Curriculum Committee Minutes
February 20, 2014
Present: Chair Dylan Eret, Dean Carlos Cortez, Joseph Bielanski, Heather Dodge, Jenny Lowood, Sabrina Nelson, Mark Swiencicki, Emi Mitsuno, Maeve Katherine Bergmann
Absent: VP Lilia Celhay, Dean Antonio Barreiro, Fabian Banga, Carole Copenhagen, Barbara Des Rochers, Windy Franklin, Justin Hoffman, Tom Kies, Thays Acosta
Guests: Shirley Fogarino, Laura Ruberto
I. Announcements
A. Annual Program Update (APU) Needs Matrix (Cortez, see handout)- curriculum committee requests by departmentt, sometimes doesn’t come with cost. Also needs to have an appreciation of hours.
B. Lowood said that “Funds for developing and planning tests” item should go to assessment, not curriculum committee.
C. All agree that they are asking for the same thing, faculty want money to develop new curriculum, that is work outside of the classroom. No real process for release time. It’s all arbitrary. Needs to be a larger planning on this.
D. Ruberto said you can have more courses if you cycle them.
E. Quantity of courses, and limitations of time. We need to pay more attention to the process part. Or form another committee that sees the big picture.
F. To be tabled, but also needs to be discussed at Department Chairs, and the Faculty Senate. Come up with some kind of integrated committee.
II. Communicating and Promoting Curriculum Campus-Wide (Fogarino)
A. What is the process, and how has it been handled in the past?
B. Mentioned catalog and catalog supplement years (2014 is a supplement year).
C. Handouts are created, placed on website and downstairs when new programs/majors/courses approved by the State; it looks like how it looks in the catalog.
D. Department chairs send curriculum to Fogarino, to get it to the counselors, catalogs, online, handouts downstairs, etc.
E. Required by accreditation, they ask where the brochures and handouts are when they were here during full accreditation. Has to do with Standard I, full integrity.
F. Fogarino showed example from catalog of what she needs sent to her-, summary of course, and then list of the courses, and also send the two year sequence. Doesn’t need to be formatted, send as text or word file. Program Learning Outcomes were also put in the catalog this time.
G. Dean/VPI Cortez said that he has been working with Theresa Rahmjahn to develop subsites online, for the nine learning communities. Can also be used for the flyers. Developing a template. Fogarino stressed standardization, otherwise it weakens the brand.
H. Can no longer put in “pending,” or “in process,” in flyers or the catalog.
III. Sample Curriculum Review: English (Lowood)
A. Offer the ENGL AAT, certificate and AA degrees, most deal with IGETC, CSU GE, and UC TCA. All info in the handout.
B. Recommended deactivating English Language and Literature AA, most can take the AAT Language and Literature in its place, requirements almost the same; deactivate Creative Writing/Playwriting and Screenwriting Certificate of Proficiency.
C. Listed Program Outcomes. English AA-T Program Matrix.
D. Listed portfolio assessments and curriculum improvements.
E. Vast majority of what they do relates to general education (80%, ENGL 1A, B, 5, 204AB). Literature less than 7% of offerings.
F. Our transfer rate for those that apply to UCB for ENGL has been around 90%.
G. ENGL 204A and B waiting for approval in CurricUNET, though approved at CIPD, pairs of classes to convert to single classes (the new law), and deactivating courses.
H. Chair Eret noted that what’s most accurate is what’s passed in the board reports.
IV. Sample Curriculum Review: Humanities and Philosophy (Eret and Ruberto)
A. Shows what one department does within a department cluster (see handout).
B. Three strands within interdisciplinary field (Culture and Civilization, Aesthetics, Folklore, Popular Culture; Religious Studies and Philosophy; and Film Studies). Slowly integrating some classes into other areas, cross-listing courses with English, Art, Women’s Studies, etc.
C. A goal is to take what we have and make more marketable.
D. Also provided list of active courses from catalog Developing a pop culture course, consultation already taking place.
E. Bielanski recommended sending approved courses going to CIPD to be sent to Department Chairs.
F. The HUMAN 21 course- most other colleges offer it as two courses, breaking it up, might become a two course sequence at BCC also. How do we transition from HUMAN 21 to these two new courses? Pending.
V. Scheduling Curriculum Review (upcoming)
A. Library department (Dodge) might present at next meeting.
B. Swiencicki will present in future for Sociology department.
C. Counseling department should present in the future also.
VI. Critical C-ID Updates (pending)
A. Tabled discussion for next meeting.
VII. Curriculum Alignment Project (CAP), 2014-15
A. Tabled discussion for next meeting.
VIII. Other
A. Meeting adjourned early, for curriculum committee to meet with Gates Foundations group.
B. Next meeting- Thursday, March 6, 2014, 10:00am-12:00pm in TLC.
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