Attending: John M. Crisp, Mike Gadell, Homer Garza, Noe Guerra, Dolores Huerta, Mattie Marcum, William Mareth, Vickie Natale, Mary Peña, Jim Pierce (Chair), Lisa Welch.

Not Present: None

Principal Committee Chairs Attending: Mac Aipperspach, Bob Ard, Linda Ard, Don Craig, Manuel Flores, Pete Flores, Lenora Keas, Jo Ann Luckie, John Mastenbrook, Pat Shufelt, Maryann Williams.

Steering Committee Chair Jim Pierce's Remarks: Jim Pierce distributed to all the Principal Committee chairs copies of the "Addendum to the 1996 Edition of the Criteria for Accreditation." He pointed out the basic organization of the Criteria and provided a general overview of the self-study process, emphasizing the importance of the "should" and "must" statements.

The Special Educational Activities Committee: Mike Gadell presented an overview of the work of the Special Educational Activities Committee (Sections 4.5-4.7 and 4.9 of the Criteria). Gadell pointed out that DMC's distance learning programs (4.5) must both have goals and be able to demonstrate progress toward those goals. He said that this part of the self-study will involve discussions with Charlie Gambill, the chairs of departments that are involved in distance learning, the dean of continuing education, and the committees associated with distance learning. The Special Educational Activities Principal Committee will have to consider online courses, as well as courses with strong internet elements. Gadell said that distance learning will be a "moving target" for the committee over the next two years.

John Mastenbrook raised the potential difficulty associated with the assignment of contact hours in courses that are not organized along traditional lines. Don Craig asked if his committee (Financial Resources) would have to deal with the financial concerns associated with various elements of the college, such as distance learning. Pierce said that the Steering Committee would be responsible for the overlap between the areas of concern of the different committees and would try to control the overlap as much as possible. Pierce said that the Principal Committees would need to be concerned that all elements of DMC (administrators, faculty, staff, APT) be knowledgeable about the school's operations.

Mastenbrook asked when cases of non-compliance with the Criteria are addressed. Pierce said that the Principal Committees and the Steering Committee would produce the self-study, and that the administration would produce a response to the self-study by spring of 2000. This addendum to the self-study indicates what the institution plans to do to correct violations of compliance before the arrival of the visiting committee.

Mattie Marcum asked if DMC's distance learning program met the SACS definition of a "substantive change." Pierce said that SACS liaison John Dwyer had said that our questions about changes should be reported to him and that SACS would determine whether program changes were "substantive." Pierce said that he would find out whether such a report has been made.

Gadell discussed the "must" and "should" statements related to Continuing Education (4.6) and mentioned the self-studies of Pensacola Junior College and Navarro College. Linda Ard suggested that the Special Educational Activities committee may need to consider the Workforce Education Course Manual and other programs that provide for parallel courses (courses in which some students seeking credit and others not are taught in the same class). Craig asked if the college has an evaluation process for Continuing Education; Gadell said that evaluation was one of the areas the committee would need to consider.

Gadell discussed Section 4.7 (Student Records) and 4.9 (Consortial Relationships and Contractual Agreements. Craig asked if this category would include agreements with local high schools. Gadell said the committee would have to evaluate those agreements, as well as 2+2 programs and distance learning agreements.

Additional Discussion: Pierce pointed out that the Principal Committees do not have the job of "fixing things," but are rather to evaluate and report the condition of the college. Maryann Williams asked about the availability of DMC's last self-study and of the Pensacola report. Pierce said that the library has three copies of the DMC report and that departmental offices should also have copies. He said that committee chairs could contact him to check out the Pensacola report or for copies of parts of the report.

Development of the Membership of the Principal Committees: Pierce said that committees should be balanced by gender, ethnicity, and campus and should not include members of the chain of command of the areas being evaluated. He said that the committee nominees would be reviewed and sent to V.P.I.S.S. Armenta and President Dicianna. He said that eventually students would be added to the committees. The Principal Committee chairs each chose nine potential members.

Next Steering Committee Meeting: March 25, 1998, 12:00 noon, Century Room

Minutes prepared by John M. Crisp.