November 08, 2019 Meeting
Agenda
Committee members: Jennifer Altenhofel (co-chair), Leslie Minor (co-chair), Candace Duron, Shelley Getty, Vicki Jacobi, Windy Martinez, Breanna Payne, Juana Rangel-Escobedo
Recorder: Norberto Lopez
- Review and approve minutes from 10/11/19
- Begin discussions: identify SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) basics for Taft College
- Begin discussions: framing SEM within Guided Pathways
- Move to Dec. agenda: committee self-evaluation
Minutes
Committee members present: Jennifer Altenhofel (co-chair), Leslie Minor (co-chair), Candace Duron, Shelley Getty, Breanna Payne, Juana Rangel-Escobedo
Absent: Vicki Jacobi, Windy Martinez
Recorder: Norberto Lopez
- Review and approval of minutes from 10/11/19. On a motion by C. Duron, seconded by L. Minor, and unanimously approved by all, the October minutes were approved
- Discussion among all members: begin to identify SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) basics for Taft College. Summarized below.
- Strengths: leadership encourages professional growth, dorms, small college size, small class sizes, staff and faculty really care about students, students come from Bakersfield, partnerships with local industry, IR staff and available good data, Learning Resources Center, WESTEC, free parking, book rentals, set a base for support programs
- Weaknesses: anecdotal evidence instead of empirical data, poor communication with students, need updated website (clubs and etc.), WESTEC, no student learning cohorts, students need wrap-around support, Children’s Center not accessible for students/staff, need more staff, need to better retain staff, landlocked so no place to expand parking, not enough funding for tutoring, processes are not written down or standardized, LRC needs to expand, technology, physical space is small, course offerings are limited, support staff numbers are limited, scheduling is done by a single person, difficult to attract adjuncts to teach, need more public relations, need better data use, tendency to rely on memory instead of facts, slow to change, IT Dept/defined audience
- Opportunities: tiny bundled certificates, good reputation, students from Bakersfield, late start classes, resource center, additional partnerships with schools, state initiatives, potential students (formerly incarcerated), veteran student outreach, centralized announcements for students, make TC a true community college, exposure of TC to the community, equal support for all student populations, child care center for the community, non-credit community classes (lifelong learning, hobby classes), increasing bus access (later routes)
- Threats: BC campus growth in southwest area, state funding, state initiatives, unfinished campus building, lack of community support, failure of bond, local politics, competition from for-profit schools such as SJVC
- Upcoming meetings: committee self-evaluation, and begin discussion of actionable items above.