General Meeting Information
Date: October 3,
2024
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Location: Zoom
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Agenda
Time Topic Purpose Discussion Leader 1:30-1:35 p.m. Welcome and Introductions I/D All 1:35-1:40 p.m. Approval of Minutes I/D/A All
1:40-2 p.m. Website Improvements/Conference Report
I/D - Diaz
- Harrell
2-2:05 p.m. Accreditation
I/D - Spatafore
2:05-2:30 p.m. Tech Committee involvement in AI projects/Other
I/D/A All 2:30-2:45 p.m. I/D All 2:45-3 p.m. Standing Updates
- Accessibility
- Banner Student
- ETS
- Online Education Advisory Group
I
- All
- Galoyan
- Hadsell
- Nocito
A = Action
D = Discussion
I = Information -
Minutes [DRAFT]
Present
Stephanie Anderson, Samuel Bliss, James Capurso, Juan Diaz, Nazy Galoyan, David Garrido, Alex Harrell, Sridevi Lakshmanan, Kevin Metcalf, Gabriela Nocito, Cheryl Owiesny, Mary Pape (Tri-chair), Fatima Zehra Shaikh, Dennis Shannakian (Tri-chair), Marisa Spatafore (Tri-chair), Chelsey Taniguchi (Notes)
Welcome and Introductions
Fatima Zehra Shaikh is the new student representative and was introduced to the group.
Approval of Minutes
The March minutes were approved with minor edits.
Website Improvements
The Web Team is coming close to finalizing the sync between eLumen and our database. eLumen hosts the catalog. We now have eLumen information in our internal apps and in the future the Web Team will generate reports for the curriculum team (Diaz).
The Web Team has also fixed the format of the website when printing to a PDF. Prior to this, text would overlap. Diaz thanks Shannakian for pointing this out.
The migration of the curriculum website to the main De Anza omni website is being finalized through the help of ETS. The Web Team is still working on rerouting people from the old website (Diaz).
The Web Team has also developed an in-house QR generator for Office of Communications that includes an image of Roary (Diaz). Pape asks if old QR codes will still work and Diaz and Shannakian clarify that they will still work as long as the website address is the same. Nocito asks how to access the generator. Spatafore clarified it is currently for the Office of Communications, but there can be a discussion on opening it up to everyone.
A business card ordering page has also been created and includes a form that displays templates (Diaz).
Shaikh asks if new catalog is posted and Diaz says it was just posted yesterday. Owiesny asks if there is an archive of all the catalogs. Spatafore answers that there is an online archive of more recent catalogs, but the Curriculum Team would have a copy of all of them. Classes are now more organized and grouped into boxes in the new catalog. Noncredit courses are also listed in the same place as credit courses and can be searched and filtered for (Harrell).
The Web Team made the check-in process for students at Welcome Day easier. This year students could RSVP in advance by clicking email which led them to a form. After filling out form, students received a unique code for a free shirt, so there would not be a duplicate. In the future, the Web Team will work on improving the eSARS check-in at the actual event as there was a bottleneck (Harrell)
Diaz and Harrell attended the HighEdWeb Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It will be called Digital Collegium in the future. AI was a major topic at the conference (Harrell).
Bliss commends the Web Team for their work on the Office of Professional Development project.
Accreditation
An official verdict has not been announced yet, but the college received compliments at the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges visit, especially on the use of disaggregated data.
Tech Committee Involvement in AI Projects
Spatafore asks everyone to think about how the committee could become involved in AI discussions. Nocito suggests it could be a standing update category when meeting with the district. Pape suggests that all the different groups or people working on AI should collaborate and share information so that efforts aren’t duplicated and there isn’t conflict.
Shaikh adds that it is helpful to add AI guidelines to the syllabi in classes outside of Computer Science as they can differ from class to class. She also notes that panels on AI can be helpful. Owiesny adds that different professors have conflicting policies on how AI is allowed to be used in the classroom.
Metcalf notes that the the district will be hosting the new Center for Digital Innovation in partnership with the State Chancellor's Office.
