program review - cmccd.edu · the cis area is complimented by 5-6 adjunct faculty members. over the...

Copper Mountain College

2009

Program Review CIS

CIS 2009 Program Review pg 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

I. Mission and Vision

II. History

III. Program Data

IV. Goals & Plans

V. SWOT Analysis

VI. Work Plan


Introduction- CIS


MISSION STATEMENT: Copper Mountain Community College District

“Our mission is to provide access to educational opportunities for diverse desert Communities through a comprehensive curriculum and a passion for the success Of every individual student.”

VISION STATEMENT: Copper Mountain Community College District “Copper Mountain College will be the educational and cultural center of the Morongo

Basin. Through cooperative efforts with the community and within the college, we will Develop innovative curricula matched to the needs of our students to prepare them to Achieve their educational and life-long learning goals.”

I. MISSION & VISION


A special provision by the California Legislature created Copper Mountain College (CMC) as an independent community college district in July of 1999. Prior to that date, CMC functioned as a satellite campus attached to College of the Desert (COD). CIS was originally part of the Business/Hospitality Program at COD.

The CIS program provides students with computer skills to successfully prepare them for careers in an ever more competitive job market. New and exciting opportunities have also emerged as a result of advanced hardware and software technology that is becoming more commonplace in schools and businesses.

Students who plan to enter or re-enter the work force today are expected to command knowledge of Windows, the Internet, e-mail, and for many jobs, other desktop productivity and creative software tools that are integral to CIS course offerings as the program evolves.

Faculty – Full-time

CMC hired Pat Dutkiewicz in 1999 as a full-time CIS instructor. She has remained the only full-time faculty member in the program to-date.

Faculty – Adjunct

The CIS area is complimented by 5-6 adjunct faculty members. Over the past 8 years, CIS has seen a fairly high turnover of part-time instructors for a number of reasons. The orientation process for adjuncts has not been ideal, as they rarely meet or interact to discuss programs goals, student feedback, or best practices for instruction.

Recommendations for improving how adjunct faculty receive information about CMC and a process for regularly communicating with one another and full-time faculty should be discussed during the Program Review cycle, at August Flex and included in the 2008-2009 Work Plan.

Curriculum

At the point of separation in 1999, COD offered one degree and four certificate programs in CIS. Only one degree and two certificate programs were initially carried over to CMC. Subsequently, only the Office Technology certificate was approved by the Chancellor’s office of Copper Mountain Community College District (CMCCD).

II. HISTORY


Below is a list of original certificates from COD with their evolution at CMC in parentheses:

1. Office Technology (adopted for CIS in 1999) 2. Network Administration (adopted for CS; later deactivated) 3. Programming (adopted for CS) 4. Web Development (some courses brought over from COD without a

certificate option)

Existing Courses and Programs:

Next year, all course outlines of record (CORs) will be reviewed to identify the need to revise or deactivate. In order to accomplish this effort, part-time faculty will be utilized per the Districts’ agreement with the CMC Faculty Association to accept Program Review work hours as acceptable in retiring the 2006-2007 50% Law deficiency. Appendix C contains a list of all CIS courses with activation and update status prior to review.

CIS70A – Computer Business Applications for Windows

This course is designed for students with no previous computer experience. Using the Windows “graphical user interface approach,” students develop basic skills in word processing, spreadsheets, database management, and presentation software. CIS instructors have found the course to be challenging to teach due to students’ varied backgrounds with computers.

As CIS 70A is a prerequisite for degrees and certificates in CIS and CS, some students take it as a requirement. However, a majority enroll in CIS 70A because the course requires no previous computer experience and they are looking to learn basic computer skills or achieve basic proficiency in one or more of the four Microsoft Office applications.

Instructors have found that many students who enroll in CIS 70A have below average keyboarding skills. A goal for 2008-2009 will be to test students’ keyboarding skills at the beginning and end of the semester.

The purpose of this goal is two-fold. First, students gain the opportunity to enroll in Keyboarding (CIS 50) after the pre-test if they desire to improve their skills. Second, since CIS 70A is a prerequisite for Business degrees and certificates, students who plan to enroll in Business can use the tests to help measure and improve keyboarding skills – one of that program’s objectives.

