BIS Program Review, May 6, 2009

Evergreen Valley College
BIS Program Review
Business Information Systems Department
Business and Workforce Division
2009
Prepared by:
Jonathan King
Soledad Santos
Marilyn Snapp
Sally Chumbley
Denise Knecht

DEPARTMENT/PROGRAM NAME: Business Information Systems

LAST REVIEW: Spring 2001

CURRENT YEAR: 2009

AREA DEAN: Jonathan King

SUMMARY OF THE DEPARTMENT/PROGRAM

The Business Information Systems (BIS) Program was established in 1985 and offers three options for students to pursue Certificates of Achievement and degrees.The mission of the program is to meet the changing needs of the business community and high tech industries in Silicon Valley, as well as provide students with the tools and technical competencies to obtain employment opportunities throughout the Bay area.

The three specialized areas that are offered to students include Information Processing, Digital Media Design, and General Business. Additionally, there are six shorter Certificates of Achievement: Accounting Specialist, Bookkeeping Assistant, Business Systems Assistant, Computer Systems Assistant, Computer Applications Specialist and Information Processing Specialist. Three otherCertificates of Achievementhavebeen submitted for approval by the California Community College System Office. These certificates are Administrative Assistant, Medical Office Assistant and Digital Media Specialist. They were returned to the college for lack of information. Many courses are being revised and updated, and these revisions will be included in the three certificates when re-submitted for approval. New programs in Medical Billing Specialist and Human ResourcesAssistant are being developed for future offerings.

PART A: Overview of Program

  1. Identify EVC’s CTA for this year.

EVC’s commitments to action in the Student Centered category revolve around three major areas, including Access, Curriculum and Programs, and Services. Within the area of Access, the goal is to grow enrollment by 5%; while the goals under Curriculum and Programs include expanding curriculum and programs by 10%,increasing certificates, degrees and distance education by 25%, and developing new non-credit community programs. In the area of services, the goals include improving intervention programs and developing a Learning Resource Center. Along these same lines, under the area of Community Engagement, plans have been made to establish and teach three to five courses at a site off-campus.

(See the complete text of EVC’s CTA’s in Attachment 1.)

Evergreen Valley College CTA

Student Centered

Area of Focus / Success Metrics / Commitments to Action
Access /
  • Grow Enrollment by 5%
/
  • Market outreach to students
  • Strengthen high school collaboration

Curriculum and Programs /
  • Expand the curriculum and programs by 10%
  • Increase certificates/degrees and distance education courses by 25%
  • Develop non-credit community programs
/
  • Conduct comprehensive program review
  • Streamline curriculum process
  • Create plan to develop additional vocational/workforce programs & seek grants to support programs
  • Analyze existing mini-certificate programs
  • Assess current distance education courses

Services /
  • Increase degree/completion and transfers by 5%
  • Increase retention/completion rate by 10%
  • Decrease students on probation by 10%
/
  • Provide students with opportunities to engage in campus life
  • Improve new intervention programs
  • Develop LRC to assist students
  • Create one new transfer agreement and promote transfer agreements
  • Ensure faculty and staff have accessible data tracking tools

Community Engagement

Bring the College to the Community /
  • Establish 3-5 new off-site courses
/
  • Conduct community needs assessment survey
  • Launch offsite classes – credit/no credit offerings

  1. Identify your program/department’s CTA for this year.

Within the BIS Department, the threefocus areas include the Student Centered category(Access, Curriculum and Programs) and Organizational Transformation and Community Engagement. In the area of access, the goal is to increase online and hybrid courses. In the area of Curriculum and Programs, the goals are to strengthen articulation with high schools, hold advisory committee meetings, and complete program review in spring 2009. In the area of Organizational Transformation, the goal is to increase attendance of faculty to statewide conferences and increase membership in professional organizations. The area of focus in Community Engagement is Curriculum and Programs. The BIS Department decided to provide short-term weekend classes for spring 2009. Refer to the table below for BIS Department CTA’s.

