Highland Community College Academic Program Review Template

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Highland Community College Academic Program Review Template

Overview and Basic Assumptions:

The process of assessment, program review, and the consideration of available resources should be aligned with the college’s Strategic Plan and response to external accrediting agencies. Review of all programs and degrees affects positive change; this proactive thinking is critical to the improvement of quality.
The Academic Program Review has been designed as a component of this process.

1. Name of the program Agriculture

1. Contact information of the person completing the review
2. Clifford Hawk
3. 442-6067
4. Names of faculty member(s)who contributed during the review process (include both full-time and adjunct faculty): Clifford Hawk, Mr. and Mrs. Young

1. Indicate the program delivery formats (underline all that apply)
2. On-campus traditional lecture or lecture/lab
3. On-campus hybrid
4. Online
5. Offered/based at a regional site

Criterion One: Program outcomes are congruent with the goals of the program.

yes / no
X / 1.1 / Faculty has met to discuss course outcomes and course competencies
X / 1.2 / Faculty works as a team toward mutually identified goals and program outcomes
NA / 1.3 / Stated outcomes are consistent with the statewide Core Outcomes or external certification requirements
NA / 1.4 / Program and course outcomes are aligned with applicable Common Learning Outcomes

Please provide specific detail to support “yes” responses and describe any progress toward addressing “no” responses:

1.1 One teacher department. I have limited contact with extension faculty but when the VP of Academic Affairs has had meetings on campus for department meetings, I have attended each one.

1.2 Input from advisory council meetings and suggestions.

1.3 and 1.4 At this time there are no state core outcomes or common learning outcomes. However, the following are course competencies reviewed and approved by our advisory council for AAS degrees.

HCC Ag Course Core for AAS Degree

COURSE COMPETENCIES

Ag Orientation Careers in agriculture

Job opportunities & salaries

Degree awareness and requirements

Animal Science Importance of animal agriculture

Breeding & Genetics

Anatomy & physiology

General nutrition concepts

Ag Microcomputer General terms & procedures using computers

Utilize spreadsheet for budgets or math

computations

Demonstrate proficiency with word processing &

dbase software

Crop Science Importance and scope of plants to humanity

Plant nutrition

Plant morphology, physiology, & ID

Plant ecology considerations: conservation

Ag Economics Marginal & production curves

Theories of supply & demand

Discern variable, fixed, and total costs

Fundamentals of What are the 6 basic nutrients

Animal Nutrition How is metabolism & production affected by nutrition?

How can metabolism be improved: mgt vs additives

Soils Significance of soil on food production

Conservation practices & crop production

Chemical & physical composition of soils

Impact of various soil types on crop production

Applied An. Procedures for creating balanced rations

Nutrition Evaluation of feedstuffs for least cost diets

Construction and evaluation of pre-mixes

Appraisal of effective mineral programs

Marketing Farm Production-distribution cycle

Products How to calculate production cost

Direct vs indirect marketing techniques

Construct a marketing plan for crops or livestock

Utilizing a cycle chart

Differentiate between hedging, puts, and calls

Intro to Basic terms used for financial statements

Accounting How to select an accounting system

Creation of a farm accounting method

Summary of Hours in Core

2 Ag Orientation 3 Intro to Accounting

3 Ag Microcomputer 4 Crop Science

3 Ag Economics 3 Fund. of Animal Nutrition

4 Soils 3 Applied Animal Nutrition

3 Animal Science 3 Marketing Farm Products

31 TOTAL

In addition, every three years for transfer of credit of agriculture courses to Kansas State University, we have to submit every agriculture course for evaluation, course syllabus, instructor vitae, etc. Here is the form they request for every course.

K-STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
COURSE EVALUATION CHECK LIST

The course information you provide is used for the transfer evaluation process conducted in the College of Agriculture at KansasStateUniversity. PLEASE ATTACH A COPY OF THIS SHEET TO EACH PACKET OF COURSE INFORMATION. Course information is due by (depends on where HCC is in our review cycle).

