetings. This will allow faculty members who cannot attend departmental meetings to see the reports. Faculty will discuss the reports as needed at meetings and vote to add them to the minutes. Committee Chairs with questions that need deeper discussion will have the Department Chair add them to the agenda as separate items. ACTION TAKEN: The new system of presenting committee reports was approved.

Item # 6:	(n) Technology
Presenter
Discussion	Nothing reported. ACTION TAKEN: None.

Item # 6:	(o) Special Events
Presenter	Mariela Prato-Williams
Discussion	Mariela Prato-Williams shared that the Chorale de Noël would be December 4 at NRG. ACTION TAKEN: None.

Item # 6:	(p) Professional Development Committee
Presenter
Discussion	Cathy Angell accepted to take over this year while Stuart Smith is on sabbatical. ACTION TAKEN: None.

Item # 6:	(q) Adjunct Faculty Interview
Presenter	Cathy Angell
Discussion	Marc Prévost reported that a new adjunct faculty member, Serge Lainé, taught French 2312 during the summer. ACTION TAKEN: None.

Item # 6:	(r) Student Success Committee
Presenter
Discussion	Nothing new to report. It was suggested to combine this committee with the Outreach Committee. ACTION TAKEN: It was approved to combine the Student Success Committee with the Outreach Committee.

Item # 6:	(s) New Faculty
Presenter	Todd Phillips
Discussion	Todd Phillips reported that Serge Lainé was the only new faculty member hired.

Item # 6:	(h) Adjunct Faculty Evaluation
Presenter	Mariela Prato-Williams and Talía Loaiza
Discussion	Mariela Prato-Williams announced that in the future, faculty will be able to submit portfolios using the Google Docs Application. Talia Loaiza said that faculty required to submit portfolios this fall would be informed the next week. Maricela Thormahlen told faculty that old portfolios that had not been picked up would be recycled. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 6:	(i) Curriculum Committee
Presenter	John McMinn-Reyna
Discussion	John McMinn-Reyna reported that Bernadeta Kaminska will update the German 2311 master and sample syllabi for the new edition of the textbook, and Ewa Siwak will update them for German 2312. Joe Liro agreed to update them for Russian 2312, and Talía Loaiza said she would update them for the Native Speakers Course. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 6:	(j) Spanish for Spanish Speakers
Presenter	Rosa Dávila
Discussion	Rosa Dávila reported that the Spanish for Spanish Speakers course made with ten students this semester. ACTION TAKEN: None.

Item # 6:	(k) Eligibility List
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo asked the department to establish a policy to address faculty with MSTA assignments who retire, then decide to return to teach at ACC. The following policy wording was suggested: If you retire from Austin Community College, then you lose your MSTA status. If you come back to teach, you may reapply. ACTION TAKEN: The new policy statement was approved

Item # 6:	(l) Outreach Committee
Presenter	Rosa Dávila and Jan Emberson
Discussion	Rosa Dávila asked faculty to share ideas. Jan Emberson pointed out that Matthew Daude is very good about acting on ideas. She shared that the Director of Service Learning, Lillian Huerta, helped her meet with medical organizations to get information for the Spanish course for medical careers. Joe Liro mentioned that ACC is working with other universities and international baccalaureate programs to offer our language courses to their students. ACC is offering Russian at San Marcos to accommodate students at Texas State. ACTION TAKEN: None.

Item # 6:	(m) Scheduling
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo reported that they are looking at moving classes and sequencing them. She also announced that classes are expected to be scheduled at the Goodnight Center for Fall 2017. Becky Jaimes said that full-time faculty would be asked for their summer class selections by the end of the month. ACTION TAKEN: None.