Technology Plan Updates
Goal
Description
Accomplishments
Goal 1: Increase Overall Student Access to Technology for Learning and Services
Includes but not limited to the provision of laptops for students, and other devices as necessary; software and software as a service (SAAS) as appropriate, both required and that would enhance the student experience; continuous technical improvement of communications resources including the website, app and portal; and classroom equipment to support student learning and engagement in evolving modalities, with classroom needs documented through updated classroom standards, program review and the Facilities Condition Assessment
- Catalog has been improved and published (Spatafore)
- Library has increased the amount of laptops and hot spots available to students (Nocito)
- Library is looking into new program to scale Open Educational Resources (OER) (Bliss)
Goal 2: Increase and Enhance Faculty and Staff Professional Development and Training
Includes but not limited to robust training and related communication about the trainings based on faculty and classified professional feedback, including to holistically improve online pedagogy and pedagogy in the use of technology tools, including in evolving modalities and accessibility training
- Requirement for faculty to take RSI training (Nocito)
- Office of Professional Development have been working on AI and other topics (Nocito)
Goal 3: Continue Work to Ensure Accessibility
Includes but not limited to implementation of SAAS to support an equitable teaching and learning environment; researching strategies and emerging technologies and implementing as appropriate; ongoing ensuring of accessibility in instructional and communications tools
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- Harrell attended many workshops on accessibility at recent HighEdWeb conference (Spatafore)
- Debbie Armstrong held training on accessibility and screen readers at Opening Day (Harrell)
- There have been more trainings on accessibility guidelines for Canvas, which allows screen readers to work properly (Nocito)
- Training continues on PopeTech (Nocito)
- Website accessibility section was added to catalog (Spatafore)
- DHHS gave feedback on Opening Day (Spatafore)
Goal 4: Enhance Communication and Collaboration with ETS to Achieve Evolving Priority College Objectives
Strategy to include monthly small-group meetings of Tech Committee and ETS leadership, with updates as requested, on college-identified priorities including but not limited to
- Ubiquitous, functioning Wi-Fi, including on Athletics fields and in parking lots
- Upgraded technology for employees, including shorter personal technology refresh cycle of three years, as appropriate
- Improving communication, including of system and software availability and changes
- Development and support of peripheral loan program to address additional needs, such as doc cams, iPads for whiteboards, etc.
- College-identified projects that
- Directly affect student success or the student experience, particularly timely requests via expert administrators
- Address regulatory issues
- Wi-Fi expansion project has been approved by the board and it was broken down into two phases. Phase I is underway and Phase II should be finished in Spring (Metcalf)
- Hardware and Software Standards committee will start up again. It will be a sub-committee of ETAC (Metcalf)
- ETS and Admissions and Records have helped a lot with removing fraudulent students (Pape)
- Admissions and Records had conversation with ETS. ETS will modify Cisco phone tree and will provide training to A&R staff to help them customize it (Galoyan and Metcalf)
Standing updates
Accessibility:
Harrell attended many workshops on accessibility at recent HighEdWeb conference (Spatafore). Website accessibility section was added to catalog (Spatafore).
Debbie Armstrong held training on accessibility and screen readers at Opening Day (Harrell). DHHS gave feedback on Opening Day (Spatafore).
There have been more trainings on accessibility guidelines for Canvas, which allows screen readers to work properly (Nocito). Training continues on PopeTech (Nocito).
Banner Student:
ETS has prepared the migration to the new portal. The timeline for the implementation of the new portal is far too soon given the complexity and there has not been enough communication from ETS to users about the magnitude of the change (Galoyan). Committee agrees ETS needs to provide more training on how to use the new portal and use employee feedback to improve the user experience. There is not sufficient customization with the current test version of the new portal.
Shaikh says that she liked the part of the presentation that shows it's easier now for students who attend both campuses to log in.
ETS Update:
The Wi-Fi expansion project has been approved by the board and it was broken down into two phases. Phase I is underway and Phase II should be finished in Spring (Metcalf).
The Hardware and Software Standards committee will start up again. It will be a sub-committee of ETAC (Metcalf).
Shannakian says it's more difficult to look at information from earlier on in the ticket with the new ETS ticketing system.
Online Education:
Two online advisory groups, OAT and COOL, have been created and are meeting. OAT is working on technology updates for students and COOL is working on a poker (Capurso and Nocito).