Math Department Meeting Notes November 5, 2015, Room 1763A

This meeting of the Math Department was hosted by Oscar DeHaro as the manager of the new HSI Grant. In addition to the full-time Math Faculty there was in attendance: Dr. Guigni, Laura Ecklin, Stephanie Burns, Martha Navarro, Chris Farmer, Dr. Bill Clarke (the grant writer) and Myra Snell (Los Medanos College, StatPath).

Oscar opened the meeting by advising that this new grant is not related in any way to the present STEM grant. The current STEM grant will expire in September and will not carry over at all.

The goal of the new grant is to increase the number of graduates or the rate of graduation over the next 5 years. This is an institutional grant that is not driven by numbers, but rather by the ability of students to graduate or get a certificate. Projects under the grant are exploratory.

The grant provides for a research period and money to hire a researcher (approximately 30% of full-time) for the first phase of the grant – to determine if NVC can achieve results through a Stats Path program.

People who transfer without a degree, statistically, do poorly and will not complete a 4- year program with a degree. This grant provides funds for 2 programs at NVC: 1) a Stats Pathway program, and; 2) a bilingual program in Biology.

Myra Snell told the group she is working with 26 colleges to develop accelerated programs. With accelerated programs, students are 4.5 times more likely to complete a degree. The achievement gap between Associates Degree students and others was eliminated through one of these programs.

In Myra’s experience there are more students being severely under-placed than over- placed in Mathematics. Statistics pathways works on streamlining the number of Math courses students need to take prior to graduation. Only 20% of students state-wide are following a STEM program. Shortening the pipeline and focusing on getting students through Statistics is a primary goal of the Stat Path.

The floor was opened for questions. Diane VanDeusen asked if this Grant was intended for the entire college. Dr. Clarke made the comment that the grant funds just the two activities for Statistics and Biology. Diane also commented that many of our students are overloaded and the question of how to make a Stats Path program work as NVC was raised and briefly discussed. The research period is provided for the purpose of determining if the program may be viable.

Lisa Nussdorfer asked about the timeline for the Grant. Oscar advised that the Grant is already approved and funded. If NVC turns down the Stat Path program, the federal government can withdraw the grant.

Shawna Bynum (via telephone) commented that NVC is stuck with the “concept” of the Stat pathway but how it is developed and run is very flexible. Dr. Guigni added that the Math Department will make the decisions on what the pathway will look like at NVC. There are a number of models already in existence to look at and there is no need to start at ground zero. Shawna added that the timeline for research and development (R&D) is 1 year.

Randy Villa asked if there will be flexibility in the program for students to transition from Stats to STEM Math. Many students, like himself, may not realize where their strengths lie until they reach a level in Math. Some may find that they want to take another route. Randy would like to see a similar pathway to Calculus/STEM Math.

David Ellingson commented that it took 6 to 7 years for Myra’s college to get to the completed program and this will ultimately take a long period to develop and assess.

Sherry Lohse commented that this will be a long-term program. If, however, we are to funnel more students into Stats it means NVC must hire more Stat teachers. This is very difficult and means we should be offering professional development to teach Stats. Oscar advised that the grant could be used for staff training including training adjuncts to teach Stats.

Dr. Clarke commented that there is only one position required which is the Project Director. That position is filled by Oscar DeHaro.

Myra Snell indicated that they used their grant money to fund a fair amount of release time.

Comments were also made about the Math Department losing 3 faculty positions next year. This needs to be considered a priority by Admin.

The grant timeline is as follows: Year 1 is for R&D. Year 2 NVC should start offering classes – there is money to hire some staff. According to the feds the term “personnel” can refer to release pay (30% only) or hiring. Grant money can also be used for recruitment efforts.

Dr. Guigni responded to inquiries saying that making Statistics a graduation requirement is a local decision and is not controlled by the state. The graduation requirement cannot go below Intermediate Algebra but it can go higher. Shawna asked all Math Faculty to read through the handouts and prepare questions to send to Shawna via email.

Meeting adjourned.