Information on Special Convention Day 2 – Thursday, August 19, 3:30 p.m.

Special Convention Day 2 – Thursday, August 19, 3:30 p.m.

Please plan to attend the second session of the 3-day convention tomorrow starting at 3:30 p.m. The agenda and information sheets in the previous blog posts contain all the links to the Zoom meetings each, but to ensure you find it easily, the link for Thursday’s session, it is provided again below.

Thursday’s session is specifically for voting on the Motions to Amend that were presented in Wednesday’s session. For a sample ballot so you know what to expect, you can view the PDF of a sample ballot here.

REMINDER: Thursday is ONLY considering motions to amend the qualified proposals (from blog post on August 3). You can use this link to compare the original versions to the amended versions as proposed in the sample ballot to decide which version should move forward to Friday’s vote.  The Instructions and Information sheet provides an explanation of what we are doing each day so you can keep track.

 

Resumption of the Convention - Thursday, August 19, 3:30 p.m.

• Virtually on Zoom at DCCFA August 18-20, 2021 Convention - Day TWO
• Full Invitation:

Tommy Thompson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: DCCFA August 18-20 Convention - Day TWO

Time: Aug 19, 2021 03:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/91644183080?pwd=Vm5hOThVVG5WdEtheGZjWEVMUm81dz09

 

Meeting ID: 916 4418 3080

Passcode: dccfa2021

One tap mobile

+13462487799,,91644183080#,,,,*505970770# US (Houston)

+12532158782,,91644183080#,,,,*505970770# US (Tacoma)

 

Dial by your location

        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

        +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)

        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

Meeting ID: 916 4418 3080

Passcode: 505970770

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/adcaGZ9HO1

 

Contact any of these individuals if you have any technical difficulty and they will try to help you:

·         Jennifer Siemantel (CVC) available Wednesday, Thursday and Friday by email JSiemantel@dcccd.edu

·         Andrew Tolle (EFC) available Wednesday, Thursday and Friday by email AndrewTolle@dcccd.edu

·         Natasha Stracener (MVC) available Wednesday, Thursday and Friday IN PERSON at MVC in H121 (may only be by email on Friday if campus is closed) or by email natashastracener@dccc.edu

Power Point Slides Presented by Michael Kim and Monica Narvaez on Academic Freedom Now Available

During the DCCFA Annual General Convention on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, DCCFA legal counsel Michael Kim and Monica Narvaez gave a presentation on academic freedom. The Power Point slides are now available in this linked folder of the Convention Planning Committee, on the DCCFA SharePoint site.

Minutes of the Convention will be posted when they are available.

Survey Available Feb. 1-15, 2018, for Faculty to Provide Input on Progress Reporting System to Take Effect Fall 2018

Dear Faculty,

Responding to a variety of concerns regarding both student success and completion, the DCCCD administration has charged our instructional leaders to create a consistent, district-wide systematic approach for all faculty to report on student progress in courses during each academic term, beginning in Fall 2018.  This effort at student progress reporting is intended to help students better understand their status in a given course early enough for students to take action to improve that status and for intrusive interventions to be provided, if needed, in order to improve retention and completion. Further background information on the evolution of this process is available at this January 18 post on the DCCFA Advance Blog.

Instructional leaders, including the academic vice presidents and the DCCFA faculty council, believe that it is crucial to gather faculty input, so as to guide the design of a student progress reporting system approach. At present, the plan is to use the eConnect interface for progress reporting.  Specific elements of the design will be determined later, taking into consideration feedback obtained from faculty in a variety of ways, beginning here.

We respect your academic freedom and the institutional responsibility to provide quality teaching and learning experiences for our students, so rest assured that:

• No aspect of this reporting system will expect, encourage or require you to change or adjust any aspect of your teaching, evaluation or assessment strategies,
• The design of this system will take into account our many and diverse types of courses, and
• A primary goal of this system is to provide effective reporting while not being a burdensome or time-consuming activity.

All faculty – full-time and adjunct faculty – are invested in student success and therefore are invited and encouraged to participate in this survey. The survey is being made available between Feb. 1 and Feb. 15, 2018. Please review this “Supplemental Information” document and then complete the survey at this link: https://goo.gl/forms/Sb6I9yDXWhndySoI2

DCCCD Considering New Student Progress Reporting System; Faculty Council Working to Ensure a Reasonable Timeline and Stakeholder Input on Policy and Procedure

Background:

At a meeting of The Instructional Leadership Team (TILT) on 9/18/17, the Faculty Council was presented with a draft of a revised Board policy on attendance as well as a proposal—developed by the Academic Vice Presidents and Associate Vice Chancellor Anna Mays, at the behest of Chancellor May—for a daily attendance tracking system, which was to be set up in eConnect and implemented for Fall 2018. The system would have required faculty to maintain and report daily attendance records for all classes. We were informed that this was created to address safety concerns, in the wake of incidents at El Centro and North Lake colleges, as well as to monitor student success.