CIS 70B – Windows and Internet

This course examines the fundamental concepts of the Windows operating system and the Internet. From the 2007-2009 Course Catalog: “Students learn to install, configure, and use Windows and Internet ability hardware and software for maximum productivity and efficiency.”


Instructors are somewhat limited in terms of what they can demonstrate and have students practice in our computer classrooms due to network security and the need to keep configurations consistent for other courses that use the room. In addition, CIS 70B’s course objectives from the COR are out of line with the course title and description in the course catalog. Because students often find textbook too advanced, they drop mid-semester or in some cases instructors find themselves not able to effectively cover the entire course material.

The internal Program Review committee will review and revise this course’s COR, textbook, catalog title and description as needed, to better align them with its purpose as a prerequisite for CIS and CS degrees as well as student expectations.

Curriculum Course Additions and Modifications:

Many CIS courses were added or modified during 2002-2003 during an informal Program Review. However, no formal committee meetings or follow-up goal setting and work plan development ever took place. The resulting COR updates and distance education addendums, however, were implemented that year.

The following CIS course was added:

CIS 10 – Computer Accounting

In 2002-2003, Pat Dutkiewicz collaborated with the Business program to develop a computer accounting class to appeal to students needing skills in home and small business financial management and bookkeeping. QuickBooks is accounting software that helps users record and process transactions in the major accounting systems. BUAC 66 – Introduction to Accounting I was established as a prerequisite for this course.

The following CIS course was modified (a distance education addendum, meaning the course was redeveloped for online or hybrid modality, is indicated with a symbol):

CIS 70A Computer Business Applications for Windows

CIS 70B Windows and Internet

CIS 70C Inside Your Computer

CIS 72D Excel 1

CIS 73C Access 1

CIS 76B Word 1

CIS 78B Word 2

CIS 80 Access 2


CIS 82C Web Publishing 1

CIS 82D Computer Graphics 1

CIS 83C Web Publishing 2/JavaScript

CIS 83D Computer Graphics 2

In late 2003, CIS and Business continued its collaborative efforts to develop an e-Commerce certificate that would leverage courses from both programs to provide students with practical knowledge of how to run a business as well as build a website to handle electronic financial i.e. e-Commerce transactions. Though this partnership never culminated in a certificate, most courses continue to be taught in CIS and Business (a course pending deactivation is indicated with a symbol).

Certificate: e-Commerce (never implemented)

CIS 10 Computer Accounting

CIS 60 Presentations with PowerPoint

CIS 87 Web Site Creation and Microsoft FrontPage

CIS 30 Planning and Creating an e-Business

The first of two certificates that were added to the CIS program since the partial 2002-2003 Program Review is “HTML Web Content Developer.” This certificate introduces future web designers and developers to the basics of Windows, the Internet and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), along with more advanced techniques used in web development such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and JavaScript. Students also explore their creativity and diversity by selecting an elective course in graphic design, photography, or e-Business.

Certificate: HTML Web Content Developer (implemented in 2003; one 3-unit elective is selected from courses indicated with a symbol)

CIS 70B Windows and Internet

CIS 82C Web Publishing I

CIS 83C Web Publishing II

CIS 86 Web Page Content Development

CIS 82D Graphics I


ART 31 Digital Photography

CIS 86 Planning and Creating an e-Business

The second and most recent certificate is “Dreamweaver Web Design.” Students receive design theory and hands-on practice using an industry-standard what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) website builder with expansive capabilities for creating full-featured, interactive, professional-looking websites. Future designers also learn important soft skills like communication strategies, storyboard and timeline creation, and client relations.

Certificate: Dreamweaver Web Design (implemented in 2006)

CIS 62 Beginning Dreamweaver

CIS 63 Intermediate Dreamweaver

CIS 64 Web Database Design with Dreamweaver

CIS 86 Web Page Content Development

Notable Curriculum Issues:

Because Office Technology was the only certificate approved by the Chancellor’s office after separation from COD, Pat Dutkiewicz invested a great deal of effort to establish the two new certificates in the Web Design area.

The effect of so much time and resources having been invested in the two Web certificates resulted in a lack of focus and effort in the graphic design area. Many local artists reside in the Morongo Basin region and digital technology skills are becoming increasingly necessary to display and market their products.