Item # 6:	(b) Assessment Committee
Presenter	Julie Klenhans-Urrutía
Discussion	Julie Kleinhans-Urrutía announced that the SACS Assessments for the Fall 2016 semester will test reading comprehension for 2311 courses in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. General Education Assessments for the Fall 2016 semester will include Civic and Cultural Awareness and Interpersonal Skills for Spanish 1412. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 6:	(c) Foreign Language Honor Society
Presenter	Julie Klenhans-Urrutía
Discussion	Julie Kleinhans-Urrutía reminded faculty that Honor Society applications are due by October 21st. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 6:	(d) Study Abroad
Presenter	Todd Phillips
Discussion	Todd Phillips reported that last summer 12 students participated in the Costa Rica Study Abroad Program with him and 12 went to Spain with Jan Emberson. There are currently two applicants for the program in Spain next summer. He also reminded faculty that $2,000 scholarships are available, and he said that his students generally received scholarships. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 6:	(e) Textbook Inventory
Presenter	Becky Jaimes
Discussion	Becky Jaimes reported the following textbook changes for Spring 2017: 1) Chinese 1412 will use Integrated Chinese, 3rd edition, Level 1/Part II; 2) German 2312 will use Kaleidoskop, 9th edition, with the same textbook package as for the 12 week German 2311 course in the Fall Semester 2016; 3) Spanish 2315 will use ¡Conozcámonos!, ISBN 9781428294929; 4) Russian 2312 will use V. Puti: Russian Grammar in Context (Pearson) Textbook, ISBN 9780130282804, SAM ISBN 9780131917606, Audio CD’s ISBN 9780131879911. She also reminded faculty that textbooks for summer are ordered March 1st, textbooks for fall are ordered on April 1st, and those for spring are ordered on October 1st. Any textbook changes must be made prior to those dates. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 6:	(f) Textbook Audio
Presenter
Discussion	Nothing reported. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 6:	(g) Early College High School (ECHS)
Presenter
Discussion	Nothing reported during committee reports. It will be discussed in more detail in Item 7. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 7:	Early College High School (ECHS)
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo reminded adjunct faculty that they should uncheck the Early College High School box in e-staffing if they do not wish to teach those classes. She also asked whether there should be special criteria to determine who can teach the Native Speakers Courses. Talía Loaiza stressed that the curriculum expectations must be maintained. She also pointed out that ACC faculty report to the ACC administrators and not to those at the high schools. Todd Phillips mentioned that some of the students in the Riverside class were not prepared for college courses. He also said that some traditional ACC students felt uneasy in classes mixed with ECHS students since the high school students seemed to already be friends. Rosa Dávila asked if the number of ECHS students per section could be limited, but Talía Loaiza pointed out that it would be difficult due to scheduling since they are brought together from the high schools. ACTION TAKEN: It was decided that any faculty member who is qualified to teach a course at ACC is also qualified to teach ECHS classes including the Native Speakers courses.

Item # 8:	Challenge Exams
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	Vanessa Lazo proposed removing the restriction that states a student cannot take a challenge exam during the first and last two weeks of the semester. This would allow students to determine whether or not they are enrolled in the appropriate level at the start of the semester. John McMinn-Reyna asked if there was a restriction at Testing Centers during the last two weeks due to crowded conditions at the end of semesters. ACTION TAKEN: It was approved to remove the restriction that prevents students from taking challenge exams during the first two weeks provided there is not a college-wide policy specifically stating this restriction. It was decided to keep the restriction that prevents students from testing the last two weeks of the semester.

Item # 9:	Upcoming Events
Presenter	Vanessa Lazo
Discussion	In addition to the “La Chorale de Noel”, Vanessa Lazo announced that there will be a display of Soviet Cold War Memorabilia March 6-10 at the Kramer Gallery at the Rio Grande Campus. She also suggested having a foreign film night. Michael Hydak mentioned that there is a grant from the Spanish government to show movies. He also mentioned that there was going to be a lecture at the Riverside Campus on life on the border. ACTION TAKEN: None

Item # 23:	Vanessa Lazo, Becky Jaimes, Catherine Angell, Jan Emberson, John McMinn-Reyna, Julie Kleinhans, Mariela Prato-Williams, Theresa Oh, Rosa A. Davila, Stuart Smith, Thimoty Altanero, Talian Loaiza, Todd Phillips, Bernadeta Kaminska, Elsa Taylor, Joseph
Presenter	In Attendance from 12:30 to 3:00 pm
Discussion	Julie Kleinhans-Urrutía, Talía Loaiza, Todd Phillips, Vanessa Lazo, Mariela Prato-Williams, Becky Jaimes, Rosa Dávila, John McMinn-Reyna, , Marc Prévost, Theresa Oh, Jan Emberson, Joe Liro, Bernadeta Kaminska, Stephen Johnson, Ewa Siwak, Cathy Angell, John Golden, Maricela Thormahlen, Michael Hydak, and Garrett Oleen.

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