Present: Marti Ayers, Al Barrios, John Berg, Evon Bergstrom, Beth Camp, Richard Gibbs, Jerry Phillips, Christina Salter, Ron Sharman, Ann Smart, Paul Snyder, Steve Soltesz, Sue Trautwein, Ed Watson, Peggy Weems, Chuck Wert, Cynthia Yee
Beth asked each person not giving a committee report to tell what is new for them in distance learning:
Chuck Wert will be doing BI102, General Biology, on the Internet.
Evon Bergstrom is working on a distance education blood-borne pathogen Web class.
Steve Soltesz will be doing ME4.122, Strengths of Materials, on the Internet.
Peggy Weems said the Business Management Department is working on their Web pages. The secretary is coordinating. Peggy said most students feel comfortable taking quizzes on the Internet. She said posting grades works great using the newest version of Excel. Marti said sessions are being planned for Excel and one session is planned for doing grades on Excel. Information regarding computer competency is available on the Web. To access it you press Instructional Departments then go to Computer Science then press computer. With a link to the Home Page, you can access Peggy's schedule and office hours.
Jorry Rolfe reported to Beth Camp that the staff surveys are coming in nicely on the computer competency requirement.
Richard Gibbs taught a Lifetime Wellness class on the Internet. There were 22 students who started the course and 18 who finished. The class was done entirely on the Web except for one Saturday lab. They are going to work on a video for those students who are not able to attend the lab.
Beth said her distance ed WR123 Internet course and her campus WR123 class were tied together and two students took it from a distance.
Paul said enrollment for HE250 Personal Health and HE205, Diet/Nutrition in the Nineties, was split between the Web and telecourse. Jan Huskey can link two classes with the same CRN so the enrollment maximum is not exceeded.
Paul said there are 25 distance education classes but 90% are the same content as being taught in the classroom. Early enrollment for winter term looks good. Students are hearing from other students about the courses. Peggy asked if they allowed cross over. Paul said yes, if a person began a campus class but something prevented him from coming to class he could switch to a distance ed class, or vice versa.
Ann Smart reported that we are now the "provider" of five different courses. So far five students are registered in three of them at the "host" colleges of Central Oregon Community College, Southwestern Oregon Community College and Columbia Gorge Community College. A future issue to be dealt with is when non-LBCC students fill up classes so there is no room left for LBCC students. LBCC will get one-half of the tuition and the money for one-half of the FTE. The host college will have it in their class schedule and provide for registration, proctoring, handicapped access, tutoring, etc.
Paul said that an OSU-taught Philosophy Web class scheduled by us already has 15 students. LBCC will get the FTE and OSU will get the tuition for 3 credits. The class did not impact the second term philosophy class enrollments on our campus. This class is one of two classes OSU markets for high schools. The other is calculus, which we also offer.
Christina said she is beginning to get requests from on-line students for advising. A Life Planning Web class will be done spring term and is being developed by Benton Center counselor Lynn Bain.
Ed said a publication for insertion into the Lebanon, Corvallis and Albany newspapers has been prepared which will give registration information and contact persons regarding distant ed classes along with other After 4 and Saturday courses.
Procedure
Beth proposed that the committee follow parliamentary procedures for discussion and voting so the subcommittee will know if it has DEIT approval on issues. Ed suggested using a 5 finger vote. 5 would indicate strong approval, 3 ok, and 1 violently opposed. Then we would ask those at opposite ends what their reasons were. It was unanimously agreed to use the 5 finger vote.
Subcommittee Reports:
Fostering Innovation
Paul said two areas that were recommended by the subcommittee require some action, or it will be too late to get anything going this year.
1. Organize a group of innovators, give a name to the group, invite people to join, recognize and support their activities.
2. Summer institute - if committee reacts favorably, need to get moving on the planning.
Peggy questioned whether this was reinventing the wheel. Ed said PSU is doing a distance education conference next term which will be project based. He will get brochures and information about what they are doing now and have done. Paul said up to now work has been done in ad hoc groups of faculty and staff interested in on-line instruction. Ann Smart said it can be less costly to bring people to give a workshop than send people away for training. Beth said it would be important to do a preliminary survey to find out who would be interested. Beth asked the committee if it would give the green light to investigate the summer institute. The vote was unanimous in favor.
3. Hiring expectations for new faculty - The Vice President of Academic Affairs and President of the Faculty Association haven't yet met. Ed and Marti have talked about surveying the faculty, identifying needed technical skills and instructional skills, and taking an inventory of those. Marti is pulling together a group to identify technical skills. Beth said let's benchmark as soon as possible for future comparison. The committee agreed. Marti pointed out that in the survey we should stay away from contractual issues. Beth agreed that our purpose is to encourage and be advisory. Chuck suggested a memo of advice to the faculty association regarding faculty assessment and evaluation. Ed said assessment has been held off until accreditation was over. Paul suggested we broaden our focus and include managers as well as faculty so they better understand what's happening in classrooms. Marti also said it was important to do training of the committees who do hiring.
