TCCTA Blog

Inmates to Earn College Credits

More than 2,500 Texas inmates will participate in a national experiment starting next month, using federal money to take college courses, according to a report in the Texas Tribune by Khorri Atkinson and Annie Daniel. 

Three of the nine Texas schools participating in the national pilot—Mountain View College in Dallas, Southwest Texas Junior College in Uvalde, and Wiley College (a private institution) in Marshall—will be offering prison-based education for the first time. The programs include a mixture of liberal arts and vocational training courses. 

For Lee College's prison program in Huntsville, the pilot would build on a 50-year-old program offering certificates and associate's degrees to offenders in the Texas prison system. The school currently teaches about 1,200 inmates, according to Donna Zuniga, dean of the college's Huntsville Center, who is quoted in the piece. Federal funding will allow enrollment to grow. 

Cedar Valley College in Lancaster is using the federal aid to reestablish its prison education program. Ruben Johnson, executive dean of the college's Business and Technology Division, said budget cuts at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice had forced the school to stop offering certificates and associate's degrees to inmates in 2012, after more than 10 years. Now, about 120 inmates from the Sanders Estes Correctional Center in Venus are expected to enroll in its air Conditioning and refrigeration technology certificate program, the article reports. 

Using tax dollars to fund education for inmates can be unpopular, especially since financial aid programs are short of funds. 

Please see other Texas colleges affected at the conclusion of the Tribune piece. 

A 2013 RAND Corporation study funded by the Department of Justice found that inmates who participated in correctional education programs were 43 percent less likely to return to prison. Those inmates were also 13 percent more likely to have a job after finishing their sentence.

Implementing Online Texts

It is clear that Open Educational Resources (OER) will continue to flourish, especially since the money and influence of the Lumina Foundation are now behind the movement in a big way. Please see this previous post for the most recent development. 

There is no arguing over the financial benefits of free texts and other course materials for students, given the high cost of traditional textbooks. Community college students sometimes pay as much or more for books as for tuition, according to many reports. 

However, online texts are not popular with everyone. Students often say in surveys that they prefer traditional books, but this could be due to habituation, according to an opinion piece in the San Antonio Express-News by Gloria Padilla, a member of the editorial board at the newspaper.

In just as many cases you can see students taking phone photos of assigned hard copy pages, borrowed from classmates or a book on library reserve. You can even spot them surreptitiously sneaking shots in the college bookstore. It is doubtful most students know or care about copyrights. These are hard times for the publishing industry, and there is no putting toothpaste back in the tube.

Another important question raised in the piece reflects the view of faculty representatives concerned about fewer options for teachers if online materials are mandatory. Effective pedagogy typically involves such choices by instructors. It could be that a particular teacher possesses expertise in a certain area of study, or perhaps wants to assign material to compensate for a deficiency. 

These are all problems to be sorted out—presumably including faculty in the deliberations. This is crucial. 

We must also keep in mind that adjunct faculty, who teach the majority of sections at many colleges, almost never get to choose materials they assign. To do so would fill up bookstore shelves immediately. Online resources can open up unprecedented choices for part-timers. If it's free, why not? Of course we must contend with common syllabi, mandatory learning outcomes and such, but there needs to be room for individual expertise and preferences. 

When Presidents Teach

Community college instructors generally think it's a good idea for some key administrators, including presidents, to teach classes—at least occasionally. 

Please have a look at this article in Community College Daily, by Ellie Ashford. It's a nice profile of several presidents who teach, including Pamela Anglin of Paris Junior College. A former accounting instructor, she teaches business law, and also instructs a three-hour "learning frameworks" class online. This course, required for all first-time entering students, covers life skills and how to navigate and succeed in college, according to the article.

Obviously presidents are very busy, and teaching may not be a good idea in every case. However, especially in these times filled with pressure to increase graduation rates, it's beneficial for supervisors to experience the nuts and bolts of teaching a class filled with typical students. The online class taught by Dr. Anglin is also a nice touch, not only because of the format, but since it's required of all students. Such introductory classes might be an option for administrators who don't meet disciplinary criteria for instruction of certain subjects under SACS guidelines. 

From the piece:

Anglin returned to the classroom about nine years ago, when an accounting instructor became ill in the middle of the semester and they couldn’t find a replacement. It made her realize how much she missed being around students.

“Students are very different today than when I was a full-time faculty member,” Anglin says. “They require more personal attention now, and you have to engage them in different ways. The obstacles and the stresses they face now seem greater than when I first started teaching.”

According to Anglin, teaching an online course has enabled her to get to know a different group of students each semester – and she’s been able to interact more with individual students in an online environment. “They say things to me online that they would not have said in a classroom with other students.”

As a result, Anglin feels she understands students better, and that has informed her decisions on the types of student services the college needs to provide. Also, she says, “I feel like I understand faculty concerns and the professional development we need to bring to campus.”

