Meeting Notes - Dec. 3, 2015
Present: Cheu, Gainer, Harrell, Hui, King, Luciw, Moreau, Pape (co-chair), Peña-Ferrick, Ranck, Shannakian, Spatafore (co-chair); Vanessa Smith (notes)
OEI Update
Spatafore asked to skip to the third item on the agenda, OEI and subcommittee updates. She asked Moreau to start, adding that the last report was well received. Moreau said OEI is continuing to work with colleges on Canvas implementation. About 28 colleges have moved or are in the process of moving to Canvas. Twenty-two more will be making the move before fall 2016. Forty other schools are interested, but still working through local governance processes. Those schools will need to queue up as there is no capacity to move them all at once. By fall 2018, about 90 schools will be on Canvas.
OEI is also working on academic integrity measures that fall into two areas: exam proctoring and plagiarism detection. Faculty have said exams need to be proctored in some manner. Some faculty are comfortable with an online mediated proctoring solution, others want exams proctored in person. OEI is in the process of developing an RFP for academic integrity services, and has already awarded a mediated proctoring contract to another company that uses innovative solutions for tracking student eye movement, keystrokes and other factors indicative of cheating. All details will be available online. OEI is also working to develop a proctoring network with colleges throughout the state so there will be standard operating procedure for faculty to direct students at proctoring sites.
Moreau said most colleges already subscribe to plagiarism detection services. Most use turnitin.com, including De Anza and Foothill. OEI is working with the CSUs and Foundation for CA Community Colleges to negotiate more favorable contract terms. Right now community colleges pay about $2.10-$2.25/FTE as subscription cost. OEI believes they can get the price to 90 cents or lower. That negotiation should be complete by January, and all services would be integrated with Canvas for easy use by faculty.
Gainer asked for a quick review as he came toward the end of the update. He asked if De Anza will adopt Canvas and if it will have integrated plagiarism software. Moreau said the choice to use Canvas is up to individual colleges/districts. At De Anza, Ranck is discussing that option with faculty. Even if Canvas is not adopted, colleges can still take advantage of the greatly reduced contract rate for the plagiarism software. Gainer asked when it would go into effect. Moreau said as soon as January. Ranck clarified that turnitin.com is currently available to faculty. Moreau said yes, it will remain available, hopefully at a lower cost.
Online Education
Ranck said that Distance Learning is transitioning to Online Education over the next few months. They have already started using that language within the department. Online Education is a more appropriate name and applies to both teaching and learning.
Ranck also announced some staffing changes. April Qian resigned and another instructional associate retired. That means a change in service levels right now as they work to fill positions. Ranck is working with that staff and the Online Education Advisory Group, which includes members from all divisions and part- and full-time faculty. Ranck has asked the advisory group to take closer look at Canvas and provided them the resources to do so. Because Foothill is a pilot college, De Anza has access to their resources. Ranck has shared some courses she finds interesting so people get a sense of what Canvas can do. The goal is to have a course management system that works best for faculty and students. There are benefits and challenges to all options. Lots of automation has happened in the past year to help faculty. If anyone is interested in more info, contact Ranck.
Gainer asked when the subcommittee meets. Ranck said somewhere between once a month and twice a term. They’re looking at meeting times more closely now. Spatafore said she added the subcommittee agenda item because, per the proposal, the Tech Prioritization Committee would be under the Technology Committee (if the name change is also approbed). Spatafore said Cheu has agreed to chair that subcommittee and thanked her. Associate Vice President of Instruction Rowena Tomaneng previously chaired the committee.
Cheu said the Tech Prioritization Committee hasn’t met since TTF last met, but will meet after the new year. Spatafore said the group is fairly ad hoc, but plays an important role. Cheu said membership is essentially ETS, a dean, Cheu and Tomaneng. Faculty are welcome to attend. Moreau added the group is very “nuts and bolts.”
Announcement of Academic Senate-appointed Co-Chair
Spatafore announced that Mary Pape has agreed to serve as TTF faculty co-chair. Her appointment was confirmed by Academic Senate. Spatafore thanked Pape, crediting her for tremendous work on Student Learning Outcomes in the previous accreditation cycle. Pape said she’s looking forward to the work with TTF.
Approval of Nov. 5 Minutes
Markus pointed out a small typo in San Jose State. No other corrections were made.
