Chemistry AUP for Academic Departments

East Los Angeles College Chemistry AUP for Academic Departments 2018-19 Chemistry Strategic Initiative Type: Annual Update Plan Date: 10-31-17 Strategic Initiative Description: Introduction Introduction and Certification Name Vahan Ghazarian Alan Khuu Errol Mathias Franklin Ow James Ross Beatriz Ruiz Silva Vanessa Valverde Danielle Clarke Gary Phillips Rick Carpenter Sen Wang Armando Rivera-Figueroa Role Full Time Faculty Full Time Faculty / Department Chair Full Time Faculty Full Time Faculty Full Time Faculty Full Time Faculty Full Time Faculty Classified Staff / Laboratory Technician Classified Staff / Laboratory Technician Part Time Faculty Part Time Faculty Administrator / Dean Program Description and Curriculum Updates Department or Unit Mission Statement November 02, 2017 4:48 PM Page 1 of 8

East Los Angeles College Chemistry AUP for Academic Departments 2018-19 Please enter your mission below. The Chemistry Department provides an inclusive environment to help students succeed, not only in our courses, but when they enter the workforce and/or transfer to a 4-year university. Curriculum Planning (Proposed Courses) Proposed Course Chemistry 201: Quantitative Analysis Fall 2018 Expected Semester of First Offering Curriculum Planning (non-cte Programs) Program Award Type Estimated Development and Approval Time Existing Courses Required for Program New Courses Required for Program N/A Curriculum Planning (CTE Programs) Program TOP Code Awards Type (Degree, Certificate, Skills Certificate, etc.) Estimated Developme nt and Approval Time Existing Courses for Program New Courses for Program Average Quarterly Wage 4 Quarters after Exit Number of Openings in the Region Number of Completer s in the Region % of Completer s Employed 4 Quarters after Exit N/A Perkins Funding (CTE Departments/Disciplines Only) Curriculum Planning (Substantive Change) Will your curriculum plans change more than 50% of an existing program? If so, please describe the consultation your department has had with your dean about the possible need for a substantive change report. No. November 02, 2017 4:48 PM Page 2 of 8

East Los Angeles College Chemistry AUP for Academic Departments 2018-19 Program Assessment SWOT Analysis Strengths and Opportunities (Optional) Please describe your department or unit's strengths and opportunities. Are there things that your department or unit does better than other departments/units within or outside of the college? What do our students see as your strengths? Are you offering unique programs or courses to our students? Are there interesting trends that your department or unit can take advantage of (including technological, policy, or social trends)? Where does your department or unit excel? What opportunities or initiatives does your department or unit wish to pursue? We are one of the few community colleges in the state that offers Biochemistry, which many 4-year universities consider this to be an upper division course. Currently, the course articulates to UCI and UCLA. The course is also accepted by professional schools such as Pharmacy, Dental, and Optometry schools. Our Biochemistry course attracts a diverse group of students and supports their educational goals. Offering unique courses such as Biochemistry draws in students from other communities to take Biochemistry and other courses offered by our campus; thus, this helps to increase student enrollment and demand for our department and the college. We are also planning to offer Quantitative Analysis, an advanced Chemistry course. Like Biochemistry, this unique course will support our department and the college. Weaknesses and Threats (Optional) Please describe your department or unit's weaknesses or threats. What can your department or unit improve? What do students see as your weaknesses? What factors are keeping your students from enrolling, persisting, or succeeding in your courses or programs? What obstacles are you facing (these could be technological, policy, or social obstacles)? What are similar departments or units at other colleges doing to be successful? While we have been successful in hiring qualified Chemistry laboratory technicians, it has been difficult to keep our technicians who have been hired as 10-month employees. The 10 months of pay and the enormous workload they put in to support the students and faculty have motivated them to move on to a different employer that ensures year-round employment. Our high turnover rate is highly detrimental to our program, as we will not have the technical support we need for our students and faculty until another technician is hired each time. Our department lacks the resources to operate. Our operating supplies are insufficient to allow students to run their experiments. Our equipment needs to be replaced as they eventually fail to November 02, 2017 4:48 PM Page 3 of 8