(See Attachment 2 for the Business and Workforce Division CTA’s)

BIS Department CTA

Student Centered

Area of Focus / Metrics / Commitments to Action
Access /
  • Increase online and hybrid offerings
/
  • Market these new formats to students on campus web site and in class schedule

Curriculum and Programs /
  • Continue articulation with the high schools and CCOC by collaboration
  • Make technical advisory committee meetings an ongoing yearly activity
  • Complete program review for BIS by May 2009
/
  • Expand relationship with high schools in the area
  • Plan for next yearly meeting
  • Implement a program review for BIS in fall semester 2008
  • Gather data for topics in January-February 2009
  • Produce review document compiled from committee members in March 2009
  • Increase the number of Career Education Technology certificates
  • Follow up on unapproved Certificates of Achievement

Organizational Transformation

Access /
  • Increase membership of faculty to professional organizations
/
  • Increase attendance of faculty to statewide conferences, workshops, online classes and webinars

Community Engagement

Curriculum and Programs /
  • Provide short-term courses on weekends
  • Establish a series of hybrid or online courses
/
  • Two short term and/or weekend courses were offered in spring of 2009
  • Develop plan for offering additional courses in the future

  1. How did your program/department meet the overall CTA of the College?Describe how your program/department met the overall CTA of the College.Describe areas where your program/department needs improvement to meet the overall CTA of the College. Describe specific plan to achieve this goal.

EVC’s commitments to action included areassuch as, growing enrollment, expanding curriculum and programs, increasing retention and developing off campus and non-credit programs. All BIS courses have been reviewed and will go through extensive updates and revisions. The process will begin in fall 09 and continue until all courses have been completed. The target date for completion is by the end of fall semester 2010. The BIS certificates and programs are also being reviewed to ensure that they are aligned with business and industry. The program review is the start of the process to begin making immediate improvements.

New class materials have already been selected and are currently being used in several of the individualized lab classes. Students are responding positively to these materials that are more representative of industry practices. Enrollment has increased in the individualized lab classes, but is limited by room size and the number of stations available in the various timeslots.

BIS classes have been marketed. Marketing these classes and programsto high school groups and to current students will continue via campus information events.These events are vital in disseminating current information about BIS programs.

In the area of retention, BIS sends out a short note (postcard) reminding students about their class attendance. As a result of this, students return to class to find out what they need to do to meet the requirements in the time that they have left in the semester.

BIS works with the Director of CalWorks to create classes for their student population. These courses are sometimes written in workshop format to meet the required hours that students must be in attendance. These classes have a large enrollment and a good retention rate.

Students from various ethnic populations need additional assistance to help them succeed in their classes. Faculty usually recommends that these students enroll in classes that would increase their comprehension and language skills to allow them to progress further and complete the classes by the end of the semester. Tutoring centers are also recommended to the students to use for additional help.

The BIS Department is currently working on developing an updated brochure showing the degrees, certificates of achievement, and the certificates of specialization. This brochure will increase awareness of BIS programs and degrees. Two new certificates are being proposed to expand the BIS offerings. Online and hybrid formats have become common delivery systems for many courses. BIS courses are now being written in this format.

  1. Identify the Following
  • Analysis of Unmet Goals
  1. One of the crucial goals of the department is to increase attendance of faculty to statewide conferences to provide consistent exposure to innovative ideas in their areas of expertise. Faculty will need to expand their knowledge and skills regarding technological developments in business and in the global environment. The department plans to meet this goal by providing opportunities for faculty to attend conferences, workshops, and professional education. Webinars offered by publishing companies and professional organizations are also made available to faculty. @ One courses and online education are also available.These opportunities will prepare faculty with the knowledge and resources to develop more CTE (Career Technical Education) programs viable options.
  2. Plans were made to establish 3 to 5 off-site BIS courses for senior citizens; however, this plan was postponed due to budget cuts throughout the state of California. This goal will be revisited once the budget cuts are lifted, and funds are available for program expansion.
  3. Marketing the BIS program to the community to attract senior citizens to our campus to take BIS courses is one goal. However, this plan has also been postponed due to budget cuts.
  • List Five Accomplishments
  1. BIS Advisory Committee meetings have been held in spring and fall 2008. The Advisory Committee made several recommendations that have been reviewed by the faculty and management. (See attachment 3 for complete Advisory Committee documents.)
  2. Computers have been upgraded in RF-234 in 2007, in R4-231 & 233 in 2008, and now are being upgraded in RG-240 during spring semester 2009. MS Office 2007 has been loaded in all rooms along with updated medical applications for the lab classes.
  3. Courses are being updated and revised with a goal of completion in fall 2011. Faculty and staff have revised courses to reflect the new Office 2007 software as well as the new medical applications.The course revision process will begin in Fall 2009. Although the courses have not been updated through the All College Curriculum Committee, current textbooks and student learning outcomes are being used by faculty and incorporated in their syllabi. The tablein Part C: Student Outcomes is a projection of completion dates for course revisions.
  1. Over the last several years articulation agreements have been completed with area high schools and the Central County Occupational Center. See Attachment 3 for complete Advisory Committee documents.
  1. Employment and government agencies, in addition to businesses, frequently encourage their employees to upgrade their skills. Anyone who wishes to enhance their skills seeks testing centers for certification. Evergreen Valley College is an established testing center forMicrosoft Office application certification and for keyboarding speed and accuracy tests. Certification tests for Office 2003 and 2007 are given to students and community members through a partnership with Certiport. Advertising is provided through The keyboarding speed and accuracy tests were developed in conjunction with the City of San Jose and the County of Santa Clara. Tests are administered to applicants who need to fulfill job requirements for City, County and other businesses throughout the Bay Area. The income from the testing fees is used to augment supply needs in BIS and CIT.Currently advertising is done through the City and County, as well as other agencies in the area. The income for these services is $860 for the year 2008-2009.
  • List Three New Initiatives

