End-of-Year Update from Kimberlee Messina

 

As I sit at my computer and ponder this past quarter's challenges and achievements, I can't help but notice the bustle of activity in preparation for tonight's commencement. This immediately brings to mind two things: (1) The end of the year celebrations with all their rituals and emotions remind us why we do what we do, and reaffirm the value of providing our students high quality education and (2) Wow! Where did the spring quarter go? At least our newsletter is technically reaching you before the summer quarter!

The Office of Instruction has been very active as you can see from all the informative articles in this newsletter. We have also experienced transitions. We said goodbye to Craig Gawlick, who was promoted to Campus Supervisor at the Middlefield Campus, and welcomed Justin Schultz to our office. We wished George Beers a happy retirement (which he is failing in spectacular fashion as he continues to consult with us on the International Student Program) and welcomed Vinita Bali as our new Dean. Victor Tam accepted the permanent dean of PSME position, replacing Peter Murray. Peter is also failing retirement as he has joined us to work on the launch of the new Education Center.

We have hired several new faculty and have several faculty who are retiring this year. So, in many ways we have had a typical spring quarter. However, Foothill continues to experience many changes, including having our President, Judy Miner, transitioning to lead the FHDA district as our new Chancellor. We wish her well, and know that she will continue to be a strong supporter of Foothill.

If you are teaching summer session, know that we will be here to assist you. If you are leaving for a well deserved vacation, know that we will be here feeling a tad envious, but happy for you :)

And, if you run out of exciting summer reading or projects, and want to get a head start on SLO reflections or curriculum, just come on by! Thank you for
all you do for our students and congratulations on a successful academic year!

 

From the Desk of Andrew LaManque  
Associate Vice President of Instruction
  

There a number of key milestones achieved this winter and spring, including:

  • Submission (and acceptance) of the Dental Hygiene Substantive Change Proposal to ACCJC for a Bachelor of Science Degree.
  • Three successful search committees:
    • Chen Li, Equity Research Analyst
    • Justin Schultz, Instructional Services Coordinator
    • Mary Vanatta, Curriculum Coordinator (starts in July)
  • The Program Review Committee (PRC) provided feedback and made recommendations to PaRC on 29 Comprehensive Program Reviews.

Review of C3MS

The Curriculum Management System (CMS) Review Committee met three times over spring quarter 2015 to develop a list of CMS needs and enhancements. The committee saw demonstrations of three other products for comparison. Feedback was requested from the College Curriculum Committee and the Academic Senate.

 

Based on its review and based on the transition of personnel in the Office of Instruction, the Curriculum Management System Review Committee recommends that the college seek and complete enhancements to the C3MS system rather than pursue the selection of another product at this time.

 

The group suggested that progress on enhancements should be made by the end of the fall 2015 term. The committee can meet again in December or January to assess progress and recommend next steps. If appropriate progress is not made by the end of the fall term the committee can reconsider whether selecting an off-the-shelf product would be the best approach to meeting the needs for our curriculum system.

 

The group prioritized the following enhancements for fall 2015:

  • Live Comparison Window (rather than a pop-up window)
  • Strip text formatting from other sources (if information is copied from another software)
  • External form integration and storage (i.e., Distance Learning, Stand Alone, GE applications)
  • Single Sign-On (SSO)

In addition, the group recommended that ETS staff conduct interviews with about 10 faculty users of C3MS to develop suggestions on increasing the "usability" of the software (these also will be helpful for identifying areas of training for the new Curriculum Coordinator).

 

Assessment Taskforce

The Assessment Taskforce, led by Tri-Chairs Thomas Shepard, Carolyn Holcoft, and Andrew LaManque, received support from PaRC and has been meeting since winter quarter. The group has had discussions around implementing Common Assessment, Multiple Measures, and Retesting. A proposed Placement Retesting Policy is headed to PaRC for approval. The policy allows for one retest within a six month period for Math, ESL, and English. The work involved discussions with Taskforce members as well as department faculty.

 

Scheduling - Resource Live 25 Software

As mentioned in the winter newsletter, we have been working with the Facilities Rental Office on our coordinated use of Resource 25. Based on a review of the software and discussions with De Anza, we will be upgrading to Resource 25 Live later in the year. The new software will make it easier to share information on our room utilization, including events scheduling.

