2008 Woodie Awards
DCCCD meets to discuss Core 2009 feedback
Amadeo Lopez
Issue date: 8/28/08 Section: The News
The Core 2009 Committee held a forum at Eastfield on Aug. 21, where around 40 people, including faculty and staff, attended the meeting.
The forum was intended to provide insight into the changes included in the Core Curriculum draft, and also provide feedback and comments regarding the updates proposed by the committee.
Richland College chemistry professor Becki Williams conducted the forum, and presented a timeline showing important dates for the approval of the draft.
The timeline sets Sept. 10 as the deadline for submitting any feedback via the core Web page. In the middle of October a revised draft will be released and two forums at Mountain View College and Eastfield will be held.
According to Williams the final draft will be delivered to the VP Council in November, then to the Chancellor's Cabinet and the DCCCD Board of Trustees and finally to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
"The approval process should be complete by February 2009," Williams said.
The presentation addressed updates included in the draft, which can be viewed at dcccd.edu/core2009.
Prior to allowing attendees to express their comments, they were invited to discuss first two formal questions and then discuss the answers in small groups.
"We are here to listen to you and to hear your comments and respond to your questions," Williams said. "But I will not try to convince you that what we have done is correct for you or addresses all the needs that students may have."
One of the topics discussed at the forum involved critical thinking classes.
"We are not doing enough critical thinking," said history professor Jerry Hansen.
Hansen also said critical thinking should be one of the top five subjects on college education in order for students to meet the needs of the modern world, and logic should be required as well.
Eastfield's physical education instructor Robert Flickner said the beginning physical fitness course should be considered mandatory rather than another course like tennis or swimming to count toward completion of the wellness section on the list of recommendations.
"The committee did a really good job putting things together but it's an ongoing process," Flickner said. "We need to see if they implement our request."
Committee member and speech instructor Courtney Carter said the forums are very important because it is an additional opportunity to listen to the insight of colleague's comments.
Around 100 notes of feedback have been posted on the core Web site and, according to Carter, once the information is received it goes to the committee.
"We have gained a lot of valuable knowledge from the forum participants," Carter said. "The majority of the forum participants were focused on providing the best general education we can do for our DCCCD students. It was wonderful to hear the fellow faculty members discuss the courses that students need to take to be successful in the 21st century."
The committee recently lost two members, district director of faculty and development Allatia Harris left for San Jacinto College at Houston to fill the president position and dean of science and physical education Mark Presley passed away last month. These spots will not be replaced.
"Allatia Harris worked for the core until she got into her car to leave, and Mark Presley is also a huge loss for us and that his presence is not longer with us is a big void in our group, because we only not lost a member but we lost our science expert," Williams said.
Contact Amadeo at amadeo_lopez_texas@yahoo.com.
The forum was intended to provide insight into the changes included in the Core Curriculum draft, and also provide feedback and comments regarding the updates proposed by the committee.
Richland College chemistry professor Becki Williams conducted the forum, and presented a timeline showing important dates for the approval of the draft.
The timeline sets Sept. 10 as the deadline for submitting any feedback via the core Web page. In the middle of October a revised draft will be released and two forums at Mountain View College and Eastfield will be held.
According to Williams the final draft will be delivered to the VP Council in November, then to the Chancellor's Cabinet and the DCCCD Board of Trustees and finally to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
"The approval process should be complete by February 2009," Williams said.
The presentation addressed updates included in the draft, which can be viewed at dcccd.edu/core2009.
Prior to allowing attendees to express their comments, they were invited to discuss first two formal questions and then discuss the answers in small groups.
"We are here to listen to you and to hear your comments and respond to your questions," Williams said. "But I will not try to convince you that what we have done is correct for you or addresses all the needs that students may have."
One of the topics discussed at the forum involved critical thinking classes.
"We are not doing enough critical thinking," said history professor Jerry Hansen.
Hansen also said critical thinking should be one of the top five subjects on college education in order for students to meet the needs of the modern world, and logic should be required as well.
Eastfield's physical education instructor Robert Flickner said the beginning physical fitness course should be considered mandatory rather than another course like tennis or swimming to count toward completion of the wellness section on the list of recommendations.
"The committee did a really good job putting things together but it's an ongoing process," Flickner said. "We need to see if they implement our request."
Committee member and speech instructor Courtney Carter said the forums are very important because it is an additional opportunity to listen to the insight of colleague's comments.
Around 100 notes of feedback have been posted on the core Web site and, according to Carter, once the information is received it goes to the committee.
"We have gained a lot of valuable knowledge from the forum participants," Carter said. "The majority of the forum participants were focused on providing the best general education we can do for our DCCCD students. It was wonderful to hear the fellow faculty members discuss the courses that students need to take to be successful in the 21st century."
The committee recently lost two members, district director of faculty and development Allatia Harris left for San Jacinto College at Houston to fill the president position and dean of science and physical education Mark Presley passed away last month. These spots will not be replaced.
"Allatia Harris worked for the core until she got into her car to leave, and Mark Presley is also a huge loss for us and that his presence is not longer with us is a big void in our group, because we only not lost a member but we lost our science expert," Williams said.
Contact Amadeo at amadeo_lopez_texas@yahoo.com.
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