The lab course approach that is currently used is working successfully. However, different delivery methods that could be used such as, online, hybrid, and lecture courses have been discussed. This will be taken into consideration in the course revision process. The lab classes that are low enrolled are being reviewed to find different options to effectively offer these classes to meet the needs of the students. Ongoing review of the programs with the Advisory Committee will ensure that courses are taught effectively and continue to be viable to the program.

  1. Revise BIS course outlines for the following courses:
  2. BIS 11A
  3. BIS 11B
  4. BIS 11C
  5. BIS 102B
  6. BIS 106A & B
  7. BIS 109
  8. BIS 125
  9. BIS 200

Other courses will follow once these are completed. This is an ongoing process. (See the table in Part C under Student Outcomes for a complete list.)

  • A special meeting was held with the Vice-President of Academic Affairs on April 29th, 2009 to discuss how the BIS 200 lab course can be re-structured for the purpose of increasing student success and becoming compliant with Title 5 Regulations.
  1. Establish and develop an ongoing relationship with counselors to provide current data regarding all BIS courses, certificates, and programs. Consider developing a counseling specialty area (BIS) so that this person will be an area expert for all students and faculty.
  1. Develop a new brochure which will highlight the BIS certificate and degree programs, and revise the BIS web page on the EVC website to reflect current programs.
  1. State the goals and focus of this department/program and explain how the program contributes to the mission, comprehensive academic offerings, and priorities of the College and District.

The goals and focus of the BIS department are to:

  • Revamp and streamline the course offerings so that program certificates are in alignment with the demands for specific careers and jobs in business and industry.
  • Implement the suggestions and recommendations of the BIS Advisory Committee

The points below are a summary of the suggestions from the Advisory Committee. (Refer to Attachment 3 for complete minutes of the Advisory Committee meetings.)

  1. Include BIS 39, Professional Image, and BIS 135, Human Relations in the Workplace, in all certificate programs.
  2. The following skills should be taught to students entering the workforce: critical thinking, multitasking, organization, adaptability, interpersonal and communication skills.
  3. A Medical Coding Specialist program should be considered as a future program.
  4. An internship should be created within the BIS departmentfor certificate programs in Administrative Assistant and Medical Office Assistant.
  • Develop a BIS brochure to include updated information about new and updated courses and/or certificates offered in the BIS programs.
  • Provide more opportunities for both faculty and staff to attend conferences and professional development workshops. These can also include online classes and webinars.

6.Identify current student demographics. If there are changes in student demographics, state how the program is addressing these changes.

