MELA Meeting Minutes 2003 - 2017

D.

Course Evaluation

1. Mrs. McCrimon led a discussion about what colleges do for course evaluation.

a. General discuss ensued about the various ways the colleges conduct evaluations of provided courses.

b. Mr. Blackburn expressed a desire to allow the evaluations completed by the Chief Academic Officers at host institutions to be used rather than duplicating evaluations for courses at each college. Mr. Smith concurred.

c. Mr. Pugh stated that the Dean’s Association will need to revisit the policy for approving courses and possibly define course competencies in the uniform course numbering system.

d. Mr. Pugh reminded association members that the nine items in the Course Detail form include the SACS requirement for what constitutes a syllabus. All DLCs should evaluate the course details for each course their college offers.

e. Mr. Pugh has asked that DLCs send a report to him indicating which away courses have been rejected by their college and why.

E.

Other

1. Mr. Pugh expressed appreciation of the Distance Learning Coordinators and support staff.

2. Mr. Pugh stated that the Clarion Ledger intends to do another article about the MSVCC. Mr. Pugh stated that as the growth of the MSVCC continues, it is having a large impact on other states in the Southeast and their efforts in distance learning. Mr. Pugh informed the association that the MSVCC had a significant influence on SACS changing the residency rule. 3. Mr. Pugh stated that the Blackboard database will be purged at the end of the summer. He asked that the association remind instructors or others who create users in Blackboard to use the standardized naming scheme: first initial, last name, and last four of their student identification number. 4. Mr. Pugh reminded association members that office hours are required for all online courses; however, there is no indication of how many hours are required to meet SACS accreditation. Janice Poole stated that PRCC includes a campus contact for away instructors. Mr. Smith reported that MGCCC responded to the providing structured access to faculty SACS requirement with proof of contact including phone number and email address in every course. Ellene McCrimon stated that she would check on the policy.

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