DE Report  February 2009

The DE Committee met on 1-23-09 and discussed the following:

1. Etudes NG Course Management Platform - The DE Committee discussed the current use of etudes ng as a course management system for online classes. The Committee reviewed its use, utility, numbers of students currently using the system, and the bill for continuing the etudes ng for the coming year. The Committee endorsed the continuing use of the Etudes NG Course Management System and recommended that the bill and recommendation be forwarded to the Technology Committee for its review and consideration.

2.  Student Retention and DE Student Survey

The LACCD and the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges are requiring that all students who withdrew from online classes in Fall 2008 need to fill in a survey to determine the reasons they "dropped their online classes" - Here is information on the DE Survey. The DE Committee coordindated with IT and the Dean of Technology to ensure that a "phone blast" was done to all of the students,  along with a letter including the link for students to participate in this online survey. The results of all such students will be aggregrated throughout the LACCD and the California Community Colleges, and the results reported by the Chancellors Office of the CCC.

3.  Program Review for DE Committee

David mentioned that in the last College Council that the VP of Academic Affairs had suggested that DE do a program review. Said agreed that we should fill out the same questions as other Departments and make a presentation of our DE Program Review in April.  David said that this could include future requests such as a DE office in one of the new buildings, and we should then do a DE Strategic Plan as part of the Program Review. Other Colleges like Chabot College are also in the process of doing a DE Strategic Plan (see their template)

4.  Which areas good for new DE classes - planned growth - online AA degree

Said mentioned that DE should look at careful, planned addition of new clases, and that these might include both math and science.  DE needs to look into this further. If we decide to do an online degree we must also consider doing a Substantive Change Proposal since it is required for Accreditation. Many of our sister colleges are offering entire online degrees and that is something we should also look at.

5.   Invite new member to attend DE meetings

Last semester, Gina Ladinsky, new English faculty approached the DE Committee and asked if she could attend the DE meetings and participate in the Committee. Committee members discussed her membership and are very excited about her participation. She is an excellent new faculty and just completed the Faculty Teaching and Learning workshops for new faculty in the fall semester. David will invite Gina to attend our next committee meeting on 2-20, and then Gina can make a decision if she wants to join the committee and assume an active role in participation in the many projects of the DE Committee.

6. Load Policy - The DE Committee reviewed the LATTC Load Policy, and supports its implementation and application by Academic Affairs and recommended that the policy be reviewed and discussed by the EPC. The Committee added to the LATTC Load Policy the further amendment that for purposes of determining full time faculty load, a class that was 50% or more online was an online class. Currently hybrid classes on campus are normally 60% on campus/40% online, and the hybrid classes should be considered as "on campus classes" for determining full time faculty load.

7. DE Reorganization -  The DE committee currently has five active faculty members who meet every other Friday through a Meet and Confer phone conference to conduct their meetings. In consultation with the VP of Academic Affaris it was decided to re-organize the DE Committee to add a more "wide spread" membership to include student services, counseling, and other units of the college, and to conduct meetings on campus.  The DE committee and the VP will meet to plan the first "on campus" stakeholders meeting, and propose and agenda for this first meeting.

8. Shell Review - The DE Committee was requested to complete shell reviews for English, Library Science 101, new Sociology and Pscynology classes for inclusion in the Fall 2009 schedule. The approval process requires that all new online class course shells be approved through the DE/Curriculum Shell Review Process (see review rubric used in this process) and that no classed be scheduled in the galleys without completing this approval.  Because the shell reviews were not completed for the new online classes (for various causes), the VP of Academic Affairs determined that the classes would not be included in the final galleys and offered for Fall 2009, and the DE Committee concurs and will work on refining and improving the shell review process to enhance the "quality assurance, and rigour" of Mission College's online classes.