Atlantic Cape Community College

ATLANTIC CAPE COMMUNITY COLLEGE CURRICULUM COMMITEE October 13, 2011

Minutes - Approved

Attendance: K. Bergman, B. Clark, W. Dougherty, K. Forrest, B. Heard, O. Hernandez, L. Ingram, M. Keklak, W. Lemons, D. Matt, E. Russell, L. Stein, R. McArthur, H. Peterson, G. Wilinski. Guests: L. Crawford, S. Marzelli, J. Taggart. Excused: B. Johns.

Approval of September Minutes – Approved as submitted. A member suggested a future agenda item to further discuss how Curriculum Committee meetings are conducted.

Elect Chair of General Education Subcommittee – L. Stein was nominated and unanimously approved as the 2011-2012 General Education chairperson.

Curriculum Proposals

ALPS099- Accelerated Learning Program Support, new course to be offered one time only – E. Russell This course was originally intended to be run as a pilot, however, financial aid requires that the course be approved. ALPS099 will be offered in Spring 2012 for 18 students who test into ENGL080 with placement scores among the top 50 of students placing into 080. This course will count toward a student’s GPA, however, the credits will not count toward graduation or transfer. Students will co- register for ENGL101 and ALPS099 (rather than taking two developmental courses: ENGL080 and DEVS). Students will also register for a Psychology course (PSYC135) and be permitted to register for one additional college-level course, for a total of 12 credits. APPROVED (unanimous)

COMM/ENGL220 – Creative Writing I, course change – L. Crawford Course description and goals have been changed to provide a more seamless transition to Creative Writing II and align with current trends. An additional genre, creative non-fiction, has been added to the course. This genre is already included in Creative Writing II. APPROVED (unanimous)

Computer Programming, A.A.S., program change – J. Taggart The 4-credit elective, is being replaced with CISM270, iPhone Programming, under program requirements. APPROVED (unanimous)

FYI - iPhone Programmer, new professional series – J. Taggart The courses in this series are primarily courses included in the Computer Programming degree. This type of program will help students build a resume and can be applied toward the Comp. Prog. degree. Aviation Studies, A.S., new program – J. Taggart Two changes were announced prior to discussion about the program:

1. “Air traffic control” was added to the first sentence, (“The Aviation Studies Associate in Science is focused on providing students with the first two years of a baccalaureate degree in areas of study such as airport management,....professional pilot, air traffic control,……”)

2. “MATH” was added to the alphas listed under Program Electives.

This program will provide students with a flexible, transferrable program that will allow them to tailor their coursework to the requirements of senior institutions. There are currently no bachelor-level aviation programs in NJ. There are three primary transfer institutions, including Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida and Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in Queens, NY. The goal is to develop six articulation agreements with four-year schools.

Several Committee members were concerned that the proposed General Education Math & Science requirements in the program which permits students to take math and/or science courses that don’t seem to compare to other upper-level institutional requirements. This may give students a false sense of the rigor that they may encounter during the second two years in a bachelor-level program.

Response- On the program page students are strongly encouraged to meet with their faculty advisor regularly for guidance. It is ultimately the student’s responsibility to make sure they check the requirements at the institution to which they plan to transfer. When this program was developed, the department didn’t want to prescribe too many courses because every 4-year school has different requirements.

While a seamless transfer is important, students could also go out into the workplace after earning this degree which is a reflection of Atlantic Cape. Does it stand on its own as an A.S. degree? It has a large amount of flexibility.

Response- If a student plans to go directly into the workforce upon earning this degree, they could be advised to take a heavy dose of aviation coursework under the Program Electives section.

APPROVED (6 in favor, 2 against, 1 abstention)

After the new program was approved, Dean Hernandez stated that he has seen a bias in the voting pattern over the past year and roll-call voting should be implemented. Some members of the committee were upset by this statement. After discussion, the Chair stated that he had spoken with Dr. Wexler about a request to record audio of Curriculum meetings and initiate roll-call voting in the minutes. Dr. Wexler recommended that the FAEC be consulted on the issue and B. Dougherty is awaiting their response.

Discuss Charge # 9: Review current Liberal Arts courses and identify the criteria for future Liberal Arts course proposals.

B. Dougherty suggested that a three member task force research Liberal Arts. A member had a binder from research that was conducted by the 2002 Curriculum Committee. The binder will be reviewed to determine if this charge has already been completed by a former committee. Discuss Charge # 8: Continue to review the definition and criteria for special topics course. Review the procedures for Special Topics course proposals.

Should Goals & Objectives be required for a course shell? How can you have specific goals & objectives for a shell? The Culinary Special Topics and Special Topics in News Writing courses provided general goals & objectives when their course shells were submitted and approved. A “Form E” for special topics courses was suggested. What criteria are we going to apply to special topics course shells? It may be difficult to be general and specific at the same time.

Departments are required to provide the Committee with a syllabus for each topic they offer. Specific goals & objectives are listed on the syllabi, however, these are submitted as FYI agenda items and the Committee cannot vote on the individual topics even if there are problems with the goals & objectives. Each syllabi is noted in the minutes and filed in the course file of the approved course “shell”. These syllabi are needed for students who transfer as well as possible Middle States review.

 The committee decided to research “special topics” courses at other schools to see how they are handled elsewhere.

 Examples of previously approved Atlantic Cape special topics courses will be reviewed.

Meeting adjourned