Math Department Meeting

MINUTES

Math Department Meeting

February 8, 2011

1. Scheduling smart classrooms

The department currently has two smart classrooms to use and will have four

starting in the fall. There are more requests than can be accommodated, especially for the 9:00 to noon spots, so flexibility is required. The priority Lauren follows whenscheduling is full-time teachers, then adjunct teachers, and higher-numbered courses first, followed by college level courses, then developmental courses.

2. MTH 201/202 concurrent enrollment??

Some students have requested to take 201 and 202 currently, in particular, studentswho are retaking 201. Even though the IAI prerequisite for differential equations isCalc 2, and this is also the prerequisite for Northern, the ECC prerequisite has beenCalc 3, and this is also the prerequisite at COD, Harper, Waubonsee and Kishwaukee.It was agreed to keep the Calc 3 prerequisite, leaving exceptions to the discretion ofthe teacher.

3. MTH 133 Assessment

Gary and Kenny have come up with a set of eight Calc 1 problems corresponding tothe eight objectives in the course outline. A subset of these are to be incorporated intoall Calc 1 courses for the purposes of assessment, “within a final exam or separate from a final but closed book and no notes as to keep a level assessment across the classes.” A calculator can be used, but no other resources. Gary asked for feedback, rankingthe questions and for each question indicating FR (free response) or MC (multiplechoice).

The current 133 outline is missing an objective (recognizing the derivative as a slopeand as a rate of change), so Kenny will modify the outline so the department can voteon it and send it to the Curriculum Committee.

4. Math Professional Day

Four 90-minute round-table sessions are being planned for the spring, the first on March 8 on the topic of Achieving the Dream (for full-timers and adjuncts who havebeen involved with the initiative).

5. New course – MTH 099

The course is set to go. Cathy, Dan, Vicki, Chalyce and Dave will work on choosinga textbook.

6. February 15th department meeting

The meeting next Tuesday will be to discuss future building space for classrooms and offices, which, it appears, will be in the MSC building.

7. Withdrawal from Courses

When and how to withdraw students was discussed. The issue was clarified by Danin an email sent after the meeting (copied below).

8.Upcoming Conferences

A number of conference opportunities are coming up. Details are on eMath

(Miscellaneous Files/Upcoming Conferences). Cathy pointed out that March 1 is thedeadline for registering for the IMACC Allerton conference.

From: Kernler, Dan
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2011 8:56 AM
Subject: withdrawal notes

Math colleagues,

At yesterday’s meeting, we discussed a couple of topics surrounding withdrawing students from our courses. I thought I’d send an email to everyone.

First, you can and should withdraw a student who has stopped attending. To do so, just go to AccessECC and enter a “W” for the student under the Midterm grade. The system will run a report every night, and that student will be withdrawn from your course. You might consider first attempting to contact the student via their student email account, or filling out an Early Alert (details are in AccessECC).

The second issue that came up was withdrawing students after midterm grades have been completed. See the email from Jennifer McClure with details.

~Dan

From: McClure, Jennifer
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2010 9:28 AM
Subject: Instructor withdrawal after midterm grades submitted

We are noticing a number of faculty-initiated withdrawal requests after midterm grades are posted and prior to the last day to drop. If you are wanting to exercise your right to withdraw a student per the faculty initiated withdrawal procedure and have already posted a midterm grade, please email Records-grades using your ECC email to initiate this request. Include the name of the student, ID, and course/section number. We will then be able to process this request and still document the appropriate midterm grade recorded.

If you have any questions, please direct them to Elaine Kolasa at . Thank you for your patience as we try to streamline this process.

Jennifer