Attendance at Meeting: Sarah Strong, David Froehlich, Anne Keddy-Hector, Dean Keddy-Hector, Betsy Maxim, Jackie Jarzem, Yvonne Estes, A. L. Mackey, Alice Sessions, Ursula Hauser, D’maris Allen, Les Albin, Steve Bostic, Steve Ziser, Steve Muzos, Sal Tavormina, Suzy Mathis, Ed Meyertholen, Terry Shaw, Peggy Maher, Rhonda Lane, Linnea Fletcher, Bernice Speer

NISOD Nominations

Alice Sessions and Betsy Maxim were nominated to receive the NISOD award at the meeting in May.

Adjunct Orientation Meeting

Bernice has received lots of positive feedback concerning the adjunct orientation meetings in January. She is open to ideas for future meetings so that we don’t do the same old thing every time. Please send suggestions for the orientation manual to Sarah Strong at RVS. Many thanks to Sarah who developed the manual!

Microbiology Lab Manuals

Jackie suggested that the microbiology photo atlas be shrink-wrapped with the lab manual that RVS uses. It is apparently confusing to students to have them separate.

Textbook Review Schedule

It was decided that textbook review/adoption would be done on an as needed basis, but purging old books from the inventory list should be done yearly at the March meeting.

Learning Communities

ACC is currently supporting the creation of learning communities, where students as a group enroll in the same courses. Steve Bostic will participating in this program this summer. The same students will enroll in his 1408 class and a film history course. He hopes that students will view films such as Jurassic Park that he can then discuss in his biology course.

Microscope Inventory

Steve Ziser is conducting a microscope inventory across campuses. Inventory forms are being sent to lab coordinators at each campus. He also asked faculty to complete a “microscope requirements form.” This form allows faculty to indicate the features they would like to have on microscopes they use for specific courses.

Journal Club

Alice Sessions suggested that we form a journal club to discuss new science articles that impact our teaching. Involvement would count as professional development. Discussion of teaching tips was also suggested.

Hiring Committee

Hopefully decisions concerning hiring committee policies will come soon so that the committee can be approved and the process started.

A & P I Assessment

Anne distributed copies of assessment data from the spring and fall 2000 semesters. Faculty were also given individual reports for their sections.

Safety Policies

Safety policies are listed in the orientation manual distributed at the adjunct meeting in January. They can also be found on the web. Please email Bernice if you are interested in serving on this committee.

RGC Safety Issues

RGC labs are undergoing some remodeling this summer to bring them to compliance with safety regulations. We need to decide what to do with microbiology labs for that period of time. Students can be moved temporarily to another campus or we can move permanently move the section to another campus.

Field Trip Policies for Biomass

The taskforce will recommend to Student Activities that the Biomass club follow the biology department’s standard field trip policies.

Fredricksburg - A & P II

Anatomy and Physiology II will be offered at the Fredricksburg campus in the fall 2001 semester. Students will conduct some of their labs at the hospital (blood, respiratory, EKG, etc.). It is possible that Bio. 1704 (microbiology) will be offered in the future also using hospital resources.

New A & P II Equipment

New A & P II equipment will arrive in approximately two weeks. Workshops on how to use the equipment will be scheduled on Fridays. All faculty teaching this course and lab technicians are encouraged to attend.

Biology 1406 Lab Schedule

The wording on the 1406 lab schedule has been changed so those students don’t feel as if they are being penalized for missing lab due to a holiday at the beginning of the semester (MLK Day or Labor Day).

Biotechnology Report

BITC 2431 (Tissue Culture and Immunology), an 8-week course, will run March 19th through May 9th. The course is Mon., Tues., and Wed. from 5:25 pm to 10:00 pm. Please contact Linnea Fletcher or Alice Session on information concerning specific topics. This is a great professional development opportunity for faculty and faculty are not required to enroll in the course. There is also an RNA technology course on MWF from 5:20 to 10:00. Linnea distributed a copy of the NSF short courses for college teachers (Chautauqua courses). There are several courses that will be offered at UT. Here’s the site: http://www.engrng.pitt.edu/~chautauq.

Full-time Faculty Workload Policy

Bernice distributed a final draft concerning the full-time faculty workload policy. This is administrative rule #7. It will go into effect for scheduling of faculty for Summer 2001.

Nutrition Transfer Problems

Terry Shaw reported problems with ACC’s nutrition course transferring to UT as a biology course because UT’s course is not in biology.

Open Campus

We need an open campus plan developed by the Fall 2001. TA’s for OPC instructors will no longer be funded by OPC as of the Fall 2001 semester. TA’s will be funded by OPC if the instructor includes threaded conversation (guided on-line discussion). Faculty decided that it is important for us to meet with an OPC representative to get more information.

Environmental Science / New Aquatic Biology Course

The Physical Science department has been renamed the Environmental Science and Technology Department. This department will offer academic and workforce programs. Degree programs will include an AS in Environmental Science, an AS in Engineering, and an AAS in Environmental Technology. They are currently developing the AAS in Environmental Technology (workforce track). Ron Johns and Bob Blodgett addressed the taskforce with the proposal that these students take Bio. 1673 (ecology and evolutionary biology), 1406 (cellular and molecular for majors), and a new aquatic biology course.

At first the discussion centered on whether students should take 1406 or 1408 (cellular and molecular for nonmajors). Ron wants students to be prepared for Aquatic Biology, but they may not need a course as rigorous as 1406. Sarah Strong suggested that aquatic biology may not really need a prerequisite and that 1406 or 1408 could be left as an elective. It was also suggested that students could take 1409 (organismal for nonmajors) as a prerequisite, but the taskforce would have to go back to the curriculum committee to remove the 1408 prerequisite for 1409. Ron will meet with Bernice to look at lab manuals to decide.

Sarah moved to approve the development of the Aquatic Biology course by both taskforces. Anne seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Announcements

· Yvonne Estes at RVS will help you market your course. She has lots of good strategies!

· Taskforce meetings are held on the first Friday of each month.

· Check out the BTF web page at http://ww2.austin.cc.tx.us/~biology/

· Subscribe to the BTF listserve. All faculty and lab technicians must subscribe. Just send a message to with the text "subscribe btf Your Name". No subject is necessary. The listserve will take your address from the message, so send it from whichever account you want btf mail to go to.

· How to Contact our taskforce leader Bernice Speer:

e-Mail:

office phone: 223-6297

office location: RVS, Bldg. A, Rm. 2296

home phone: 255-6827

Her administrative assistant at RVS is Jenease Friske:

223-6052 or