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To

The KVCC Board of Trustees Dr. Dale B. Lake

Dean Schlack Administration, Faculty, and Friends

SABBITICAL LEAVE REPORT of

Marlin Gerber

Granted in the Fall of

1979

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I am happy to report that the leave granted to me by the board of trustees was very rewarding and fulfilling. I wish to thank the board, Dr. Lake, Dean Schlack, Dean McWilliams and all those making this experience possible.

POST-SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS VISITED

Michigan

Northwestern Michigan College Kellogg Community College Jackson Community College

School craft Community College

Pennsylvania

Community College of Delaware County Community College of Allegheny County, Boyce Campus

Ohio

Columbus Technical Institute Sinclair Community College (walk through only)

Maryland

Frederick Community College

Illinois

North Central College (walk through only)

Benefits for me and KVCC were the many personal contacts and dialogs I had with faculty, deans, and service personnel of the above institutions visited. To these people I am indebted and indeed grateful for their graciousness and hospitality. As I traveled, I collected pamphlets, course outlines, student handbooks, co-op materials etc. which have been placed on open reserve in KVCC'S Learning Resource Center. (exhibit 1)

In my discussions with school personnel, I sometimes used as my focal point, several questionnaires. (exhibit 2) It may be helpful for clarification, but not necessary for the reader to refer to the question numbers in the left margin of the copy of this section of the report.

PROGRAM PROMOTION AND PLACEMENT NOTES

1) A typical reply to the question "for what specific job position do you train students?" was "paper shufflers, para-professionals," or "stop in at the guidance office for a pamphlet," which was also vague. Little was learned in this area.

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2) Refresher courses in math, reading and writing were offered by most colleges; some for credit; some were non-credit.

3) An interesting fact I found in some of the schools visited, was the extent to which the trustees aided the communication process between: a) the college and community representatives, and b) between the full-time and part-time instructors. Monies were made available to dine and dialog with advisory committees, school superintendents and high school teachers. At these dinners of luncheon meetings, attractive folders were distributed with reports, listings of Community College services etc. which they could take with them. In the latter case, full-time instructors were often given budgets to invite part-time instructors to lunch and interact on a one-to-one basis regarding the classes or programs they were involved with.

Superintendents are dined by Boyce Community College and Delaware County Community College in Pennsylvania. Lunches are provided by Jackson Community College to their area high school teachers. Kel- logg Community College hosts their Advisory Board for a dinner meet-ing with faculty representatives once per year. Also significant to note is the fact that KCC provides a budget for full-time instructors to invite part-time instructors to lunch, thus encouraging course and program dialog which all too often does not occur. Their instruc- tors endorse this practice in the interest of efficiency and program coordination.

Boyce Community College in Pennsylvania sponsored 33, one-half hour TV shows last year and 36 different radio news releases. Most Com-munity College counselors do extensive high school visits and some host high school counselors. Northwest Michigan College sends peri-odic mailings to area businesses.

Also, the admission people at Boyce Community College in Pennsylvania held a workshop entitled "Self-Awareness: The Mature Years" on cam-pus to inform the community about testing, career advising, and degree and certificate programs available for adult re-entry students. The format consisted of an instructional approach in the theory of careers and techniques of a career search were presented. Interest and person- ality tests were administered followed by a thorough review of their meaning for each indivlual. A film portraying student life at Boyce concluded the workshop. 1(THE BOYCE REPORT, 1978-79)

4) Numerous reports, student handbooks, bulletins etc. relating to promotion are presently on reserve in the KVCC Learning Resource Center.

5) Students can generally earn from 6 to 9 credits in co-op on alternating or parallel plans. Instructors make from one to three on-site visits per term. I again refer the reader to resources in the KVCC reserve files. In particular, may I point out, is an excellent co-op workbook from Frederick Community College instructing students in the correct writing of objectives for their co-op experience.

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6) Competencies suggested as "highest" in helping students be more effec- tive on the job station are listed here in no particular order.

initiative competency in subject area attitude (2) spelling attendance grammar being a team worker neatness in dressing follow instructions ability to get along with others

7) No new significant information was found in job placement offices.

INNOVATIVE TEACHING NOTES

1) Seventy-five percent of the schools visited assist students in course and program selection primarily through counselors as opposed to fac-ulty. This is in addition to standard program and course guided pro-vided. Most institutions also provide a complete transfer counseling service. Several community colleges staff full-time, four-year repre-sentatives on campus.

2) Generally, Community Colleges do not require entrance tests from enter-ing students. However, most recommend one of many reading, writing, or math exams, a departmental or college placement exam, or simply a high school transcript showing at least a C or C+ grade average in English.

3) Business students are not generally "tracked" with the exception of shorthand, typing, and occasionally data processing.