The CIS program expects that this growing community would respond favorably to expanded Web and Print Design course offerings and certificates. To that end, nine new COR’s for courses in the Adobe Creative Suite (CS) of digital design software applications and workflows have been submitted to Curriculum.

Rigor:

Coupled with appropriate levels of rigor monitoring and maintaining high completion rates, rigor in all courses will be established as a goal for all CIS faculty, inline with its mention as an institutional priority in the current Education Master Plan, Strategic Plan and the recent WASC recommendations.


Use the table below to record and organize program data & input received from constituents (surveys, discussions, data from COCO, meeting minutes, etc.). Cite the sources for all data/input. Attach any documentation to this form.

Instructional programs might include such data as initial enrollment, first census, number completed, number passed with grade of C or better, number of sections offered by semester, days of week and times offered. Direct instructional support programs might include such data as total number of students served broken out by type of service, hours of operation, number of faculty/staff providing a service. Indirect instructional support programs might include hours of operation, number of faculty/staff providing a service.

In the first section, list data sources. Include the relevant timeframe covered by the data, and why you are using it.

The second section is where you would list other sources of information collected/solicited for use in your Program Review. Input can be from large or small scale surveys, individual observation and feedback, etc.

Be certain to assign a reference number to each data element and, when possible, to attach records to support your data (surveys, discussions, data from COCO, minutes, etc.

Data Element/Source (e.g. enrollment/COCO)

3 year historical data for each course: Data elements include section number, course ID, course name, instructor, instructor status, days met, semester code, accounting method, day 1 enrollment, first census enrollment, a count of all possible final grades awarded including A, B, C, D, F, CR, I, MW, NC, and W; See Appendix A Source: OOI

Additional 3 year historical data for each course: Data elements include subject code, section number, course number, session ID (same as semester code), specification of Marine Base or CMC class, days met, begin date, start time, end time, building ID, first census enrollment, final enrollment, instructor, section status, instructor status (full or part time); See Appendix B

Source: OOI

Spreadsheet of all courses offered since 2000; See Appendix C

Source: OOI (Schedule of Classes archive), subsequently compiled by 2007-2008 CIS Program Review Committee

Input Element/Source (e.g. Program needs/2002 Advisory Committee Meeting identified needs)

2008-2009 Program Review needs

III. PROGRAM DATA


Three goals were established by the computer information systems faculty member for the 2008-09 academic years.

1. “Develop and package new courses in Web and Print Design into expanded certificate offerings.

Current Status: Seven certificates are currently approved in the CIS curriculum in 2 TOP codes. Nine (9) new courses were approved.

Adobe Certification Training in Illustrator Skills Certificate

1) Adobe Certification Training in Photoshop Skills Certificate 2) Adobe Certification Training in Design Skills Certificate 3) Adobe Applications Specialist Skills Certificate 4) The Dreamweaver Web Content Developer Completion Certificate 5) HTML Web Content Developer Certificate and employee preparation 6) Computer Information Systems Certificate and employment preparation

All certificates were approved and are listed in the currently published catalog. This semester (Fall 2009) 2 of the 3 classes required for the “Photoshop Skills Certificate” were offered and the 3rd class is scheduled for spring 2010. There was a waiting list for the CIS82E - Adobe Photoshop for Print and Web Design.

The first class graduated in fall 2009 from the Dreamweaver Web Content Developer Completion Certificate. Seven students started the certificate with 4 students completing the certificate requirements. One student completed the HTML Web Content Developer Certificate.

2009-10 Work-plans

Students are unaware of these new certificates as the catalog has not been distributed to faculty or the general public. The interest is high for the current class offerings and will be advertised to students currently enrolled in other CIS classes. Advertising and Internships would greatly enhance these certificates.

2. “Include keyboarding pre- and post-tests in CIS70A to aid student success across programs”

Current Status: As of fall 2009 semester the Computer Information Systems Certificate and employment preparation and Computer Information Systems Associate of Arts Degree and employment preparation were modified to remove CS 73 Introduction to Computer Science and replace it with Keyboarding. Pretest from spring 2009 classes revealed that the average typing speed of students in these programs is less than 15 WPM. To keep with the NBEA standards, of 35 WPM with 5 errors or less, this courses will enable students to be more proficient typist and more successful in the other courses in the CIS programs.