While teaching the Learning Frameworks course, Anglin realized students were having trouble navigating the PJC website, so the college added videos on how to get started online, how to use the library and how to use Campus Connect, the student portal.

She also learned time management is a big issue for students, so the course puts more of a focus on that, as well as stress management and financial management.

Anglin spends seven to 10 hours a week teaching, preparing for class and grading papers. “It’s my stress reliever,” she says. “It takes my mind off the day-to-day issues.”

She believes every president could benefit from being in the classroom, even if they only teach a course every few years. “Students’ needs change,” she says. “It’s important for the president to understand the student population.”

The Tribe

For a summer non-fiction read, it's hard to beat Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, by Sebastian Junger. Mr. Junger is the author of several books, perhaps most notably The Perfect Storm. He writes often of war and combat. Here is the Amazon link. The book is only 168 pages, including reference notes at the end. Some passages are truly brilliant and the entire volume provokes thought on many levels. 

At first blush, the book has nothing to do with community colleges or education. However, one pertinent connection is the author's discussion of returning veterans and their difficulties adjusting to our present society. We have all had veterans in our classes. Often they are troubled. It's not just that they suffered or witnessed violence, since those from non-combat sectors of military life also have a hard time fitting in when they are civilians again. Soldiers are willing to die for our country, but can't seem to live in it, the author observes. Why? Mr. Junger believes we, not the vets, are the problem. 

The author cites observations from early America, when settlers noticed that many individuals captured by Indians who became part of native society didn't want to return to "civilization" when given the chance, despite the obvious advantages of being reunited with family and friends. But take an Indian and put him into colonial society, for instance, and he goes insane. 

Mr. Junger examines evidence from anthropology, psychology, and history, writing that, in previous societies and in the military today, membership in a tribe is terribly important. He says we are wired to make sacrifices and be part of a team that cares about each other. When veterans return home, they miss this sense of belonging, and can't contend with our fractious, individualistic, materialistic, divided society. The current culture wars are not helpful. In a military unit, race, religion, gender, and economic class are sublimated, the author observes.  

Mr. Junger says veterans don't want to be seen as victims. They want to be part of something important. Therefore, to the degree that colleges can foster volunteer involvement of veterans on campus, it might be enormously beneficial to everyone. 

The other connection to higher education may be a stretch. However, many of us have noticed that faculty morale often seems higher at small colleges, even though these schools may not be able to pay the best salaries or provide extra financial support. Big schools may possess material advantages, but leaders often can't get employees at all levels to work as a unit. Bureaucracy fosters indifference, sometimes even contempt. 

At a small school (no, not all of them) it is easier to feel as if you are part of the same tribe. It's a good feeling—one sought since we were hominids. When times are hard we stick together and work it out. At least that's the idea. 

Obviously there is no cure for bigness, absent catastrophe. (One is reminded of Steve Martin's album, "Let's Get Small.") And we must be careful not to romanticize early societies. Mr. Junger states this a few times in the book, but the point needs emphasis. (If you think you would like to get in a time machine and hang out with Comanches in the 19th century, please read the first four chapters of Empire of the Summer Moon, by S.C. Gwynne.) 

But it's worth wondering if modern society places way too much emphasis on the individual. Perhaps contemporary alienation is rooted in our denial of the tribe's importance. 

ERS Summer Enrollment Approaches

Active community and technical college employees will have the opportunity to enroll in new benefit programs or change their current coverage during ERS Summer Enrollment (SE), which will run from July 11 to August 12. Each agency and higher education institution will be assigned to a two-week SE phase during which employees can make enrollment changes. The agency is working on this year’s phase list and will post that list as soon as possible.

• To make changes to your benefits, sign in to your ERS account. Changes made during SE will go into effect on September 1, 2016. If you don't want to make changes to your benefits, you do not need to do anything. Your current coverage will continue. 

  You can make changes during the plan year if you have a qualifying life event.

  If you are Medicare eligible, you have a different enrollment period. Please visit the Retiree Fall Enrollment page for more information.

• Resources

  2016 Summer Enrollment Guide for Employees

  2016 Summer Enrollment Guide for Retirees

  Check your agency or institution’s phase

  Consumer Directed HealthSelect Summer Enrollment Insert

  Dental Options Comparison (PY17)

  Employee Health Plan Comparison (PY17)

  Vision Comparison Chart 

  Rates

  Plan Year 2016 Rates

  Plan Year 2016 Retiree Rates

  Plan Year 2017 Rates

 

Dual Credit Expansion Raises Concerns

When the Legislature eliminated restrictions on the number of dual credit courses offered jointly by school districts and community colleges, the intention was to expand the program to enroll more students. By that standard, the strategy is clearly working, especially in the Rio Grande Valley, as reported by Danya Perez-Hernandez, in The Monitor. 

However, educational leaders are expressing new concerns about rigor, educational quality, and the misdirection of financial aid with dual credit. The article addresses explosive growth at South Texas College, but you may find much in the report that rings true at your school. 

Please read the entire piece for context. The article primarily describes new policies at STC to manage the spike of dual credit programs in the region. 