The Faculty Council argued strenuously against this system, noting that it would not provide an accurate accounting of the number of people in a building, and thus not adequately address safety concerns, and that it would not be a useful means of gauging student progress or achievement. Given the increased attention to student persistence and completion (locally and nationally), the Faculty Council understands the desire and need for more periodic reporting on student success. The Council, therefore, suggested that a progress reporting system be considered; this would work better for tracking student success and would allow for intrusive advising if students fall behind in classes. Matt Henry and Matt Hinckley volunteered to serve on a subcommittee to explore the development of such a system.

A preliminary meeting was held at the LeCroy Center on 10/6/17 to discuss ideas. Subcommittee members at that point were: faculty members Matt Henry (RLC) and Matt Hinckley (EFC); Vice Presidents Audra Barrett (CVC) and Greg Morris (ECC); and Executive Dean Terri DiPaolo (LeCroy). This was, in effect, a brainstorming session in which the committee reviewed current policies on attendance and grading and discussed the potential uses of eConnect, the eCampus gradebook, and district software such as Starfish as potential reporting mechanisms. The highlights of this conversation were shared with member of the TILT group at its next meeting (on 10/16/17), at which the Faculty Council continued to press the point that concerns over safety must be decoupled from concerns about student success.

On 11/3/17, Associate Vice Chancellor Mays confirmed (via email) that these concerns would be separated and discussed by two distinct groups. The first group, led by Commissioner Lauretta Hill and legal counsel Tricia-Anne Horatio, would explore the possibility of an employee and student identification badge policy, involving appropriate college personnel. The second group, comprised of the preliminary subcommittee and staff from the District Office, would explore strategies for a progress and/or grade reporting policy, which would involve the recording of student performance at intervals during the term, in order to more frequently and consistently document and communicate to students about their academic participation, progress and success.

The next meeting of the Student Progress subcommittee took place on 11/21/17. In attendance were Anna Mays, Audra Barrett, Greg Morris, Matt Henry, Matt Hinckley, Becky Witherspoon, Jamie Templeton, Tricia Horatio, and Terry DiPaolo. This meeting focused primarily on discussing the merits of various reporting intervals (e.g., at midterm or more frequently) and the value of using letter grades, a pass/fail notification, or open-ended comments to report on student status. At a subsequent meeting, held on 12/13/17, the committee was presented with a draft of a new Board policy on progress reporting. At that point, members of the Faculty Council (Henry and Hinckley) noted that this was progressing a bit too fast, likely in deference to the target implementation date of Fall 2018. The Council members then requested that the committee pause to develop a clear rationale for the student progress reporting system to present to faculty, as well as to gather relevant data on the use and success of such systems at other institutions. Members of the committee were charged with doing this research.

Current Status:

On 1/16/18, the Student Progress subcommittee met at the District Office. Unfortunately, once again, the first agenda item was the draft of a new Board policy. Vice Chancellor Mays stressed that both Vice Chancellor Lonon and Chancellor May expect the new policy to be in effect for Fall 2018. Matt Henry and Matt Hinckley reiterated that this was all moving too fast, pointing out that the necessary research had not yet been done and that adequate time was needed to both inform faculty about these pending changes and to solicit feedback from them before further action was taken. This successfully moved the conversation moved away from policy document language and onto the overall timeline and interim steps to be taken during the spring semester.

On behalf of the Faculty Council, Matt Henry and Matt Hinckley will develop a survey instrument to send to faculty to solicit feedback on the Student Progress Reporting System plan. It will contain links to relevant research and include both open- and closed-ended questions. The Faculty Council expects to have this ready and available at the beginning of February.

At the next TILT meeting (scheduled for Monday, January 22), the Council will discuss with the Academic Vice Presidents a communication strategy for disseminating information to all impacted stakeholders and gathering input from faculty. Faculty who wish to know more should speak with their Faculty Association representative or their college Vice President. We will keep faculty informed of all developments on this issue as they occur.

Faculty Council Seeks Members to Serve on WORK GROUP DELTA to Discuss Performance Metrics

The Faculty Council is attempting to be proactive to develop contingency plans for a number of different scenarios that may (or may not) affect DCCCD faculty in the future.

One such concern is a sentiment, previously expressed among some DCCCD Board of Trustees members, that all DCCCD employees – including faculty – be evaluated and/or even compensated based on performance metrics. Indeed, this marks the first year in which Chancellor May and his direct reports will be evaluated based in part on performance metrics.

It is important to note that the Faculty Council has not been told that a performance metrics based evaluation or compensation system for faculty is imminent or planned. Nevertheless, in an environment where we increasingly are expected to be accountable to various local, state, and federal entities, it is imperative that we faculty be prepared for any eventuality.

The Faculty Council has grave doubts about the efficacy or equity of an evaluation or compensation system based on performance metrics. However, the Faculty Council also recognizes that the Board of Trustees at any time could direct the chancellor to implement faculty evaluation or compensation systems based on performance metrics. If so, in the spirit of shared governance, the Faculty Council believes that faculty should be trusted and empowered to identify and select appropriate performance metrics for evaluation and/or compensation, rather than abdicate that responsibility to non-instructional officers of the DCCCD, or outside consultants.