 

Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Initiative Grant and Goals

The Office of Instruction will be working with College of the Canyons to provide support for Partnership Resource Team (PRT) training next fall. PRT's are made up of faculty and staff from around that state that are invited to visit colleges to provide support for best practices in a range of areas such as integrated planning and budgeting and enrollment management. Foothill College also participates on the Executive and Advisory Committees. This spring, Elaine Kuo and Carolyn Holcroft led discussions around a state mandate, which included setting a college goal for course completion.

 

Student Equity Workgroup

The Equity Workgroup continues to fund projects aimed at achieving the goals laid out in our equity plan. These goals include research, professional development, and activities meant to increase course success rates for traditionally under-served students. Professional Development included the Courageous Conversations training and Student Voices Symposium. Funding has also supported the development of an English Summer Bridge Program and a First Year Experience cohort to begin this fall.

 

SLO Upload to C3MS

Individual course-level SLO statements will be exported from TracDat and uploaded to the C3MS system on Thursday, July 16, 2015. Any changes to course-level SLOs should be made prior to this upload. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Office of Instruction. 

 

Curriculum Corner
By Cori Nunez

 

As promised, the new curriculum cycle has begun and the deadline is June 19, 2015 for the 2016-17 Catalog (check with your division for their deadlines to meet division approval). The date change was made to accommodate the growing state reporting requirements and the increase in processing time needed by the Chancellor's Office.

 

To date, we have 20 state approved ADTs, exceeding what we originally guaranteed the Chancellor's Office when the program was rolled out. We will need to continue our efforts as new TMCs will be published twice a year and we will have 18 months from the publish date to have the degrees state approved.

 

As you are aware, I will be retiring in early September. In an effort to provide as much curriculum education as possible and to respond to any questions that might still be niggling in the back of anyone's mind, I will be running some general curriculum refresher trainings this quarter. All are welcome and there is no question too big or too small! If you have a question, chances are someone else has the same question or can benefit from yours. 

 

As this is my last my newsletter, I would like to say thank you to everyone. I have enjoyed providing assistance whenever possible and building relationships across the campus.

In Spring, SLO Changes Bloom! 
By Kathy Schaefers 
 
Hello everyone and happy spring! The first part of 2015 has brought some big changes regarding adjunct participation in the SLO process, as well as a new mandate from the state in tracking SLOs at the individual student level.

 

Prior to spring term 2015, the requirement for adjuncts was to placing SLOs on the syllabus. Along with attending at least one meeting per year in which SLOs are discussed, the new requirement also has adjuncts participating in SLO assessment. The following selection from FA Assoc. Negotiator Raymond Brennan in the April edition of the FA News details this augmentation of part-time duties:

 

"...if teaching a class that is to be assessed as a part of the SLO evaluation cycle, part-time faculty are required to give that assessment to the class and to communicate the results of the assessment to whomever is designated for SLO work in the department (dean / department chair or coordinator); however, regardless of the SLO evaluation cycle, part-time faculty are required to participate in a maximum of only one assessment per academic cycle."

 

As per the current Foothill policy on SLOs, every course that is taught at least once in an academic year must be assessed and reflected upon at least once that year. In the past, if a course was only taught by adjuncts within a given year, who and how that assessment would be accomplished posed a challenge for departments. This new requirement strives to alleviate the confusion.

 

The new requirement still asks adjuncts to place the SLOs on their syllabus. Some departments provide a list of SLOs on the webpage; in other departments, part-time faculty should check with the dean. For a complete overview of this new requirement, please refer to the President's Report in the March FA news "Progress Made on Restoration, Parity", and FA Assoc. Negotiator Raymond Brennan's article "New Part Time Faculty Duties Include Office Hour, SLO Participation" in the April FA news.

 

As Spring closes and we look to Fall, there are a couple reminders and dates to keep in mind for 2015 / 2016: 

  • Every course that is taught at least once in the 2015/16 academic year must be assessed and reflected upon at least during the 2015/16 academic year
  • Faculty can choose to assess and reflect on all of a course's SLOs in 2015/16, or they may set up a cycle to review all the course's SLOs within a defined time within 2015/16. For example, if a course has three SLOs identified:
    • All three SLOs may be completed every year.
    • SLO 1 can be completed this year (2015/16), SLO 2 next year (2016/17), and SLO 3 assessed the year after (2017/18).
  • The deadline for entering course-level SLO assessments and reflections from the 2014/15 academic year into TracDat is the third week of fall 2015. If you would like to enter your 2014/15 assessments and reflections earlier, your SLO Coordinators are here to help!
  • Adjuncts are now required to participate in assessing SLOs for a maximum of one class in 2015/16 that is up for assessment.
  • Your current SLO coordinators include:
    • Roseann Berg (Biological & Health Sciences)
    • Fatima Jinnah (Counseling & Service Areas)
    • Katherine Schaefers (Business & Social Sciences)
    • Barbara Schewfelt (Kinesiology & Athletics)
    • Stephanie Tran (Language Arts)
Educational Technology Update 
By Judy Baker 

Want to keep current with technology news at Foothill College but don't have time to attend meetings? For the latest updates, visit the Tech Task Force webpage at http://www.foothill.edu/president/ttf.php often.