East Los Angeles College Chemistry AUP for Academic Departments 2018-19 function. Our equipment also needs yearly maintenance. Furthermore, our Chemistry laboratory technicians are under stress to meet the demands of setting up experiments for all the laboratory sections, while supporting students at the stockroom window, supporting individual faculty needs, and maintaining the laboratory chemicals, equipment, and classrooms. Our department needs sufficient funding and staffing to operate. Program Learning Outcomes Results Table Program Chemistry PLO Chemistry PLO Performance Apply concepts and theories in Chemistry to describe or explain chemical phenomena. 75.53% Develop conclusions from laboratory experiments that test hypothesis devised in classroom lectures. 91.58% Chemistry Program Apply concepts and theories in Chemistry to describe or explain chemical phenomena. Develop conclusions from laboratory experiments that test hypotheses devised in classroom lectures. 75.53% 91.58% Program Learning Outcomes Reflection After reviewing your PLO results, as well as your detailed reports (instructions above), describe any areas where students are not attaining your PLOs at an acceptable level. At the College-level, 70% is considered acceptable. Are there certain subgroups (gender, ethnic, online students, South Gate students) with at least 30 students who are not attaining a PLO? If so, please mention these. If there are one or more PLOs not being attained at an acceptable level create a goal to address attainment for the PLO that would have the biggest impact on student success. This goal should address the PLO attainment. For example, a goal could be "By Fall 2020, at least 80% of Latino students and females will meet the decimal arthimetic program learning outcome." This goal will be entered into elumen in the "Program Plan" section. During the Spring of 2017, the Chemistry Department attained 75.53 % in PLO # 1 and 91.58 % in PLO # 2. These values are above the acceptable college level of 70 %. The Department of Chemistry, however, has engaged in a quest to make the assessment more meaningful as we learn November 02, 2017 4:48 PM Page 4 of 8

East Los Angeles College Chemistry AUP for Academic Departments 2018-19 from previous semesters. During the Fall of 2018 we will make rubrics that, we hope, will pinpoint specific deficiencies and/or assets in student learning. The Department does not offer a CTE program and we do not have the choice of disaggregation of data. It is desirable to have that option to better design our rubrics. Program Completion Evaluation Number of Completers Are your programs producing the number of completers you would expect among the most recent cohort? Please indicate any programs where the number of completers is less than expected. What number of completers is expected? If needed, develop goals for the "Program Plan Update" section to address these issues. You are not expected to address all issues at this time - if there is is more than one area of concern, address the one that will have the greatest impact on students. Currently, our department does not have a Title V degree or certificate. Time to Completion Are students in the most recent cohort completing your programs in a reasonable amount of time (1-2 years for a Certificate of Achievement, 2-3 years for a degree)? Please indicate any programs where the time to completion is longer than it should be. If needed, develop goals for the "Program Plan Update" section to address these issues. You are not expected to address all issues at this time - if there is is more than one area of concern, address the one that will have the greatest impact on students. Currently, our department does not have a Title V degree or certificate. Equity Gaps in Completion Are there student groups who are not completing your programs at the proportion expected, or who are taking much longer to complete than other groups? Please indicate any programs where there exists an equity gap, and briefly describe the gap. If needed, develop goals for the "Program Plan Update" section to address these issues. You are not expected to address all issues at this time - if there is is more than one area of concern, address the one that will have the greatest impact on students. Currently, our department does not have a Title V degree or certificate. Research Support (Optional) Although the quantitative data provides an accurate picture of what is actually happening, it does not necessarily give the underlying cause for areas of concern. Please provide any research questions that OIEA could help you answer in order to improve program completion. This question has not been answered yet November 02, 2017 4:49 PM Page 5 of 8

East Los Angeles College Chemistry AUP for Academic Departments 2018-19 Program Plan Program Plan Update Goals Name Benchmark Benchmark Descriptor Evaluate deficiencies and improve in effective teaching practices. Increasing student retention and success by tutoring services. Redevelop and reinstate the Chemistry 201 (Quantitative Analysis) course. Not Started Not Started Some Progress The goal is new, or no progress to date has been made towards meeting the goal. (0%) The goal is new, or no progress to date has been made towards meeting the goal. (0%) Initial discussions and planning meetings have been held to discuss and plan for the goal. An individual or committee has been made responsible for goal. (33%) Train and develop new Chemistry Laboratory Technician. Train and develop student workers. Not Started Some Progress The goal is new, or no progress to date has been made towards meeting the goal. (0%) Initial discussions and planning meetings have been held to discuss and plan for the goal. An individual or committee has been made responsible for goal. (33%) Update laboratory experiments. Use computer software to help students identify and improve their learning deficiencies. Not Started Some Progress The goal is new, or no progress to date has been made towards meeting the goal. (0%) Initial discussions and planning meetings have been held to discuss and plan for the goal. An individual or committee has been made responsible for goal. (33%) Use the American Chemical Society (ACS) standardized exams to analyze student learning. Some Progress Initial discussions and planning meetings have been held to discuss and plan for the goal. An individual or committee has been made responsible for goal. (33%) November 02, 2017 4:49 PM Page 6 of 8

