Academic Council Minutes, December 2,
2002
I.
General Agenda
--Liz Branch reported 900 spring enrollments to date, an increase of
100 over this time last year. She noted that tracking of foreign students, as mandated post
9/11 is in progress. She is
inquiring into whether there is a patch that would allow prerequisite
checking on the current student information system.
--Joe Ferguson brought up for discussion the question of training for
UHV employees in Sugar Land. The conclusion was that opportunity for training needed to be
scheduled, though perhaps more economically than on campus, given
limited attendance. It was
noted that training that responds to the immediate needs of a given
group tends to draw more interest.
- Instructional
Support Services and Distance Education
--Chari Norgard distributed data on retention compiled by Mary Ann
Rivera. The data was in
three categories. Face-to-face
courses had a drop rate of 8 % overall, with distance-education courses
in the Houston area registering 7%.
Online courses had a 16% drop rate.
These data were for the most recent semester.
Two prior semesters showed similar percentages.
Considerable discussion ensued.
It was noted that the data shows conclusively that there is no
significant difference in the retention rate for distance-education
students in F2F courses. However,
reasons for the lower retention rate in online courses would bear
further inquiry and analysis. Question
included whether there are differences between graduate and
undergraduate students, whether rates vary by type of courses, whether
the size of the class, the online experience of the student, etc.
Chari Norgard will confer with deans and others on possible
follow-up study. One possibility noted was to attach a brief survey to the
drop/add form.
Chari Norgard also distributed a student suggestion for forming
online communities of interest among UHV students.
WebCT might offer a means of doing this, while maintaining
control of user access. Council
members thought this a good idea. There was agreement to follow up, probably through the
formation of a task group to explore the possibilities.
--The Council discussed responses to recommendations and suggestions
of the Institutional Self-Study Committee.
II.
Specific Agenda
--The Council approved a student request to waive the TOEFL on the
basis on demonstrable English proficiency.
- Faculty
Development Conference Presentation Requests and Reports
--Approved a request of Dr. Jeffrey Di Leo, for a travel grant ($750)
to present at the American Comparative Literature Association 2003
Conference, in San Marco, CA, in April.
--Approved a request of Dr. Xavier Garza
Gomez, for a travel grant ($1,200) to present at The Second International
Workshop on Accounting Accruals, in Nagoya, Japan, in December.
--Approved a request of Dr. Harold Smith, for
a research grant ($1,500) to perform research in Great Britain on an
upcoming book on the British Home Front in the Second World War.
--Accepted reports on grant-funded travel
from Drs. Peggy Cloninger, Dan Hallock, and Sandy Venneman.
DNS/kw
12/02/02
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