Marti moved we support the Microbes (name given for group of innovators in subcommittee's memo of October 30). Ed said Workforce Policy Committee is also interested in Microbes and we should support concept but maybe at a more institutional level, not just from DEIT. Beth felt Microbes would provide a coming together of people who are interested. Paul said this concept was also similar to what was developed for a Title III grant which utilizes a core group who would mentor others in distance education. Marti said this work is already being done even if not so labeled. Beth said DEIT will endorse Microbes as an entity but not committee and DEIT agreed.
Marketing and Needs Assessment
The subcommittee has had one meeting which was a brainstorming session regarding possible targets outside our current student population. At the next full DEIT Committee meeting Cynthia Yee will have a methodology and a sample survey. The subcommittee will be meeting right after the first of the year. Ed asked if we are collecting demographics and reasons people take telecourses. Paul said we are collecting data from student surveys. The Web class surveys are done on-line but the telecourse ones are done by hand. Beth suggested we have a survey done at the beginning of the class because some students drop out and we never hear from them again.
Student Support
Ann Smart reported for Diane Watson that the subcommittee has had three meetings each two hours in length. They have brainstormed 17 areas to look at with 4-8 items under each area. At their next meeting they will prioritize which ones should be done and will finalize their work plan. She said a major issue will be confidentiality. The subcommittee found that several things are already being done. For example, the Library staff has already produced a handout for distance ed students on how to get reference assistance by e-mail, where on the Web to get reference tutorial help and how to access EBSCOHOST. Ed said student services applies not just to distance education. Each department Web page is a form of self-advising. It sets up students on a tour of a particular program. The point of entry would be the list of advisors for that program and phone numbers. Christina said what we currently have on campus pales in comparison to the elaborate ideas and plans for distance education students. Ann said the subcommittee has added several members such as Lance Popoff from Financial Aid, Paula Grigsby from Disabled Student Services, and Jim Huckestein of the Business Office. Jim is a real asset because he is taking master's level distance education classes from PSU and gives us the student viewpoint.
Technical Delivery
Gave report last time and hasn't met again.
Training and Assessment
Ed handed out a draft of the subcommittee's goals regarding assessment (attached). The subcommittee had one formal meeting. Ann asked about Goal #3 (Retention of distance education students will be comparable with college-wide retention success rate). She said retention rates of off-campus Math labs are not as high as traditional classes. In distance education classes like self-study labs, students have to be self-motivated. Ann cautioned that we don't want to have too high a standard that we might not be able to achieve. Paul said his figures on retention rate is only measured after the 4th week. Other studies have found the age and maturation of the student is a more important factor in classroom success than the technology. Ed said he would like to see what college-wide successor indicators are. It was suggested when a student uses voice response to drop a class we could do a short survey as to why he/she is dropping. Christina will check with Glenda to see if this is feasible. John Berg said some colleges have requirements that a student take prerequisites such as Math and Writing before they can take telecourse or Web classes. Christina said we can ask the student to demonstrate ability to take classes but we can't deny entry. There needs to be a level of tolerance if we are not trying to control entrance. Paul said one question that is always asked on Web/telecourse surveys is "Is this the first college level class you have taken?" Distance education classes are good for recruiting or way of giving a student his/her first college experience. About 70% of students taking distance education courses are female. It is a nonthreatening way to begin college. Ed said for any questions/comments regarding these surveys contact Paul. Regarding Item #2 (Students will experience comparable or greater satisfaction with distance education course as with traditional courses), the only way to compare is to have similar evaluations. Ann said for extended learning classes there is an evaluation form that is run on the scantron. They take all the evaluations from the centers and run as a group and then get data. The centers can also be done individually to compare centers. Regarding #5 (Students will achieve comparable learning outcomes from distance education courses as with traditional courses), it is important both groups have the same instructional objectives and students know what they will be tested on. Beth said both her WR123 courses (Internet and traditional) had the same outcome measures.
Other News
Multimedia lab has new furniture and a new Mac computer. The multimedia staff will be having workshops on a weekly basis. Marti asked Paul to send her the schedule so she can publicize. Peggy had a question about when we will be able to connect with campus e-mail through the Internet so it will not be a long distance call. Paul said that CCS is working on this.
Beth said last year we made some recommendations as the budget process was going on. It is important the committee reconnect regarding the budget this year also. Beth asked the deans on the committee to keep members aware of how the process is going on. Marti said she has money for training for distance education and instructional technology. However, it is earmarked for staff not equipment.
The next meeting of the whole committee will be week 6 or 7 of winter term. An e-mail will be sent to members regarding the time and place.
Goals--Assessment
1. Students will have the prerequisite skills and the ability to succeed in a distance education environment.
2. Students will experience comparable or greater satisfaction with distance education courses as with traditional courses.
3. Retention of distance education students will be comparable with college-wide retention success rates.
4. Faculty satisfaction with distance education courses will be comparable with traditional courses
5. Students will achieve comparable learning outcomes from distance education courses as with traditional courses.
Goals--Professional Development and Training
1. Faculty will enhance instructional skills utilizing computer and multimedia technology based upon the best instructional practices.