Therefore, the Faculty Council will convene an ad hoc committee, called WORK GROUP DELTA, to study the issue of performance metrics, and identify the kinds of indicators that conceivably could be among numerous options on a menu of performance metrics that would be appropriate for faculty evaluation or compensation.

El Centro College Faculty Association President Pam Crawford will serve as ex officio chair of this group. Each DCCCD college faculty association president is being charged to recommend a colleague from his/her college to serve on WORK GROUP DELTA.

WORK GROUP DELTA will meet and discuss concerns, and make recommendations, during the Spring 2018 semester. Any recommendations submitted to the Faculty Council from WORK GROUP DELTA will not be passed on to college or District leaders, or to DCCCD Board members, unless and until there is clear indication that performance metrics are recommended to become part of the evaluation or compensation system. In other words, the report that WORK GROUP DELTA prepares will be kept on file by the Faculty Council, in the hopes that it never will have to be proposed.

If you are interested in serving as your college faculty association’s representative on WORK GROUP DELTA, please contact your college’s faculty association president.

Additional Information on EQUIP/StraighterLine Experimental Project

DCCCD Associate Vice Chancellor of Educational Policy Anna Mays and Brookhaven College President Thom Chesney provided this information to the Sept. 19 meeting of the Chancellors Staff.

EDIT FROM TUESDAY, SEPT. 20: See this link from the U.S. Department of Education, and this story from the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Through the U.S. Department of Education’s Educational Quality through Innovative Partnerships (EQUIP) experiment, the Secretary of the Department of Education will provide a limited waiver of the financial aid requirements, under the Higher Education Act of 1965, that an ineligible institution or organization cannot provide 50 percent or more of a title IV-eligible educational program, and that an eligible program must be provided by a participating institution. For this experiment the Secretary will also waive, as needed, other requirements related to the minimum timeframes for eligible programs and the timeframe and method of calculating a student’s academic progress.

The last decade has seen the emergence of innovations in technology, pedagogy and business models both within and outside of the accredited higher education sector. By creating a pathway to financial aid for students desiring to access programs offered by “non-traditional” providers, goals such as increased equity and access, more flexible and personalized learning and the reduction of costs can be achieved.

The EQUIP Experimental Site Initiative was announced on 10/20/15 and DCCCD was invited to apply.  Dr. May, Dr. Figueroa and all DCCCD College Presidents agreed that the intent to apply be submitted to the Department of Education (12/15), with all College Presidents notifying SACSCOC of the intent to apply (3/16), and the final application was submitted in April, 2016.  DCCCD College Presidents were notified of their acceptance to participate in the Experimental Site Initiative 8/16/16.

Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) and StraighterLine (SL), monitored by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation’s (CHEA) Quality Platform, will jointly partner to offer students a pathway to complete two popular Associate degrees:  Associate in Science (Business Concentration) and Associate in Arts (Criminal Justice Concentration).

Through the EQUIP Experimental Site program, students will be able to use Pell Grants and eligible federal loans to pay for the programs. With joint and independent marketing efforts from DCCCD and StraighterLine, it is expected that 600 students a year will enroll in the program by the end of the experimental period, starting in Summer or Fall, 2017.  As a veteran quality assurance entity, CHEA’s Quality Platform will evaluate the program for input quality and outcome performance, including student learning outcomes and cost effectiveness.

DCCCD, StraighterLine and CHEA have worked independently to successfully serve adult learners for years. With over 20,000 students taking online courses per year, DCCCD is one of the best-known, most experienced, and highly regarded providers of online programs in the 2-year sector. StraighterLine has pioneered the low-cost alternative provider market for credit-bearing online courses, offering high-quality general education courses to students at prices dramatically lower than those charged by most colleges. StraighterLine will enroll nearly 20,000 students in the 2015-2016 academic year and offers a full general education catalog (~60 courses) of high-quality, well-supported, self-paced online courses. StraighterLine has direct articulation agreements with nearly 100 regionally accredited colleges (including DCCCD) and courses are recommended through the American Council on Education Credit Evaluation Service for transfer of credit.  CHEA has overseen accreditation efforts and has already implemented a review process for alternative learning provider Quality Platform.

For the EQUIP project, DCCCD will let students earn up to 75% of their degree through the completion of StraighterLine courses.  Students will be able to enroll in StraighterLine’s 3 or 4 credit courses for $99 per credit during a 16-week term. This price includes all necessary textbooks, lab kits, proctoring services, support fees and other fees (excluding any costs for devices). It is expected that most students will choose to take at least 2 courses (six credits) thereby qualifying the student for at least half-time Pell eligibility. It is further expected that students will be able to add additional courses to their course load mid-semester should the student complete their initial courses before the end of the term. Upon completion of 75% of a program, the student will transfer their credits to DCCCD and enroll in DCCCD’s courses at standard DCCCD prices.