Welcome back to Spring 2019! I am thrilled to begin my second semester as the leader of our school. I am also excited about what we will accomplish this semester and what we will plan for AY 20 and beyond! But first, a few thoughts and info to share.
(1) Feel free to say "Let me talk/check with my dean". I stand by the promise that I would be the only administrator you have to deal with. So, no matter what you need, please reach out to me before losing your cool. I may not always get you what you desire, but I do try my best. For example, let me help you when... - You made a request but have not heard back for quite a while. - You are not happy with something going on at the College. - Your interaction with someone at another unit doesn't go as well as expected. - etc. (2) All of us should strive to better teach students of color. This semester, 1,335 students of color are enrolled in math and science classes at our college. If we can raise the course success by 10%, 134 additional students will benefit. (3) Twenty courses of opportunity. The Academic Affairs (AA) and the Office of Equity and Inclusions (E&I) have identified 20 courses for closing the achievement gaps. These courses do not necessarily have the biggest gaps, but they affect the largest numbers of students because they have a lot of students enrolled. Our school has a few courses on this list, and improving them will be our chance to do greater good to the College. I will follow up on this soon (4) Student Success Day. This spring's SSD is on Tuesday 2/26. Our school will need both great ideas and additional help to execute them. Maire and I will be calling for actions in the next several weeks. I am interested in adding the following to our existing programs: - Faculty potluck gathering - Student poster or presentation session - Any student interactive activity - etc. (5) North Star STEM Alliance. This is an opportunity to encourage students to enter bachelor programs in the STEM fields: everyone is welcome to the activities, and there is even stipend for particular categories of students of color. Please refer prospective students to Haile Haile, the site coordinator. Specific info and marketing brochures will be coming your way soon.
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Dear Colleagues of SciMath and ITEC:
Happy December! As we march into the grand finale of the semester, I want to thank you for a successful Fall 2018. A lot of exciting things happened because of your great effort and stellar work, such as - The awesome Student Success Day and ITEC Career Fair (SciMath and ITEC) - Advisory board meeting (ITEC) - Visiting Augburg University to explore opportunities for our students (SciMath) - Multiple projects to promote student success in dev and college math (Math) - Many more. I have yet to know everyone well enough, but many of you surprise me on a daily basis: your wealth in knowledge, your passion for teaching, your commitment to student success, to name a few. SciMath and ITEC are blessed to have strong members in you. It feels like yesterday, but I have been your dean at SciMath and ITEC for more than 3 months! (Does that disqualify me from being the shortest-lived dean on this position?) I have much to learn, and I ask that you keep advising, helping and pushing me to be a worthy leader of yours. I cannot thank my coordinators enough. I wouldn't be able to manage all the things going on within our schools without the great leadership and fantastic work by Maire and Andy. As usual, many end-of-semester emails and information will be coming your way. Please at least pay attention to (a) grading deadlines, (b) other deadline-related stuff, and (c) messages from your coordinator or your dean. (Especially (c), in my humble opinion.) I wish you a wonderful December! Sincerely, Ben When in doubt, check with ARC (Accessibility Resources Center). Sometimes it makes little/no sense to accommodate students in situations like missing homework without an excuse or skipping a class to take care hairball (sorry cat lovers.) However, there is one situation when we shall NOT deny accommodation: when a student has a legally protected status that grants him/her accommodation at no fault, such as documented accessibility needs, pregnancy, etc.
(1) No rule by instructors, labs or departments shall be used to deny student's right to accommodation. For example, none of the following can be used to deny accommodation: - The syllabus says to drop the lowest of the 5 exams. - The instructor says no late homework is accepted. - The department says no makeup for lab-related exams. If an assignment or test has little or no impact on the grade, the instructor may try to persuade the student to ignore it, but the student still has the right to make it up if he/she so chooses. (2) The College works with the instructor on providing accommodations. Generally ARC tells faculty to either (a) do it for all students or (b) only exactly what is approved by the ARC. In the case of (b), ARC will coordinate the effort for the student to receive the accommodation, and the instructor should not turn the student down unilaterally. (3) How do I know when a student MUST be accommodated for having a legally protected status? Refer the case to ARC for assistance and cooperate with ARC. When in doubt, check with ARC. Many people view community colleges as a place to take classes to transfer to 4-year universities. However, our best deals are our degree programs: these complete packages are worth a whole lot greater than the sum of the parts. In the November SciMath school meeting, I pushed the idea of promoting the degree programs in our school. Here are five reasons.
(1) Sense of belonging or commitment. Students do better when they have a sense of commitment. (Which student sounds more committed: "I am taking a math class" or "I am working on a math degree"?) (2) Better advising and connection. We want to nurture all of our students, but some students are easy to miss, like those who are just visiting. Even for them, there is great benefit to sign up for a major, such as access to advising, internship and scholarship opportunity, etc. (3) Broad field majors. A broad field major consists of a set of core classes and particular sets of electives tailored for different 4-year transfers. Students get a degree and the customized set of courses for their 4-year destinations, not just an assortment of classes. (4) Ahhhh the power of transfer pathways. Minnesota transfer pathways are universal articulation agreements within the entire Minn State System. Every institution, public or private, is trying to grab students through these pathways. Furthermore, many pathways lead to multiple 4-year programs. For example, Metro State has FIVE programs that take students from the same biology pathway: Biology BS and BA, Biochemistry, Environmental Science and Science Ed. (5) Better planning for the school. It's easier to schedule classes knowing students are returning, and it makes sense that we focus our resources on our majors. For example, if we run a class with 8 students, which statement makes a better case? - These 8 students need the class to get their degrees with us, or - These 8 students are visiting students who can get the course elsewhere. So, next time when you have an undeclared student, let's try this: - I know you plant to go to the U to study chemistry, but I'd like to invite you to join our chemistry major. - Sign up for a biology major and receive information about scholarship and internship opportunities! - (Your best sales pitch.) Has one of these happened to you in the last 12 months?
- Your daily function was affected because you had an illness or an emergency. - Your daily function was affected because a loved one had an illness or an emergency. - Your daily function was affected because someone you rely on had an illness or an emergency. - You felt so stressed out and took a day off or wish you could have taken a day off. Most people have had such experiences. Now, imagine overcoming the situation and trying to catch up with school work (usually in multiple courses) at the same time. That's what your students do when life happens to them. Cheryl Neudauer led a discussion on effective syllabi at our November SciMath school meeting. (Thank you Cheryl!) We can all use more knowledge about creating syllabi that help students in times of hardship. Of all things, this topic should be regularly discussed amongst us, and should be in the heart of every educator who truly cares about his/her students. At the end of Cheryl's session, I challenged everyone to find ways to help, not to punish, the students in the following two scenarios: (1) Student was ill for a week and then in recovery for another week. (2) Student does not have a textbook for the first two weeks of semester, due to financial hardship. Yes, life happens. When it happens to your students, how would you help them? Or, would you choose to help them at all? At the November school meeting, I invited everyone to think about what defines the success of our school.
- Is it the service courses we provide to other disciplines? - Is it the transfer courses we provide to visiting students? - Is it the degree programs we offer? - Is it the success of the diverse students we serve? - Is it the quality of our courses? - Is it the academic standards we uphold for our disciplines? Setting key performance indicators (KPI) and establishing work plans is not merely an administrative exercise: it is an opportunity to articulate our goals and take actions towards them. So, what defines the success of our school? |
AuthorDr. Ben Weng Archives
September 2021
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