Present: Ann Adams, Marti Ayers, Lynn Bain, Jim Bell, Beth Camp, Russ Gregory, John Griffith, Elizabeth Lundy, Gary Ruppert, Ron Sharman, Ann Smart, Sharyn Smith, Paul Snyder, Diane Watson, Ed Watson, Peggy Weems, Chuck Wert

Committee Reports:

1. Distance Education & Curriculum - Gary Ruppert

Gary reported his committee has developed a matrix to help faculty develop on-line classes and to assist evaluating courses to host from other community colleges. The committee is also working on developing a manual which will help faculty put together distance education classes. There was a discussion about not having access to other college's classes to evaluate their instructional quality. Chuck said denying access is also a design issue to protect use of copyrighted material by having it password protected. Gary felt there should at least be enough information up front before you have to give the password for a school to make a determination as to whether to host a course. The student would also need to preview a course to make a decision whether to take the class or not. Paul said Janet Scott from Chemeketa will meet with the Curriculum Subcommittee to help access Chemeketa courses. Beth suggested the whole committee be alerted as to when that will be and invite other staff. Ed asked whether this would be pertaining to technical or substance issues. Gary said it would cover a wide range: assignments, grading criteria and syllabus. Paul said it is good to have self-screening so students can find out whether a course is for them, to determine if they have an adequate computer, and if they have the necessary skills. Beth said many times she hands out syllabi to students before classes start so they can decide whether or not to take the class. The OCCDEC Web site doesn't have complete information on distance education classes. You have to go to Chemeketa's site. Also, the course outlines given are standard ones, not specialized for distance education.

2. Marketing & Needs Assessment - Marlene Propst

No report was given.

3. Student Support - Diane Watson

All Student Services Web pages have been updated. With the Financial Aid one, a student can get application for financial aid and scholarship information on-line. Diane handed out issues, concerns and recommendations from the DLC Subcommittee on Disability Services. Statewide issues include types of equipment needed for disabled students, legal issues, statewide support for things such as software on loan, staff to keep updated, and centralized technical support. It would be very expensive for schools to acquire and maintain this equipment for their libraries, career centers and labs.

Lynn Bain said they are developing a new student orientation Web page. A brochure entitled "Distance Education Information Form," which is now at Marketing & Publications, will be mailed to anyone who calls regarding distance education. This can be used at high school counselor sessions. It will also be put on the Internet and everyone will be informed when that is done. The committee was encouraged to look at all Student Services Web pages. Diane thanked Paul Snyder and Bryan Mayjor for all their help.

4. Technical Delivery - Paul Snyder

About $90,400 out of the possible $140-150,000 from the technology fee has been spent on equipment. The expenditures are right on track and safely within the projected amounts. Funds were used to purchase computers, upgrade A/V equipment, multimedia stations, and expand the Internet server (due to more use than expected). Equipment will be needed in the new conferencing center to handle presentations. The TBD Center will do training classes in the new conference rooms. Prioritization of next year's capital request decision packages will be done by the Technical Delivery Subcommittee which will include Patsy Chester. Rick Barker and Paul have a long-range master plan for purchasing new equipment and replacing old equipment. If anyone on the committee has a request, Paul would be glad to share the master plan. The final version of COLTS was shown Friday night at the Online 99 conference. It was better than expected. LBCC will be buying COLTS III. It may be available for a training session on Thursday. It will be useful for faculty in creating and teaching Web classes and for the TBD Center for their short term training. We can use parts of it also such as the testing piece. One of the advantages of COLTS is you don't need to know HTML. The developers of COLTS are working with David Sullivan to do a smaller Web version of his grade book.

5. Training & Staff Development - Marti Ayers

Marti has been working with her advisory committee to determine what the training needs of the college are. She said it sounds like one of the next training sessions should be on COLTS. She said someone asked Jon Carnahan at the conference if the college was working with Microsoft. Actually it is David Sullivan's "College Office" program and we are Beta testing it with him. She felt that indicated that the committee needs to keep the President informed of these activities.

Report from "Online 99"

The consensus was the conference was very worthwhile. In the round table discussions there was a lot of great ideas about putting classes on the Web. Faculty level of awareness was raised. John Griffith said it was pointed out that the best way to develop a distance ed course was to supplement an existing class with the Internet and then gradually build up to a full-blown Web class. There was no resolution regarding distance ed science labs. There was a discussion about the philosophy of having labs and what a student should get out of a lab. No one doing labs online was at the conference. Marti felt the discussion on statewide problems was understandable to a nontechy practitioner. She heard comments that everyone from LBCC seemed enthusiastic and willing to share what they had learned. Lynn said it was the team effort and technical and administrative support LBCC has compared to other Oregon community colleges that have made the difference. Many faculty from other schools have the feeling they are developing classes on their own. Ann Smart said this is a direct result of decisions this committee made and the budget packages the committee sought. Paul complimented Beth and Marti on their conference presentation. LBCC keeps speaking out about distance ed while others are reacting to the barriers. Beth said barriers are a reality, that some projects do not do well, but LBCC has a culture of expectation, that it can be done. The conference was paid for by the E-Board. At the beginning of the conference there was goal setting, identifying a vision for statewide participation. This was in sharp contrast to the "OSU Statewide" conference Russ and Beth went to. OSU is taking a more philosophical approach. The OSU President said distance education should not cross state borders, that "this is Oregon." In their marketing they are moving away from traditional classes. OSU is in a consortium with Treasure Valley and the University of Idaho which should probably go across state boundaries.

Reaction to Article "Digital Classrooms: Some Myths about Developing New Educational Programs using the Internet"

Useful in giving the primary characteristics of faculty and students using the Internet. However, the article excluded a large number of learners by focusing only on higher ed students. Some felt the article was not relevant and that distance learning may not be the ideal method for all students. The challenge is to keep improving distance learning. The retention rate is quite a bit lower, possibly due to poor design or the level of the students. Ann said that the self-study off-campus classes show that many students need the motivation and time management skills necessary to be successful. Elizabeth said there is also a workload issue. With the Web there is a lot of interaction between students and instructor. These classes can be very exhausting, with sometimes 30 e-mails waiting for the instructor's response. Paul said one myth was created by the author by implying that every e-mail message must be answered by the teacher. There are other options such as: threaded discussion (Web Board), group interaction, or giving students more control and responsibility for e-mail.

Ann Smart said LBCC paid for a teleconference entitled "Faculty Pay in Distance Education" which aired on January 28. Parts of the teleconference were shown at the conference. It can be viewed on Tuesday, February 16 at noon in Room T-117E, or the videotape can be checked out from Media Services by contacting Cindy Hogan at extension 4672.

The next meeting will be during week 3 of spring term.