 

In case you missed any of the ETAC Town Hall sessions by Joe Moreau, Vice Chancellor of Information Technology, which took place over the past year, you are invited to watch videos archives:

The District Standards for Technology Hardware have been updated to include a greater diversity of devices needed by our faculty and staff. Check these standards when considering tech purchases. 

 

Don't forget to use a Purchase Requisition and consult with ETS before purchasing any tech items that cost $1,000 or more. If a piece of tech equipment you want will connect to the network, then consult with ETS prior to purchase and installation. If individuals or departments at Foothill purchase hardware or software items that have not been reviewed by ETS, the Purchasing office may flag the purchase for consultation with ETS, so a pre-consultation is advised for tech purchases to expedite procurement of the item.

 

You can upgrade your software skills by taking advantage of free access to high-quality, self-paced training videos at Lynda.com. Set up your account and start learning everything from coding, design, photography, video, web, and lots more! Create your account at https://www.lynda.com/email-signup to get started.

 

Spring Quarter Articulation & Honors Updates 
By Bernie Day

New Courses Approved for CSU GE / IGETC

The following courses have been approved for CSU GE and IGETC:

 

Course
Title
UC/CSU IGETC Area
CSU GE Area
Comment
ANTH 2H
Honors Cultural Anthropology
No
D1
Applying for UC approval in June '15 and IGETC in Dec '15
ENGL 43A
Survey of British Literature 1: Beowulf to the Late 18th Century
3B
C2
Effective Summer 2015
ENGL 43B
Survey of British Literature 2: The Romantic Period to the Present
3B
C2
Effective Summer 2015
ENGL 45A
Survey of American Literature 1: Beginnings to 1865
3B
C2
Effective Summer 2015
ENGL 45B
Survey of American Literature 2: 1865 to the Present
3B
C2
Effective Summer 2015
HLTH 60
Healthy Aspects of Aging
No
E

MATH 1AH
Calculus I Honors
2A
B4

MDIA 6
Film & New Media Genres
3A
C1
Effective Fall 2014
MDIA 9
Global Media
4G
Prior Approval
Effective Fall 2014
MUS 11D
History of Electronic Music 1867-1970
3A
C1
Effective Fall 2014
MUS 11E
History of Electronic Music, 1970-Present
3A
C1
Effective Fall 2014
PHOT 5
Introduction to Photography
3A
C1
Effective Fall 2014
POLI 9H
Honors Political Economy

D2

SPAN 10A
Spanish for Heritage Speakers
6A, 3B
C2
Effective Fall 2014
ATHL 41
Preseason Conditioning for Women's Sand Volleyball
N/A
E

ATHL 41A
Intercollegiate I Women's Sand Volleyball
N/A
E

ATHL 41B
Intercollegiate II Women's Sand Volleyball
N/A
E

ATHL 41C
Sports Techniques and Conditioning for Women's Sand Volleyball
N/A
E

ATHL 41D
Functional Fitness for Women's Sand Volleyball
N/A
E

 

Congratulations, all! This is the first year that every course that was submitted for consideration was approved by CSU GE and IGETC reviewers. 

 

New Associate Degrees for Transfer (ADT)

In addition to the 21 ADT degrees that Foothill College already offers, the California Community College Chancellor's Office is now accepting applications for the following degrees:

  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Nutrition/Dietetics
  • Child and Adolescent Development (available September 2015)
  • Film, Television and Electronic Media
  • Public Health Science (available September 2015)

We are currently in the process of developing proposals for these degrees.

 

New Articulation Deadlines

June 1, 2015                       UC transferability for 2015-2016

December 1, 2015              CSU GE approval for 2016-2017

December 1, 2015              IGETC approval for 2016-2017

Ongoing                              C-ID approval for 2015-2016

 

Please contact daybernie@foothill.edu ASAP regarding the submission of new courses or significantly revised courses for these articulation approvals.

 

 

Bay Area Community College Honors Research Symposium

  

On Saturday, May 2, eight Foothill students presented their research at the eighth annual Bay Area Community College Honors Research Symposium, held at Stanford University. Thirty Foothill students attended the event, which attracted more than 350 students and faculty from across California.