The student demographics shown here were fromfall 2007. In regard to ethnicity, the following groups were listed by total numbers and percentages:

EVC Student Demographics for Fall 2007

Ethnicity / Total Students / Percent of Total
African/American / 504 / 5%
Asian / 841 / 8%
Asian/Cambodian / 158 / 1%
Asian/Chinese / 235 / 2%
Asian/Indian / 278 / 3%
Asian/Vietnamese / 1867 / 17%
Filipino / 995 / 9%
Latina/o / 3521 / 32%
Native American / 69 / 1%
Pacific Islander / 104 / 1%
White / 1272 / 12%
Other / 1080 / 10%

BIS Student Demographics, Success and Retention Percentages: Fall 2006 & Fall 2007*

Fall 2006 / Fall 2007 / Fall to Fall % Point Change
Ethnicity of Students / % Seatcount / % Retention / % Success / % Seatcount / % Retention / % Success / % Retention / % Success
African-American / 5% / 66% / 45% / 6% / 76% / 53% / 9.7% / 7.9%
Asian (All Other) / 11% / 73% / 59% / 7% / 73% / 62% / 0.5% / 3.1%
Asian/Cambodian / 2% / 78% / 63% / 1% / 79% / 53% / 1.2% / -10.3%
Asian/Chinese / 3% / 86% / 72% / 2% / 84% / 75% / -1.7% / 2.9%
Asian/Indian / 3% / 71% / 60% / 5% / 79% / 71% / 8.6% / 10.2%
Asian, Vietnamese / 21% / 75% / 65% / 23% / 80% / 65% / 5.3% / -0.1%
Filipino / 10% / 71% / 51% / 8% / 71% / 53% / 0.2% / 2.1%
Latina/o / 29% / 73% / 54% / 27% / 72% / 52% / -1.1% / -1.9%
Native American / 1% / 60% / 50% / 1% / 88% / 63% / 27.5% / 12.5%
Pacific Islander / 1% / 68% / 42% / 1% / 80% / 50% / 11.6% / 7.9%
White / 9% / 80% / 65% / 10% / 73% / 62% / -6.7% / -2.8%
Other/Unknown / 5% / 73% / 51% / 8% / 73% / 61% / 0.1% / 9.9%
Average / 74% / 58% / 75% / 59% / 1.5% / 1.4%

*(See Attachment 4 for statistics on retention and success rates fall 2006-spring 2008)

BIS Student Demographics, Success and Retention Percentages: Spring 2007 & Spring 2008*

Spring 2007 / Spring 2008 / Spring to Spring Fall % Point Change
Ethnicity of Students / % Seatcount / % Retention / % Success / % Seatcount / % Retention / % Success / % Retention / % Success
African-American / 8% / 67% / 47% / 5% / 76% / 64% / 8.8% / 16.7%
Asian (All Other) / 9% / 70% / 58% / 9% / 83% / 72% / 13.1% / 13.5%
Asian/Cambodian / 2% / 79% / 76% / 2% / 65% / 54% / -14.0% / -22.6%
Asian/Chinese / 3% / 83% / 76% / 3% / 77% / 60% / -5.9% / -15.6%
Asian/Indian / 4% / 78% / 69% / 3% / 80% / 71% / 1.5% / 2.7%
Asian, Vietnamese / 22% / 82% / 67% / 23% / 79% / 67% / -2.9% / 0.0%
Filipino / 9% / 65% / 49% / 9% / 70% / 56% / 4.9% / 6.8%
Latina/o / 24% / 69% / 52% / 28% / 72% / 58% / 3.5% / 5.7%
Native American / 0% / 83% / 50% / 1% / 82% / 45% / -1.5% / -4.5%
Pacific Islander / 1% / 60% / 45% / 1% / 69% / 63% / 8.8% / 17.5%
White / 11% / 74% / 67% / 9% / 79% / 58% / 4.7% / -9.1%
Other/Unknown / 6% / 70% / 56% / 8% / 69% / 60% / -0.9% / 3.5%
Average / 73% / 59% / 75% / 62% / 2.4% / 2.8%

*(See Attachment 4 for statistics on retention and success rates fall 2006-spring 2008)

The demographics indicate that there is a large Asian/Vietnamese and Latina/o student population. From fall 2006-2007, the highest retention change was 27.5% and the highest success change was 12.5%. From spring 2007-2008, the highest retention change was 13.1% and the highest success change was 16.7%. The average change from fall to spring increased from 1.5% to 2.4% for retention and from 1.4% to 2.8% for success. In past years, the division has discussed suggestions on how to increase student retention. Some of these suggestions are still being used today such as, sending reminders (postcards) to students if they have been absent for a time. Another method is to do progress checks on the student’s performance in class and provide feedback to the student. Student contact via email or one-on-one is vital in the retention process. The different programs like EOP&S, CalWorks, Enlace, Aspire, and Affirm that send out progress reports to be completed for the program and the students are also helpful in the retention process.