Community College: ______Date: ______

Course Number and Title:______Credit Hours: ______

Proposed K-State Course Equivalency: ______

Where is course taught (please list all locations): ______

This course is a:

New Course

Previously Evaluated Course

The following information must be included in the course Syllabus:

Course Description

Course Prerequisites

Student Learning Outcomes

All locations course is taught

Course Outline

Laboratory Outline (if applicable)

Instructor’s vitae, list of qualifications, and/or and other pertinent information related to the instructor’s preparation to teach the course (only for community college courses being proposed as equivalent to K-State 300 level or above courses.)

Please return this form to

Ag Academic Programs

119 Waters Hall

Manhattan, KS66506

Program description

1. Basically the program is designed to meet mostly transfer student needs which are our “bread and butter” (transfer students). The termination program provides training for students who wish to enter the job market or return to their family farm. A rough ratio year by year is 80% transfer and 20% termination or AAS degrees.

1. Number of students served (including current enrollment)—3-5 year trends.

Do you want head count or credit hours?

Normal we run between 23-29 ag students each year.

Criterion Two: Enrollment planning leads to student success.

yes / no
X / 2.1 / Changes have occurred in the number of course sections offered each semester in response to student demand.
X / 2.2 / Changes to schedule patterns (times, sequencing, etc.) are made to optimize student enrollment, course completion, and program completion.
X / 2.3 / Program course retention rate is in line with total college (within-term) retention.
X / 2.4 / Transfer for students in the program courses isin line with statewide seamless transfer

Please provide specific detail to support “yes” responses and describe any progress toward addressing “no” responses:

2.1 We offer a four semester course sequence on campus so students can plan their schedules over time hence we don’t “jump around” semester by semester on course offerings.

2.2 Have moved times to minimum conflicts with science classes for students depending on years and majors.

2.3 I am not sure how the college measures but from data I have, if a student enrolls, they stay in our program and enroll again to meet there career goal over 90% of the time. I am not sure how the following data is collected but in fall 2014, 96.14 % of students returned or transferred on completing their career goal as stated in the major ag orientation paper.

Prog/Area / n / Tran / Tran% / Grad / Grad% / Grad Prog / Grad Prog% / Grad/Grad
Rate
ACCTG / 268 / 157 / 58.58% / 55 / 20.52% / 30 / 11.19% / 54.55%
AGRIC / 108 / 69 / 63.89% / 26 / 24.07% / 16 / 14.81% / 61.54%
BUSADMIN / 348 / 186 / 53.45% / 89 / 25.57% / 60 / 17.24% / 67.42%
COMPHO / 33 / 16 / 48.48% / 23 / 69.70% / 16 / 48.48% / 69.57%
CRIMJUST / 173 / 72 / 41.62% / 40 / 23.12% / 25 / 14.45% / 62.50%
MICROAPPS / 23 / 12 / 52.17% / 12 / 52.17% / 7 / 30.43% / 58.33%
MRKTNG / 21 / 15 / 71.43% / 1 / 4.76% / 1 / 4.76% / 100.00%
THEATR / 17 / 10 / 58.82% / 3 / 17.65% / 3 / 17.65% / 100.00%
BUS / 660 / 370 / 56.06% / 157 / 23.79% / 98 / 14.85% / 62.42%
Total / 991 / 537 / 54.19% / 249 / 25.13% / 158 / 15.94% / 63.45%

Are these strictly AAS graduation rates or do they include AA, AS, AGS rates for ag transfer students?

Narrative questions:

1. Describe professional development activities in which full- and part-time instructors participated:
   

Full time: Attend workshops on agriculture topics, with a goal of at least one a year. Over the past 5 years I have taken students or have attended,forage and cover crop workshops, farm bill 2014 workshop, cow calf workshop, farm fence law, calving dystocia school, transferring the family farm (ag taxes and law), lambing & kidding workshop, farm marketing field trip, etc. are a few examples.

1. Describe how faculty participation in professional organizations and conference attendance contributes to program outcomes:

I belong to several livestock breed associations, professional animal science associations, area livestock fair boards which aids in program visibility. I also have presented programs at area livestock meetings. Examples include speaker at NE KS Sheep producers annual banquet, presented a program on using Lamb Risk Management Price Insurance at the NE KS Sheep/Goat Producers school. In addition we have held several producer workshops on campus including a regional beef workshop webinar in MS-1.