East Los Angeles College Chemistry AUP for Academic Departments 2018-19 Please briefly describe any difficultities in achieving stated goals carried over from a previous Annual Update. It was identified that the number of units needed to create an Associate in Science for Transfer (AS- T) degree in Chemistry exceeds the 60 maximum units allowed. At this time, we cannot create the degree due to the guidelines. Please briefly comment on goals completed within the last year. Seminars were held, which promoted STEM careers. Recommended Actions Goal: Evaluate deficiencies and improve in effective teaching practices. Develop and implement department professional development series. Explore use of technology in effective teaching practices. Goal: Increasing student retention and success by tutoring services. Faculty will train and mentor Chemistry tutors to support students. Goal: Redevelop and reinstate the Chemistry 201 (Quantitative Analysis) course. Obtain campus approval to offer course and design experiments for course. Goal: Train and develop new Chemistry Laboratory Technician. Department Chair will train new Chemistry Laboratory Technician on department and campus functions and expectations. Ensure Chemistry Laboratory Technician has option to receive on campus and off campus safety training. Goal: Train and develop student workers. Department Chair and Chemistry Laboratory Technician will train student workers on department and campus functions and expectations. Goal: Update laboratory experiments. Full time faculty, part time faculty, and Chemistry Laboratory Technicians will collaborate on updating laboratory experiments. Goal: Use computer software to help students identify and improve their learning deficiencies. Use ALEKS Chemistry software. Goal: Use the American Chemical Society (ACS) standardized exams to analyze student learning. Use American Chemical Society (ACS) standardized exams on final exams. November 02, 2017 4:49 PM Page 7 of 8

East Los Angeles College Chemistry AUP for Academic Departments 2018-19 Program Review Responses Program Review Recommendation Responses # Recommendation Progress to Date 1 It is recommended that the department communicates with other departments and the articulation officer when making decisions about archiving courses or restructuring curriculum. Complete. The goal to redevelop and unarchive Chemistry 201 has been shared with the articulation officer. Since this is an advanced course, other departments chemistry prerequisite courses are not affected. Other departments will be notified at the Academic Senate meeting if the course approved by the Senate. 2 It is recommended that the department upgrade its program plan to include department goals to address deficiencies in effective teaching practices noted in the PRSE. RETIRED 3 4 It is recommended that the department further analyze problems with equity and access and develop strategies for improvement. It is recommended that department must utilize the program review process to keep track of trends in their discipline and develop plans for improvement as needed. RETIRED RETIRED 5 It is recommended that the department increase involvement in the PLO process as they are currently at the development level for the Chemistry program. RETIRED November 02, 2017 4:49 PM Page 8 of 8

Request for Non-Faculty Positions Informational Worksheet Used for HR Plan 2018-2019 Position Title: Chemistry Laboratory Technician Cluster: SG Main Campus Salary + Benefits: 5910.4 / mo. Impact on unrestricted funds: Yes No Program Review/AUP Page # (0-5 points): Under Weaknesses and Threats in SWOT Analysis. Justification (include or attach data) to be completed by Cluster VP (0-5 points): While we have been successful in hiring qualified Chemistry laboratory technicians, it has been difficult to keep our technicians who have been hired as 10-month employees. The 10 months of pay and the enormous workload they put in to support the students and faculty have motivated them to move on to a different employer that ensures year-round employment. Our high turnover rate is highly detrimental to our program, as we will not have the technical support we need for our students and faculty until another technician is hired each time. Furthermore, our Chemistry laboratory technicians are under stress to meet the demands of setting up experiments for all the laboratory sections, while supporting students at the stockroom window, supporting individual faculty needs, and maintaining the laboratory chemicals, equipment, and classrooms. For questions about Program Review Annual Update Planning process, contact the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Advancement, 323-415-4152, arenasr@elac.edu OR venturbc@elac.edu.

For Use By HR Committee: Classified Hiring Justification of Needs Check all Applicable Items College Goals & Objectives Changing/Updating Technological Needs Increased FTES and FTEF Expansion and/or Remodeling of College Facilities Support for Student Learning Outcomes Staff Ability to Complete Assigned Workload Staff Working Beyond Assigned Hours or Scope of Duties How Position Affects Performance of Other Staff Reference Program Reviews/AUP Changing Job Functions Positions Previously Grant Funded (SFP) For questions about Program Review Annual Update Planning process, contact the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Advancement, 323-415-4152, arenasr@elac.edu OR venturbc@elac.edu.

Number of Students Served by Proposed Position Reinstating Positions Eliminated Due to Budget Cuts State, Federal, and Other Regulatory Mandates (Categorical) Health and Safety Issues Use of Temporary Hourly Employees Services or Learning Opportunities Will Be Improved Needs of Students & Institution Will Be Met Position Cost (Including Salary & Benefits) For questions about Program Review Annual Update Planning process, contact the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Advancement, 323-415-4152, arenasr@elac.edu OR venturbc@elac.edu.