IV. GOALS & PLANS


3. “Install, configure, and bench test laptops with required software prior to the start of the fall 2008 semester.”

Current Status:

This is an ongoing project. The computers require constant updates.

There is no existing budget for maintenance or upgrades. There is no technical support to assist in this endeavor. All work must be completed by the full-time faculty in the area.

Currently there are 17 laptops that are designated for the Adobe classes and the QuickBooks class. The laptops run the college Virus software for security purposes and the software must be acquired from the IS department. Full backups of the laptops have not been accomplished due to the lack of access to appropriate hardware (network) to complete these tasks. The laptops are not allowed, by the IS department, to attach to the student network directly. The laptops use wireless connection only. This connection does not allow students to print documents or save files to the virtual student share directory.

2009-10 Work-plans

Continue to work and upgrade the laptops for class use. Acquire funds to purchase replacement parts as needed. Connect laptops to the student network to allow students to save and print class work.


Strengths

(Internal to the Program)

Full-time faculty continues to contribute time, energy and resources well beyond the contractual minimum of two hours per week.

New laptops will enable instructors to hold some CIS section meetings in “satellite” classrooms.

CIS maintains their own web server to showcase student course work

The Full-time faculty is well qualified in the disciplines

The full-time faculty member attended the annual. 25th Annual Business/CIS Faculty and Staff Development Conference Presentations "Leveraging Technology" in May 2009 (http://www.calbusinessed.org ) in Spring 2009. Conference material was shared with the Business full-time faculty, the Business Division Chair and also presented to the VP of Instruction. The conference organization issues small grants to colleges and then makes the research and curriculum available for FREE and immediate implementation by all California community colleges.

Weaknesses

(Internal to the Program)

Full-time CIS faculty member has seldom been involved in the hiring and or evaluation of adjunct faculty.

Semester Scheduling is completed by the Full-time faculty member without adequate data or input from Part-time faculty. The administration does not provided availability

Lack of formal inter-program coordination between IS, Recruiting, Marketing and CIS department, continues to impede program review and achievement of Program goals

Allocation, distribution, and accountability for Perkins funding are unclear, primarily because guidelines have not been adequately spelled out by Academic Affairs, and because the program review and comprehensive vocational planning processes remain uncoordinated.

Perkins funds were awarded to program areas without justification. CIS requested funds for two TOP codes and received no funds. (Appendix A)

COR’s still need to be revised to include SLO’s and assessments that are linked directly to program and institutional level outcomes.

Continued lack of technological resources and support in classrooms. Overhead projectors are inexpensive models and lose color when projecting. It becomes very difficult to present color and design in classes when students cannot see the material presented.

V. SWOT ANAYLSIS

http://www.calbusinessed.org/


There are not enough computers available for students on Campus. The CIS computer lab has been deleted from the schedule. This lab course was designed to permit students to complete CIS/CS class work. Unfortunately this lab classroom was open to all students in any discipline without a faculty member assigned to the class.

Insufficient Full-time faculty to cover the courses required for a student to complete a degree according to the 2 year program cycle.

Loss of an Instructional Assistant for classes has hindered the quality of education that can be provided with beginning computer classes at their maximum enrollment and room capacity. VTEA funds can be used to off set the college expense and is on the positive side of the 50% law.

Lack of data, authority and resources to impede an in-depth assessment of attrition, course rigor, and prerequisite validation.

Lack of formal inter-program coordination between IS, Advertising, Testing, Recruiting; Marketing continues to impede program review, Perkins and WASC compliance.

Allocation and distribution of VTEA/CTE funding are unclear. The program review process and vocational planning process are disconnected.

Lack of IS support to properly support and maintain classroom computers and the student network.

Lack of IS support to properly support and maintain the student web server which serves to showcase student work (i.e. Websites, Flash graphic projects).

The CIS schedule of classes for Fall 2009, Spring 2010 and Summer 2010 must be complete by December 19, 2008. With new courses and certificates added there was no way to add these to the schedule.

The ongoing lack of Administrative support necessary to implement Program goals continues to impede goal implementation.

Lack of technological resources and support in the classroom. These are critical to current educational requirements.