3. Describe faculty innovative practices, and their benefit on student learning:

Have incorporated not only field trips into classes but incorporating short movie clips and websites into PowerPoints, demonstrations, student created lab projects, use my equipment, use my farm for labs, and utilize a few virtual field trips. I have created several academic games to help review for test. Animal Nutrition Jeopardy for Carbohydrate section, Heritability Estimates for Sire Section in Beef, Who Wants to be a Millionaire on forage topics.

Criterion Three:Faculty members are qualified by academic background, experience, and continuing professional staff development.

Yes / No
X / 3.1 / Faculty members are involved in professional organizations and/or other scholarly activities
? / 3.2 / Faculty members are sufficient in number and diverse preparation to provide effective instruction

Please provide specific detail to support “yes” responses and describe any progress toward addressing “no” responses:

Over the past two years I have completed two Beef Quality Assurance certifications. One for Cow-Calf Operations and one on Feeder Cattle. Besides degrees I have also certified by the American Professional Animal Science Society. Over the past decade I have gone back to school to keep current and have completed 15 graduate hours. In addition I also manage a 200 acre row crop/livestock operation. I have updated to GPS technology on my farms with row crop acres mapped to make fertilizer and chemical management decisions. I have incorporated several of these maps as illustrations for classes such as Soils. Ex. Polypedon data for fields.

Criterion Four: Program is responsive to changing conditions within the field.

Yes / No
X / 4.1 / Program changes are consistent with technological and scientific advances, and program coursework incorporates new developments in the field
X / 4.2 / Faculty works with library personnel to ensure that adequate and current resources are available in the Library
X / 4.3 / Faculty works with Academic Resource Center and/or Student Support Servicesspecialists to ensure adequate and current resources
X / 4.4 / Faculty works with professionals in the field and/or advisory committees to ensure appropriateness of course content and standards

Please provide specific detail to support “yes” responses and describe any progress toward addressing “no” responses:

4.1 Once a year KSU and FHSU visits campus and we discuss course content for transfer. We can’t do all courses every year but we review 3 classes each fall on a rotational basis

4.2 If I need any additional resources I have worked with the library director to order materials. In some cases I have given materials to the library.

4.3 I have PowerPoints and materials on computers here in the department for students to use to review for tests or on days they missed classes. In addition I have created several CD’s with the reference materials for students to keep since we rent text.

4.4 Mostly asking questions and conferring with people in various agriculture businesses. Example, several resource agriculture experts are called upon from time to time to speak to a class using their expertise. Ex. Gary Dorrell for Charm Industries, Steve Caplinger on Ag Liability Insurance, etc.

Narrative Questions

1. Describe how critical thinking, reading and writing skills, and information literacy are being integrated into the curriculum.

Students in several classes have to create a project applying concept for the class. Examples, Range Management class create physical models using cell grazing strategiesor plant variety selection for project they were interested in. An example maybe be viewed at the URL listed as an example uploaded to YouTube. Students are also required to work in pairs on a project they create in soils and crops science classes. Also every student in Beef Production class completed a Beef Quality Assurance unit and earned a certificate. I encouraged this since the fee for the training was being paid for by Boehringer Ingelheim with no cost to the student.

2. Describe technology resources and services and how they areintegratedinto curriculum and instruction.

I not only have used AV materials but also hands on applications as well as laboratory experience and demonstrations. New items we have added in recent years include wedge software and RFIFD wand for reading RFID ear tags for livestock traceability. I have also added a Green Seeker hand held crop sensor for demonstration on plant fertility requirements.

3. What impact would modifications (increase or decrease) on your program budget have on program outcomes?

If funds were available added staff, barns, livestock, equipment, and create a workable farm laboratory; I am sure numbers would increase and students would be able to out some new farming concept which would be a good learning experience.