Possible January Meeting
Spatafore suggested Tuesday, Jan. 12 as a possible meeting date and asked for thoughts. Hui asked if all future meetings would change or just January. Spatafore clarified that the first Thursday in January is during the first week of school when no governance groups meet. TTF may not need to meet if the group can decide on a proposal to take to College Council.
Review of Vision and Guiding Principles
Spatafore reviewed the planning summary and needs points from the last meeting. Members were also given hard copies. Spatafore asked about Banner Student Committee representation. Moreau asked if Cheu is on Banner Core; she said her colleague Bret Watson is. Peña-Ferrick said she had gone. Moreau said he would find the roster for it. Banner Student representation needed, but is Core? Moreau said the Core committee isn’t hugely active, but that may change as they consider significant upgrades to banner. As they consider switching to the next major platform, TTF might want to invite more Core members. Spatafore said they might want to designate a library rep. TTF will take a full proposal to College Council.
Shannakian suggested a student rep, but acknowledged that can be difficult to obtain. Spatafore said yes, the group will do that as well. Ranck asked to change “Distance Learning” to “Online Education” on the planning slides. Hui asked if faculty reps are considered at-large. Spatafore said there is a faculty co-chair and potential Academic Senate representation. The Library rep will likely be faculty, so they are well-represented. Gainer said emphasizing that at-large attendees means faculty or listing them as welcome would cover it. Spatafore said the comments are helpful because of the need to present to College Council.
Spatafore reminded members of the exercise done in spring to think about a new purpose. Principles and charge are about eight years old. She added that it’s unusual to have a sweeping vision statement without a mission statement. She would advocate for just a mission statement, and less is better as it gives more flexibility in achieving goals. Does TTF need guiding principles? Activities and charge seem excessive. Spatafore asked for others’ input.
Moreau said when ETAC redid their mission, they tried to be more concise. Gainer said his impression is the more you put under activities, the more you hold yourself accountable at the end of the day. He asked how the vision and mission are distinct, and if pieces of the vision could be retooled for a mission statement. Moreau said the vision could be what you aspire to, not necessarily what you are right now. Mission is what do you do on a daily basis. Spatafore agreed. Generally, a vision is sweeping. If you’re a food bank your vision is to end hunger forever. Your mission might be to provide food on daily/weekly/monthly to those in the community who demonstrate need. Gainer said that makes a lot of sense. Hearing that and looking at the vision statement, he agreed it needs to be broader. Vision is what TTF would like and mission is what TTF is doing.
Spatafore showed the group a first draft of a mission statement and asked for thoughts. The group discussed the mission and agreed upon a second version that the Communications Office will review and perhaps slightly edit.
Spatafore asked for thoughts on a vision statement. A few members wanted one; most did not find it necessary. Hui said it would show some goal or something to aspire to. Luciw said having a vision would help the group be more effective going forward. Spatafore said the agreed-upon draft mission includes plenty of work and asked others if that would be sufficient. Markus said the draft looks good.
Spatafore said a January TTF meeting doesn’t appear necessary. The co-chairs will go to the January College Council meeting with the mission and summary of proposals. Interested TTF members should also attend.
ETS Updates
Luciw said that Office 365 will be available to all at 10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 14. ETS will send another message and will possibly have instructional videos on the website. She cautioned that when using shared computers, users must be sure to sign out of Office 365 or the next user will be able to access it via their MyPortal.
Harrell asked if a download for computer-based apps will be available. Luciw said ETS is still looking at that because they’re not sure if it’s configured properly for the district environment. She is testing the latest version of Office and Excel is very “buggy.” King said some things may have been fixed in the latest update. Luciw said that until they get the bugs figured out, ETS might not want people getting the latest version of Office. King added that in Word she lost an image in the PDF version that showed up again when it was printed. Luciw said Office 2016 is not ready for prime time. King said it’s a “space hog,” too. Gainer said that’s how 2013 was for him. Spatafore thanked Luciw and said that ETS updates will be agendized in the future.
Luciw added that on Dec. 18 and 19, there will be more power changes for renovations and transfers. The machine room will be on a temporary generator so there shouldn’t be any outages. ETS is better prepared than last time and has new batteries for the AT&T cabinet. During Presidents’ Day weekend in February, there will be a complete outage of email, Banner, etc.