Opportunities

(External to the program)

In an effort to increase ties to the local business community, annual CIS Advisory Committee meetings need to be scheduled, supported, and led by the College Administration. Greater two-way communication (research) is needed with Chambers of Commerce and local business managers and owners regarding current and future Program needs.

In an effort to coordinate curriculum between the business and Computer programs these disciplines should be in the same division.

A targeted marketing plan for CIS programs and services should be proactively developed and implemented. This may include increasing the number of sections that are taught each semester. The current number of sections is limited to 13 for the one AA degree and the 8 certificate programs.

New Web and Print Design course and certificate options were added to the curriculum with the goal of increasing student interest and enrollment in CIS programs. Two of three classes that were offered in Fall 09 had sufficient enrollment. The third course had different criteria based on the fact that these courses were designed as 1.5 unit courses according to State CTE and Business/CIS state advisory committee. Had the two 1.5 unit classes been combined to a 3 unit class it too would have been successful in attaining the required enrollment.

Partnerships, internal to the College, should be established in the interest of creating student internships, job shadowing, and part-time employment. Recommendation by VTEA/CTE.(Attachment B)

New Web and Print Design work preparation courses and certificates will be able to be articulated with area high schools

The department has various guidelines that must be met that include ensuring that the VTEA standards are met as well as program review and working with the high schools on articulation. Each program is treated as a separate entity and needs to be rolled into program goals.

Threats

(External to the program)

If new courses and certificates are not implemented quickly and marketed properly, CIS could lose its window of opportunity due to rapid technology advances. New certificates have been added based on advisory committee meetings however there was no increase in the allotted number of classes that can be offered each semester. This leaves the full-time faculty in the area to decide which classes should be deleted from the 2 year cycle of classes.

The annual class scheduling process which now requires the submission of class times and locations three semesters in advance (currently through spring 2010). The schedule should reflect the times and rooms used in the prior year class schedule. If a class has been cancelled and another class is assigned that classroom then it is no longer available for the department to use in scheduling, thus losing a slot. The CIS classes must be offered in one of


the 3 computer classrooms. These limitations effectively negate our historical efforts to move to a student-demand driven scheduling

Recent Administrative decisions have raised threats to the survival of the CIS Programs at CMC, primarily due to a lack of adequate, advance, data-driven analysis and communication between the Administration and Program Faculty.

Division chairs were introduced into the organizational structure to assist management in program review and scheduling. At Department meetings other items are addressed that impact the CIS area. Faculty members are not consulted. The division chair is unfamiliar with the CIS program and it is the opinion that there is no intent to understand the program, courses or sequence of courses in the various department certificates. And there fore when they speak on behalf of the CIS department. All correspondence concerning VTEA/Perkins funds was not addressed to Faculty but through the division chair.

New Courses and local certificates were added to the department’s available courses. Courses were written to comply with the CTE and BESAC, the state advisory board, to offer shorter classes i.e. 1 to 1 ½ units. The new courses in the Dreamweaver certificate were written in this manner however with the new requirement the number of students required for vocational programs (n=10). This information was used to recruit students into this certificate however the n=10 formula is incorrect for short term classes. The Office of Instruction articulated this requirement however when classes were cancelled I was informed that because the classes were only 1/5 units the number of students had been raised to n=17. At least 8 students had enrolled in the fall class only to be told the required number of students needed for the class to go was 17. Numerous emails were received from students because of this administrative decision.

The administration created new guidelines for classes over the summer of 2009 which mandated course section limitations (currently n = 13 down from n = approximately 23 historically); class cancellation policies (two weeks before the semester begins); minimum vocational class sizes (n = 10); and class scheduling one year in advance.

The current restrictions on the number of class sections (n = 13) is non-negotiable, as well as the number of students required for vocational programs (n=10). This negates the possibility of offering the new certificates without impacting the other degree and certificates. Thus there cannot be any expansion of CIS course offerings. This also restricts vocational elective offerings to a total of four course sections per academic year, not enough to satisfy existing vocational Degree and Certificate requirements.

The early class cancellation policies do not appear to be based on an analysis of historical enrollment patterns by course, which can vary widely, but based on historical class enrollments from fall 2006 through fall 2008 the ability of


all Business majors to maintain continuous enrollment and to graduate in a timely fashion is now in jeopardy.

