Minutes of CAS Meeting – October 25, 2006

 

Call to Order                                        Mary Lynn Rampolla

 

Approval of Minutes

Sue Blanshan requested a change to Page 3 of the minutes from the September meeting, regarding the mini-term.  She provided a written correction to the minutes.

 

TAPS Update                                      Laura Irwin  and Barbara McCrabb

Barbara McCrabb provided an update concerning the success of the TAPS program.  Approximately 90 students have participated in one or more events.  There have been 32 programs so far.  Events include the Study Halls in the library 7-10 pm Mondays, and a new one on Thursday 3-5 pm.  There are tutors from 7-9 pm in Math, Science, Spanish and English.  On Thursdays there are Math/Science tutors and a Writing Center tutor.

 

Barbara said that in TAPS programming, they take an holistic approach, with a focus on skill building and advising.  They also look at personal development, including relationships, health/stress management, civic engagement, and poverty/making ends meet.  Some programs have been on Trinity traditions such as the honor code, first year medal, and junior ring ceremony.  Programs are aimed at first-year students but upperclassmen are welcome.    The following suggestions were made to faculty to make use of TAPS resources more fully:

 

  1. Faculty awareness of TAPS calendar.
  2. Information to TAPS tutors about particular assignments for which students might require help.  Send email to Kay, Barbara, or Laura with this information.
  3. Suggestions for academic or personal content.  If there are issues that emerge with regard to abilities or lack of abilities in particular areas, the TAPS program can tailor programs to suit the needs.
  4. If there are individual  student issues to address, information regarding those is helpful.

 

The TAPS directors are working on data collection and evaluation of the program. There are sign-in sheets for each program that require year, type of student, etc.  There are also evaluations for student response that include 8-9 questions regarding the topic and the students’ satisfaction with the program and whether it was accurately described in the announcement and engaging. They also evaluate the presenter and ask the students if they enjoyed the experience and if it was helpful. 

 

Discussion/questions included the following:

 

  1. The data about TAPS may help with curricular reform.
  2. As we look to curricular reform – how does TAPS support it?
  3. Sr. Mary Hayes indicated that communication about TAPS programs is essential. She wanted to know the connection between TAPS and the writing center and other student support programs.  She indicated that faculty members need more communication about available TAPS programs. 
  4. Response was that the TAPS posters should ideally have weekly updates, but this is not always happening.
  5. More discussion focused on the need for faculty to have access to student residence hall room phone numbers so we can contact them.
  6. Barbara is looking into whether or not phone numbers travel with students in the residence halls.
  7. Shelley Tomkin requested that TAPS be on all-college emails.
  8. Barbara will try to put together a weekly calendar for faculty and make sure posters and websites are updated.  Other faculty members think that students are not looking at the web or their Trinity email.
  9. Minerva San Juan mentioned that most students forward their Trinity email to another account, so emails may be effective.
  10. Kathy McGinnis indicated there is a need for phone/address information to be updated and accessible to the faculty. Perhaps there needs to be a meeting with the Registrar, the Dean of Students and the Business side to clarify these issues.  The fact that phone student phone numbers are not readily available to faculty members is a big issue.

 

Curriculum Reform                                           Dean Anne Henderson, Kathy McGinnis

Anne Henderson related a study that concerns D.C. students’ college success.  Unfortunately, the study gives a bleak picture of graduation rates and includes flawed methodology.  However, for D.C. residents Trinity outperforms its cohorts.   Anne mentioned the need to bring together successes to integrate them into a whole.  She circulated some documents under the working title “Pathways to Excellence” as a framework for discussion. She invited the faculty to replace the working title with a more meaningful title.

 

Anne outlined the curriculum reform guidelines in the documents and invited discussion.

 

  1. It was mentioned that Logic/Argument/Critical Reasoning are important and should be included in the proficiency requirements. Minerva indicated they used to be required. 
  2. Lori Shpunt made some points concerning the need for attention to financial problems for students if they must retake a class to achieve mastery. 
  3. Anne mentioned the possibility of a “boot camp” type of mini term course  in order to bring students’ skill levels up if they are unable to achieve mastery of basic skills in the first semester.
  4. Sue Blanshan mentioned that although the mini-term is designed as an intense enrichment experience for strong students, there is room for stretching the concept to consider using the Winter or May mini-term for skill development.
  5. There was some discussion about the NSSE survey and its validity with regard to being representative of the entire student population. Various people offered differing points of view.
  6. Wendy mentioned that students feel overwhelmed by the workload in the first year.  They sometimes drop courses because of working and workload.
  7. It was mentioned that a Pell Grant can cover up to 30 hours of remedial work, which may be enough for a “Boot Camp.” It was suggested that if the grant is for the Boot Camp in the summer before the first semester this may help with frustration with taking the remedial courses upon entering college – boredom is a big problem.
  8. Sr. Mary Hayes indicated that there needs to be a model with a clear understanding of first-year goals; i.e. , what are the goals besides foundational skills? What do we really want?
  9. Liza indicated that the FLC goals are mapped into the proposal and that it is not an abandonment of FLC goals.
  10. It was mentioned that we want to avoid a tedious and punitive first year for the students.
  11. Discussion continued.

 

Announcements

 

The meeting was adjourned.