 

   

The following Foothill students were selected to present their research. This year, the acceptance rate for presenters was less than 25 percent.

 

 

Jessica Chase 

"I Just Don't Have the Right Papers": The American Immigrant's Path to Citizenship: A comparative analysis of citizenship paths for contemporary Latin American immigrants with 19th century Chinese and Irish. 

 

Jessica has been admitted to UCLA for the fall 2015 quarter! Congratulations!   

 

 

Ritvik Dhavale

Dracula: A Feminist Critique: A comparison of feminist themes in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula and its influence in today's media.

 

Ritvik is one of only 15 students who were admitted to the selective and highly prestigious UCLA Film School for fall 2015. Congratulations!  

 

 

 

Maria Kossenko  

The Limits of My Language Mean the Limits of My  

World: How native language acquisition influences  

foreign language learning.

 

Maria will continue her studies at Foothill next year.  

 

 

Group Research Project  

Cole Barnett, Gus Gaytan, Lauren Melenudo, Alex Park, & Pathik Sheth

The Risk Gap: Are self-reported perceptions of risk-taking reliable predictors of risky behavior? 



Where Are They Now? Former Honors Student Profile
 

Adrian Rahardja transferred from Foothill College to Harvard University, where he received a degree in economics. He speaks Indonesian, Vietnamese, German, Dutch, and English. He has held several positions as a financial analyst and currently manages  

a sales and analytics team for Twilio, Inc., a San Francisco-based firm that merges cloud computing, telecommunications and web services.  

 

Where Are They Now? Honors Student Profile

Alla Voroninskaya is a painter, currently living and working in Los Angeles. After completing the Honors Scholar program at Foothill College, she received a BA in Fine Arts from UCLA and attended the Fine Art Masters program at Parsons the New School for Design, in New York City.

 

Alla was born and spent the majority of her childhood years in Novosibirsk, the largest city in Siberia. From her earliest memories, she had an interest in art making and a fascination with paint. Alla's career in art began in Novosibirsk. By the age of six, she was studying painting at the Novosibirsk Art School, Zazerkalie. Her talent did not go unnoticed: several of Alla's early oils were selected for a national showing at the Central Exhibition Hall in Moscow in 1994.

 

Where Are They Now? Honors Student Profile

After completing the Foothill Honors Scholar program, Ken Shimizu transferred to UC Berkeley where he completed a degree in Economics.    

He is currently a developer for Carbon Five, a software development company that produces software for companies such as Charles Schwab, National Geographic and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 

    

 

Where Are They Now? Honors Student Profile

After completing his lower division requirements at Foothill, Israel Lipinsky transferred to UC Berkeley, where he received a degree in Molecular and Cell Biology. Fluent in English, Japanese and Latin, Israel is a frequent DJ and dancer at venues in and around the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

Israel was also a co-host of the popular Milonga S?cale Punta in Berkeley, CA. As a milonguero (in the old sense of the word), he understands that music is not only what drives dancers to the dance floor, but the glue that holds the entire tango ecosystem together: his style of DJing focuses on building a rapport with dancers in real time in order to guarantee that everybody has the best opportunity to connect with both their partners and the community around them.  

   

Where Are They Now? Honors Student Profile

Shandon Alderson completed the Foothill honors program and transferred to UC Berkeley, where he earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He later attended the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, where he received a MS in Mechanical Engineering. He is an inventor, with patents for products that convert chemical energy into electrical energy. He currently works in management for Kateeva, a Menlo Park firm that utilizes organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology in printing.

 

 

Transfer Achievement Celebration Dinner & Reception - June 11, 2015 

This event was the highlight of the year for our 1,200 transfer students and the members of our Foothill community who support them. The majority of transfer students do not earn an associate degree and thus, are unable to participate in the commencement ceremony.