Criterion Five:

yes / no
X / 5.1 / The faculty, including adjunct faculty, use appropriate strategies/assessmenttools to measure competency
X / 5.2 / The faculty, including adjunct faculty, have discussed assessment results

Please provide specific detail to support “yes” responses and describe any progress toward addressing “no” responses:

According to the following adjunct faculty survey they are using tools to measure competencies. I use testing and projects to demonstrate students have mastered material.

I have very limited contact with adjunct faculty. The 5 criterion responses from Mr. & Mrs. Young are included on page 10.

Identified Internal Strengths:

• How does this program support the college’s Strategic Plan?

Recruiting and working with industry and members of the community I would say yes. I get emails and calls all the time asking for technical information on various agriculture topics plus area business or farmers looking for help. I have helped several students find employment in the area. Here is an example from an area extension agent wanting information:

On Tue, 11/4/14, XXXX <
wrote:
Subject: cow
digestive tract teaching ideas

To:
"Clifford Hawk" <
Date: Tuesday, November 4, 2014, 1:45 PM
I had a request for ideas on how a youth could show a cowdigestive tract for a science project... any ideas or things you have done to show/illustrate the part/compartments/function of each/volume of
each.....etc?I believe they are looking at both a physical and a powerpoint something.
This is a middle school level and of course they are looking at next week.
XXXXX
XXXXXXX
County extension
XXXXX-XXXXX

• What does this programdo well?

I think we have a good working relationship with secondary school agriculture departments. I serve on 3 advisory councils plus help sponsor the NE District FFA CDE contest. Also advising is a major strength for students who wish to transfer. Year in and year out, about 80% of our students are transfer orientated. This not only generates hours in our program but many times as many hours are generated in math/science classes as agriculture course hours. It is important they get placed in the right classes and sequence so they can complete their degree at KSU in four semesters. I have received many notes from students over the years. Here are a couple examples from a student and a KSU professor. Our department also works with NE KS high school agriculture departments on articulation agreements, as of 3-20-14 we have 28 agreements with area high schools.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014 8:26 PM

Mark as UnreadFlag this message

From:

"Merz. Joshua" <>

To:

"Cliff Hawk" <>

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Just wanted to say thanks for everything Mr. Hawk. I couldn't have asked for a better adviser and teacher for the first two years of college or for the rest of college for that fact. Thanks for keeping me on track and always helping me out whenever I needed it no matter how busy you were. I truly appreciate it!
Thanks, Josh Merz

Subject: Josh Merz
To: "" <
Cc: "Brenda Heptig" <>, "David Krishock" <
Date: Thursday, September 18, 2014, 8:37 AM
Clifford,
Josh Merz is one of my advisees here at K-State, and he mentioned you were his advisor at Highland Community College. Josh and I met yesterday and went through his transfer hours to make sure he is up to speed, and I just wanted to reach out to you to express my appreciation in getting Josh set up on the right track. We rarely have transfer students come in with the ability to complete their degree after 2 years at K-State, and Josh is set to do so – that’s a huge credit to you. I appreciate all the background work you’ve done, and see the potential in an informal 2+2 program (we currently don’t have any formal 2+2 programs set up in our department). I would be happy to come visit with you further about it, and would welcome the opportunity to discuss our department with your students in a class or a club this fall if you would be interested. Josh is an assetto the program, and I’d like to recruit more students like him!
Thanks,
Cassie
Dr. Cassandra
Jones
Assistant Professor
of Feed Technology
Department of Grain
Science and Industry
Kansas State
University

Identified Internal Weaknesses:

• What improvements would enhance the program?

Always more space and a lab area for growing plants and nutrition studies.

Identified External Opportunities:

• What are the positive trends in social patterns, population, and resources that give this program opportunity for growth in the future?

As more people are interested where their food supply comes from I think a course developed as a social science elective would be a real possibility. I suggested that to the KBOR many years ago using an ag science class as a possible science elective for non science majors. A similar approach had been done at NWMSU and SDSU for years.

Identified External Threats:

What obstacles does this programface in the future?

Like all programs finances and competition from outside sources.

Professional and Terminal Programs Only (AAS degrees and Certificates)

1. Number of graduates annually (include college rates—may use a rolling average):
2. Placement of graduates (e.g. employment, transfer/continued studies):

See graphs provided by Dr. Arnett.