Credit for Prior Learning experience was actually encouraged in only two of the seven schools questioned. Carol Hannon of Jackson Community College developed "A Portfolio on Assessment of Experiential Learning". (See Learning Resource Center file) She is a member of the Adult re-entry Office which offers services and support to adults who are re-entering school.

Delaware County Community College assesses work experience and grants credit through a program called Learning Experience Assessment Program (LEAP). Instructor evaluation is the major determiner of credit for which remuneration is made. Students pay 1/3 of full tuition for as-sessment.

Procedures for testing out of courses varied with the number of inquiries made. Faculty attitudes ranged from "disinterested" to empathetic. However, in my opinion, the majority of institutions implement equitable methods for students to test out.

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Responses from the six inquiries made regarding innovative use of AVT facilities for basic instruction is reflected in the following table.

** Macomb Jackson N.W. Mich. Kellogg Frederick Schoolcraft

Typing n y y y n y

Bus. Machines n y n y n n Accounting n n n n* n n Shorthand n n n y n n

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AVT can provide the "how" but not the "why". Instructors are definitely needed to bring in practical applications.

** Quote "AVT instruction is o.k. for the "A" student but the others need classes--they need competition and they need rein-forcement." Another quote from Macomb, "I don't believe in it".

Most schools do, however, provide practice equipment and rooms for skillbuilding in the above areas. With but few exceptions, competent student aids staff these practice labs.

Lab size and number of work stations vary with student population. Scheduled hours begin at 8 a.m. and run till 9 p.m. with a closing usually over the dinner hour. Saturday morning hours were usually scheduled. Media Systems was a popular software supplier.

All schools visited provide something of an equivalent to KVCC's learn-ing lab. From my observation, no school has a testing service organized as efficiently as KVCC. English departments sponsored the reading and writing labs, the math department sponsored the math lab, the psych department sponsored theirs etc. A common problem among schools was adequate budget to hire sufficient student tutors. Volunteers filled in this gap in some instances.

Equipment and media I found incorporated or adjacent to learning labs

include 30 stenographic machines students may check out at Kellogg, 21 key punch machines and numberous typewriters at Macomb, and the standard video tapes, cassettes, slide sets, etc.

I felt Macomb was one of the better endowed learning centers boast-ing 3 full-time faculty, two full-time clerks, 1 full-time tester and according to Mr. Christianson, a $150,000 budget. Surprisingly, at the time of my visit, there were 250 students enrolled in the tuition-free, non-crediting reading program. Most of the 40 controlled readers were in use and the READING TECHNICS BOOK I (Mentor, Ohio) seems to be very popular among students.

Three years ago the Schoolcraft Community College developed a program to assist students with reading difficulties. According to Mr. Lawrence Ordowski, the voluntary program offers students these classes:

1) Basic Reading Problems: helps students learn the fundamentals of word attack and phonics (3 non-transferable hours)

2) Reading and Study Skills: helps students with comprehension, vocabulary, and attitude improvement skills (4 non-transferable hours)

3) Speed Reading: helps cut study time in half or more (2 non-trans-ferable credit hours)

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According to School craft instructor Dumant F. Nixon quoted in the CAMPUS GLOBE (Nov. 12, 1979), . . . the retention rate of 85% in the program is fantastic compared with 50% and higher in most community college remedial programs.

To my amazement, only 3 of 8 schools questioned, used Competency Based Education as KVCC faculty understand it. Several faculty questioned my meaning of performance objectives. Many Michigan fac-ulty didn't know what I was referring to when asked about CBE cert-ification. I had the opportunity to observe classes in law, business principles, co-op, and accounting.

Aside from the usual media, I came across "Profile of a Manager" from National Ed. Media, "Focus on Organization," a BNA Communication pro-duction, "The Time Game," with study objectives, and a series of five "American Enterprise" films sponsored by Phillips Petroleum. Our dept. has already used a couple of the latter and rank them very effective. I also have lists of other films. Numberous syllabi and course outlines in the area of business, secretarial, and data processing are on file in the Learning Resource Center.

North Central College in Naperville, ILL offers their students classes presented by the Illinois Institute of Technology via a TV-telephone delivery system. This system provides lectures and dialog between the instructor and students in remote sites and a courier service for homework assignments, book purchases, exams, is provided. The Columbus (Ohio) Technology Institute also provides an alternative delivery system to students on and off campus through television. Students enrolled in these courses have consultation privileges with instructors and all other services normally provided to "conventional" students.

Student awareness is a strategy I believe makes the Community College in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, one of the fastest growing institu-tions I visited. It is the largest system in that state, has four campuses, 200 off-campus sites, and offers 190 programs. Despite its size, however, they are experiencing a common Community College problem--student retention. In response to this problem, the Boyce Campus administration is spearheading an effort to arrive at a "system of re-sponse" for students that will help assure their retention as students. According to a memo I obtained, ". . . this system deals primarily with faculty and their interaction with students through their own mechanisms and with the support system and activities on the campus." Workshops including administration and faculty, were set up dealing with the following topics:

1) Student interaction and involvement.