 

Three hundred and sixty people attended the Transfer Achievement Celebration dinner, at which four Foothill faculty received the Outstanding Faculty Award for contributions toward the support of transfer students. There were hundreds of student nominations for faculty who supported their progress; however, four faculty were honored with the award:

Dr. Sam Connell - Professor Lisa Drake - Dr. Konnilyn Feig - Dr. Robert Hartwell

 
 

Here's what students said about our winners:


Dr. Connell - "Professor Sam Connell cares deeply about his students and goes out of his way to assist those who are struggling, even if it means begging them to come to his office hours! He shares study strategies with classes before exams and gives writing tips. His goal is for everyone to succeed in his classes; this is seen in his syllabus, which states that his goal is for "every student to get an A". It is obvious that there are no barriers to success in his classroom. His sense of humor and the relaxed classroom atmosphere he creates makes students look forward to his classes. He supplements complex material with humorous videos, and showed us harsh feedback he got during his doctorate work when discussing becoming a better writer. Before taking his classes, I never considered attending graduate school. I always considered that to be something for students who were "smarter" or "more academic" than I was, even though I have a high GPA. When giving me feedback on a paper, he told me that I had a gift for writing and to "let me know when you get your PhD". This comment changed my life. It was the first time I had been told I was capable of pursuing a specific goal instead of merely graduating and taking any job that I could get. Now, I plan on getting that PhD and pursuing meaningful work. Both I and the Foothill community are so lucky to have Sam Connell!"
 
Prof. Drake - "Professor Lisa Drake has taught me a lot during my time in Foothill College. She helped me with my university application, and, finally, I was able to get into my dream school!

Prof. Drake - "She has been an inspiration to me to follow my business and accounting studies. She is passionate and has motivated me to keep going despite the difficulties. She has always been able to adapt her teaching style to make sure that her students find distinct ways to learn. You can tell she loves all of us and wants nothing by the best for us. I am really going to miss her!

Prof. Drake - "I am grateful for the amount of support I received throughout the series of accounting classes I have taken with Lisa Drake. I am definitely not the best performer and was actually under- performing in her 1A class. But luckily, after meeting with Mrs. Lisa, I was able to share my struggles with her, which made me feel a lot better. Mrs. Lisa continues to encourage her students. Mrs. Lisa also enjoys teaching (and throwing off some pretty good jokes). I can really feel her passion every time I'm in her class. You Rock, Lisa!"
 
Dr. Feig - "Dr. Konnilyn Feig is one of the most lovely and colorful persons I have met at Foothill. She loves her students, and no doubt that her students love her, too. I will never forget taking classes with Dr Feig and listening to her wonderful stories."
 
Dr. Feig - "I would like to nominate Dr. Konnilyn Feig because she shows that she genuinely cares about her students and our success beyond Foothill. Dr. Feig's class was transformative in that it opened my eyes to the work that still needs to be done in the world and she gave me the knowledge and tools to address it. Dr. Feig pushes her students to be the best that they can be and truly prepares us to be contributing members to society."
 
Dr. Hartwell - "I would like to thank you, Dr. Hartwell for being an awesome teacher!"
 
Dr. Hartwell - "I took Dr. Hartwell for Music 8H and he was one of the best teachers I've ever had. He was always so energetic and excited to teach. Every single lecture was engaging and interesting. Dr. Hartwell made sure he knew everyone's name and made sure everyone felt welcome in class and listened to."

 

Foothill transfer students celebrating transfer success holding  

pennants from their transfer colleges and universities at the

2014 Transfer Achievement Celebration Dinner

   
Update on the Educational Master Plan Revise Process
by Elaine Kuo 

As of June 2015, Foothill College has completed Phase I of its educational master plan revise process, reviewing internal and external environmental data and identifying some proposed institutional goals. This revise process is in line with the six-year planning cycle and completion of this process in December 2015 will keep the college on track to write the self-study by Spring 2017.

 

With the Planning and Resource Council (PaRC) serving as the EMP steering committee, environmental scan data were reviewed, feedback from the community and campus was gathered, and proposed institutional goals were identified. Campus input was encouraged and solicited through multiple formats: town halls, focus groups, online input, webinar. The initial proposed goals that emerged from a day-long meeting of the EMP steering committee can be found on the EMP website (http://foothill.edu/president/parc/esmp.php).

 

The next phase will involve aligning the proposed institutional goals with the college mission and establishing the framework for a draft document. Additionally, emphasis will be placed on determining objectives that could support these institutional goals.

 

The final phase will focus on identifying the strategic action plans to support these institutional goals at the institutional and program levels. Documentation of these plans will demonstrate how the institutional aims to move toward accomplishing its goals. Much of this work will occur in fall quarter as the EMP gets completed and approved by the Board in December 2015.

 

If there are any questions regarding the EMP process, please contact  

Elaine Kuo from FH Institutional Research & Planning (kuoelaine@fhda.edu).

 

 
The Foothill College Office of Instruction and Institutional Research Newsletter is published each quarter. Have something you would like to share with the  Foothill College community?
 Please email 
Justin Schultz .