Based on a study of the most recently available historical enrollment data, the change in minimum class sizes (n = 10 for vocational, and n = 17 for transfer) directly threatens Economics courses, if they are to be considered as social science (transfer classes). Had these limits been imposed over the past three years 6/16 sections of Econ 1 would have been cancelled along with 5/12 sections of Econ 2. A total of 125 students would have been impacted by these cancellations, and based the absence of historical data, and on our historical classroom polling of students, it should not be assumed that sufficient alternative courses or Econ sections could have been substituted on a timely basis.

Accounting courses represent core requirements for all business Programs and an analysis of the most recent enrollment data show three-year average enrollments as follows: BUAC 66, n = 19; BUAC 1, n = 10; BUAC 2, n = 11.5; and BUAC 6, n = 9.3 (with only one exception, all averages are above the new class size limits). However, had the current policies on minimum class sizes been in effect semester by semester over the past three years 3/9 of the BUAC 1 sections that were allowed to run would have been cancelled leaving one semester with zero course offerings and two other semesters with exclusively one day or one night course section? BUAC 2 would have lost the only section offered in 1/6 semesters and BUAC 6 would have lost the only section offered in 3/6 semesters.

2009-10 WORK PLAN

Goal Resources

Required

Actions/Steps Measurement Person

Responsible

Target

Completion Date

Evaluation

CIS faculty attends at least one conference relevant to the teaching discipline and/or online teaching improvement at least once a year at college expense.

Funding, substitute Instructor, Educational Services and Business office coordination

Faculty seek out professional development opportunities and submit request for class coverage and travel form

Proof of Attendance

Faculty, Budget development committee and Educational Services

Annually End of each academic year

Develop measurable course and program Student Learning Outcomes (SLO’s) and assess them during the Program Review cycle

Faculty time, Establish timelines and agendas for faculty to complete this task

Completion of Program Matrices for AA and certificate programs

Full-Time faculty, curriculum and CTRAC

June 2010 By the end of the school year (June 2010) this task will be considered complete if the course and outcomes are fully integrated across the curriculum

Maintain the 17 Laptops computers for the Business and CIS programs

Full-time faculty

Acquire campus virus software to maintain. Install program software. Maintain all computers in working condition for classes.

Computers are available to each student in Business and CIS classes.

Full-Time faculty, Educational Services, IS department

Ongoing each AY

End of each academic year

Maintain and update the CIS web server to showcase

Coordination with IS

Create web pages with pertinent class

Site created and accessible to the

Full-time faculty, Ed Services,

June 2010 Site contains updated student work and is

VI. WORK PLAN


student work. Establish security to the FTP and server.

department to access Student web server, Faculty time, Educational Services

information and upload student work. Update site as needed each semester

community at large

marketing and IS department

accessible to the community at large.

Advertise CIS certificates and degree to the general public

Marketing department, counselors, and Full-time faculty,

Administrative leadership in coordinating this activity

Proof of marketing material and distribution

Administrative leadership in coordinating this activity

June 2010

Create a CIS program site that includes programs, classes, faculty contacts, class book list, and reference sites.

Coordination with IS department to access Student web server, Faculty time, Educational Services staff

Create web pages with pertinent Department information and upload pages to student server. Update pages as needed

Site created and accessible to the community at large

Full-time faculty, Ed Services and IS department

June 2010 Site contains updated information and is accessible to the community at large

Retention Rate For 2008 Fall Term

Computer Information Systems (0702)

Locations Total Enrollments Retained Retention Rate (%)

CMC 149 124 83.22

Feather River

Lassen 33 29 87.88

Lake Tahoe 258 253 98.06

Palo Verde 125 108 86.40

Siskiyous 76 64 84.21


Success Rate For 2008 Fall Term

Computer Information Systems (0702)

Locations Total Enrollments Succeeded Success Rate (%)

CMC 149 109 73.15

Feather River

Lassen 33 22 66.67

Lake Tahoe 258 211 81.78

Palo Verde 125 98 78.40

Siskiyous 76 54 71.05

program review - cmccd.edu · the cis area is complimented by 5-6 adjunct faculty members. over the...

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