2) Classroom environment and management.

3) Advisement.

4) The first three weeks.

5) Help! (dealing with elements of learning resources and physical environment assistance.)

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A copy of this has been given to KVCC's Task Committee on retention and one copy is in the Learning Resource Center.

DISADVANTAGED AND PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED NOTES

1) The disadvantaged student is so classified by reason of low GPA, being out of school and losing touch with study skills, coming from a special background, being neurologically impaired, being referred by an instruc-tor, etc. Physically handicapped students on the other hand, have "phys-ical impairments" of one type or another.

2) Services offered to the above students at most Community Colleges include study skills, notetaking, time management, test preparation, minimizing test anxiety, etc. To receive more extensive services, students are often required to be enrolled in a technical program and/ or meet stringent tests of classification. These services might pro-vide the student with a student reader, notetaker, and interpreter, mobility and orientation training, Braille material, special and adap-tive equipment. Blind students at the Columbus Technical Institute en-rolled in the computer programming courses receive Braille printouts of their programs.

3) Financial aids are, for the most part, universal and they include such categories as Basic Educational Opportunity Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, National Student Loan, Law Enforcement Education Program, National Student Loan, Guaranteed Student Loan, Nursing Student Loan, emergency loans, local, and business scholarships, to name the most common.

WORD PROCESSING NOTES

Word processing in most community colleges I visited seems to be just emer-ging. Dirilde Shankie, however, of Macomb Community College, seems to have a solid program running. The equipment consists of a Xerox 800 dual tape, a Wang CRT System 20 (she recommends 2 CRT's) an IBM Mag Card II and Mag I, and an AB Dick Magna I. The physical layout of the instructional facility is very attractively appointed with splashes of color, drapes, carpet, plants, magazine display shelves, and instructional charts. The College's support of this program is further indicated by the space allocated to the program, the modular furniture, and results in a high number of students consistently being enrolled.

A first year program is being taught a Northwestern Michigan College by Jacky Tompkins, who I was not able to reach. She operates her own con-sulting business in Traverse City and develops her own instructional mat-erials for their Mag Card A.

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Psychic Renewal Activities

This sabbatical has been a beautiful and healthy experience for me. It has been the longest duration in twenty years when the pressure of vocation-al commitment was greatly reduced. In addition to the stated obligations of my sabbatical contract, there was time for acquainting myself with busi-nesses such as Aero Motive in Kalamazoo, Hershey's Chocolate World and Sperry - New Holland in Pennsylvania, Auction Houses in West Virginia, and even a visit to Boskydel Vineyards, a small proprietorship owned and oper-ated by Bernie Rink, Director of Northwest Michigan College's LRC. In ad-dition, considerable time was spent in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. In Washington I toured the U.S. Mint, the Space and Air Museum, sat in on a session of the U.S. Senate, and visited numerous other governmental agen-cies and museums where I picked up resources for my classes. Sometimes it was the small, off-beat activities I engaged in that I cherish most during this experience: Chatting with the fishermen in the docks of Washington where I bought crab to steam and enjoy, observing people, and feeding the pigeons.

There were professional renewal hours spent in the Michigan Consumer Ed-ucators' Conference, the Nader Lecture, several Chamber of Commerce break-fasts, a seminar for Students in Free Enterprise. Additional self-develop-ment activities included; Bible studies, marriage encounters, and sports activities.

I had the satisfaction of leisurely picking fruit and pursuing the art of wine making, sawing firewood, spending more time with my family, and visit-ing friends--some of which I hadn't seen in twenty years.

Exhibit 1

ASSEMBLED MATERIALS

The following materials have been placed on reserve in the KVCC LRC.

GENERAL COLLEGE MATERIAL:

COLUMBUS TECHNICAL INSTITUTE - an attractive 81/2 x 11 mailer for promotional purposes.

A STUDENT PLANNING CALENDAR

KELLOGG COMMUNITY COLLEGE MAGAZINE

THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY REPORTS (in black folder)

COLLEGE CATALOGS AND CLASS SCHEDULES (12)

COLLEGE NEWSPAPERS (2)

DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATION

Pamphlets: HOW TO PREPARE SUCCESSFULLY FOR EXAMINATIONS HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR TEXTBOOKS HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR READING SKILLS HOW TO BUILD YOUR WRITING SKILLS

Services for Handicapped Students Developmental Education at Jackson Community College Career Planning Occupational Preparation Program Frederick's Tutorial Program

STUDENT HANDBOOKS (2)

COOP EDUCATION:

Need Help? - Co-op, What? Why? Who? When? Cooperative Education COOPERATIVE EDUCATION WORKBOOK (excellent) A folder including STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES, MINI JOB REPORTS

Application forms and general information.