Until the most recent statutory expansion, statistics indicated that dual credit students were more likely to graduate from high school and college than students who did not participate. However, now that the program has gone mainstream, more unprepared students are seeking college credit, often taking courses several times. Such developments can't help but affect college and university graduation rates. 

Here is a key passage from the article:

“We are absolutely committed to keeping this a first-class program, the highest quality and where students are successful and we’ve got some concerns,” [South Texas College President Shirley] Reed said.

Concerns over the rigor and quality of such programs were also brought up by the commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Raymund Paredes, during his visit to the Valley in April. His main issue with rapid growing dual-enrollment (or dual-credit) programs, he said, is being able to assess the students’ overall college readiness.

“I get concerned when I see that huge numbers of students are taking dual-credit courses and those numbers aren’t consistent with the data that we have on college readiness,” Paredes said during an interview in April.

The concerns of Commissioner Paredes mirror what you will hear from faculty members about dual credit programs around the state. 

Here is some background on Texas dual credit, from the Education Commission on the States. 

Phi Theta Kappa Aids Transfers

Phi Theta Kappa International honor society is drawing praise for helping community college students transfer successfully, not only for its own members, but with an online tool to facilitate the process for everyone. 

It's covered by Brian C. Mitchell, director of the Edvance Foundation, and a former college and university president, in the Huffington Post. Please have a look. From the piece:

CollegeFish.org is a free, online tool created by Phi Theta Kappa to aid community colleges students as they plan their future after community college, either through transfer to a four-year institution in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree, or by entering the workforce. Similar to online services for singles or athletes, CollegeFish.org matches students to best-fit transfer institutions based on their learning preferences, major, career, and financial goals. 

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided the initial $2.9 million grant to make CollegeFish.org available to any community college student.

 

The article praises Phi Theta Kappa and encourages colleges presently without a chapter to pay the modest $500 fee to establish one. As we all know, the success rates for members are quite high, with exclusive access to over $37 million in transfer scholarships, the article reports. 

 

Phi Theta Kappa is selective, which explains much of its success. Its members attend full-time. However, they come from a similar economic profile as other community college students and often need remediation. There is much to learn from Phi Theta Kappa, as one template for an effective transfer strategy. 

 

A Message About Carol Fricke

The following is a message from Richard Moore, executive director of TCCTA, regarding the recent death of Carol Fricke: 

This week, our community lost a beloved member. Carol Fricke served in the TCCTA State Office for 37 years, keeping the books and managing our membership database. If you’ve been to our annual convention, you knew her as the person in charge of our registration area. She kept things moving smoothly there, even through all the chaos of registering so many people in such a short amount of time.

But to those of us in the State Office, she was the one still point we all orbited around. Her warmth and humor, and her dedication and conscientiousness were gifts that all of us benefitted from and made us better in our work.

Three and a half years ago, the day before the convention, Carol was taken to the hospital where she was later diagnosed with cancer. After more testing and treatments, she decided to retire from TCCTA to focus full-time on this battle with cancer. She and her husband, John, and their children, Mindy and Kyle, fought tirelessly and with great love through this ordeal.

Memorial services will be held this Friday, at 2:30, at the Mount Olive Lutheran Church, in Austin. She is remembered fondly by so many of us — we look forward to gathering on Friday to say our farewells to this extraordinary friend.

An App for Performance Reviews

No one looks forward to performance reviews. Supervisors and those being supervised alike dread the exercise. For some it is a waste of time, for others the process involves trepidation over job security or perhaps suspicions of bias. We search for a better way to do an important task. 

Well, relax, now there's an app for that. Please have a look at this article by L.V. Anderson in Slate, which explores the issues involved and describes a new product called TINYpulse Perform. The piece contains a number of links involving the various controversies with performance reviews. 

It's interesting that the new products take their cues from fitness applications that track physical activities, and dating sites that pair you up with a partner based on your own goals and preferences. It's common in performance reviews to evaluate yourself periodically based on previously stated goals. So it is no surprise that someone figured out a way to go digital. 

Some aspects of the article apply principally to the corporate world, where student evaluations are not in play. However, when you compare the questions asked of students in evaluations, they often resemble queries asked of consumers to measure customer satisfaction. To be honest, we seem more concerned in student surveys with whether students had a happy experience instead of how much they learned. Would you recommend this class to a friend? 

But isn't it possible, least in some instances, to learn a great deal from a great teacher who compels us to push through an unpleasant threshold? Learning can be hard. 

Carol Fricke 1947-2016

Longtime TCCTA administrative assistant Carol Fricke passed away on June 19, after a courageous battle with cancer.

More information will be included in subsequent posts. 

Arrangements are under the direction of Cook-Walden/Forest Oaks Funeral Home and Memorial Park, Austin.

The Celebration of Life Memorial will be Friday, June 24, at 2:30 p.m., at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church:
10408 Hwy 290 West
Austin, Texas 78736