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

Not Attending: Vickie Natale.

A Call from Dr. Friedman: Chair Jim Pierce reported that he had just spoken with Dr. Frank Friedman, the chair of the visiting committee. Dr. Friedman will arrive at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 4, and leave on Friday, the 5th, at 3:10 p.m. During his visit he wants to talk with Dr. Dicianna, Vice President Armenta, Dean Natale, and someone who is knowledgeable about the distance education effort in Alice. He will meet with the Steering Committee, as well. He said that he hopes to make the Committee aware of the expectations of the visiting committee, to share his perceptions of the draft of the self-study report, and to head off any potential difficulties. He will make a brief tour of both campuses and will stay at the Holiday Inn, where the visiting team will be staying. Pierce said that a schedule of his activities will be developed.

Review of the Educational Program Draft: Dolores Huerta led the Committee through a review of the Educational Program draft, during the course of which the following points were raised:

• A number of surface errors were pointed out and duly noted.
• In the introduction: Mike Gadell inquired about the Enrollment Management Plan, suggesting that it may need more explanation, including why we had to file one. Crisp took note, saying that the reference to enrollment in the introduction to the Report probably needs to include a reference to the Enrollment Management Plan, as well.
• Under the imperative that begins "All aspects of the educational program...": The Committee agreed that all of the forms referred to need not be included in parentheses in the text. Pierce said that the documentation of the interviews will be regularized throughout the document and that he would check on whether the library subscribes to 1,100 or 1,400 periodicals.
• Under the imperative that begins "The institution must provide...": Gadell asked whether this imperative might warrant a finding of Compliance with Suggestion; Pierce said that he would check the Physical Facilities draft to ensure consonance between the two.
• Under the imperative that begins "The student enrollment and financial resources...": Gadell suggested using the enrollment figure for 1998 rather than 1997. Mary Peña said that it would be inaccurate to refer to "dwindling financial aid" as a cause of decreased enrollment; rather, the amount of financial aid decreased because enrollment is down.
• Under the imperative that begins "In addition, the institution must ensure...": Referring to the last sentence in the response, Pierce noted the inconsistency with the finding under Student Development Services regarding the College's inability to provide all services in the same way at all locations; he will deal with the inconsistency between the two.
• Under the imperative that begins "General admission policies must be established..." and under the imperative that begins "The board is responsible for deciding...": The text will be modified to indicate that both of these imperatives are complied with in practice, but that policy does not exist.
• Under the imperative that begins "Implementation of specific admission policies...": Delete the chart and change the finding to Noncompliance, to be consistent with the previous two imperatives. The first sentence will have to be modified, as well, to reflect the finding.
• Under the imperative that begins "The unit responsible...": Delete the Suggestion.
• Under the imperative that begins "In those institutions in which various subdivisions...": Delete the second sentence of the Recommendation and modify the first sentence of the response so that it properly leads into the finding.
• Under the imperative that begins "They must include qualitative and quantitative requirements...": Modify the first sentence to indicate the strictures of open-door admissions and the difficulty of using qualitative and quantitative measures.
• Under the imperative that begins " An institution admitting students with deficiencies...": Consider deleting the second chart, particularly if the need arises for space considerations.
• Under the imperative that begins "Diagnotistic testing should be an important element...": Delete the chart.
• Under the imperative that begins "It is the responsibility of the institution to ensure...": Change the finding to noncompliance by the same logic used on three earlier imperatives.
• Under the imperative that begins "To be admitted to degree programs,...": Determine for certain what the acronym GED stands for.
• Under the imperative that begins "Each institution must assess and justify the appropriateness...": Move the paragraph regarding the Early Admissions Program to the previous imperative, retaining the sentence that creates the suggestion under this imperative.
• Under the imperative that begins "The institution must provide evidence...": Consider adding the certification results of the L.V.N. program to the chart.
• Under the imperative that begins "An institution's admission and retention policies should...": Delete the tables and the last paragraph of the response.
• Under the imperative that begins "Institutions which award credit based on advanced placement...": Consider deleting the chart.
• Under the imperative that begins "The institution must inform transfer students...": The Committee decided that the response should mention how transfer students are informed of the amount of credit that will transfer; then, given the seemingly low rate of success (57 %) the finding may be changed to noncompliance.
• Under the imperative that begins "Coursework transferred or accepted for credit...": Reword the recommendation so it's not identical with the imperative.
• Under the imperative that begins "There must be clearly defined policies...": Rewrite the first sentence to indicate that the problem is the lack of clarity in the policies.
• Under the imperative that begins "An institution must publish the requirements...": Modify the first sentence to more clearly set up the finding of noncompliance ("While...." or "Although...) and delete the table.
• Under the imperative that begins "The requirements must be appropriate to the degree...": Delete the table.
• Under the imperative that begins "Undergraduate degree programs must contain...": Consider elaborating on what is in the "basic core."

Next Meeting: The Steering Committee will meet again on: Tuesday, October 26 at 2:00 p.m. in VB-170. The Committee will take up the review of must statements #37 through #60 in the Educational Program draft.

Minutes prepared by John M. Crisp.