JOB PLACEMENT MATERIALS

Including the School craft Job Placement Packet and THE GRADUATE, A handbook for leaving school.

Exhibit 1 (continued) ASSEMBLED MATERIALS Page 2

SECRETARIAL:

Assorted pamphlets promoting the programs COURSE SYLLABUS FOR COORDINATED OFFICE EXPERIENCE GUIDELINE SCHEDULES for shorthand, speedbuilding and touch shorthand SYLLABI FOR: Secretarial + rocedures

Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced shorthand Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced touch shorthand.

BUSINESS:

Promotional pamphlets for Data Processing, Retailing, Marketing, Small Business Management, Accounting, Business, and Real Estate.

REAL ESTATE & MARKETING TECHNOLOGY Course Requirements

TEXTBOOK LISTINGS (2 partial)

SYLLABI: Introduction to Business, Personal Investing, Basic and Intermediate Accounting, Business Correspondence.

DATA PROCESSING FACT SHEET: Provides an overview of the DP field including characteristics of people who work in the field, types of jobs, training requirements, places of employment, and information on salaries and employment outlook. (excellent - green)

Exhibit 2 Data Collection Schedule - M. Gerber Activity: PROGRAM PROMOTION TECHNIQUES AND PLACEMENT PROCEDURES

College Visited:

Date of Visit:

Contact Person(s)

Positions:

1. For what specific job positions is your institution training students to obtain in the area of business?

2. What particular REFRESHER SKILL COURSES are you offering in the area of business?

3. What PROMOTION TOOLS do you find effective in reaching potential students?

Leaflets? Newspapers? Radio? TV? Class Schedules?

Catalogues? H.S. Visits? Speakers? Bringing in H.S. Counselors?

Other?

4. Would you have available samples of above?

5. Do you offer JOB INTERNSHIPS OF COOP PROGRAMS FOR CREDIT?

A. Who Supervises these people?

B. Up to how many credits may they earn?

C. Do students work and attend classes at the same time?

A student must work a min. of hrs. per week and attend

class a min. of hrs. per week for credits.

D. Materials found effective for coop/Intern Classes:

6. Which job COMPETENCIES would you rate the highest in helping students be more effective on the job station?

Exhibit 2 (continued) PROGRAM PROMOTION AND PLACEMENT PROCEDURES Page 2

7. Do you offer a JOB PLACEMENT SERVICE?

Directors Name?

A. Where do you place your emphasis?

a. CAREER - After the degree is completed?

b. Part time - While the student is getting his education?

B. Job Areas?

a. Which Programs have the most jobs?

b. Do you have programs where placing students is difficult?

If yes, what is your philosophy on this?

8. Is there any evaluative information available about the job placement program?

Exhibit 2 Data Collection Schedule - M. Gerber Activity: EFFECTIVE INNOVATION TEACHING STRATEGIES

College Visited:

Visitation Date:

Contact Person(s): Positions:

Questions/Observations Area:

1. Are students assisted in course selection?

Faculty? Counselors? College Curriculum Guides?

Transfer Counseling?

2. Do you have required entrance testing? If yes, types of tests.

3. Are students tracked in the business curriculum?

A. What arrangements are made for PRIOR LEARNING?

B. What arrangements are made for TESTING OUT?

4. Do you have an AVT Lab for basic instructional purposes?

Typing?

Bus Machines? Accounting? Shorthand?

A. Approximate size of lab/labs?

B. Number of work stations?

C. Number hours scheduled in a week?

D. Name of courses taught in the AVT Lab?

E. Names of other courses students may use the lab for?

F. Materials used in AVT?

G. How many people staffing the AVT Lab?

5. Is there a SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING/INSTRUCTIONAL LAB to assist students in basic READING, WRITING, AND MATH SKILLS?

COURSE TUTORING PROGRAM?

Exhibit 2 (continued) EFFECTIVE INNOVATION TEACHING STRATEGIES Page 2

6. Percentage to what extent are you teaching by Objectives in your business courses?

7. What are the basic strategies applied in your classes?

Instructor lectures Independent Projects IE

Guest Lectures Internships (Credit)

Class Discussion Quizzes/Tests

Class Projects Homework IE

Business Visits Research Reports

Films/Video?

8. Have you found any learning packages, media, films, etc. especially helpful in stimulating learning?

9. Have you found any strategies especially helpful?

10. Would you have any syllabi and course evaluation, course objectives, available for me to look over?

Exhibit 2 Data Collection Schedule - M. Gerber Activity: DISADVANTAGED/PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED

College Visited:

Visitation Date:

Contact Person(s): Positions:

1. What types of students do you serve?

2. What are the primary services offered to these students?

3. What types of Financial aid is available?